Ali and the Angel

As we walked up the center aisle of the candlelit church, I could hear my three-year-old granddaughter, Hailey, oohing and aahing over the decorations.

Huge Christmas trees with twinkling white lights nearly filled the sanctuary.

A large rustic manger occupied the space before the altar. Giant sparkling gold stars dangled from the ceiling.

Banners proclaimed the birth of Jesus as the choir softly sang, "Silent night, holy night."

I led my family--adult children, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and 16-year-old son--into the very first pew so that Hailey could see everything up close. We'd arrived a half-hour early for the Christmas Eve service at my insistence so we could claim the first “bird’s-eye-view” pew.

As I snuggled into the end of the pew and pulled Hailey up onto my lap, I saw the angel for the first time. In front of the side altar, nestled between three undecorated evergreens, was the most magnificent angel I had ever seen. Standing four feet tall with a three-foot wingspan behind her delicate body, she was wrapped in filmy bronze-green clothes. Hands reaching out in a welcoming gesture, her expression radiated peace and protection. This was, indeed a magnificent angel. An angel of the Lord.

As the service began, our pastor, Father Ron, moved to the pulpit near the angel and began to speak.

"I want to tell you about this angel," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "A few weeks ago my mother and I were browsing in a local mall. We wandered into a temporary store, set up just for the holiday season, which contained statues…original art pieces purchased from museums all over the world. Most of these stunning brass and bronze statues were life-size, some over eight feet tall. All were breathtakingly beautiful."

"At the end of one aisle I came to the statue of an angel in front of me and then had to step back to get a better look. What a stunning piece of artwork, I said to myself."

Father Ron looked out over the packed Christmas Eve congregation and continued, "I'd glanced at the prices of a few of these marvelous statues as we walked down the aisle. Thousands and thousands of dollars for each one! I wondered who could possibly afford to purchase such statues!"

As my little granddaughter squirmed off my lap and onto her mother's, my eyes drifted back to the angel. Was this the same angel that Father Ron was talking about? If so, she must have cost a fortune! How could our small parish in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, afford such an angel? I knew I was about to find out.

Father Ron's eyes glowed as he gestured toward the angelic beauty.

"When I first saw this angel, I was mesmerized by her beauty and by those arms that reach out as if she's helping someone. I turned over the price tag. Seven thousand dollars! Way beyond our means, I thought."

"Just then, a tall, striking gentleman of Middle Eastern descent, walked up to us. In halting English he said, 'The angel, she is beautiful, yes?"

"I said, 'Yes! She is the most beautiful I have ever seen. We want to build a memorial shrine, but we don't have that much money to…' I trailed off when it occurred to me that the salesman was no doubt of a different faith, and perhaps wouldn't understand our plans at St. Mary's."

"The man looked confused. 'Tell me again what it is you need the angel for?'"

" 'My parish. I am the pastor of St. Mary's Church in South Milwaukee. It's a small parish. Good, hard-working people, but we don't have much money. We want to build a memorial hospitality room in the back of church. A place where we can remember all the deceased members of our parish. A place to celebrate the living as well. We'll have a bulletin board for photos of weddings, baptisms, confirmations…and I, well, I've been hoping to find an angel to preside over this place of prayer and hospitality.'"

" 'I see,' said the tall, serious man with the jet-black wavy hair. He pulled a calculator from his pocket. 'My name is Ali,' he said slowly, with particular emphasis on the second syllable. 'I am the owner and manager. We travel all over the country with these exquisite museum pieces."

"Ali started punching numbers into his calculator. Then he cleared the total and started over. More numbers. He kept punching buttons and coming up with different totals."

Father Ron looked at the angel and took a deep breath before continuing, "I remember thinking, even if he gives us a discount of 20, 30 or even 50 percent, we still can't afford this angel! I'd already looked at angels in other stores, religious-goods stores where three-foot-tall art reproduction angels made out of fiberglass cost over two thousand dollars. What was I doing here, in a place where exquisite, original, one-of-a-kind pieces are displayed?"

"I began to feel uncomfortable, wishing we'd never stopped in."

"Finally Ali finished fiddling with the calculator. 'How does this look?' he asked as he held the calculator in front of my eyes. 'I will even deliver the angel to the church for you personally,' he said." "My head jerked back a bit when I saw the figure. 'Sixteen hundred dollars? Are you sure? For this angel, the one priced at $7000?' I had to be sure there was no mistake."

" 'Yes. This one.' Ali touched the angel's wing. 'This cast- bronze angel is signed by the artist. It is a masterpiece.'"

" 'But why?' It was all I could utter as my imagination took flight. I knew we could afford $1600. Some generous souls had already donated that much to our hospitality-room fund. Could it be possible that our little parish could own such an angel? I started to imagine the new room in greater detail. I could see the angel in the center of a room filled with comfortable furniture, where our parish family could feel the presence and the love of all those who have been a part of our church since it began, in 1893."

"Ali responded, 'You ask why? It is because I, too, am a spiritual man. I am a Muslim. And I would rather see this angel in a house of prayer than in someone's home. All I ask is that on the day you put this angel in your church you ask your people to pray for Ali.'"

Father Ron looked out over the congregation. "My friends, today Ali and his brother delivered this angel to St. Mary's, and today I began to understand a little more about angels. I learned first-hand that not all angels are gilded with copper and bronze. Not all angels are named Michael or Gabriel. Today I learned that some of them are tall with dark hair and black mustaches. One of them is a Muslim named Ali."

"Let us pray."

By Patricia Lorenz