This book offers a refreshing and unique slant on this popular phenomenon. The author, a Catholic professor of theology, discusses his childhood belief in guardian angels. He outlines what Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Thomas Aquinas have to say about these heavenly messengers. Cooke then points out that angels are superfluous given the multiple dimensions of God's presence in our lives. First, there is the risen Christ with us now and forever. Second, we can be guardian angels for each other, providing consolation and comfort. In a fine chapter on the communion of saints, Cooke reveals that the dead are with us, acting on our behalf. This concrete and rounded understanding of sacramentality as God's presence in our daily lives is what makes Why Angels? so vivid and compelling a read.