Msgr. Peter J. Vaghi
Title of Series: "What Catholics Believe: The Faith Professed"

Part 3: "Angels, Man and his Fall: the Christmas Answer"

December 7th, 2006
First Thursday

I have entitled this December meditation: “Angels, Man and his Fall: the Christmas Answer.” With this talk, we conclude the first Article of the Apostles’ Creed -- "I believe in God the Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth." In November's meditation, we spoke of God, Father, Almighty and Creator. The Nicene Creed makes it more explicit and states that God also created "all that is seen and unseen." That is our emphasis in today's reflection -- what is seen and unseen -- all created by God. Focus today with me on three categories: l.) The Invisible World of Angels and the Visible World; 2.) Man: Summit of all Creation and 3.) Original Sin and the Fall.

l.) The Invisible World of Angels and the Visible World

Do you know that 69% of those polled by Time magazine believe in the existence of angels? That 46% of those polled believed they have a guardian angel? These nteresting statistics were revealed in a popular cover story devoted to Angels (December 27, 1993) entitled "Angels among us." I did a little poll myself. I asked a priest friend whether he believed in angels and he quickly said yes. "I grew up in St. Gabriel's parish." Another friend of mine said yes. "I was born in Los Angeles -- the city of angels." To a new bishop suffering from insomnia, Blessed John XXIII reportedly told him: "The very same thing happened to me in the first few weeks of my pontificate, but then one day my guardian angel appeared to me in a daydream and whispered: Giovanni, don't take yourself so seriously. And ever since then I've been able to sleep.”

Most of us who went to Catholic schools were taught to leave a little room at our desk for our guardian angels and were taught the prayer to our Guardian Angel. Remember it? I know that there are some among you who still recite that prayer in the morning and at night. Recite with me --

“Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom his love commits me here, ever this day (night) be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen”

Angels are quite popular today at this Advent/Christmas time of the year. One need only walk into any book store to see an entire section devoted to angels. There are “angels-only” boutiques, angel gift paper, angel newsletters, angel seminars, plays and movies and books about angels. As an example, Billy Graham's 1975 book "Angels: God's Secret Agents" was a national best seller: 2.6 million copies sold. No pun intended, but angels are certainly in the air.

There is even a town/abbey named after an angel in France, Mont St. Michel, perhaps you have visited it. “To the traveler, it first appears as a distant, gray, rough-cut diamond set in the silver sea. Mont St. Michel, a town and an abbey improbably perched on a rock off the coast of Normandy, presents itself in glimpses from bluffs along the coast road from Granville to Avranches. In medieval times, pilgrims flocked here to venerate the Archangel Michael. They did so at other European sites as well, but none of them casts a similar spell.” “Why was it even built? Because "The Archangel loved heights," as [John] Adams contends in his opening line. Legend has it that the Archangel Michael himself had a hand -- or at least a finger in it: In a dream he forcibly persuaded Bishop Aubert of Avranches in 708 to build an oratory dedicated to him on a rock known then as Mont Tombe. Reputedly, a hole penetrates the forehead of the Bishop's skull where the Archangel had pressed his digit!” (Wall Street Journal October 7-8, 2006)

But why the general popularity of angels? It has been written: "For those who choke too easily on God and his rules, theologians observe, angels are the handy compromise, all fluff and meringue, kind, nonjudgmental. And they are available to everyone, like aspirin." (Time December 27, 1993) They make no demands on us, on our conduct.

The existence of angels is a "truth" of our faith. Created by God, they are “a realm of spiritual beings who do not share the limitations of a physical body and yet exist as the result of his all-powerful, loving act of creation.” USCCA 54 In fact, Jews, Christians and Muslims, all three, affirm the existence of angels. There are angels in Buddhism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism. Bishop Schoenborn, in his little book on the catechism, writes that "it is impossible to imagine the consciousness of faith and of the life of the liturgy without a place for the angels." Living the Catechism of the Catholic Church, volume l, p. 70 And so it is.

Angels appear in more than half of the books of the Bible. The term "angel" means messenger. They are purely spiritual creatures. They are servants and messengers of God who glorify Him without ceasing. Some of the angels turned against God and were driven to hell, their leader named Satan.

In the 4th Eucharistic Prayer, speaking to the Father, we pray: "Countless hosts of angels stand before you to do you will; they look upon your splendor and praise you, night and day." Angels are also with Christ. They are His angels. "From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word Incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels." CCC 333 "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you," words of the angel Gabriel's Annunciation to Mary. It was an angel after all who appeared to the Blessed Mother. This truth has been portrayed in more religious artwork than any other. The words of the angel are part of our prayer -- the Hail Mary. In fact, St. Luke records the entire conversation between Mary and the angel in chapter one of his gospel. On Christmas night, the angels sang the well-known song of praise. "Their song of praise at the birth of Christ has not ceased resounding in the Church's praise [at Sunday Mass and other solemnities"]: 'Glory to God in the highest.'" CCC 333

Not only do we repeat the words of the angels in our prayers and the liturgy, but "from infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession." CCC 336 Angels do exist. The Church venerates the angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and protect every human being.

