Word to the Wise
Saturday, October 2, 2021 - Oct. 2 - The Guardian Angels
[Exod 23:20-23 and Matt 18:1-5, 10,721]"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." [Matthew]
The devotion to guardian angels dates back at least to the 7th century as evidenced in the oldest sacramentary (ritual book) we possess. Scripturally, this devotion takes its cue from the words of Jesus in the Gospel According to Matthew in today's gospel scripture, but one might point also to the care exercised by the "archangel" Raphael in the Book of Tobit as an example. [Tobit 5:4-5 et seq.]
As I pointed out in the celebration of the feast of Sts. MIchael, Gabriel and Raphael, human imagination takes over once the basic idea forms. My first grade teacher, Sr. Eugenia Clare CDP, urged us kids to move over in our desks to allow our guardian angels a place to sit down! Indeed, one might wonder why we would "canonize" angels by calling them "saints" as we do with Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
What is most important about the tradition of the guardian angels is the reality of God's providential care and how this is expressed in the various "messengers" (the very meaning of the word "angel") who appear in our lives to offer guidance. The great Dominican preacher, Lacordaire, is quoted as saying, "All I know of tomorrow is that Providence will rise before the sun." The guardian angels have no need of alarm clocks. AMEN