“…for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.’” (Matthew 18:10).
I heard a story the other day about Saint Josemaria.
Saint Josemaria once met a Bishop and a priest together. He greeted the men and then asked them who they thought he greeted first. The Bishop replied that because he was the more senior person in the room that his had been the first greeting. Saint Josemaria replied that this was not the case. He had in fact greeted the most senior person in the room, but that person was not the Bishop. When pressed, the Saint replied that he had in fact greeted the guardian angels of the men present before greeting the men.
And I have been reflecting on that because it seems that the guardian angel is the most under-rated superpower of the human soul in existence…
“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.’” (Matthew 18:1-5, 10).
God is my father, my Dad, my Daddy. And He loves me with a Father’s love. And what does this mean? Well, it means that like all good fathers, God wishes to protect me on my journey…
And so, instead of leaving me alone – or leaving you alone either – God allows one of His precious angels to accompany my soul – and to accompany yours too – from the moment of my conception until the moment when I stand before my Beloved as the Just Judge in eternity, I have a protector.
And when I look at artwork of the angels, I often think of cupid-inspired little child-like looking creatures, with tiny wings and cherub faces.
And I have been thinking about that… When the Blessed Virgin was conceived, God sent an army of angels to be her protectors. When the Angel Gabriel appeared to her during the Annunciation, which we commemorate in the First Joyful Mystery of the Most Blessed Rosary the first thing he said to her was to not be afraid… So, he surely did not look all cute and precious. He is a mighty messenger. Saint Michael the Archangel cast Lucifer into Hell. He surely did this during a battle.
And I have been thinking about that today, because Saint John Vianney said that if we were struggling to pray, we should, “hide behind our good Angel and charge him to pray in our stead.”
And it seems to me that this is advice that I really should be following. For a mighty protector walks with me, and I forget to acknowledge that he is here…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.