Word to the Wise
Saturday, October 2, 2010 - The Guardian Angels
[Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17 and Matthew 18:1-5, 10]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.
God's providential care for each and every one of us, especially the most vulnerable, is represented in Jesus' statement about "guardian angels" for children. A child is always a vulnerable person, but in Jesus' day, they were particularly so because of high mortality rates and low status. There was no "child-centered society" at that time! Scripture scholars tell us that there was considerable interest about angels in the Judaism of Jesus' and that some literature of the time spoke of God assigning individual angels to humans. So, Jesus' statement would not have sounded "new" to his audience. Those of us who attend Catholic grade school, at least back in my time, can remember the catechism teacher telling us to move over in our desk so that our guardian angel could sit down next to us! That is the Catholic imagination at work, but it does call attention to God's providential concern. This concern is not limited to children or those in a chronically vulnerable state. There is too much anecdotal evidence to the contrary for us to dismiss all close-calls to coincidence or luck. God's providence and the angels are matters of faith. We may discount the existence of an individual guardian angel, but I am not among the "discounters." Life can be perilous enough just on an every day basis and I need all the help I can get! AMEN
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