Christmas Journey: Worshiping God with the Angels

"The Church... before beginning the Eucharistic Prayer... makes appeal to the angels and archangels to sing the glory of the thrice-holy God, uniting herself thus to those first adorers of God, in the worship and the loving knowledge of the unspeakable mystery of his holiness." St. John Paul II

Angels do work both in heaven and on earth simultaneously. They are flawless multi-taskers. They take care of us while at the same time they worship God. Worshiping God "without ceasing" is the most important part in the lives of the holy angels. The glorification never stops. They are constantly singing hymns to God's glory, chanting his holiness, prostrate before his throne. They are doing what God created them to do, while at the same time, they are messengers here on earth.

We can learn a lot from the angels and we can imitate them. God wants us to praise Him without ceasing. Just like the angels, God created us to do everything for His greater glory. When we celebrate Mass, we unite with the angels in a cosmic liturgy. When the Church gathers on earth, it gathers for heavenly worship. We worship alongside the angels, even if we cannot see them. When I go to mass, especially during the consecration of the host, I like to close my eyes and imagine that the altar is full of angels praising God. And when I hold hands to pray the Our Father, I close my eyes and I picture angels holding hands with all the humans, praising God. I imagine them in festal garments, singing and praising God. God created man and angel to pray and praise together, in one liturgy, in one holy communion: the communion of saints.

Of course, praising God without ceasing is probably much easier for angels than it is for us humans. After all, we have other responsibilities. It is practically impossible to be on our knees every minute of the day when we have to go to work, take care of a family, run errands, cook and handle a myriad of never ending tasks. But in the midst of all our duties, we can still praise God without ceasing if we offer everything that we do in prayer to God. If every little thing we do, we do it with and for God, we are praising Him. If when we open our eyes in the morning, we offer up our day to God, we are glorifying Him. If the work we do, we do it with God in mind, we are worshiping Him. If we see God in every family member, in the eyes of a stranger and in every person we come in contact during our day, we are exalting his holy creation.

We are constantly surrounded by a cloud of angels. We can only see them with the eyes of our hearts, if we believe in them. Angels come down from heaven when we celebrate mass, when we worship, when we are in need, when we ask them to help us and constantly, we have one guardian angel by our side. The angels are present in every aspect of our lives. We worship together in adoration and praise. There are angels among us, all the time. Open your heart and you will feel them.