King of Angels!

John 1:51

And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”

Angels are infallibly greeted in the Old Testament by terror.  An angel may come in disguise, but when the disguise goes, the response is always fear.  And well it should be.  We are talking about superhuman created beings whose powers and intelligence vastly exceed our own.  Revelation 12 is compelled to portray the battle between good and evil angelic powers in cosmic terms, like an ancient myth.  Daniel also speaks of archangels holding in their hands the destiny of nations.  Angels aren’t the demure porcelain figures Hallmark portrays.  They are mighty and they are not to be trifled with.  Yet, amazingly, there is one man who speaks of himself as the ladder or stairway to heaven upon whom angels “ascend and descend”. Small wonder he too had to reassure his disciples to “fear not” when he rose from the dead.  If angels are awesome, how much more their King?

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Mark P. Shea is a popular Catholic writer and speaker. The author of numerous books, his most recent work is The Work of Mercy (Servant) and The Heart of Catholic Prayer (Our Sunday Visitor). Mark contributes numerous articles to many magazines, including his popular column “Connecting the Dots” for the National Catholic Register. Mark is known nationally for his one minute “Words of Encouragement” on Catholic radio. He also maintains the Catholic and Enjoying It blog and regularly blogs for National Catholic Register. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.

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