In our very early years, we discover that we are not alone. As children, we discover that we are a part of a family. Later, we learn that we come from our parents. Finally, if we are a part of a faith family, we discern that our first parent is God.
This process of discovery and discernment leads us to an obvious question: if God is the first parent, the creator of all things visible and invisible, then who created God? Who came before God?
The Judeo-Christian answer is God always was and that there is only One God. God is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. God is before all else that is. It is God who was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.
In the Book of Genesis, we discover our eternal God “in the beginning.” In the beginning, God is the creator of all things visible and invisible, all that is seen and unseen.
While our Catholic faith is careful not to declare that creation either occurred as outlined in the book of Genesis or over a span of many years through evolution, we do affirm that however we came to be, God created us, God sustains us, and God will forever hold us in the palm of his hand.1
Long before St. Michael and the archangels, the cherubim, seraphim, Earth, Sun, Moon, planets, stars, trees, dogs, and man and woman were created, there always was and always will be an unmoved mover, the One True God.
Our human senses allow us to experience what God has created on this side of the veil; namely, all that is seen.
For a child, the initial glimpse of a flower brings excitement. Seeing birds for the first time, petting a dog or a cat invites the child to come to know a world beyond him or herself. Like a computer uploading new programs, a child uploads images, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings. Soon these sensible things become an extension of the child’s life.
Using our senses, we begin to wonder. A question arises, “Where did all of this come from?” When we couple our five senses with the sense of wonder, we seek answers to the purpose and source of creation around us.
As people of faith, we come to discern that the source of creation is God. We also discern that, being a part of creation ourselves; we live in harmony with all that surrounds us. We acknowledge that we are not alone on this vast planet and, as we look to the stars, the sun, and the moon, we see ourselves as just a small speck of a visible world that has yet to be discovered.
As people of faith, we express our gratitude to our God for creating all things revealed to us by our senses. We thank God for all that is witnessed by us in this visible world.
Throughout history, our human sense of wonderment has led us to a world beyond the visible. Nearly all cultures celebrate a metaphysical, invisible, and unseen world through faith.
At times something or someone beyond the veil of the visible world moves the human senses. A sudden sound, the awesome feeling of an unknown presence, a mysterious fragrant smell, or even a faint sighting of a ghost will bring us peace or make us shake with fear.
Other times, we use our mere intellect to ponder the things beyond the veil of senses. And what we know through intellect is that the world of the unseen and invisible includes intellectual beings. God, of course, is the primary intelligent being. Likewise, we recognize spirits, and souls as creatures with intellect.
Such is the nature of angels. Angelic beings, like St. Michael the Archangel, are souls with both intellect and will. Intellect, in that they can wonder as we human beings can wonder. Will, in that they can choose between right and wrong as we can choose.
Pondering the nature of angels, St. Augustine said, “Angel is the title of the office of a being whose essence is soul.” As part of their office, we understand from Scripture that angels are messengers of God, worshipers of our Lord, defenders and protectors. In St. Michael’s case, we recognize him as both defender and protector.
In Genesis, we read, “In the beginning God created the world.” God created all that is seen and unseen, visible and invisible. And, according to Genesis, as God unfolded his creation, God said, “It is good!”
It isn’t until he creates man and woman when we hear God say, “It is very good!”
Why are we as humans called “very good”, while other creatures in the visible and invisible world are merely good?
We have come to understand that angels are souls with intellect and will, but they do not have physical bodies as recognized in the visible world. We are also aware that in the visible world - trees, dogs, cats, tadpoles - do not have intellect or will. What makes humans very good is that we have bodies as in the visible world and souls with intellect and will as in the invisible world.
Man and woman are unique in God’s creation. With body and soul we stand between two worlds. This is why God placed us as stewards of all creation. We are charged with the responsibility of having dominion (not domination) over the whole world. We are called to be caretakers of our physical, visible world, and to be guardians of souls.
If we should take this responsibility seriously, we not only acknowledge that we are very good. We, in turn, give our Creator praise and acclaim together, “God is great!”
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.
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Notes:
1. Pope Pius XII declared that “the teaching authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions . . . take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter—[but] the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God” (Pius XII, Humani Generis 36).
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