The Holy Catholic Church celebrates the Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels. Every Catholic man can grow in happiness by seeking the Gift of Understanding from the Holy Spirit so he can seek the help of God’s angels in the Spiritual Combat and by growing in the Virtue of Prudence so he can always seek and rely on the help of his own Guardian Angel.
Liturgy
Memorial of The Holy Guardian Angels – October 2 – Mt 18:1-5, 10
Commentary
Following Jesus’ appointment of Peter as the “Rock” and Peter’s growing leadership, the disciples, perhaps in competitive jostling, ask Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Never willing to miss an opportunity to call men to sainthood, Jesus does the unexpected: to address the issue of greatness, He calls a child to Himself. Children in the 1st century were practically nonentities: children had no rights, little protection if the father was absent, did hard labor and newborns were often rejected by fathers, and left out at garbage dumps to die.
In a rebuke to the disciples who seek greatness, Jesus paradoxically uses a child to teach the humility of a child is the key to greatness in Heaven. He goes further, saying unless a man repents (turns) and becomes humble like a child, he will never enter the Kingdom. Jesus directs men to receive a child like they would receive Christ Himself, and confirms that God has assigned the Holy Guardian Angels to watch over every soul (“their angels always behold the face of My Father…”).
God’s gift to men of angels who guard and protect is well-documented in the Bible. In the Old Testament, angels deliver Lot from the destruction of Sodom (Gen 28-29), an angel leads Moses (Ex 32:34), an angel heals Tobit (Tob 3:17), and angels protect the faithful (Dan 10). In the New Testament, the Nativity of Jesus is heralded and protected by a host (army) of angels (Lk 1:13-14), Jesus is ministered to by angels (the Temptation, the Garden of Gethsemane), St. Peter is freed from prison (Acts 12:7-8) and the Book of Hebrews confirms the action of angels (Heb 1:14). St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that each man has a Guardian Angel who can inform and guide a man’s will, while he is on earth and as he enters Heaven.
Be awed by Jesus Christ
Be encouraged at how Jesus, Person of the Trinity, with the Father from the beginning, has the Divine Power to create supernatural beings (guardian angels) and with complete Dominion, commands specific angels to become guardians over every human soul.
Seek the help of God’s angels in the Spiritual Combat
Realize: Jesus confirms the fearsome reality of angels, both the heavenly angels of God and the evil angels of Satan, supernatural beings created by God who have capabilities far greater than men, whose presence causes men to shrivel and faint in fear, and who actively intercede in the lives of men in the Spiritual Combat.
Believe: Reflect upon Angels (CCC 57, 326-336, 350-352, 1034, 1352).
Pray: Holy Spirit, give me the Gift of Understanding so You give me the ability to perceive the reality of the supernatural power and wisdom of the angels, I grow in understanding that there are angels of God who help protect and defend against the attacks of Satan and his demons, and I constantly seek the help of God’s angels in the Spiritual Combat.
Be protected by your Guardian Angel
Realize: To help protect men against the constant temptations and attacks by the Evil One and his demons, God in His mercy gives each man a personal Guardian Angel as, a “protector and shepherd leading him to life.”
Believe: Reflect upon your Guardian Angel (CCC 335-336).
Pray: My Holy Guardian Angel, pray that I grow in the Virtue of Prudence so I remember I have your constant help, I am aware of the attacks of Satan in my daily life, and I prudently seek your protection against Satan’s daily temptations and attacks so I might grow in holiness.