Not only did God create the "invisible" but also the "visible" world in all its richness, diversity and order which can be read in the first two chapters of Genesis. “The sequence of creation reported in Chapter l of the Book of Genesis is not literal or scientific, but poetic and theological.” USCCA 55 The catechism thus sets forth nine interpretative principles regarding the visible world created by God setting forth a hierarchy of creatures: l.) Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to the "Word" of God the creator; 2.) Each and every creature possesses its own goodness and perfection reflecting in its own way a ray of God's infinite wisdom and goodness; 3.) God wills the interdependence of creatures. No creature is self-sufficient. Hence nature mirrors the need for sharing and generosity; 4.) The beauty of the universe in all its diversity reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator; 5.) Although God loves all His creatures, Jesus reveals a hierarchy within creation: "Of how much more value is man than a sheep"; 6.) Man is the summit of the Creator's work; 7.) There is a solidarity among all creatures arising from the fact that all have the same Creator and all are ordered to His glory; 8.) The Creator "rested" on the sabbath -- a day of worship and adoration of God. Worship is thus inscribed in the very order of creation; and 9.) The eighth day, the day of Christ's Resurrection, begins the new creation. The work of creation culminates in the greater work or redemption.

These principles thus help us to interpret the visible world.

2.) Man: Summit of all Creation

"God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them." (Gen l: 27) Man therefore occupies a unique place in all of creation. Psalm 8:6 tells us that we are made a "little less than the angels." But what does this mean to be made in the image and likeness of God? “God’s image is a dynamic source of inner spiritual energy drawing our minds and hearts toward truth and love, and to God himself, the source of all truth and love.” USCCA 67

Ultimately, man is predestined to reproduce the image of God's Son made man, the "image of the invisible God."(Col l:l5) The Vatican Council teaches that "in reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear." (Gaudium et Spes 22) The foundation of all Christian anthropology and morality is based on this axiom that we, each one of us, was created in the image and likeness of God and that we are destined to share His life.

"Of all visible creatures, only men and women are 'capable of knowing and loving their Creator'...They alone are called to share, by knowledge and love, in God's own life. They have been created for this end, and this is the fundamental reason for their dignity..." CCC 356

This section of the catechism on the "dignity" of the human person refers to CCC 2258 which reads: "Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can under any circumstances claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being."

And yet we regrettably live in a world increasingly filled with contempt for the human person, a world filled with violence against the human person so often, too often, the object of such violence. One need only read the newspaper or watch daily television -- media replete with examples of violence in the Middle East and other trouble spots around the world. The contempt for the human person today is evidenced by the millions of abortions, the advocacy for euthanasia and assisted suicide and the use of the death penalty to punish crime to the most recent challenges over the question of stem cells -- our advocacy of the protection of the fertilized embryo. And the human person, this summit of all God's creation, is increasingly the victim. The dignity of the human person is indeed in jeopardy through the false solutions or quick fix methods. The catechism teaches clearly: "Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a person, who is not just something, but someone." CCC 357 The Church, our Church, will always be on the side of human life! Precisely because Jesus took on human life, He ennobled it and raised it to the level of a share in divine life.

Violence against the human person need not be deadly to be wrong. Anger, which is so often a challenge for each one of us in our daily lives, intolerance, impatience -- which seems so challenging for each one of us (without exception) in our fast moving society -- and aggression (often displayed in our driving habits) are all seeds of violence against the dignity of the human person. This kind of violence can be overcome, however, day by day, choice by choice and person by person. “To be made in God’s image also unites human beings as God’s stewards in the care of the earth and of all God’s other creatures.” USCCA 67

“We are not alone in this endeavor to protect the dignity of the human person for, as the catechism teaches: "Because of its common origin, the human race forms a unity." CCC 360 Each of us is a brother and sister to one another. If only this teaching were appropriated in the Middle East and the other troubled spots of our world!

The catechism teaches further that "the human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual." 362 The human body shares in the dignity of the "image of God" and it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul. The "soul" refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value to him. Although made of body and soul, man is a unity. No one may despise his bodily life. Rather everyone is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day. The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God. “While our bodies come into being through physical processes, our souls are all created directly by God.” USCCA 68 They are immortal and will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.

"Male and female he created them." (Gen l:27) The catechism underscores the equality of man and woman and their difference as willed by God. "Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity 'in the image of God.'" CCC 369

"God created man and woman together and willed each for the other." CCC 371 He created them "to be a communion of persons, which each can be 'mate' to the other, for they are equal as persons ('bone of my bones') and complementary as masculine and feminine." CCC 372 In marriage, God unites them in such a way that, by forming "one flesh" they can transmit human life. Childbirth and conception are not curses. These make man and woman co-creators with God. In my marriage homilies, I love to quote from John Paul II's beautiful Apostolic Letter on the dignity and vocation of women where he wrote, speaking of Christian marriage -- "In the 'unity of two', man and woman are called from the beginning not only to exist 'side by side' or 'together' but they are also called to exist mutually 'one for the other.'"

