The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“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.”
(Mt 18:1-5,10)
Today is a very special feast: The Guardian Angels. It is the Patronal Feast of the Diocese of Gary.
It is a wonderful reminder to us of God’s love. He gives us so much help in our lives, including, believe it or not, our own Guardian Angel to watch over us.
I used to work with a minister at Indiana State Prison who always mocked the Catholic Church. He would scoff at me about many of our teachings, including that of the angels and the saints.
One day, he was driving downstate to a prison chaplains’ meeting. The night was dark and foggy. Constantly starring at the road, he became disoriented and lost control of his car.
His car went off the road toward some a very steep ditch. As the car was going off of the road, he told me that he saw an angel sitting in the seat next to him. The angel reached over to hold securely in his seat and said to him, “Hold on!”
The car rolled down the embankment. He was trapped in the car but he was unscathed. The rescue personnel told him that he would have died if he did not have his seat belt to hold him in place. Ah, but that was the kicker. He never wore a seat belt.
He knew that it was the angel that held him in place as the car rolled. With that, he became a believer in angels and their great ministry.
That being said, try not to make your guardian angel work overtime today!
FAITH ACTION: Pray the following prayer today with as much meaning as you can put into it:
Angel of God, my Guardian dear,
to whom God’s love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen.