Do people turn into angels when they die?

Fr. Raphael Stovik, OSB was driving on the roads of North Dakota through a blizzard when he heard a quiet voice that said, “Pull over.” There surely was no one in the car. He knew he wasn’t insane, so he ignored the voice as a mere thought passing through his mind.

Again, the voice came. This time it was as clear as another person next to him. “Pull over!” Knowing exactly what the voice meant he pulled over to the side of the road. The visibility was quite low. Just then a snowplow with a police officer in the passing lane drove by in the opposite direction.

Folks, we all know that angels exist. There are stories of them among our families and friends. Some we doubt, but others are undeniably true.

Who are these angels? Are they people who have died?

According to the definition found in the Catechism, an angel is a “spiritual, personal, and immortal creature, with intelligence and free will, who glorifies God without ceasing and who serves God as a messenger of his saving plan.”

People on the other hand are created by God with a body, the physical aspect and a soul which is spiritual. Both the soul and the body make up the human being. Angels do not have bodies as we do, nor did they have bodies, nor will they have bodies. As defined by the Catechism they are spiritual and immortal creatures. Yet we know they can appear in a body, as did the biblical three Archangels, Michael, Raphael and Gabriel.

Many of us, when someone dies, whether it’s grandma, a child, a friend or any human being, have heard it said, “She is now an angel in heaven,” or “Heaven just got another angel.” Part of this belief that people turn into angels comes from the music of pop culture. Donna Taggart’s song “Jealous of the Angels” and Gordan Garner’s song “Heaven Got Another Angel” are just a couple that come to mind. Many of these songs are beautiful but not theologically accurate. They are in fact heretical if not understood poetically and figuratively.

A second reason people could think we turn into angels comes from a misunderstanding of Matthew 22:30 when Jesus says, “At the resurrection they [men and women] neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven.” Notice that Jesus says they are “like the angels” not “are angels.” Simply put, people don’t turn into angels.

Before the missal of St. Paul VI was released in 1970 it was common that when a child died, having received the grace of baptism one did not offer a funeral Mass for the child per se. Since the child was baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, thus having the Original Sin of Adam and Eve washed away, and since the child could not have committed any personal sins, there was no reason to pray for the repose of the soul of the child.

Instead, a Mass was celebrated in thanksgiving to God for the life of the child. The common Mass setting for music used was “The Mass of the Angels.” Some then made the assumption that the child became an angel, when in fact every Mass tells us that we join the angels in song and adoration before God. Children don’t turn into angels when they die. Rather they join the angels in song as does everyone else who enters heaven.

On a different note, though similar and less common, some people believe that we once were angels in heaven, that is, we pre-existed as spirits. According to this belief, God, at some point, then gave us bodies turning us into human beings. The Church of Latter Day Saints also known informally as Mormons believe this. George Strait’s song “Heaven is Missing an Angel” also displays this heresy. In truth, every human being was created with a body and soul at the moment of his or her conception. We did not exist prior to that moment when our life began nor do we turn into another creature when we die, not a cat, not a dog, not a butterfly, nor an angel. We are purely human beings who “look forward to the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come” as we proclaim in the Nicene Creed.

You might ask, so then can people, after they have died, appear to us and tell us things? There are stories of this happening. One such is Moses speaking with Jesus on the mountain when Jesus was transfigured before the apostles. It must be noted that from the passage it is clear Moses had not been turned into an angel.

In conclusion, we profess as Christians that God has given his angels charge over us to guard us in all our ways (see Ps 91). We have guardian angels, certain spiritual beings created beforehand by God who protect us and inspire us to do God’s will.

Without that angelic voice telling him to pull over on those North Dakota roads so many years ago, Fr. Raphael Stovik knew he would have had a head on collision with the officer, and possibly not survived. My family’s lives would have been so very different without him as our beloved pastor at Sts. Peter and Paul in New Hradec when I was growing up had Fr. Raphael had not listened to that angel.

One day, we may be surprised at how often our guardian angels protect us. Pray to them for help daily.

Fr. Evinger is pastor of St. Joseph in Killdeer, St. Paul in Halliday and St. Joseph in Twin Buttes. If you have a question you were afraid to ask, now is the time to ask it! Simply email your question to [email protected] with the “Question Afraid to Ask” in the subject line.