Angels of the Lord - Catherine Odell

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      January 14

      Snowflakes and Angels

      What do angels and snowflakes have in common? No two are alike. While children are fascinated by the frozen wonder of snowflakes, winter-weary adults are seldom amazed that each snowflake is unique. Perhaps they should be. Think of it! Millions of snowflakes form, fall, and melt, yet each is one-of-a-kind. Saint Thomas Aquinas recognized that each magnificent angel is also unique. He said that each angel has distinctive characteristics, a unique name and personality. Every angel reflects a specific attribute of God to the highest degree possible for a created being. Because God is limitless, there are more angels than all the snowflakes.13

      Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all forever…. Frost and chill, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. Ice and snow, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever. (Daniel 3:58, 69–70)

      January 15

      Needed: An Angel to Guide Us

      We’re already two weeks into the New Year. Those well-intentioned “New Year’s Resolutions” now seem too hard or impractical. We want to do what we should do, but it’s hard to do on our own. Where can we find help? Throughout the Old Testament, God told his Chosen People that he wouldn’t abandon them. God sent Moses to lead them out of slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. God also sent his angel to guide them through the desert. Their journey out of Egypt and slavery took many years and wasn’t easy. It proceeded day-by-day — just like yours and mine.

      “See, I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared” (Exodus 23:20). God’s angel guided the Israelites. God also has a plan for you. Ask often for direction in your life during this year.

      January 16

      Angel Therapist: “Not to Worry!”

      Once, the faith-filled Pope Saint John XXIII struggled with insomnia. He shared his own story with a visiting bishop who wasn’t sleeping very well himself. Concern over new pastoral responsibilities was consuming the new bishop. “The very same thing happened to me in the first few weeks of my pontificate,” the pope nodded with understanding. “Then, one day, my guardian angel appeared to me in a daydream and whispered, ‘Giovanni, don’t take yourself so seriously!’ Ever since,” Pope John smiled, “I’ve been able to sleep.”14

      Can you see your job and your responsibilities in a different perspective — God’s perspective? Can you take yourself less seriously?

      January 17

      Saint Anthony of Egypt (251–356)

      Instructed by an Angel

      As a young man, Saint Anthony gave his large inheritance to the poor and retreated from the world to a life of solitude, penance, and prayer in the desert. But he found that without the distractions of the material world, the challenges of the spiritual life were stronger. One day he begged God, “What shall I do? How can I be saved?” Then Anthony saw a man like himself braiding a rope, rising from his work to pray, returning to his work, and getting up again to pray. Then Anthony understood that the Lord sent an angel to answer his prayer. When he heard the angel say to him, “Do this and you will be saved,” Anthony was filled with joy and courage.15

      Many people were drawn to Anthony in search of spiritual healing and guidance. His biographer, Saint Athanasius, wrote that “strangers knew him from among his disciples by the joy on his face.” That joy may well have come from following the instruction of an angel: Work and pray dutifully and you will be saved.16

      January 18

      An Angel Stirred the Water

      In Jerusalem there was a pool called Bethesda where the ill and infirm gathered. They believed that an angel of the Lord would come down into the pool and stir the water so the first person to get into the pool after the stirring of the water was healed. One day Jesus went to this pool and saw a man lying there who had been ill for thirty-eight years, because he had no one to put him into the water. Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat and walk.” Immediately the man was able to get up and walk (see John 5:2–9). Early and current biblical translations make no mention of the angel who came to stir the waters. However, for centuries the angel was an integral part of the biblical account, because the presence of the angel explained how the water imparted the healing power of God.

      Think of some healing that you are longing for. Then pray: “Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of your life that I received in the holy water of Baptism. Cleanse, heal and renew Image with the power of your living water.”

      January 19

      The Angel of the Waters

      In the middle of Central Park in New York City, a graceful eight-foot bronze angel hovers over Bethesda Fountain. The Angel of the Waters extends her right hand over the water in a gesture of blessing. In her left hand, the angel carries a lily to symbolize the purity of the water. Bethesda Fountain was commissioned to commemorate the 1842 opening of the Croton Aqueduct, which was built to supply New York City with fresh water. The new, pure water was like a miracle following a cholera epidemic that devastated the city. Emma Stebbins, who created the beautiful sculpture, likened the clean, healthy water that cascaded from the fountain to the healing properties of the biblical pool of Bethesda.

      Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Lord, you know me; you know everything I have ever done. Wash away my sins in the wellspring of your grace. Heal me with your love, and I will live forever.

      January 20

      Saint Sebastian (died c. 250)

      An Angel’s Gentle Touch

      As a high-ranking officer in the Roman army, Sebastian was able to secretly lead others to belief in Christ and encourage fellow Christians in their faith. When Sebastian’s faith and evangelization was discovered, his fellow soldiers bound him to a tree and shot him with arrows. He survived this ordeal, only to be beaten to death. This unusual martyrdom became a popular subject for Renaissance artists. Giovanni Baglione painted Saint Sebastian in 1603, showing an angel gently removing an arrow from the martyr’s body. This scene depicted a popular belief that Christ sent an angel to untie Sebastian and tend to his wounds. Soon after his death, Christians began to venerate his tomb on the Appian Way outside of Rome. Today this underground burial area is named for him, The Catacombs of Saint Sebastian, and is a popular destination for visitors.

      Lord, fill us with that spirit of courage that gave your martyr Sebastian strength to offer his life in faithful witness.

      January 21

      Saint Agnes (died c. 304)

      Angelic Bodyguard

      Saint Agnes loved her Savior above all else. Just as she refused the young men who wanted to marry her, Agnes

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