FR. SY NGUYEN, PASTOR of Holy Family Catholic Church in Orange, offered his popular talk about angels — who they really are, their mission and some misconceptions during the Sept. 16 meeting of the Orange Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (ODCCW) held at St. Anthony Claret parish in Anaheim.
According to Susan Navarrete, past president of ODCCW, “Fr. Nguyen has given the talk on angels at a number of parishes, so he was a very popular choice for speaker.”
Approximately 70 women were in attendance to hear Fr. Nguyen discuss the traditional Catholic understanding of angels, contrasting it with popular New Age interpretations.
“Angels are amazing, powerful, incredible creations of God,” he said. “They are terrifying in the sense of grandeur—like standing next to Niagara Falls and feeling awe. Angels are magnificent, grand, amazing and powerful.”
Fr. Nguyen explained that, like God, angels and demons are pure spirits, not bound by time and space. He highlighted that angels were created to be servants of God but noted that only humans are made in God’s image and likeness. According to Catholic teaching, this distinction led to the fall of Lucifer, who refused to accept being a servant while humans were elevated as God’s children.
“The fall happened instantaneously because the angels are outside of time and space,” Fr. Nguyen said.
He explained that when God revealed His plan to the angels, they responded with a definitive yes or no, setting the stage for the rebellion of Lucifer and the fallen angels.
Fr. Nguyen also addressed the rejection by fallen angels of the incarnation—that God would become human in the person of Jesus Christ—and of the Eucharist, in which Christ offers His body and blood to believers.
Fr. Nguyen stated that the demons’ hatred for humanity stems from their loss of proximity to God.
“Demons are depicted as ugly because they are so far from God, the source of all beauty. When you are far from God, you become ugly—that is what sin does to us.”
He clarified that angels are a different species from humans and addressed the common misconception that loved ones become angels after death.
“We are the children of God. Why would you want someone to die and say to God, ‘I don’t want to be your son or daughter, I want to be your servant?’”
Fr. Nguyen recounted the biblical story of Adam and Eve, noting that the devil tempted them to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil out of hatred for the human race. He said that God alone is the author of moral truth and that modern society struggles with this claim. The priest also spoke of the Tree of Life, guarded by an angel after the Fall, as a symbol that life and death belong to God.
Concluding his remarks, Fr. Nguyen referred to the Annunciation, stating, “When the Angel Gabriel greeted the Virgin Mary, he said, ‘You are going to have life within you.’ Mary is bearing eternal life, a new life in Jesus.”
He reminded the audience that, according to Scripture, God saw all this and deemed it very good.
The next meeting will be Oct. 21 at St. Thomas More in Irvine. The speaker will be Dr. Ida Pennella, a former professor at Chapman University and will speak on the history of the Holy Rosary. For more information, please contact Susan Narvarrete at (949) 345-9130.