Expert: Griff Ruby - 4/23/2010

Question
Has any human seen an angel?

Answer
Sacred Scripture cites quite a number of instances that humans have seen angels, and the Church knows of further instances in which saints have also encountered angels (carefully testing each one to verify that there really was a supernatural visitation, and also that the visitation was not demonic).
Of course we all know of people today who claim to have met angels.  There even has existed television shows about angels among us that can at times leave us wondering if someone we met who helped us at some point in life and then mysteriously disappeared might have been an angel.  So who knows.  Scripture does state that there are those "who have entertained angels unawares," so all of that really is possible, who knows.
But then we also have those who are crackpots and hoaxes who seek mere media attention.  Any real visitation (as known by the saints) will change a person's life forever, and not merely so long as it can serve as an attention-getting device.  Be particularly wary of those who claim ongoing relations with angels, messages that seem to go on forever, for true visitation occur only over a short period of time and then it is time for the person so visited to evidence that visitation with a changed life, not a continuously changing life that goes from seeming "miracle to miracle" in "can you top this"?" stories and incredible accounts and "revelations."