Lectionary: 647I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise; I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
According to Louis Bouyer's classic study of the Eucharist from the earliest Christian centuries to this day, we have always joined the angels in their song of praise, "Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts!" This is as true of the Eastern Orthodox churches as of the western Roman Church, despite the amazing variety of Eucharistic Prayers in our long history.
We can no more imagine heaven and the presence of God without angels than we can imagine no communion of saints.
In our day, when the secular sciences would populate the Universe with nothing more interesting than quasars, pulsars and black holes, we still hear the Universe singing God's praises with angelic voices. But instead of a "host of angels" we join "billions and billions" of angels, to use Carl Sagan's awe-stricken phrase.
The religious imagination has always peopled the universe with persons, both angels and demons; and we can think of no reason for God not to people the galaxies with angelic powers if God so chooses; even a multiverse is not beyond God's authority.
Every book in the Bible speaks of angels. In the light of that testimony, it would be hard for a Christian to deny their existence with the secular argument that "They shouldn't exist;" or "There's no evidence of them." Angels don't leave much evidence, but then neither did the Native American who could travel through the southwestern desert without leaving a telltale trace of his passage.
That some people can't imagine such boundless, all-encompassing authority cannot be used as an argument against it.
A few weeks ago I visited a small natural history museum in Las Cruces, New Mexico. One display was dedicated to the Solar System. It consisted of a hollow glass sphere, perhaps four feet in diameter. At the press of a button the sphere lit up with a map of any planet and several moons in our System. The Earth could be viewed as a planet of water, carbon, vegetation or heat, depending on which struck the viewer's fancy.
I looked at all of them. When I went to school fifty years ago, every classroom had a globe but we never saw anything like this one. How wonderful is human ingenuity, to create such a display!
If human beings can discover such mysteries and create such wonders, how much more wonderful is the Lord who created us!
Today's feast of the Archangels give Catholics another opportunity to ponder and rejoice in the Enormity of God's Goodness.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.