Golden-Lit Angels

I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand. It is I who say to you, “Fear not, I will help you.” Fear not, O worm Jacob, O maggot Israel. I will help you, says the LORD; your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged, to thresh the mountains and crush them, to make the hills like chaff. When you winnow them, the wind shall carry them off and the storm shall scatter them. But you shall rejoice in the LORD, and glory in the Holy One of Israel. 

The afflicted and the needy seek water in vain, their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open up rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the broad valleys. I will turn the desert into a marshland and the dry ground into springs of water. I will plant in the desert the cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive. I will set in the wasteland the cypress together with the plane tree and the pine, that all may see and know, observe and understand that the hand of the LORD has done this; the Holy One of Israel has created it.  (Isaiah 41:13-20)

There was a monastery that was renowned for its hospitality, a welcoming place for many weary travelers in need of rest.  One day while the abbot was deep in prayer an angel appeared, surrounded by golden light.  The abbot gazed in rapt contemplation and was filled with a peace beyond measure.

Suddenly a series of heavy knocks resounded at the front door.  “It is some weary traveler come to find shelter, the abbot said to himself.  What should I do?  If I go and answer the door, the angel might disappear.  If I stay, who will care for the traveler?”

Reluctantly, the abbot rose, looked resignedly at the angel, and left the room in order to attend to the needs of the dust-stained traveler.

When he returned to his cell, the angel said to him, “Had you not gone to help the needy traveler, I myself would have been compelled to leave.”

It has been said that hospitality teaches us honesty and self-control, devotion and love, and openness and trust.  As stated by sister Joan Chittister, “Hospitality is the fine art of having an open soul and a listening mind in a world where, alone, we would all die from starvation of the soul.”  During these difficult times created by COVID-19 and isolation, hospitality is hard to provide.  Nevertheless, reaching out by phone calls, text messages, and computer Zooming to those in need of hospitality, especially through charity, helps turn their deserts into marshlands and their dry ground into springs of water. 

Advent is our special opportunity for hospitality.  Mimicking the LORD, our God, we must say to those in need, “Fear not, I will help you.”  Golden-lit angels watch us all.

Deacon David Pierce

Deacon David Pierce