The Guardian Angels
Friends in Christ, today is the Feast of the Guardian Angels. This week, the kids in school will be asked 34 questions on angels. Here are a few of the questions:
1. To be a Catholic, is it required to believe in angels? Yes, it is a De Fide teaching.
2. Do angels have bodies? No, they are spirits.
3. Do angels have a great intellect and intelligence? yes
4. What is the name given to bad angels? devils or demons
5. When we die, do we become angels? no, they are a different species! When we die we will be resurrected in our bodies, angels don’t have bodies, it’s not their nature.
6. Does each person have a Guardian Angel? How do we know? ⇒
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Well, in the gospel today, Jesus assures us that we have a guardian angel. Referring to children, Our Lord says, ‘I tell you, their angels in heaven always behold the face of my Heavenly Father.”
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Also from scripture, remember when St. Peter had escaped from prison, and was standing at the house knocking? They said, ‘it can’t be Peter, it must be – ‘his angel.’ So we know of our Guardian Angel from scripture, and also the tradition we inherited from the Jewish people.
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Padre Pio saw his guardian angel often. A man had met Padre Pio and was complaining about his troubles. He says: Padre Pio was looking at something, right next to me; he had a wonderful look on his face, and he asked me: ‘Do you believe in your guardian angel?’ I said, ‘I – I’m not sure. It was then that Padre Pio shook me and said ‘Look! He’s close to you, he’s beautiful!!!’ He could see angels. So could other saints like St. Gemma.
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Padre Pio’s Guardian Angel once said to him: ‘I am always close to you. I watch over you always; my affection for you will not end even when you die.’
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St. Josemaria had a practice, of when he met a person, to first greet that person’s guardian angel. One day in 1972, the retired archbishop of Valencia, along with his secretary, went to visit St. Josemaria. They were good friends, so that when they met, St. Josemaria, to have some fun with him, asked him: “Marcelino, let’s see if you can guess – whom did I greet first?” The archbishop replied, “You greeted me first.” “No,” said the saint, “I greeted the VIP first.” The Archbishop was perplexed; he said, “But of the two of us, my secretary and me, I am the ‘VIP’.” St. Josemaria replied: “No, the VIP is your Guardian Angel.”
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Every single person is important to God; so important, that God gave each of us an Angel; a powerful and lovely angel whom we should greet often, during our day.