Finally, the Church teaches that our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created in a state of original holiness and justice -- created good and established in friendship with God. As long as they remained intimate with God, they would neither suffer nor die. Work was not a burden. "This entire harmony of original justice, foreseen for the man in God’s plan [man in paradise] will be lost by the sin of our first parents." CCC 379

3.) Original Sin and the Fall

Years ago, I heard a homily that has remained with me ever since. The homilist said that the two greatest events in the history of the world were the fall of man and the redemption of the human race by our Savior Jesus Christ. He went on to speak of original sin -- a topic that does not make many homilies today. As the new catechism states: “There is a perceptible discomfort in our culture with the notion of sin as an evil for which we must give an account to God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Judge.” USCCA 71

Yet, through original sin, that devastating act of disobedience performed by our first parents, the human
race was deprived of its pristine innocence, lost the grace with which it was endowed by its creator from the beginning, and was separated from God by an eternal divide. The effects of that original sin, that fall of man, have perdured down through the ages. The catechism makes it clear that original sin is alive and well and cannot be ignored from our Church teaching. In fact, in the new United States Catholic Catechism for Adults, speaking of the Fall of our first parents, we read: “The language is figurative, but the reality is not a fantasy.” USCCA 69 Original Sin is an essential truth of our faith. The catechism teaches, moreover, that "the doctrine of original sin is, so to speak, the 'reverse side' of the Good News." CCC 389 We cannot tamper with the revelation of original sin without undermining the mystery of Christ -- that Jesus lived, died and rose precisely to undo the sin of Adam, to make it possible for us to live with God forever -- Jesus the new Adam and Savior of the world.

The account of the Fall, of Original Sin, is in Genesis 2 & 3. Although written in symbolic language, it is a part of the revealed Word of God. In Genesis 2:l7, God tested our first parents and prohibited them from eating "of the tree of knowledge of good and evil...for in the day that you eat of it, you shall die." God placed limits on them, and still does on each of us. We all know the story that Adam and Eve disobeyed and ate from the fruit of the tree, the one that God had forbidden them to eat.

Tricked by the seductive voice of the devil, one of the fallen angels, the first sin -- the original sin -- was a sin of failure to trust God by disobeying His commands -- a lack of trust and disobedience. "In that sin, man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him." CCC 398 All subsequent sin is in affect disobedience of God and failure to trust in His goodness. What were the consequences of this first sin? Adam and Eve immediately lost the grace of sharing in God's life. The sense of innocence and harmony between body, passions, will and mind was lost. Division, strife, domination, greed, suffering and death made their entrance into human history.

After that first sin, the world has become virtually inundated by sin. Each of us -- whether we understand it or not -- lives with the consequences of original sin. Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendents human nature "wounded" by their own first sin. To this day, there is still an inner war within each of us between the spirit and the flesh. Adam and Eve "committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human race that they would then transmit in a fallen state." CCC 404 Original sin, originally coined by St. Augustine, is a sin "contracted" and not "committed" -- a "state" and "not an act." It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice not in the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendents. We are born with the effects of original sin. It is manifested in our inclination to evil. That is our spiritual struggle, a struggle to become holy. That is why the Church requires Baptism. Baptism erases original sin and turns us back to God. But the consequences for nature -- your nature and my nature, a weakened nature and a nature inclined to evil -- persist in each of us and summon us to spiritual battle. Christ did not leave us alone in this battle. After the fall, He did not abandon us. “In Jesus Christ, we can overcome the power of sin, for it is the Lord’s desire that all come to salvation.” USCCA 72

In this beautiful season of Advent we long for the Christ who first came into the world and we long for the Lord who will come at the end of the world. It is Jesus who is the Christmas answer to the fall of our first parents, Jesus born of parents, of Mary and Joseph. Furthermore, it is Jesus, the new Adam, who in becoming obedient even unto death makes amends superabundantly for the disobedience of Adam. The catechism teaches that "the victory that Christ won over sin has given us greater blessings than those which sin had taken from us: 'where sin increased, grace abounded the more' (Rom 5:20)" CCC 420

I would like to close with a pertinent passage from our late Holy Father John Paul II’s classic book, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope," where he speaks of the reality of sin, the existence of original sin, and the promise of salvation, salvation born in the Christmas crib.

He writes: “Nevertheless, convincing the world of the existence of sin is not the same as condemning it for sinning. ‘God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.’ Convincing the world of sin means creating the conditions for salvation. Awareness of our own sinfulness, including that which is inherited, is the first condition for salvation; the next is the confession of this sin before God, who desires only to receive this confession so that He can save man. To save means to embrace and lift up with redemptive love, with love that is always greater than any sin.” (pp 57-8)

As our 2006 “Come Home for Christmas” poster says this year: “Peace in the World Starts With Peace in Your Heart.” That peace takes hold within us with the forgiveness of our sins for Jesus came, at Bethlehem, that our sins may be forgiven.

A blessed Christmas to each of you!