Faith: Angels unawares

One morning during worship services at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Minneapolis, a homeless person wandered in, shambled down to the front of the altar, lifted his arms in silent prayer and stood there, "bowing and scraping," for some time. I had the distinct sense that an angel was in our midst -- as did our pastor, lay pastoral leader and several parishioners, I later learned. (Like me, our pastor said he nearly smiled while watching several of the more uptight parishioners, wondering if they would have a bird.)

Thus began the short relationship between Esteban and our church. I was too polite a Minnesotan (in the Keillorean sense) then to probe for details, but apparently his common-law wife and daughter lived near the church and he wandered the streets. He was not lucid, but I could see he had faith in his measure. I saw Margaret and her mother at the children's Christmas party. She was a darling little girl -- who some months later was kidnapped in a Target store, abused and killed by a morally bankrupt teen (Target employee) who decided he was smart enough to get away with the crime. (He didn't.) Her death broke Esteban, who was beside himself at the funeral, and then apparently outside of himself. I never saw him again.

Angels do walk in our midst -- though they often come to us unawares. Their purpose is to break into our daily life and offer us a chance to think, feel and pray "outside of the box." (The box is our skin.) Angels widen our perspective and remind us that we do not have it all figured out. Angels also remind us that God is in charge, always, no matter what. And in a day and age when things can sometimes seem otherwise, we need that reminder.