as if of hands, countless gentle hands, the even softer brush of lips — lips against my cheeks, my forehead, my parched eyelids.” Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations, but he was surely hot, tired, hungry, exhausted, thirsty and sun-burnt. Both the Gospels of Matthew and Mark say that angels ministered to him.79
Scripture assures us that the life of Jesus was filled with angels — from his birth until his Death and Resurrection. Angels surround you, as well!
March 27
The Priest Mistaken for an Angel
In the summer of 2013, Father Patrick Dowling of the Diocese of Jefferson City stopped on an eastern Missouri highway to see if he could help car accident victims. Dowling learned that nineteen-year-old Katie Lentz was conscious, but trapped inside her virtually demolished car. Though not a Catholic, Lentz asked the priest to pray for her and her rescuers. Despite previous failed attempts, rescuers soon cut through the mangled car to free Katie. Later, two rescuers insisted that they heard a man’s voice urging calm and giving directions. Since Father Dowling seemed to disappear unnoticed and unidentified, early accident reports referred to the priest as an angel.80
Father James Martin, S.J., a well-known national media consultant and author said, “There are angels, of course, but we tend to ascribe to angels anonymous acts that we find incredibly loving — when in fact human beings do incredibly loving things in hidden ways every day.” Ask God to show you where to do loving things in hidden ways.81
March 28
C. S. Lewis and the Angels
The author of The Chronicles of Narnia and other books on Christianity never doubted the existence of angels — or devils. During World War II, C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), a Cambridge University professor, wanted to lift the spirits of his war-weary countrymen. So, Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters, a hilarious series of letters from a senior devil named Screwtape. Screwtape instructs his bumbling nephew, Wormwood, on strategies to tempt a man and lead him to hell. Wormwood learns to encourage his client’s vices, murmuring little words of discouragement and promoting his selfishness. English readers chuckled, but they got Lewis’s point. The battle between good and evil is real, relentless, and all around us.82
“I believe in angels, and I believe that some of these, by the abuse of their free will, have become enemies to God, and as a corollary, to us. These, we may call devils. They do not differ in nature from good angels, but their nature is depraved.”
— C. S. Lewis, Preface, The Screwtape Letters
March 29
Angels Shadowing Us
Saint Augustine taught that angels are always nearby. They’re a bit like our shadows, connected to us on the ground. Whether we are in a sunny place in our lives or a cloudy one, they never leave us. Augustine said, “The angels go in and out with us, having their eyes always fixed upon us and upon all that we are doing. If we stop anywhere, they stop also; if we go forth to walk, they bear us company; if we journey into another country, they follow us; go where we will, by land or by sea, they are ever with us all day long and all night long, and during every moment of our life.”83
“Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give your Angels and Saints charge over those who sleep.”
— Night Prayer of Saint Augustine (see the complete prayer in the appendix, page 378)
March 30
Bodyguard in the Forest
One winter evening in the 1940s, a German minister was walking back to his village alone. When he reached a forested area in Bavaria, an unexplainable dread filled him. He prayed and a deep peace quickly replaced his fear. That night, in a dream, he saw his battered body on the forest floor. A voice said, “That’s what you would look like if I hadn’t protected you.” Months later, the minister learned that some young men had planned to kill him that night. They hated him because his Bible classes were influencing their girlfriends. The men insisted that a bodyguard suddenly appeared and walked on the minister’s right all through the forest. Then, the protector vanished.84
Psalm 34:8 assures us, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he saves them.” Pray for an angel at your shoulder when fear of any kind fills you with dread.
March 31
Angels Spreading the Gospel
After the first Pentecost, the Church received angelic help to spread the Gospel. One instance of angels on the job is about an Apostle and an Ethiopian Jew. On his way home from Jerusalem, the Ethiopian was puzzling over a reading from Isaiah. At the same moment, an angel spoke to the Apostle Philip who was nearby. The angel told Philip, “Get up and head south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert route.” So, Philip set out and caught up with the Ethiopian’s carriage (Acts 8:26–27). Riding along in the carriage, Philip talked about Jesus. The prophecies of Isaiah, he said, were about Jesus. Convinced, the Ethiopian stopped the carriage when they came to some water and was baptized.
Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, with everlasting good news to announce to those who dwell on earth, to every nation, tribe, and people. (Revelation 14:6)
Like Philip and the angels, you too can carry the Gospel’s Good News to the world around you.
April 1
The Angel of Righteousness
The Shepherd of Hermas, a second-century Christian writer, described a vision of a man with two angels — an angel of righteousness and an angel of iniquity. The man asks the Shepherd, “How, sir, am I to know the powers of these, for both angels dwell with me?” “Hear,” said the Shepherd, “and understand them. The angel of righteousness is gentle and modest, meek and peaceful. When, therefore, he ascends into your heart, immediately he talks to you of righteousness, purity, chastity, contentment, and of every righteous deed and glorious virtue. These are the deeds of the angel of righteousness. Trust him and his works.”85
Today, take time to meditate on the Shepherd’s advice: When you trust the angel of righteousness, and do his works, you live in God. Furthermore, if you refuse to do the works of the angel of iniquity, you will live in God.
April 2
The Angel of Repentance
The Shepherd of Hermas used a common image of wine jugs to warn Christians about the devil. As this ancient story goes, a man filled good wine jars with good wine, but left a few jars empty. Later, he
