Priest clarifies angels' roles for parishioners

Once a month, Rev. Martin Fisher, pastor of St. Mary's parish in Glens Falls, offers an "evening of spiritual renewal" for adults in the parish to learn about an aspect of Church teaching. A few months ago, that teaching was on angels.

"There was a lot of interest in angels because of `Touched by an Angel,'" the pastor explained. Several parishioners requested that the time and channel for the popular TV program be listed in the church bulletin, and "with all the different books on angels, people were asking me questions: `Where does the Church stand on belief in angels?'"

Father Fisher also wanted to clear up a concern about the nationwide angel craze: "I had a sense sometimes that people were getting off-kilter, that there was so much emphasis that angels were becoming God."

Back to basics

To answer those questions and concerns, the pastor presented teachings from "The Catechism of the Catholic Church" on angels and read passages from Scripture where angels appear, as well as some popular stories about angel encounters.

"I'm a great believer in the Bible," he stated. "I have a tremendous amount of faith in Scripture, and if you read Scripture, it's filled with angels. They come to Mary, minister to Jesus, come to St. Paul -- it's not just one instance. Scripture is very clear about how angels are part of God's revelation."

The pastor has been pleased to see today's resurgence of angels: "The emphasis has come back. When I was growing up, people seemed to have devotions to angels. They prayed to their guardian angel to help them. Then it was not really on people's minds; the supernatural in general, people didn't emphasize as much."

In recent years, however, "People have discovered that there's got to be something more. The material world leaves people kind of empty. They want to talk about prayer, about spiritual experiences."

Changing emphasis

Since Father Fisher travels around the Diocese leading healing Masses, he has witnessed the rise in local Catholics' interest in the supernatural.

"We've lived through a couple decades of the `me' generation," he told The Evangelist. "Angels somehow put people in a different mindset. It helps a person understand that God hasn't abandoned us."

While the pastor describes himself as a "definite" believer in celestial beings from God -- "I believe in angels because Scripture says angels are alive" -- he reminded those he taught that the role of angels is not to gain glory for themselves, but to praise God.

"Angels never want us to focus in on angels," he explained. "Angels want us to focus in on God. Their role is to draw attention to God. In Scripture, it talks about angels `gathered around the throne of God.' That's our role as well."

Distraction

To present his teaching on angels, Father Fisher read up on popular angel literature. "A lot of these experiences are very hard to explain if they're not angels," he admitted.

While some people may find the encounters with angels they read about hard to believe, he said, during healing Masses, "I share spiritual experiences that have happened to me, and I'm sure somebody else out there is saying, `It's just his imagination.'"

However, Father Fisher said he was concerned about the "secular" side of interest in angels.

"We have to be very careful," he cautioned. "I believe in guardian angels, but I believe that angels are only to give us a focus on God. You can ask your angel to protect you; but when you begin to dialogue with your angel or name your angel, I have a real problem with that. When you become so absorbed with the relationship with your angel, it can be a distraction from your relationship with God."

Spirit's role

In his teaching, the pastor told parishioners that the role of guide is that of the Holy Spirit, not angels. Often, he added, when people believe they have encountered an angel, God may simply have put a real human being into their lives to assist them.

If someone's car breaks down on a country road and a stranger appears to fix it, "people see that as angels," Father Fisher said. "Was that an angel, or was that a human being that God sent? It depends on your interpretation."

Although the priest has not "personally experienced angels in my own life," he knows many Catholics in the Diocese who firmly believe that angels are among us.

Two points

In his teaching, Father Fisher asked listeners to remember two important points: "First, that you don't need angels to go to God; and second, to be very careful that angels don't become substitutes for God.

"I don't believe we need a go-between. Jesus didn't need angels to come to Him after He went through the temptations," he explained. "He didn't need a go-between between Him and God."

The teaching was a hit with parishioners, said Father Fisher: "I think I cleared up some things for them." The pastor affirmed his own belief in angels, as well: "I'd love to have angels [exist]. I think they inspire us -- they show us the way."

(08-14-97) [[In-content Ad]]