A few years ago, I received an e-mail about angels. It said that if I wanted to know the name of my guardian angel, all I had to do was pray about it and the name would be revealed to me. I wanted to know the name of my guardian angel badly. I prayed about it and the name "Luke" was the one that popped into my mind. So I started calling my guardian angel, Luke.
But then I began to wonder why only some of the angels in the Bible had names. In the Old Testament, the word "angel" refers only to a manifestation of God's presence as He communicates with human beings. The presence of God in the burning bush is referred to as "angel" (Exodus 3). But as time went on, the Hebrews began to realize that their world was inhabited by distinct spiritual creatures who were not a part of the corporeal world but who had different personalities much like their own. These beings were increasingly seen to play an active role in human affairs. They began to call them "angels" and some of these angels gained such prominence in their culture that a name was often applied to them. The Hebrews were aware that angels belonged to a different plane of reality than humans, yet they are willed into being by God just like us.
There are three angels specifically named in the Bible, and unfortunately, there is a fourth angel that has gotten more attention than he deserves. He has muscled his way into our lives since the dawn of time. Even though I would prefer to exclude him from our journey, the reality is that we need to be familiar with the enemy if we are going to beat him. If you don't believe there is an enemy out there trying to destroy us, all you need to do is turn on the news. This angel goes by many names, but the one that we are most familiar with is Satan.
As I learned more about angels and their names, I found out that the Church does not recommend that we name our guardian angels. "The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged." (5) It is rather presumptuous of us to name a creature that even though is assigned to us, it belongs only to God, therefore only God can name the angels. Yes, even though I prayed about the name of my guardian angel to be revealed to me, just because the name Luke was the first name that popped into my mind does not mean that is my angel's name. I guess I will find out if I make it to heaven and I meet him face to face. For now, I will continue to refer to my angel simply as "my guardian angel."
As we continue on our journey to Christmas, we will meet the three good angels that are named in the Bible and we will meet Satan in all his names. We have to be prepared spiritually to be able to recognize him, since Satan usually comes disguised as "the angel of light."
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-Directory on Popular Piety and Liturgy (published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Vatican City, Dec. 2001)
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