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“Hospitality do not forget; for by this some, being not aware of it, have entertained Angels.” (Hebrews 13.1) |
Think
of it! Some of us have unknowingly
entertained Angels! The thought fascinates
us, thrills us!
But, really ... Saint Paul is letting us off
the hook.
It is true that we may have, at some time
in our lives, perhaps many times, entertained
an Angel in the form of a man, a woman,
or a child — entirely unknown to us. Yet,
if we reflect upon it, it is terribly odd
that this possibility, this mere prospect,
should fascinate us so, for Christ tells
us that whatever we do
“to
least of these”
we do — not to His Angels — but to Christ
Himself!
1
When Saul (soon to become St. Paul) was
vigorously persecuting the Church before
his conversion, Christ made this absolutely
clear when, appearing in great light, He
threw Saul off his horse and smote him with
blindness, saying:
“Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou Me?’ ... ‘Who
art thou, Lord?’ And He answered, ‘I am
Jesus Whom thou persecutest.’”
2
Let us make this more succinct still: What
we do to each other, to
the Body of Christ, the Church, we
do to Him!
We may indeed
entertain Angels unwittingly ... now and
then ... or perhaps never entertain one
at all. We cannot know this. But we
always entertain
Christ in our brother —
day in and day out — and give no second
thought to it.
We are astounded at the prospect that an
Angel should come to us — and with
incredible audacity we are totally indifferent
to God Himself Who comes to us,
stands before us, in our neighbor, begs
on our street corners, pleads for
“spare
change” from the squalor of our public alleys,
or Who shuffles behind to the battered shopping
cart that is his mobile home in our cities
of the homeless — and, yes, even
in the arrogance of those who hate us.
Thrilled ...?
We are thrilled to find an Angel
... and so disappointed when we only
find God in the disfigured face
of our brother.
An Angel comes periodically and
we deem ourselves extraordinarily blessed!
God Himself comes to us every single
day in every person we meet ... and
we yawn ...
We are eager that our blindness be dispelled
to what we may never see, and perfectly
willing to be blind to what we see with
our waking eyes!
“Dominus Deus Sabbaoth!
The Lord God of Angelic Hosts!”
Your
sense of awe is so misplaced! Unlike
you who ought to see, and do not
— they whom you would see, and
do not, know better.
Is it any wonder
that you — who should know God in the salt
of your brother's tears — do not so much
as see their Angels who ever behold the
face of God? 3
Christ has not sent His Angels ... He
comes Himself! ... disguised, disfigured,
and disdained ... and we do not know Him.
On the other hand, perhaps we do ... and
simply choose to look away.
Editor
Boston Catholic Journal
______________________________________
1
St. Matthew
25.40
2
Acts 9.4-5
3 Saint Matthew 18.10
Comments? Write us: editor@boston-catholic-journal.com
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