It was very common in the Bible to see angels delivering God's messages. Angels appear to be part of God's ordinary means of communicating with his people. Most of the prophets mentioned in the Old Testament talk about angelic encounters. The angels prepared the prophets for missions, revealed the word of God, shared heavenly visions, interpreted those visions, and kept the prophets in line. So closely were the prophets associated with the angels that they were sometimes mistakenly identified as angels. The prophet Malachi, in Jewish tradition, was identified as an angel. The fact that the name Malachi means, literally, "My Angel," probably had something to do with it.
"Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation, announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving the accomplishment of the divine plan: they closed the earthly paradise; protected Lot; saved Hagar and her child; stayed Abraham's hand; communicated the law by their ministry; led the People of God; announced births and callings; and assisted the prophets" (CCC332).
The prophet Ezekiel benefits from the services of several angels (Ez). Daniel reports that once he received a perplexing vision and an angel interpreted it for him (Dan 8:15-17). Balaam is disciplined by an angel after he goes astray and begins to prophesy falsely (Num 22). Isaiah has a vision where he sees the seraphim at worship (Is 6:5). When he describes the vision, he leaves us with a sense of awe and a touch of fright. Angels must be fearsome creatures; otherwise, they would not so often have to reassure human beings with the words, "Do not be afraid." (Luk 1:13, 1:30; Mat 28:5; Acts 27:24).
Isaiah and Ezekiel were priests of the Jerusalem Temple. Both report angel encounters that took place within or near the Temple. They saw angels worshipping in heaven. They both described that Heaven looked a lot like the Temple. They also said that the earthly worship of God's people was very similar to the heavenly worship of the holy angels.
"The Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria said that angels are 'the ministers and lieutenants of the mighty God, by means of whom, as of ambassadors, he announces whatever predictions he condescends to intimate to our race'" (3-Lesson 3: The Angels and Prophesy).
In the New Testament there are plenty of angel ambassadors coming down to earth to deliver messages from God. An angel appears to Zacharias to declare that his wife Elizabeth will have a son and that he is to name him John (Luk 1). An angel from God tells a virgin named Mary she will give birth to the savior of mankind (Luke 1:26-28, 30-31). Joseph receives at least three separate visits from angels - one regarding marrying Mary and two concerning the protection of baby Jesus (Matthew 1:18-20, 2:12-13, 19-21). They also appeared twice to shepherds near Bethlehem regarding the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:8-11, 13-14).
And how about today? Do we still have angel encounters in the 21st century? I believe so. It may be rare to encounter an angel in spiritual form, but angels can take human form to deliver messages, to help us when we find ourselves in dangerous situations or to comfort us when we are feeling down. Haven't you ever encountered someone that showed up out of the blue when you must needed it and then when you tried to find the person again it was nowhere to be found? That was probably an angel.
My friend Maria shared the following story with me: She had gone to South Miami to run an errand. She parked in a parking garage. When she got out of the garage, a homeless lady approached her and asked her if she could give her some money for food. Maria looked inside her purse and grabbed three loose dollars that she had placed on the inside pocket. The lady told her: "Thank you. I'm an angel and I'll always look out for you." Maria smiled but obviously didn't believe her. She kept walking, went to the store to get what she needed and when she went to pay, she realized that she didn't have her wallet. She searched inside her purse to see if she had any loose cash since she had the habit of sometimes just throwing loose change in there. She couldn't find a single dollar. As she was walking back to the parking, she realized that she had no money to retrieve her car and the garage had a three dollar minimum charge. "If only she had not given the money to the homeless lady," she thought. What was she going to do? She opened her purse to take out her cellphone to call her husband, when she noticed some folded bills in the same pocket from where she had retrieved the three dollars earlier. When she opened them, she saw to her astonishment that they were three single dollars bills. Where had they come from? She had searched her purse inside out at the store and she is certain that money was not there. She looked around for the homeless lady and could not find her. She is convinced to this day that the lady was indeed an angel.
We must always be kind to strangers because they may be an angel. And next time we find ourselves lost or out of sorts and someone just happens to show up, let's look a little closer because me may be looking into the eyes of an angel.
Sources:
1-The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible
2-Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
3-"Entertaining Angels" by Mike Aquilina (Catholic Scripture Study International 2013)
4-"Angels and Saints" by Scott Hahn 2014
5-"City of God" by St. Augustine 426 AD
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