Catholic Life

Angels are not human beings who have died, gone to heaven, and earned their wings. The classic Frank Capra film, It’s a Wonderful Life, got that part wrong. Angels are purely spiritual beings, which means they don’t have bodies; they are entirely immaterial. But it also means that their spiritual powers of intelligence and will are not limited by their dependence on the five senses, as human intelligence and will are. In the whole hierarchy of God’s creation, from atoms to rocks to plants to animals to human beings to angels, angels are the most superior creatures, the ones closest to God in their very nature.

But when God through the incarnation became man in Jesus Christ, the relationship between humans and angels changed. Angels still have the superior nature, but we have been given the grace of a more intimate friendship with God, a sharing in God’s divinity, through grace, that even the angels don’t enjoy.

In this Retreat Guide, Invisible Allies: A Retreat Guide on St. Michael and the Angels, we will explore, a little bit, how God wants the angels to be involved in our Christian journey, and what role they are called to play in the dramatic history of our salvation.

• In the First and Second Meditations, we will reflect on the Church’s two liturgical celebrations dedicated to angels, and try to draw spiritual lessons for ourselves from those appearances.
• And in the Conference, we will bring some clarity to the often ignored, exaggerated, or misunderstood reality of the fallen angels—the devil and his demons, and how they try to tangle up human affairs.

Let’s begin by quieting our souls and turning the attention of our hearts to God, who is eager to spend this time with us. Let’s ask him for all the graces we need, especially the grace of a deeper insight into God’s plan for our invisible allies, the angels.