Subtitle: Or, at the least, I think I believe
Sub-subtitle: Or, at the most, I believe I know
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With the annual festival of Christmas only a few days away, during my morning meditation, I read and reflected afresh on the biblical story of the Annunciation:
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. Gabriel said to her, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you…And you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus” (Luke 1.26-28, 31).
This (or was it the voice of the Spirit calling?) led me to another biblical passage concerning a different sort of angel:
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13.1-2)
And this led me to think about angels.
Angel, from the Late Latin, angelus. Messenger. A supernatural being in countless religions and mythologies. Celebrated as a benevolent intermediary between the realms of heaven and earth, serving as a guide to living and a guardian of life. Though oft conceived and perceived as formless, bodiless spirits, there are moments in the history of time and space, verily, in the history of my life in time and space when angels have taken human form and shape:
When I was drowning in a flood of anxiety or consumed in the fire of anger or shrouded in the shadows of doubt, someone, sometimes familiar, sometimes a stranger, offered unto me a reassuring sign of hope or an opened hand of peace or a whispered word of faith…
When I, through self-interested caprice, betrayed a confidence or, through feckless negligence, broke a promise and the one I wronged forgave me…
When I, blind to my error, pursued a ruinous path and a sage soul, alert to my fault and caring for my wellbeing, pointed the way to truth.
When, at many other times and on many other occasions, I, for myself, whether or not knowing, needed the ministrations of a messenger of God, an angel appeared.
Long, now, I have believed in angels.
Long, now, too, I have sought to be angel for others.
© 2020 PRA
occasional observations of mind and heart, soul and spirit 
How I love this for I know angels are all around us every day.
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Paul,
I know I wouldn’t be where I am today were it not for the angels that surround me and guide me when I need it most. I do hope you know you’ve been an Angel in many lives, including mine and not just in your role as a priest, but as a human being willing to show their flaws and scars in addition to their greatness.
This was a great reminder to start my day!
Love
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My dearest Loretta, regarding our angelic lives and labors, you must know that we constitute a MAS (mutual admiration society), for as I have been an angel to you, most surely, you have been and are and remain an angel to and for me. For this, for you, I am blessed and grateful.
Love
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