Now, it is time to look at what God created. In this post and the next, we will look at
the created world, or as the Creed refers to it, the
heavens and the earth. (This
post will focus on the heavens, and the next will focus on the earth.) In the
final post, we will look at the pinnacle of his creation, man.
The Catechism explains what is meant by the phrase “the
heavens and the earth”. We read in #326:
The
Scriptural expression "heaven and earth" means all that exists,
creation in its entirety. It also indicates the bond, deep within creation,
that both unites heaven and earth and distinguishes the one from the other:
"the earth" is the world of men, while "heaven" or
"the heavens" can designate both the firmament and God's own
"place" - "our Father in heaven" and consequently the
"heaven" too which is eschatological glory. Finally,
"heaven" refers to the saints and the "place" of the
spiritual creatures, the angels, who surround God. As we hear in the Nicene Creed, God created
all things “seen and unseen”. So basically, Earth is what we visibly see around us, while
the "heavens" refer to the unseen, but real nonetheless, creation of God, a "place" that surrounds him. God, as
creator, made both; the angelic, and the earthly.
What are angels? They are servants
and messengers of God. They are purely spiritual, with no
bodies. They have intelligence and
will, and surpass us in perfection. (There’s a big but to that, however, which
we will get into later in this series.)
Angels were created through and for Our Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Paul’s letter to the
Colossians: for in him all things
in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through
him and for him. (Colossians 1:16).
They serve at his pleasure, but what is most important for us now, is
that they are messengers of his saving plan.
We see angels in the Infancy narrative, and then again at the empty
tomb. (We also saw them throughout the
Old Testament, as well, as the way was prepared for Christ.)
The Church, in her liturgy, joins the angels in worshipping
God. We think of the phrase we often
hear at Mass, “With the choirs of angels
in heaven, we now join in their unending hymn of praise.” They guide the Church, and all of creation. Each one of us has our own guardian angel.
The Catechism does not go into this, but I think it interesting
just to list the different orders, or “choirs” of angels that have been discerned in
the tradition of the Church. This list comes courtesy of Catholic.org. There are nine. We will start with the highest rank, and work our
way down.
1)
Seraphim are the highest order or choir of angels. They are
the angels who are attendants or guardians before God's throne.
2)
Cherubim have intimate knowledge of
God, and praise him continually, just slightly below the seraphim in the order
of rank. Like the seraphim, they are
intimately associated with the glory of God.
3)
Thrones are the angels of pure humility, peace and submisssion.
They reside in the area of the cosmos where material form begins to take shape.
The lower angels needs the thrones to access God. They exist at the boundary between heaven
and earth.
4)
Dominions are angels of leadership. They regulate the duties
of the angels, making known the commands of God.
5)
Virtues govern all nature. They have control over seasons,
stars, moon; even the sun is subject to their command. They are also in charge
of miracles and provide courage, grace, and valor.
6)
Powers
are warrior angels
against evil defending the cosmos and humans. They fight against evil spirits
who attempt to wreak chaos through human beings. (I like these guys!)
7)
Archangels are generally taken to mean "chief or
leading angel. They deliver important
messages at critical times in the history of salvation. Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael are all
archangels.
8)
Principalities
are hostile to God
and human beings. The fact that Christ
rules over them shows the reign of Him as King, and so, they still serve a
purpose.
9)
Angels While all the choirs are known as angels,
the lowest order has no special name; they are just called angels. These angels are closest to us. (These would include our guardian
angels.) They deliver the prayers to God
and God's answers and other messages to humans. Angels have the capacity to
access any and all other angels from any other rank at any time. They are the
most caring and social to assist those who ask for help.
For a little bit more personal reflection on angels, please
read the post I did on them back in 2015:
Now there is more to the invisible world, to the heavens,
than just angels. There are the Saints
who have gone before us. They all surround the throne of God, singing
his praises, and delighting in doing his will.
However, while it is a holy place, it is still separate from Him, and
cannot be equated with God himself. It
is still indeed a creation of God,
just like our visible world is. It was
created, like our world was, for God’s glory.
Heaven is indeed where we wish to be some day. But keep in mind that our destiny is not just
to enjoy heaven as a creation of God, but rather, to enjoy God himself. This, I think, should caution us to make a
slight distinction when we refer to the heavens as a created place, versus heaven
as our destiny. Heaven as our destiny will encompass all the
wonderful things about “the heavens”, but it will be even more! For the most part, heaven is beyond words, but over the centuries, many Saints and scholars have come up with words to describe a little of what it will be like there. That is beyond the scope of this particular post, though, but I hope to come back to it someday.
(If you are new to this blog, however, I did speak of heaven in general in a post back in 2016. Here is a link if you are interested:
(If you are new to this blog, however, I did speak of heaven in general in a post back in 2016. Here is a link if you are interested:
In the next post, we will turn from the invisible to the visible
creation.
Joseph, diligent protector of Christ, pray for us.
(Attached picture is angels by 14th century painter Guariento Di Apro.)
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