우리가 잘 아는 커피숍 이름 가운데 “Angel-In-Us”가 있다. 난 그 이름이 잘못 되었다고 생각한다. 왜냐하면 천사는 우리와 다르기 때문에 “Angel-Out-Us”가 올바른 표현이다. 하느님의 형상대로 지어진 우리는 “God-In-Us”이기 때문이다. 감히 천사와 비교할 수 없는 무엇이 우리에게는 있다.
Drinking a cup of coffee in a coffee shop becomes a part of our life. So there are many franchise coffee shops that guarantee a specialized mood and taste for coffee lovers. One of them is “Angel-In-Us”.
On the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, I would like to talk about angels, pointing out misunderstandings of angels that people, even Catholics, have. Angel-In-Us is incorrect based on bad theology. Angel is not in us but out us. Thomas Aquinas teaches there are three beings—God, angels, and human. Angel is God’s another creature that is different from human because angel is a spiritual being. Angels were created to serve God, and yet there were angels that chose to rebel against God. They are called Devil or Satan, whose nature is all about being against God, so they are seducing and tempting humans to be away from God.
There are angels as many as humans and we know some of their names—Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and Guardian Angels. Their names show their mission: Michael means “Who is like God?” Raphael “God heals” and Gabriel “God is my strength”. The word of Devil and Satan came from Diabolos in Greek, which means an accuser and divider. Satan divides a community by making people accuse one another. Since satanic angels like angelic angels live with us, we need to discern which angels try to affect us.
First of all, we don’t need to be afraid of angels because they are different beings which means they live in a different layer that doesn’t cross with ours. Good or bad angels could not speak or touch us unless we allow them to do so. We have ability to say ‘No’ to the angels. Secondly, we need to be aware of their mission and tactics. Bad angels want us to be away from God, whereas good angels want us to move toward God. Therefore, discerning on the movements of our minds—moving toward or against God—should be fundamental in our daily discernment.
Angel is not in us; God is in us because we are made in the image and likeness of God. Psalm 8 says, “What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him. You have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor” (Ps. 8,6). We should be proud of being humans spiritually and bodily loved by God. Angels are not like us and yet they are real, living with us. Therefore we celebrate the feast Guardian Angels because they are sent to protect and guide us by the God who gives all the best we need until we see His face like the Guardian Angels.