Joseph ran out of the Church looking for his mother. He had just gone to his first confession in preparation for first communion. His face undoubtedly showed so much excitement to receive Jesus soon.
“Ma! Ma!” he called out to her waving both hands wildly in the air.
“Comin, honey!” she replied as she paid the ice-cream vendor.
“Ice-cream…cream! Cream!” Joseph jumped and thumped both feet on the pavement. “Ma! Ma!”
“Here you are, dear,” Alice handed him the ice-cream cone. She waited, but was disappointed to see that he immediately gobbled up his cold treat.
“Oh, huh…sorry, ma…ma,” the boy stared at the half-eaten cone.
“Forgot, ‘thank you…”
“It’s alright, honey,” she embraced Joseph who was born with Down syndrome. The symptoms, however, were very slight and Joseph possessed notable intellectual and communicating skills.
“Remember the flying kiss, it’s more important, Seph.”
“Yes…yes, flying kiss…!” Joseph, wiped his ice-cream stained fingers on his pants and blew a kiss flying into the air.
“What a wonderful angel kiss, dear,” Alice said.
“Thank you, ma…ma…,” he embraced and kissed his mother.
“Did I hear you say something about an angel kiss, Alice?” Diana asked.
“Yes, I taught it to Joseph so he could prepare better for first communion,” Alice proudly said.
“But that’s the first time I’ve heard of such a thing,” Diana said.
“You can say I invented it, Diana dear,” Alice smiled at her high school friend.
“I know, but perhaps you could teach it to me as well so that I have something more for my Peter when he also receives first communion.”
“Well, I suppose you’ve heard how saints really dealt with their angels, right?”
“I don’t really recall much from our religion classes back in high school with Sister Angelique,” Diana explained.
“It’s quite simple,” Alice said. “Let me explain while we wait for the school bus to pick us all up.”
* * *
“So the saints habitually dealt with their angels, you say?”
“Yes,” Alice confirmed. “Some did it rather explicitly like letting them go ahead when they opened a door, others would give a space for them wherever they sat, and others would silently greet their angels and the other people’s angels.”
“Wow! Somehow, I’ve already forgotten all that,” Diana lamented.
“Don’t you remember how Sister Angelique encouraged us to give our angels a name?”
“You know, I’m ashamed to say that I don’t,” Diana blushed.
“It’s alright, it’s never too late anyway,” Alice said.
“Now, what about the angel kisses?”
“It’s another way to help Joseph ‘materialize’ his spiritual life.”
“Materialize?” Diana didn’t understand.
“May I ask if Sister Angelique flunked you in religion?” Alice jokingly asked.
“Verrrry fuuunnnny,” Diana smirked.
“Angels are spiritual beings. You can’t see, smell, nor touch them. But there’s no harm –and in fact, they’re very happy– if you materialize, that is, to make your dealings with them more concrete. Sending them a flying kiss is one example.”
“That’s sooo cute, Alice,” Diana exclaimed. “But how is this supposed to help with our children’s first communion.”
“It will help very much!”
“A kiss?”
“No, I meant what the children will be reminded about when they send a flying kiss to their angels.”
“And what would that be, Alice?”
“It’s quite amazing that angels were created for one sole purpose. I’ll ask Sister Angelique to raise your grade if you can answer me this one.”
“How can you even say anything like that when dear Sister Angel has already been gone some fifteen years?”
“I know, Diana. Don’t you want to pass the /final exam of your life/?” Alice grinned.
“You’re really nasty, just because you remember all that religion stuff.”
“Of course not! Religion isn’t about remembering or memorizing things.
That’s only in the beginning. The exciting part is living what we know.
So are you ready for the answer?”
“Okay,” Diana conceded.
“Angels were created to guide us to Heaven. Saints would say that the greatest failure for an angel –although it’s not their fault since it’s our choice to go /up /or /down/– is that the person they are entrusted with ends up in Hell.”
“That’s horrible!” Diana brushed away the goose bumps from her arm.
“So dealing with our Angels makes them very happy, because doing so makes us more aware of their presence and we ask their help so that we may truly take advantage of all the graces we need to go to Heaven.”
“And holy communion?”
“Oh, I almost forgot. Since their mission is to get us to Heaven.
There’s nothing here on earth closer to Heaven than worthily receiving
God Himself in the Eucharist. That really makes them very happy.”
“Alright, but I don’t get the flying kiss part yet,” Diana said.
“Why don’t you ask Joseph.”
“Joseph, why do you make a flying kiss to your angel?” Diana asked the boy who was sitting meekly beside his mother.
“Flying kiss to say, thank you,” Joseph said softly.
“What else, dear,” Alice prodded her son.
“Flying kiss to give angel kiss of Jesus in me after communion.”