THE POWER OF THE GUARDIAN ANGELS

THE GUARDIAN ANGELS

Neh 8:1-12; Ps 19:8-21; Mt 18:1-5,10

The Source of the Angel’s Power

The worship of God in heaven is the same as our worship of him on earth. As we mentioned earlier in our reflection, the angels contemplate God in heaven as He sits on His sacred throne of fire, and we contemplate Him on earth through the sacrament of His word, which gives life. As the Psalmist echoes: “The law of the Lord is perfect, it revives the soul. The rule of the Lord is to be trusted; it gives wisdom to the simple.” The flames of fire which issue from his presence to illuminate the angels attending to him are a sacrament of his will, which they immediately accomplish once they comprehend it. So, they become fire themselves by contemplating the will of God. In our case, the word of God constitutes flames of fire by which he illuminates us and reveals his will to us. When we fail to wait on him, we miss his illumination and wander away in error and sinfulness. If the angels are transformed into flames of fire to accomplish the will of God, in the same way, we are supposed to go and come at the knowledge of the will of God. The Law and the Prophets were supposed to be the illumination of the people of God, transforming Israel into light for the nations.

We see the effect of abandoning the word in the life of the Jews that He chose and gave his holy Law. They ceased to be his people when they abandoned his Law. They went into exile to pagan countries. His mercy recalled them to their land when they recognised their sinfulness. The scribe and priest, Ezra, helped them understand the Law of God anew. “Accordingly, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, consisting of men, women, and children old enough to understand. …, he read from the book from early morning till noon; all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.” God uses various means to teach us his will. Apart from the fact that the Law is God living among us, the angels minister the will of God to us. Hence, the ministries of both angels and men are to aid us in doing God’s will. God sends a guardian angel to each of us to lead us securely on the path of doing his will. But their ministries are effective to the extent we cooperate with them. Just as the ministries of Nehemiah, the high commissioner, Ezra, priest and scribe, and the Levites, who were instructing the people, were effective, given the people's willingness and cooperation.

Our Lord teaches about this cooperation in responding to the question of the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It is not about what we do, but about our cooperation with the will of the Father. “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.” What is it about the little children that our Lord is referring to in this passage? Little children trust and follow their parents willingly and faithfully. We have located the basis for the hierarchy among the angels in the degree of their loving devotion to God and His holy will. Our Lord implies that we are among the greatest in heaven when we lovingly trust and follow the will of the Father. The same trust makes our guardian angels powerful to represent God around us. Our trust in God and conformity with his will brings about a powerful synergy between us and our guardian angels. “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.” The role of the guardian angels is to bring about the fulfilment of the will of God in our lives. Thus, our faithful obedience to the word of God empowers our guardian angels. Obedience makes us into the Son, on whom the angels ascend and descend.

Let us pray: O God, who in your unfathomable providence are pleased to send your holy Angels to guard us, hear our supplication as we cry to you, that we may always be defended by their protections and rejoice eternally in their company. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.