Dealing with spiritual beings

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THE Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, celebrated on September 29, reminds us of our need to learn how to deal with spiritual beings. We cannot deny that they exist and that they play an important role, for good and evil, in our lives.

That’s because there are good spirits and bad spirits. We know that originally all spirits are created by God and are therefore good. However, some of them rebelled against their creator, abusing the freedom God gave them, and put themselves in enmity against God, the source of all goodness, forever.

We have to be more aware of their existence and the influence they have on us. It’s ironical that many of us get to talk about spiritual beings only when we are bothered by some evil spirits, as in cases of possession or infestation. Hardly do we talk about the good spirits who actually can be our great allies in pursuing the real purpose of our life here on earth.

We have to be aware of the presence of angels and demons, and of their purpose, function and activities in our life. They, for sure, are real beings, as real as you and me. They are not fictional characters, or some merely literary devices meant to make a point or teach us a lesson.

They are always around. Their interventions and interferences in our life are not restricted to some extraordinary occasions. They actually get involved in our daily affairs. And we just have to be more perceptive of them so we would know to whom to run and from whom to run away.

Let us remember that we are not purely material beings. We also are spiritual, with a spiritual soul, and not just a plant or animal soul. As such, our life cannot help but be in the loop of the spiritual beings also, like the angels and the demons. We need to be more aware of this reality and learn how to live with it properly.

We have to remember that in the gospel, there are many references to angels and demons. We have no basis to think that in today’s world, their presence has diminished or has been eliminated. They are very much with us!

Strangely enough, some people think that way, with the reason that since Christ has already assured us of our redemption because of his passion, death and resurrection, the role of angels and the danger of demons are practically made obsolete.

That is not quite so. It can also be argued that precisely because Christ has completed his work of our redemption and just waits for us to do our part, the workings of the angels and the demons have also become more relevant. The demons’ evil interest in us has spiked, and our need for angelic help has increased.

That’s why, when we get closer to God, making an effort to sanctify ourselves seriously, we can also experience more vicious and subtle attacks of the demons. We should not be surprised by this phenomenon, but rather feel confident that what we are doing must be good.

Angels are our tremendous friends who would help us in all our needs. Demons are our worst traitors. They indeed can appear to be very friendly too, but only to turn us in, so to speak.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com