Our Guardian Angels

Today we celebrate the feast of our Guardian angels. God has given every human person a guardian angel, a messenger from heaven.  As a child, I was taught the following prayer:  Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side to light, to guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

When I think of my guardian angel, I think of the many times I hear the words: "Watch out." "Do this!" Don't do that." "Good job!" "Try harder." "You can do it!"  I also think of the times that I was saved from death, as happened one night out on a dessert road with no lights anywhere around.  I car was following me (I had two other passengers in my car).  Frustrated that the car being me left its brights on, I let it pass me. A short ways up the road, coming over a small hill, was a car in our lane. We were traveling about 60 miles an hour. There was no way for the driver in front of me to get out of the way. They hit head-on and two women in the car were killed outright.  My guardian angel and those of my passengers, I believed, were at work that night!

Other people have told me similar stories of "miracles" that occurred as the result, they believed, of their Guardian Angel protecting them.

Lord, thank you for giving each of us a Guardian Angel.  May we be more aware of your generosity and that of our Guardian angels, who are at our sides "to light, to guard, to rule and guide.

Our Guardian Angels

In today's first reading, Tobit 12: 1, 5-15, 20, the Archangel Raphael reveals himself to Tobit, assuring him that he:

"will conceal nothing all from you...[T]he works of God are to be made known with due honor. I   can now tell you that when you and Sarah prayed, it was I who presented and read the record of your
prayer before the Glory of the Lord; and I did the same when you buried the dead. When you did not hesitate to get up and leave your dinner in order to go and bury the dead, I was sent to put you to
the test. At the same time, however, God commissioned me to heal you and your daughter-in-law
Sarah. I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord.

"So now get up from the ground and praise God. Behold, I am about to ascend to him who sent me;
write down all these things that have happened to you."

Notice the role of our Guardian Angels:

1) To keep no secrets from us concerning ways of the Lord
2) To present our prayers to "the Glory of the Lord"
3) To "read the record of our prayers" (those prayers might also be the good we do on earth--the angels read the record of Tobit's works of charity in burying the dead, of taking risks to do good)
4) To put our faith to the test, as God sometimes requests
5) To heal us, as commissioned by God
6) To encourage us --"So now get up from the ground and praise God"
7) To direct us to praise God

My prayer is the prayer to my Guardian Angel, as I was taught as a child: Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits you here. Ever this day, be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

Angels--Good and Bad--at Work in the World

In today’s first reading, Revelations 12: 7-12, we are told about the war in heaven, when “Michael with his angels attacked…Satan, who had led all the world astray...” Satan and his angels were defeated and “hurled down to earth…”  Our salvation had been won by the Blood of the unblemished Lamb, the Son of God Incarnate, who gave His life on the cross as a ransom for our sins and rose triumphant over death.  Satan, our accuser, “who accused our brothers [and sisters] day and night before our God, has been brought down. They [Michael and the good angels] have triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word to which they bore witness…” We are warned, though, that “disaster is coming—because the devil has gone down to [us here on earth] in a rage, knowing that he has little time left.”   In a prayer to St. Michael, we pray: O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

We are never left alone! God has given each of us a Guardian Angel. Also, the archangels—Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel--whose feast we celebrate today, continue to work on our behalf. Michael, whose name means “Who is like God,” continues defending and protecting us from Satan’s snares and lies. Raphael, whose name means “God has healed,” continues healing us, as he had healed Tobit’s blindness. Gabriel, whose name means “God is my strength,” continues, as he did with Mary, to strengthen us in giving “birth” to Jesus in our world and embracing the will of God for us as revealed in our everyday life.

May you and I, each day of our lives, grow more and more aware of the angels at work on our behalf, ask for their aid and cooperate with them in being sources of healing, protection, and intensification of a person’s desire to bring forth Jesus, especially in areas where individuals have striven to cast God out of sight, out of mind, and out of hearts!