Di Sebis Wey Angels Dey Do

February 18, 2024
Di First Sunday for Lent (Yia B)
Readings for Today

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Di Spirit lead Jesus go inside desert, and E stay for di desert for forty days, as Satan dey tempt Am. E dey among wild animals, and di angels dey serve Am. Mark 1:12–13

Di event wey we dey reflect on today wonderful well-well. Jesus, di Son of God, di Second Person of di Most Holy Trinity, humble Himself for two ways inside di passage wey dem quote above. First, E allow Himself to endure di temptations from satan. Second, E allow di good angels wey E create by Himself to serve Him as E dey for human form.

First of all, remember say satan na angel wey fall. Na God create am, and E create am good. But di Book of Revelation (12:4) show say dem throw one-third of all di angels wey God create out of Heaven to dey waka about for earth. These demons dey work under di direction of satan, di highest angel among di ones wey fall. So, according to di passage above, na satan himself tempt Jesus for di desert. Also, Jesus allow di good angels to serve Him for di human nature wey E get. These things wey E do show how di virtue of humility perfect reach for our Lord as man.

According to Saint Thomas Aquinas, God create angels for three main reasons. Di first na to worship Him. To worship God dey bring angels into communion with God and allow perfect love to flow from God to each angel and from each angel back to God. Second, angels dey carry out wetin God want for all things. This one include to make di laws of nature work and to pass on di grace wey Christ win for di Cross. Third, God dey use angels as messengers. Scripture record different ways wey angels take speak to di prophets, to our Blessed Mother, to Saint Joseph and to other people. Saint Thomas Aquinas also believe say God give each of us one particular guardian angel wey im work no be only to protect us, but also to let us know wetin God want.

As God, Jesus na di Creator of all angels together with di Father and di Holy Spirit. As man, Jesus receive both di sebis of di good angels and di attacks of di angels wey fall. As Jesus humble Himself and put Himself under di natural powers of these angels wey God create, E dey also teach us say we must do di same.

One of di main natural powers wey both good and bad angels get na di power to influence person and suggest thoughts. Angels get di ability to put ideas for your imagination, either to influence you to do good (di good angels) or to deceive you and lead you enter sin (di bad angels). These messages na real, and we suppose know say dem dey happen. For im book, Di Spiritual Exercises, Saint Ignatius of Loyola give plenty time and effort to di sebis wey angels dey do. E teach how to tell di difference between di lies and tricks of di angels wey fall and di comforting direction wey di good angels dey give. For many ways, our Gospel passage today, where Jesus submit Himself to di temptations and di sebis of di angels, strongly support how important e be to try understand how these angels wey God create dey influence us. To learn more about this, see di book To Search Di Deep Things: Lessons and Meditations from Saint Ignatius Wey Dem Arrange According to di Liturgical Yia.

Today, reflect on this wonderful truth: both angels and demons dey always active for your life, as dem dey try influence you. As you dey think deeply about di spiritual role wey dem get for your life, consider di different ways wey you fit learn more about dem. Talk to your guardian angel. Ask di highest angels to intercede for you. Try join dem as dem dey worship God. Pray make dem protect you. Ask dem to pass di highest truths from God to you. Try pay attention to these holy angels, so that as you dey learn to recognise their voices, you go ready to follow di direction wey dem bring to you from God.

My Lord and Creator of Everything, You create di order of angels for di glorious purpose of love and worship. You also give dem di mission to carry out Your holy will and to pass Your messages to us for earth. Abeg, help me to recognise di tricks of di angels wey fall and di direction of di good angels better. Angels of God, pray for me, protect me and guide me to follow di perfect will of God. Jesus, na You I trust.

Meditation for di First Sunday for Lent:
40 Days for di Desert