Monday Meditation – Angels - 12/19/2022

Yesterday was the fourth Sunday of Advent, and the gospel reading at my church told the story of how Joseph got a visit from “the angel” who said to not be afraid to take Mary into his home even though she was found to be pregnant. My Bible does not say who that angel was, but tradition is that it was Gabriel, the same angel who announced to Mary that she would be the Mother of God.

In my Bible, whenever angels visited people on earth, they seem to always say the same thing when they first appear: “Do not be afraid!” I don’t know what angels look like, but probably they are not tiny, delicate, cute creatures – I suspect they are large and very majestic beings! If I were to be visited by an angel, I would probably be a bit frightened, too, so the phrase “Do not be afraid” would hopefully calm me down a bit!

Angels tend to visit people when important things are going to happen. Angels visited Abraham, and soon he and the barren Sarah conceived a child. Gabriel visited Mary and announced that she was destined to be the Virgin Mother foretold in Isaiah. I can’t imagine what Mary must have felt – young, betrothed but not married, and here she was to bear a child, and no ordinary child at that! Wow. Do not be afraid, indeed.

And the angel came again, this time to tell Joseph that Mary’s situation was all part of God’s plan – I’m sure he must have been a bit frightened at the thought of caring for Mary and Jesus, the Savior of the World, so it makes sense that the angel had to reassure him and encourage him to take on that responsibility.

Have you ever watched one of those tv shows or movies about angels interacting with people? The ones I have watched depict the angels in human form, helping people who usually don’t even realize that an angel is there. It’s a nice thought, and it causes me to wonder how many times this has really happened on earth? How often has an angel helped someone in some way? I like to think it happens more often than we think!

The other question is how many times have we been an angel for someone else? I believe every time we do something kind for someone else, we are being an angel to them. We may never know exactly how our actions benefit others, but chances are they do. One evening last week I went out into the church parking lot after an event, and these was an inch of snow covering all the cars. I decided to brush off a few cars that were near mine – I don’t even know whose cars they were, but it doesn’t matter. Let them think an angel came along to assist them!

My suggestion for you this week is to think about times when you have been blessed by another, perhaps by someone who may have been an angel in disguise. And then think of something you could do this week to be an angel for someone else. It might be something done anonymously, or something else. Just do something for someone. You never know how that action might bless them, and how much that might mean to them as we near Christmas.

Have a blessed Monday!

Faye

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