Where Are the Angels in the Mass?

Where Are the Angels in the Mass?

Gloria in Excelsis

It’s rare for people to see angels, but every single time we go to a Catholic Mass we’re surrounded by angels. Parts of the Mass, like the Gloria, are there to remind us of what angels do and that they’re with us. During Advent (and Lent), the Gloria is never sung or said, but why not? It’s important enough to be a part of the Mass, so should it really be skipped?

What is the Gloria?

The answer is in the readings at the Mass During the Night at Christmas. The Old Testament reading at that Mass is Isaiah 9:1-6, which begins:

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone (9:1)

And (skipping a bit):

For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace (9:5)

The Scripture readings at Mass are carefully chosen so that we can see the prophecies that were given in the Old Testament and how they are fulfilled in the New Testament. The Gospel reading for that Mass is Luke 2:1-14: the shepherds are guarding their sheep during the darkness of the night when an angel appears to them in 2:8-12:

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields
and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were struck with great fear.

The message the angel brings to them is the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:5. It’s the celebration of the Nativity, or birth, of the Lord: 

The angel said to them,
Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger (Lk 2:8-12)

The reference to the light, “the glory of the Lord shone around them,” is a reminder that the angel is not the source of the light: God is. We know that Christ is the light of the world, from John 8:1: “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” That light of the world entered the world on Christmas Day. 

The Savior has come, darkness has been banished by His very presence, and the way to heaven will be open again. The response to the announcement is of such overwhelming joy, that “a multitude of the heavenly host” sing to give glory to God at the birth of the Savior:

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel,
praising God and saying:

"Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

When we sing the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God in the Highest) during Mass, this is the mystery that we’re participating in: the promise of the savior has been fulfilled, and where that light shines the darkness is banished. At every Catholic Mass we’re in the presence of heaven, and every time we sing the Gloria we’re singing it along with all of the angels and saints in heaven to remember this and to celebrate. The Gloria is never said or sung during Advent because it’s our time of waiting for the birth of Christ, just as all of God’s people—from the Fall of Adam and Eve until the birth of Christ—waited for the messiah promised in Genesis 3:15.

The Mass is a shadow and copy of the heavenly liturgy, and when we participate in a Catholic Mass, everything that is said and done is to give us a visible sign of what is invisible to us. The readings remind us that from the beginning, God wanted all of us to be united to Him.

Witness this Christmas!

Adoration of the Magi, Bloemaert

Merry Christmas! More than just the “Reason for the Season”, the birth of Christ is the means by which God chose to save us – by sending His only Begotten Son to become man, to teach us by His words and actions, and to lead us to Heaven by means of the Cross.

The Lord works in mysterious ways – how a tiny baby boy could bring such promise; in which we hope for eternal life. It is not enough to say, “My Lord, and My God”… we must share the Good News for all mankind! Every one of us baptized in Christ are called to evangelize. In a world today that has become post-Christian, we need a re-evangelization.

Each one of us has an opportunity this Christmas to bear witness. Say “Merry Christmas!” Decorate with a nativity scene, and sing hymns when you go caroling. Christmas is more than one day; while your neighbors may be taking down their lights before New Years, you can keep yours up until the Baptism of our Lord.

The most important thing you can do is explain to your children the true meaning of Christmas. Read the Nativity story, go to Mass and celebrate Jesus’ birthday.

Wake up this 4th Week of Advent

Christ Calling, Chambers

Wake up! It’s almost Christmas! Are you ready? Christ is coming!  Just as many years ago in a stable, Our Lord came to dwell among men; so today, our Lord dwells within us through the life of grace. We received the indwelling of the Trinity at our Baptism, and we must nurture God’s life within us.

Yes, oftentimes we fail – we sin – we need to turn back to God. Restored to new life through the Sacrament of Penance, sanctifying grace remains. It has a permanence to it; God’s life stays in us unless we banish it through sin. Yes, sin is the obstacle to union with God.

Now, consider how Mary received God’s life within her – how she nurtured our Lord within Her. We too receive our Lord within us in Holy Communion. Do we give our attention, focus, love to Jesus? Do we bring Jesus into the world through our witness and words?

