The neutral angels & the fighting Irish

I've always wondered about the "Fighting Irish". What's with the fighting? For a Catholic people, it seems contradictory. Then I heard this romantic literary tale from the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen. It's been told that during the war between Lucifer's legions and God's faithful angels, a third group of angels stayed on the sidelines - taking neither side. At the end, these neutral angels were also banished from heaven until judgment day. Though they were not condemned in hell, they were sent to Ireland. Ever since, they have inspired the people there to fight the good fight.

Experiencing God through Others

The idea is that the main splash was Jesus and the ripples are those who're like him. Gandhi said that he would have become a Christian, if the Christians were more Christ-like. And that's the point. The Christian message is more than an institution with doctrine, rituals and rules. The message and messenger are seen as one; it consists of being a ripple of the Son of God. A ripple that touches others in the same way. Someone like the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta is like that. But there are others who are different e.g. a former pastor of mine got defrocked and jailed for sexually abusing a mentally challenged boy. If I had not known the Lord Jesus from other sources, I would have become a Jew or Buddhist when I found that out.

But God cannot be overwhelmed by illness, human fraility or the evil one. His goodness and truth will prevail and the ripples will flow albeit so softly and gently. But once you get touched by it, then you'll never be the same.