The New Saint Joseph Baltimore
Official Revised Edition No. 1
Lesson 4
Creation and the Angels
Jesus spoke of our Guardian Angels
We read in the Holy Bible:
Matthew 18
"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
Explanation
God created all things
Some of God’s creation we can see. For example, the world in which we live and all that is in it. But there is a part of God’s creation we cannot see. Our Lord, Who knows all things, told us about this unseen creation.
God created the angels
The angels are spirits. We cannot see them. They are not weighed down by having a body. They have great knowledge and power.
The bad angels
Some angels were not faithful to God. They would not obey Him. They were cast out of heaven. They are called “devils.”
Guardian angels
Each one of us has a good angel to watch over us and keep us from harm. Our guardian angels give us good thoughts and help us to stay close to God. It is about these angels which Jesus is talking to His disciples in the picture.
Practice
Ask your guardian angel to help you in time of temptation.
CATECHISM
17. What do we mean when we say that God is the Creator of heaven and earth?
When we say that God is the Creator of heaven and earth we mean that He made all things from nothing.
Man has to have some kind of material when he makes something. He has to have stone to build a church. But God can make something from nothing.
18. Which are the chief creatures of God?
The chief creatures of God are angels and men.
19. What are angels?
Angels are created spirits, without bodies.
The angels cannot be seen or heard or touched. They have much greater power than man has and they know much more.
20. Did all the angels remain faithful to God?
Not all the angels remained faithful to God; some of them sinned.
21. What happened to the angels who remained faithful to God?
The angels who remained faithful to God entered into the eternal happiness of heaven, and these are called good angels.
The good angels are always before the throne of God. They love and adore
Him and do what He asks of them.
22. How do the good angels help us?
The good angels help us by praying for us, by acting as messengers from God to us, and by serving as our guardian angels.
23. What happened to the angels that did not remain faithful to God?
The angels who did not remain faithful to God were cast into hell, and these are called bad angels, or devils.
The bad angels use their great power and knowledge to tempt us to sin. But our guardian angels help us not to listen to the bad angels.
Discussion Questions
1. Whose face do the angels always see?
2. Why couldn’t you become an angel?
3. Did all the angels obey God?
4. What happened to the bad angels?
5. What do the good angels do?
Yes or No
1. Do some of the angels have bodies?
2. Were the bad angels cast out of heaven?
3. In the picture, is Jesus talking about guardian angels?
4. Sometimes did the good angels disobey God?
5. Did the bad angels lose their great power and knowledge?
Fill in the Blanks
1. The bad angels have no ……….
2. The bad angels are called …….…….
3. Each of us has a ……………… angel.
4. The good angels are in …………………….
5. The bad angels are in …………...
Other Readings
1. The Angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah Luke 1: 5-20
and then to Mary. Luke 1: 26-38
and then to Mary. Luke 1: 26-38
2. The devil temps Our Blessed Lord, and the good angels come to Him afterward. Matthew 4: 1-11
3. The angel who consoled Our Lord when He was sad in the Garden of Gethsemani
Class Liturgical Action
Say together the Preface of the Mass, and learn to say (or sing) by heart the Sanctus. This is the prayer of the angels, as described in Isaiah 6.
The Preface of the Mass
A short dialogue happens in the Mass just after the prayer over the gifts and the before the singing of the Sanctus. It is called the “preface dialogue” and it is really quite remarkable in its sweeping vision and heavenly call. Part of the reason we miss its’ significance is that the translation of the Latin is difficult to accomplish in English. Allow me to give the current translation so you’ll recognize it and then render a more literal version of the Latin.
Priest: The Lord be with you
People: And also with you
Priest: Lift up your hearts
People: We lift them up to the Lord
Priest: Let us give thanks to Lord our God
People: It is right to give Him thanks and praise
A fairly familiar dialogue to be sure. But to some extent it fails to take wing because of the rather earthbound notion most moderns have of the Mass. parish Church Mass.
With this in mind consider a more literal rendering of the preface dialogue. Pay attention especially to the middle dialogue:
Priest: Dominus Vobiscum (The Lord be with you)
People: et cum spiritu tuo (And with your Spirit)
Priest: Sursum corda (Hearts aloft!)
People: habemus ad Dominum (We have, to the Lord!)
Priest: Gratias agamus, Dominio Deo nostro (Let us give thanks to the Lord our God)
People: Dignum et justum est (It is right and just).
What is the celebrant really inviting us to do? After greeting us in the Lord he invites us to go to heaven! But remember the priest is in persona Christi. Hence when he speaks it is really the Lord Jesus who speaks making use of the voice of the priest. And what does the Lord really say to us in the magnificent dialogue and preface that follows?
Allow me to elaborate on the fuller meaning of this text:
“Let your hearts be taken up! Come and go with me to the altar that is in heaven where I, Jesus the great High Priest, with all the members of my body render perfect thanks to God the Father! You are no longer on earth, your hearts have been swept aloft into the great liturgy of heaven! Come up higher. By the power of my words you are able to come up higher! Since you have been raised to new life in Christ, seek the things that are above where I am at my Father’s right hand. Come up now and enter the heavenly liturgy. Hearts aloft!”
The congregation’s response is meant to be a joyful acknowledgment and acceptance of the Lord’s action in summoning us to the heavenly liturgy. Here, too, allow me to elaborate:
“We have our hearts lifted to the Lord. We have entered the Heavenly Liturgy by the power of your grace, for you our head have taken us, the members of your body there. We are in the heavenly realms with you, worshipping the Father and giving him perfect thanks and praise. It is right and just that we should do this through you, with you and in you!”
Then the celebrant sings or says the preface wherein some specific things for which we are thankful are enumerated. The text of the preface changes based on the season, or the saint, or feast of the day. But it always ends in this or a similar manner:
“and so with angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven we sing the unending hymn of your praise:
And thus we are reminded that our worship is caught up into the heavenly liturgy where our voices join innumerable angels and saints in the glorious act of praise. We are in heaven!
Our hearts (our very selves) are aloft!
Hence the Mass is never just the “10:00 am Mass at St. Joe’s,” it is the heavenly liturgy. Until recently Churches were designed to remind us that we were entering heaven. As we walk into older churches we are surrounded by windows and paintings that depict the angels and saints. Christ is at the center in the tabernacle. And all the elements that scripture speaks of as in the heavenly liturgy are on display, not only in the building, but in the celebration of the liturgy: Candles, incense, an altar, the hymns that are sung, the Holy Holy Holy, the scroll is brought forward in the Book of Gospels, the lamb on the throne-like altar, the prostrations and kneelings of the saints before the Lord. All these things are described in the Book of Revelation descriptions of the heavenly liturgy. None of these things are in our churches or the liturgy for arbitrary reasons. We are in the heavenly realms and the heavenly liturgy and so we see and experience heavenly things. Hearts aloft!
No comments:
Post a Comment