Children are usually ready for a visit from Santa Claus, for presents, for receiving. They wake up early anticipating the gifts! We need to shake out of our slumber, and comfort-zone to welcome the gift of the Christ Child. Set aside our work and distractions, and come rejoice in the presence of our Lord.

Wonder this 3rd Week of Advent

Transfiguration, Carl Heinrich Bloch

In the third week of Advent, we ought to wonder – how can this be that our Savior – the Second Divine Person of the Blessed Trinity - would choose to become one like us in all things but sin out of such love for us, though we are unworthy sinners.

Wonder is an important part of the religious imagination. Much of our faith is mysterious, and beyond our grasp. This is not an excuse to just over-look these sacred mysteries. Children are always asking “why?” Mysteries are not puzzles to be solved, but with faith we can ponder them in our hearts and come to understand what is inexplicable.

We must wonder at the tremendous sacrifice of our Lord: born in such humble conditions, taking a human nature to lead us to God, giving Himself without reserve unto the bitter end, so we can be with Him forever! Ponder anew the life of grace, obtained at such a great price and given so freely.

We can consider the lowly maiden, the most holy Virgin, as she received our Lord and gave Him her very flesh and blood. We can ponder St. Joseph, who accepted God’s will and with heroic virtue sought to provide for and protect his wife and child.

Are our hearts open to the promptings of God; can we hear His gentle voice and recognize His face today?

A wonderful resource to help children see the distractions of this world, and the opportunity to welcome Christ is called: The Ninth House. 

Why Are There So Many Images of Angels in Catholic Churches?

Angels adoring the Eucharist

If you walk into a Catholic Church the chances are pretty good that you’re going to see a statue or image of at least one angel, but why?

One church that I’ve been to has images of angels on the front doors. The angels have swords, but those swords are sheathed and the angels are holding them with both hands and the tips are pointing downwards towards their feet.

Sometimes there’s an image of St. Michael, and usually he’s shown holding a sword in a fighting stance, or about to strike a demon. It’s a portrayal of the scene from the book of Revelation where he’s just about to defeat Satan in Rev 12:7-9.

Sometimes there are images of angels surrounding the tabernacle, and this is partly a reference to the angels in Exodus 25:17-22 where the sculptures of angels are used to provide the mercy seat. The mercy seat is the throne of God on the Ark of the Covenant and it’s where He descends so that He is present among the Israelites.

In a Catholic Church, God is present in the Eucharist which is kept in the tabernacle after the Mass. The candle beside the tabernacle is lit to indicate the presence of God in that tabernacle, and when Catholics enter the church we genuflect towards the tabernacle to acknowledge that we’ve entered His presence.

God is always surrounded by His heavenly court and of course this includes the angels. During a Catholic Mass, heaven descends to earth and everyone in the church – the Church in heaven, on earth, and in purgatory – is united, even though we’re usually only able to see the members of the church on earth that are around us. The images are to remind us of the others that are there with us: they make visible what is invisible. Angels are pure spirit so we’re not able to see them as they are, but sometimes we can see them when they take on the form of a human body. The images also remind us of the different ways that they interact with us during our lives.

When Adam and Eve rejected God and had to leave the Garden of Eden, God placed a cherubim wielding a fiery sword to guard the entrance so they couldn’t return. It’s a symbol of heaven indicating that the gates of heaven were closed to human beings as well as God’s promise in Gen 3:15. Before God tells Adam and Eve what their punishment will be, He tells them that He will send a savior to open the gates to heaven again and reunite us with Him.

At the Incarnation, the second person of the trinity assumed a human nature. He became incarnate and was born to heal the broken relationship that human beings now have with God so that everyone can be reunited with God in heaven. Through His suffering, death, and resurrection He took on the punishment for the sins of Adam in Gen 3:17-19 and opened the gates of heaven.

When we enter a Catholic church where Christ is present in the tabernacle, we enter into the presence of heaven because the way is now open. This is why the angels on the doors of that Church are shown holding swords that are sheathed and pointing downwards: the angel guarding the way to Eden no longer prevents us from entering, but when we die in friendship with God we enter into eternal life with Him.

