The Memorial of the Guardian Angels

Bar. 4:5-12.27-29, Mt. 18:1-5.10. The celebration of the Guardian Angels recalls God's loving care for each one of us, in the form of the Angels. He sends them to guide and protect us. The 'clue' to understanding the message of the Kingdom of Heaven which Jesus preaches is to be found in the status of children. There is a directness about them and the way they relate with each other, that we need to re-learn. The child sees the world as it really is, without all the complications that adults put in the way: “I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven”.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus points at the gifts of children, their innocence, humility and honesty, as the mark of true greatness. The clear heart and the simple honesty of a child makes us sit up, pay attention and smile in admiration. Children know that they are utterly dependent on the kindness of others to nurture and sustain them. In telling us to become like little children, Jesus calls us to open and trusting dependence on God, secure in the knowledge that God will meet our needs. The first prayer that many of us learned was the prayer to our Guardian Angel, whose existence Jesus so powerfully testifies to in this reading. For many, that prayer is relegated to the dusty shelves of memory as something ‘childish’. Today might be a good day to bring the old prayer back into daily practice with our child-like fearlessness.

May the Lord help us to be more receptive to God’s loving care and protection in our relationship with each other as God’s children, so that we may have child-like hearts that are open to imagination, surprise and wonder! Amen!! Good morning and happy weekend!!!