{N}9,{/}21{N} ANGELS{/}
In the preceeding pages we stated that reference to visions and angels in the Book of Daniel are nothing more than symbolism common to apocalyptic literature. Refer also to the note at Gen 16. Nevertheless, that should not lead us to conclude that angels have no place in the message of the Bible or that God doesn't give us any information about this subject. What can we say about it?
For many centuries it has been customary to refer to angels as our invisible brothers. The reason for picturing them with wings is a way of indicating that they are not limited by weight or distances. We were told that God has appointed a guardian angel to protect each one of us from material dangers and temptations. There is a heavenly army of angels in which some are more important, namely, the archangels. Others are charged with governing creation, what we would call cosmic forces. According to spiritual authors, others who are closer to God are the only ones that see God; these are the seraphims. 
Many people consider angels to be nothing but pious imaginations of a past age. Others, when they experience some very special heavenly protection, prefer to attribute that intervention directly to God. "We don't need any intermediaries," they say.
Nevertheless, the Bible contains texts dating from every age, testifying to belief in intermediaries. And angels appear to be even more necessary to the degree that people see God as some distant mystery. Actually, such belief came easily to the ancients since they did not have a materialistic concept of the universe. They believed that God delegated part of his power to good and evil spirits. Some texts, for example, in the Book of Tobit, present the story of a good angel as an agent of divine Providence (Tob 5,4). Still others, such as the Book of Daniel, tell us about protector angels assigned to guard different peoples, who are also involved in the origin of their distinct cultures and religions. These angels govern human history with a certain liberty, but in the long run they must submit their decisions to God. Today, such a concept of history seems very strange to us, nevertheless, it is well founded in the Bible (Dt 32,8; Is 63,9; Dn 10,10,21).
The authors of the New Testament accept these diverse concepts without giving preference to any one of them. Stephan and Paul refer to the angels of the nations (cf: Acts 7,38; Gal 3,19; Eph 1,21 and their respective commentaries). In Apocalypse, John assigns to the angels in the liturgies of heaven the role held by the priests in the Temple of Jerusalem (Apoc 8,3). The difference is that these angels are also God's instrument of judgment, the perpetrators of catastrophes to make our sinful society conscious of their sins (15,5). We find the same language used in the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 18,10), saying that the angels of modest means people are the very ones who live in the full light of God.
It is evident that the Bible speaks about angels, but what does this signify? Is it as some say, only a way of referring to God's activity in the world, simple aspects of his active Providence over those whom he loves? Or are they real beings, spiritual forces distinct from God?
There are no definitive answers to these questions. Nevertheless, Tradition has always preserved faith in a God Creator of both the visible and the invisible world. A "materialistic" God would have made his universe as one makes a clock, as Voltaire once said. A God who is spirit and in whom the Spirit is nothing less that God, is the Father of a creation in which all and each one of his beings are reflections and manifestations of his own fullness. His light is not consumed in its first splendor: His Spirit is reflected and transmitted to lower levels. If the Word of God chose to come among us and in our flesh, it is doubtless because we occupy the lowest level of creation and because he wanted to be with the lasts. This does not authorize us to consider ourselves as owners of the building.
As the Church expanded throughout the world, it encountered peoples who related in different ways toward cosmic powers. In the process, the Church modified its language in this regard, as is evident among the authors of the Bible. At the same time, the Church always left the door open to new experiences. It was sufficient to recall that all these intermediaries were made subject to Christ by his resurrection and glorification. Only he has the keys of history and of our individual destiny.