Waiting this 2nd Week of Advent

Nativity with God Father and Holy Ghost, Pittoni

Waiting for the coming of the Savior is an important theme of Advent. Throughout the Old Testament, we find many prefigurements, prophecies and typologies for the Savior. Sadly, we often fail to teach the Old Testament – which was the only Scriptures at the time of Christ! When Jesus explained how He fulfilled the Scriptures on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-53), it was the Old Testament that He referenced. We need to teach the Old Testament to understand that Jesus is the Savior. We believe Jesus is the Christ not because He worked wonders or was a good teacher – after all, there are other wonder-workers and great teachers. We believe Jesus is the Christ because of the many ways that ONLY the Christ could fulfill the Scriptures.

With Advent fast upon us, it amazes me how eager children are to count-down the days to Christmas. Of course, they may be thinking of the presents they hope to receive, or chocolates to find in Advent calendars. How hard it is to not each them all on December 1^st! We can use this natural anticipation to teach the true meaning of Christmas, as well as important lessons for every day life! 

Waiting is an important lesson to teach children – or adults for that matter. We are driven by our desires and impatient in our world of instant gratification. We recall the saying, “Patience is a virtue.” Patience must be practiced. As parents and catechists, we must teach children to wait – and why. We may defer to others (out of respect), we may put off our impulses (with restraint), and we must consider the proper order and use of things (our responsibility). Advent is a wonderful time to slow down and enjoy the anticipation.

This Advent, consider making Jesse Tree ornaments with your children and review the Old Testament. Evangelium Press has a wonderful coloring book with ornament patterns found at the back – available in print or download. Learn the Scriptures and unite yourselves with God’s People as they prepare for the coming of the Savior – and learn to watch for the coming of the Savior – the true meaning of Christmas!

Watching this 1st Week of Advent

Ascension of Christ, Jouvenet, Jean-Baptist

Let’s be honest, we’re all really good at procrastinating. I do laundry later, I can wait to Christmas shop, I can put off cleaning the garage until, well… it’ll never happen. Whether or not I make my to-do list a to-done list, there will be consequences. Eventually I run out of clothes, Christmas comes and I must be prepared and I may someday need to find a tool in my garage. The Second Coming of Christ will occur – but will we be ready?

Watching for the coming of the Savior during Advent moves our focus from the Birth of the Christ-Child to the Second Coming of our Lord at the end of time. At the Ascension (Luke 24:50-53, and Acts 1:9-11), the Angel said to the Apostles, “This Jesus, Who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, as you have seen Him going into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11). We seldom ponder this mystery. Perhaps because we don’t want to think about or perhaps because it seems so distant in the future.

Already in the second week of Advent, I recommend that catechists review the Sacrament of Reconciliation and a thorough examination of conscience. As catechists, we should help children prepare to receive this sacrament (and if possible arrange for your class to do so). Many parishes have communal penance services, all have confession times. Before Christmas, make the effort to go to Confession during the penitential season. Every confession anticipates our final judgment.

Part of the Sacrament of Penance is sorrow for sin and the amendment to not sin again. As we watch for the coming of Christ, let us also watch for and avoid occasions of sin. Be diligent in rooting out vice. Use this penitential season to offer up our sacrifices, fast and do penance – to become a truly wonderful gift for our Lord when we meet Him face-to-face.

We do not know the day or the hour; and we need not be afraid – if we are ready! We can watch for the signs of the times – sometimes in the more normal ways… we see ourselves aging, or loved ones with life-threatening illness and diseases. We will all meet our Lord, some rather suddenly. Will we be ready when we have this encounter? It is the most important meeting we’ll ever have!

For examination of consciences for adults and children, please visit:

https://www.catholiceducationcenter.com/resources-1

Part 2: Why is “A Christmas Carol” an Intentionally Christian Story?

If “A Christmas Carol” is a Christian story, then why isn’t God a character? The short answer: it would make for a very boring work of fiction. If God is a character in a story, then all you need to know about the ending is what the author believes about God. 

