Discerning between angels of light and dark
04/26/2017
Acts of the Apostles 5:17-26
The high priest rose up and all
his companions, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and, filled with jealousy,
laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the
night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and
said, "Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people
everything about this life." When they heard this, they went to the temple
early in the morning and taught. When the high priest and his companions
arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin, the full senate of the children of
Israel, and sent to the jail to have them brought in. But the court officers
who went did not find them in the prison, so they came back and reported,
"We found the jail securely locked and the guards stationed outside the
doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside."
One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Hebrews 13:2,
which reads: “Do not neglect hospitality, for through it, some have unknowingly
entertained angels.” Do you know what episode the ancient author is referring
to in the Old Testament? It’s the story in Genesis 18, where three strange men
visit Abraham and he shows them hospitality, and they turn out to be three
angels of God. Because Abraham gave perfect strangers a warm welcome, he was
blessed by them in return. But I believe that passage has a much broader
application, that is, people always come into our lives who are like angels, we
may not recognize them, but it’s very important how we treat them, whether we
show them hospitality, whether we treat them respectfully or rudely.
On Monday, I was mowing the ground here at Trinity and
wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap. I did not look like a priest. Three
seventh graders were playing basketball on the outside courts, and I stopped to
join them. They were Julian, Logan and Eric. When they saw me approaching, they
thought I might be some stranger coming to kidnap them and take them to some
cabin in the woods, like in the movie, “The Shack.” But when they realized it
was me, and I wanted to play basketball, they took me to the woodshed instead!
The teams were me and Eric versus Julian and Logan. Eric and Julian have great
perimeter shooting, and Logan loves to work the ball inside. There’s only one
rule when you play basketball against a priest: the priest must always win. And
we did, thanks to Eric’s sharp shooting. But my point is that we don’t always
recognize the people around us, some people are like angels and like Abraham,
we should “unknowingly entertain” them.
In the first reading today, an actual angel frees the
apostles from prison. But notice that while Peter and the other apostles saw
the angel, the guards didn’t see anything. It takes the eyes of faith to see
angels, especially if they come in disguise, maybe even disguised as the guy
mowing the lawn. And how can you tell if someone is an angel of God? Jesus
explains in the gospel, that “everyone who does wicked things hates the
light…But whoever lives in the truth comes to the light.” In other words, some
people are disguised as angels of light that lead us to the Light (which is
Jesus), while other people are more like angels of darkness (like that guy in
the movie “The Shack” who kidnapped the little girl) and they lead us away from
God. The hard part is figuring out who’s the stranger standing in front of us,
like Julian and Logan and Eric learned. Only with faith can you tell who’s who.
Boys and girls, I want you to think about the people who
come into your life. Sometimes they are perfect strangers, but sometimes they
are also close friends. Ask yourself: is this person really an angel in
disguise? And if so, are they leading me closer to God or away from the light?
When someone offers you alcohol, or invites you to smoke, or tries to talk you
into trying drugs, do you think that is an angel of light speaking to you? (The
correct answer is “no.”) On the other hand, when someone invites you to go to
Mass, or to visit someone in the hospital, or to help the poor at a local food
pantry, or challenges you to not be lazy and to finish the school year strong,
what kind of angel is that? (The correct answer is “angel of light”). What I’m
saying is we need to sharpen our “spidey senses” – remember how Spiderman had a
sixth sense and could tell when danger was close by? – so that we can discern
the angels all around us. Looking at people with the eyes of faith will help us
to entertain only the good angels, and to reject the fallen angels.
Julian and Logan and Eric stared at me suspiciously because
I was a stranger, and they did the right thing. But when they realized I was a
priest, they showed me hospitality and let me win at basketball. That was also
doing the right thing. I hope you’ll remember Hebrews 13:2, “Do not neglect
hospitality, for through it, some have unknowingly entertained angels.” That’s
a small Scripture passage that contains great spiritual truths.
Praised be Jesus Christ!
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