Gospel of 2 October 2020
Feast of the Guardian Angels
Matthew 18:1-5,10
Anyone who welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me
The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.’
Reflexion
In remembering the celebrities of our society, we often forget the little guys who work tirelessly behind the scene. Well, if the world forgets, the Church doesn’t. Two days ago we celebrated the Feast of the Archangels, the big three, St Michael, St Gabriel and St Raphael, the three angels named in scripture. But today, the Church also remembers the little guys. She celebrates the memorial Feast of the Guardian Angels, the nameless spiritual beings who carry out God’s work in caring for His creation.
Guardian angels may sound like a fairy tale in this day and age. We are very familiar with the material world, the world that is experienced through our senses and comprehended by our knowledge and reason. In today’s modern and technologically advanced world, a world that places much emphasis on the material realities rather than the invisible, there seems little place for the belief in angels. To the sophisticated, the belief in angels seems to be accorded the same value as naïve and childish fairy tales, primitive superstition, or even worse, the figment of imagination generated by a delusional mind. Yet as Catholics, we profess in one part of the Creed the existence of the seen and unseen. That is why today’s gospel reading reminds us that childlike humility is required by a person to appreciate the value of the invisible and spiritual realm, which is as real as the visible world.
In a way, the angels are a powerful reminder that the answers which we seek often do not lie within the visible, tangible and material world. There is so much more than meets the eye. The belief in the invisible realm, in the world of angels and spiritual beings, provides us with a humbling reminder that God is very present, guiding us, leading us, protecting us, even though we may not see Him. The spiritual world of angels also helps us to avoid the mistake of reducing God to our material realm, making Him in our image and likeness, ‘dressing’ Him up so that He would become more acceptable and pleasing to our senses. God does not fit any of our conceptual categories and should therefore not be forced to conform to our limited notions of Him.
Through the ministration of the angels, we are privileged indeed to see how much God loves us: He does not just throw us under the bus or leave us to fend for ourselves, but gives to us somebody who is going to be with us 24 hours a day. We can see how much He loves us. Angels are assigned to serve, protect and guide every individual person. They are proof of God’s constant love and care.