Atheist: God is either a product of the person’s imagination or evil

Agnostic: God may or may not exist, but is extraneous to the story because the characters are left to their own devices

Christian: God wins, the good people are saved, the bad people suffer and/or die

You can see why having God as a character in a fictional story will automatically make the plot of the story simplistic and boring. This is partly why authors use characters and images as symbols to demonstrate particular aspects of God’s actions in the world instead of having a character that *is* God.

So if this is a Christian story, then where are the Christian themes and symbols?

The title itself is the first indication that it’s a religious story. A “carol” is a religious song associated with Christmas, and Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. Christ’s Mass, or the Mass celebrating the Nativity (birth) of Christ, is where the word “Christmas” comes from in English. Charles Dickens was personally more concerned with social issues than religion, but his stories are definitely written in a Christian context. So other than the title and the setting of Christmas Eve, how is the story about Scrooge a Christian story?

There should be at least one character that imitates some aspects of Christ, and in this story it is Tiny Tim:

• He is perfectly innocent and completely good
• Everyone who meets him instantly sees his suffering but also recognizes his goodness
• His suffering isn’t caused by anything that he did
• He was born to suffer and die through no fault of his own

Everyone who reads the story, or watches any of the many versions of the story, falls in love with that character and grieves his loss when he dies. When Scrooge sees his grave, he is completely distraught and can’t bear the thought that through his actions he had a hand in the suffering and death of this innocent, loving boy. When he is alive at the end, it symbolizes the death and resurrection of Christ. It’s because of his suffering and death that Scrooge repents, and it’s through his encounter with Tiny Tim that Scrooge is saved. 

As a reader, we experience the same suffering at Tiny Tim’s death and should share the desire to do whatever we can to prevent it. When we read the story, we want Scrooge to repent and change his ways. If the character were named "Jesus" instead of "Tiny Tim" then we wouldn't have the same experience. We would bring our ideas about God to the story and impose them upon the character and never really involve ourselves in the story. We wouldn't go through the process of being confronted with the results of our actions and given a chance to change them by first experiencing a change in our minds and hearts the way Scrooge does. When we go through this experience within the story of suffering and repenting that Scrooge does, it is so that we will do the same in our own lives so that we can receive salvation.

Part 1: Why Did Charles Dickens Write a Ghost Story for Christmas?

A Christmas Carol has been adapted into movies and retold so many times that we simply associate it with Christmas without any further thought. But did it ever seem odd to you that when Charles Dickens decided to write a story for Christmas, he wrote a ghost story? 

What about this reference in the song “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” sung by Andy Williams: 

There'll be scary ghost stories
and tales of the glories
of Christmases long, long ago

Dickens wasn’t the only author who wrote ghost stories at Christmas; it was already a long-standing tradition. But why would anyone tell a ghost story at Christmas?

The visitation of Scrooge’s former partner, Jacob Marley, serves first as a reminder that our souls continue to exist after we die, second as a warning that there are eternal consequences for how we live our lives now, and third that as long as we are alive there is still hope. The visitations of each of the three ghosts give Scrooge the chance to reflect on his life, the effects of his actions on those around him, and the ultimate consequences of his current actions. This is the self-reflection that Victorian ghost stories were intended to encourage. 

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ, our Savior. Advent is the time of preparation for this and it’s time that we’re supposed to spend partly in self-reflection: where are we spiritually, where is God in our lives, what changes do we need to make so that when we die we go to heaven? For those who have doubts or have fallen away from God, it’s a reminder that where there is life there is hope and the potential to change. That hope serves as a call to conversion and repentance and this is what Scrooge responds to with his burst of generosity. He rejects his miserly ways by providing for the poor and starving Cratchit family with food and money, and gives Bob Cratchit time with his family instead of demanding that he work excessive hours.

If we think of Advent and Christmas as a time when everyone is supposed to be nice to each other and give presents, then we only see Scrooge at the end and miss the point of the story.  

 

Next: Why is “A Christmas Carol” an Intentionally Christian Story?