Cardinal Dolan on keeping the faith during hard times
Archbishop of New York Timothy Cardinal Dolan shares a message of faith and positivity amid the Ukraine war and this week's attack on the Brooklyn subway.
Most people have grown up hearing about guardian angels. We’re taught that they’re here to keep a watchful eye on us and protect us, but did you know they are also on standby to serve us?
If you’re like me, the thought of a glorious angel waiting at my disposal to "serve" me feels hard to believe, and even a bit uncomfortable. Yet Hebrews 1:14 states, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?"
Bruce Barton speaks on this verse in his Life Application Bible commentary, writing, "Angels are higher than people in creation’s hierarchy (see Psalm 8:4), being created first and with higher function. But God has reversed the order and instructed the angels to serve his people."
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Psalm 91 tells us, "For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone." (v 11-12 NLT).
Young woman with hands in prayer position. (iStock)
These illustrations of God’s mighty messengers have deeply humbled me. God cares so deeply for His children and has provided innumerable supernatural blessings at our fingertips, including the privilege to request angelic help and protection. Whether we tap into the fullness of these gifts is up to us.
My understanding of angels intensified this past fall when my husband Sam and I began attending a weekly dinner party hosted by an elder of our church.
At the first dinner, our host, Mike, described how – for nearly 30 years– he has been hosting large gatherings in his home, and, when it all began He asked God to make his home a "dispatch center" for angels. He recounted how he specifically prayed that these angels would be able to receive assignments from God in his physical house.
At one party a few years after he prayed that prayer (not having divulged it to anyone else at the time), a guest told Mike that as he closed his eyes to pray before their dinner, he saw dozens of angels in his home and sensed that this was a sort of "dispatch center" for angels in the Dallas area.
Mike’s story deeply moved me and Sam and inspired us to ask God to use His angels to protect our family.
We firmly believe our specific prayers were answered while we were preparing to transition our baby boy from his bassinet in our bedroom to a crib in his own room. As first-time parents, especially in the beginning, you’re nervous about your child being even a few feet away from you. I realize the challenges we face as young parents pale in comparison to the many difficulties so many others struggle with, but no problem is too small for God. And though I had spoken to our son’s pediatrician, read several books, and prayed about the timing of moving him to his own room, I was still feeling anxiety about the transition.
I sat rocking our baby boy in front of his crib while he napped one afternoon and sensed the Holy Spirit encouraging me to pray for four angels to be posted to each corner of his crib. I closed my eyes and asked God to help me envision these heavenly warriors hovering over each corner, and I continued to pray that prayer for several weeks. I specifically prayed that these angels would not only protect our son, but that they would minister to him and help him not to feel afraid or confused if he woke up and we were not there.
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The time finally came for us to try out the crib. We have a high-tech baby monitor that tracks the baby’s sleep patterns. It can tell you the exact timestamps for when your baby falls asleep and wakes up, and will even display a timestamp for every time mom or dad visits the crib to help the baby back to sleep.
The first three nights, he woke up a few times starting at 4 a.m. When we heard him, Sam or I would go in and check on him. But on the morning of the fourth night, I woke up at 7 a.m. and realized our baby had slept through the night!
My first reaction was to go in and check on him to make sure he was OK. Thank God, he was sound asleep. I went to check his monitor to see how he slept and was confused to see there were three timestamps at 4 a.m., 5 a.m., and 6 a.m. marking when he had been visited in his crib.
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I asked Sam if he had checked on the baby at those times, and dumbfounded, we realized neither of us had done so. I initially wondered if there was some type of glitch with the monitor. Then a still, small voice whispered to my spirit, "Christen, what did you ask Me for?" I jumped up from the bed and exclaimed to Sam, "It was the angels!" We both laughed in utter disbelief, amazed by God’s tangible faithfulness.
We shared this story with our friend Mike and as we marveled at God, we all agreed that the angels watching over our baby’s crib had been sent from Mike’s dispatch center!
Many might find this story hard to believe or, even if they do believe it, might think this kind of thing would never happen to them. If that’s you, I want to encourage you by confessing that not long ago, my husband and I would have thought the same thing.
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But think about it. We Christians all say we believe in angels – but do we really? It’s only by God’s grace and gentle nudges that we have come to take gradual leaps of faith such as praying and believing for literal angels to fill our home. Know that ALL who have accepted Jesus have these abundant blessings at their fingertips.
Embrace God’s love and pray for angelic protection over your home and your family. All you have to do is ask.