The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the role of heavenly messengers in our experience of the Presence of God in our journey.
Diverted from poor choices
The reading from the Book of Exodus presents the role of angels in the conquest of Canaan.
* [23:21] My authority is within him: lit., “My name is within him.”1
Psalm 91 is assurance of God’s Protection.
* [91:1] The shelter of the Most High: basically “hiding place” but in the Psalms a designation for the protected Temple precincts, cf. Ps 27:5; 31:21; 61:5. The shade of the Almighty: lit., “the shadow of the wings of the Almighty,” cf. Ps 17:8; 36:8; 57:2; 63:8. Ps 91:4 makes clear that the shadow is an image of the safety afforded by the outstretched wings of the cherubim in the holy of holies.2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus uses a child to teach about true greatness.
* [18:10] Their angels in heaven…my heavenly Father: for the Jewish belief in angels as guardians of nations and individuals, see Dn 10:13, 20–21; Tb 5:4–7; 1QH 5:20–22; as intercessors who present the prayers of human beings to God, see Tb 13:12, 15. The high worth of the little ones is indicated by their being represented before God by these heavenly beings.3
Bishop Robert Baron notes that Thomas Aquinas says that each of us have been assigned a heavenly guide. Once we’re in heaven, we won’t require a guide anymore, and our angel will become our friend.
Susan Naatz shares imagining her deceased friend surrounded lovingly by angels and Susan had a genuine, spiritual, and mystical sense that her friend was not alone.
The pandemic has brought on an alarming increase in loneliness throughout the world. Yes, people are finding new ways to connect in this era of social distancing, but loneliness continues to increase. Loneliness impacts the physical, spiritual, and emotional health of a human person. Jamie Ducharme writes: Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, public-health experts were concerned about an epidemic of loneliness in the U.S. The coronavirus has exacerbated that problem… 1. Could our feelings of loneliness be where our guardian angels can assist us and advocate for us? The faithful from most of the world’s major religions believe in angels as messengers from God. Catholicism goes one step further saying that we are each assigned an angel to be our guardian. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains to us: From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading…to life. Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels…united in God. 2 4.
Don Schwager comments that John Chrysostom (347-407 AD), an early church father and renowned preacher, compared the guardian angels to the troops garrisoned in cities on the frontiers of the empire to defend it from the enemy. Basil the Great (329-379 AD) said, "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life." Angels ministered to Jesus after his temptation in the wilderness and during his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43). The angels will be present at Christ's return, which they will announce, to serve at his judgment (Matthew 25:31). The angels show us that this universe which God created is not just materialistic. Don quotes “Their angels behold the face of my Father in heaven,” by Chromatius (died 406 AD).
"It is not right to despise anyone who believes in Christ. A believer is called not only a servant of God but also a son though the grace of adoption, to whom the kingdom of heaven and the company of the angels is promised. And rightly the Lord adds, 'For I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.' How much grace the Lord has toward each one believing in him he himself declares when he shows their angels always beholding the face of the Father who is in heaven. Great is the grace of the angels toward all who believe in Christ. Finally, the angels carry their prayers to heaven. Hence the word of Raphael to Tobias: 'When you prayed along with your daughter-in-law Sara, I offered the memory of your prayer in the sight of God (Deutero-canonical book of Tobit 12:12). Around them there is also the strong guard of the angels; they help each of us to be free from the traps of the enemy. For a human in his weakness could not be safe amid so many forceful attacks of that enemy if he were not strengthened by the help of the angels." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 57.1) [Note: Chromatius was an early Christian scholar and bishop of Aquileia, Italy. He was a close friend of John Chrysostom and Jerome. He died in 406 AD. Jerome described him as a "most learned and most holy man."]5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 18:1-5, 10 comments that it is easy to think that we don’t need God much, especially when things are going well. If we are blessed with good health, a happy family, and basic comforts, we can get lulled into self-reliance and not give God much attention.
And yet God has so much to give us! When we forget to bring our needs to him, we are like people living on a subsistent diet when we could be enjoying a feast. Every day he wants to give us his grace, his strength, his wisdom, and his protection. Today, whether you feel strong or needy, know that you are God’s beloved child. He wants you to lean on him so that he can bless you. He has even provided you with your own special angel to help and guide you! “Lord, I need you. Help me to remember how much you want to give me each day.”6
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the alternate reading from the Book of Job. The Gospel declares our need to be childlike in our humility, trust, and sincerity. Friar Jude stirs our memory of times when our guardian angel has protected us from our bad choices.
A post by Franciscan Media notes that the concept of an angel assigned to guide and nurture each human being is a development of Catholic doctrine and piety based on Scripture but not directly drawn from it. Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:10 best support the belief: “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.” Devotion to the angels began to develop with the birth of the monastic tradition. Saint Benedict gave it impetus and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, the great 12th-century reformer, was such an eloquent spokesman for the guardian angels that angelic devotion assumed its current form in his day.
Devotion to the angels is, at base, an expression of faith in God’s enduring love and providential care extended to each person day in and day out.7
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that from first gathering in 17th-century England as the Religious Society of Friends, the Quakers have always existed on the margins of Christianity, but that doesn’t mean their impact has been small. In many ways, they were ahead of their time (and even our times) when it came to women’s legitimate place in spiritual leadership, abolitionism, pacifism, and even the necessity of silence to hear the voice of God. From the beginning, they insisted that every individual had access to the “Light Within” and must follow their own conscience. It took the Catholic Church until Vatican II to state that clearly! In a passage by Quaker mystic Thomas Kelly (1893–1941), Fr. Richard hears echoes of the writings of Thomas Merton, as Kelly encourages his readers to recognize, trust, and live authentically from the “Light Within.”
Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continually return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within, is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within that illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the human face. It is a seed stirring to life if we do not choke it. It is the Shekinah of the soul, the Presence in the midst. Here is the Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we clothe in earthly form and action. And [Christ] is within us all.8
We are aware of spiritual assistance in our lives to choose humility, love, trust, and compassion over our own passions and self satisfaction.
References
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