02 October, 2019. The Guardian Angels

1st Reading: Exodus 23:20-23

I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way

The Lord spoke to Moses and the people during their journey across the desert desert: ‘I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him.
But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. My angel will go in front of you.’

Resp. Psalm: Ps 90

R.: He has put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all of your ways

They who dwell in the shelter of the Most High
and abide in the shade of the Almighty
say to the Lord: ‘My refuge,
my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!’ (R./)
It is He who will free you from the snare
of the fowler who seeks to destroy you;
He will conceal you with his pinions
and under his wings you will find refuge. (R./)
You will not fear the terror of the night
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the plague that prowls in the darkness
nor the scourge that lays waste at noon. (R./)
Upon you no evil shall fall,
no plague approach where you dwell.
For you has he commanded his angels,
to keep you in all your ways. (R./)

Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10

Their angels in heaven look upon my heavenly Father

The disciples came to Jesus and said,”Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

Guardian Angels

My guardian angel is a helping spirit assigned by God to watch over and guide me. While this may be logically hard to believe, I find it an encouraging idea, especially when ill, or when preparing myself for sleep.
Belief in personal guardian spirits can be traced through antiquity, and the devotional idea of a particular angel guarding each believer is rooted in today’s Gospel and was much developed in the Catholic middle ages. It is a colourful expansion of the divine providential care taught by Jesus: “The very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Mt 10:30) “If God so clothes the grass that blooms today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more you, O ye of little faith?” (Lk 6:28).
The Gospels report angels as messengers between God and chosen people; and Jesus make this belief even more personal. “See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” (Mt 18:10). Belief in guardian angels is also echoed in Hebrews 1:14, “Are they not ministering spirits, serving those who shall be heirs of salvation?” We read how an angel escorted saint Peter out of prison (Acts 12:12ff). and of the angel who strengthened Jesus in the garden, on the eve of his Passion.
Saint Jerome held that guardian angels proved the value of each individual. “How great the dignity of the soul, since each has from his birth an angel to guard it.” Scholastic theologians indulged in such fanciful speculation about the properties of angel that they drew the mocking question, the classic reductio ad absurdum about  “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” The English Protestant biblical scholar (William Sclater, in 1619) introduced the  phrase “needle’s point” into his critique of medieval angelology, making a good pun on “needless point“,
This feast appeared in the breviary in the 17th century when pope Clement X. made the Feast of Guardian Angels a feast for the whole Latin Church to be celebrated on Oct. 2nd.

Angels and children

God promised his people on their way across the wilderness: ‘I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.” Many centuries later an early Christian author urges us “not to neglect to show hospitality to strangers for by so doing some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2). There can be more to those who cross our path in life than we realize. Jesus emphasises this when he says, “anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.”
Back then, the child had no social status or position. But when the disciples of Jesus welcome even a little child, they are welcoming him. He is present even in those who seem to matter least. The disciples needed this sobering lesson, after arguing over which of them was the greatest.
Not only do we welcome Jesus when we welcome a child, he even says that unless we become like children we will never enter the kingdom of God. Contrary to any selfish competing for status, if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven we must learn the receptive attitude of children who depend totally on others. Only those who admit their littleness and put their trust in God will enter the kingdom of heaven.