Memorial of the Guardian Angels – October 2nd – Option 1
Today’s memorial of the Guardian Angels is very important, especially for the world we live in. The fact that there are angels at all should automatically draw our attention, first, to Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Angels, and, second, to His love for us, a love that gives us each an angel to watch over us. Regarding the first, whenever we think of the guardian angels, our thoughts necessarily turn to Christ, because, as the Catechism puts it: “Christ is the center of the angelic world. They are his angels: ‘When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him.’ They belong to him because they were created through and for him: ‘for in him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities – all things were created through him and for him.’ They belong to him still more because he has made them messengers of his saving plan: ‘Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation’” (CCC, 331).
In other words, the angels are meant to praise and serve God: Jesus Himself tells us in today’s Gospel that ‘the angels in Heaven always see the face of my father who is in Heaven!’ (Mt. 18:10). ‘To see the face of the Father always’ in this way is the highest manifestation of the adoration of God” (JPII).
The way that our guardian angels serve God is by interceding for and protecting us from harm, and in this we see God’s fatherly love for us. As Pope Saint John XXIII, who had a great devotion to the guardian angels, explains it: “In this earthly life, when children have to make their way along a path beset with obstacles and snares, their fathers take care to call upon the help of those who can look after them and come to their aid in adversity. In the same way our Father in heaven has charged his angels to come to our assistance during our earthly journey which leads us to our blessed fatherland, so that, protected by the angels’ help and care, we may avoid the snares upon our path, subdue our passions and, under this angelic guidance, follow always the straight and sure road which leads to Paradise. . . . Every one of us is entrusted to the care of an angel.”[1]
As we prepare to receive the Bread of Angels, let us ask for the grace to always think of our eternal destiny, and to choose to serve God at every moment; let us also thank the King of Angels for His providence in providing us with their help. We ask this through the intercession of Our Lady, Queen of Angels.
[1] Discorsi, Messaggi, Colloqui del Santo Padre Giovanni XXIII, della Poliglotta Vaticana, Vol II: 1959-1960, p. 762.
