October 2
Memorial of the Guardian
Angels
Lectionary: 650
The Gospel for
this memorial is proper. The first reading be taken either from the weekday or
the readings below.
Reading
1
Thus says the
LORD:
"See, I am sending an angel before you,
to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.
Be attentive to him and heed his voice.
Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your sin.
My authority resides in him.
If you heed his voice and carry out all I tell you,
I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
"My angel will go before you and bring you to the
Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,
Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites;
and I will wipe them out."
Responsorial
Psalm
Psalm 91:1-2, 3-4ab, 4c-6,
10-11
R.
(11) The Lord has put angels in charge of you, to guard you in
all your ways.
You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
Say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
R. The Lord has put angels in charge of you, to guard you
in all your ways.
For he will rescue you from the snare of the fowler,
from the destroying pestilence.
With his pinions he will cover you,
and under his wings you shall take refuge.
R. The Lord has put angels in charge of you, to guard you
in all your ways.
His faithfulness is a buckler and a shield.
You shall not fear the terror of the night
nor the arrow that flies by day;
Nor the pestilence that roams in darkness,
nor the devastating plague at noon.
R. The Lord has put angels in charge of you, to guard you
in all your ways.
No evil shall befall you,
nor shall affliction come near your tent,
For to his angels he has given command about you,
that they guard you in all your ways.
R. The Lord has put angels in charge of you, to guard you
in all your ways.
Alleluia
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Bless the LORD, all you angels,
you ministers, who do his will.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The disciples
approached Jesus and said,
"Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
"Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
"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."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/1002-memorial-guardian-angels.cfm
Commentary on Matthew 18:1-5,10
(Note: The
Gospel reading today is proper to the memorial and must be used even if the
ferial readings are otherwise chosen.)
Coincidentally,
the Gospel reading for today’s Memorial to the Holy Guardian Angels is the same
as yesterday’s for the feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux (unless her feast falls
on a Sunday). The emphasis on St Thérèse’s feast was on the childlike qualities
of Thérèse. In the related Gospel passage, Jesus was saying that true greatness
only comes to those who in a spirit of complete docility and trust submit
themselves totally to the will of their Father in heaven.
Today the focus is
more on Jesus’ statement at the end of the reading where he says:
Take care that
you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their
angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.
The meaning is
that those considered as of least consequence—children, the poor, the
marginalised—are all very special in God’s eyes and, through their angels, can
be sure of God’s loving concern.
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Thursday, October 2, 2025
The Holy Guardian Angels
Opening Prayer
Father, you show your almighty power in your mercy and
forgiveness.
Continue to fill us with your gifts of love.
Help us to hurry towards the
eternal life your promise and come to share in the joys of your kingdom.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Matthew 18: 1-5, 10
At this time the disciples came
to Jesus and said, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?'
So He called a little child to Him whom He set among them.
Then He said, 'In truth I tell you, 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 one 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 are continually in the presence of my Father in
heaven."
Reflection
Today's Gospel presents a text taken from the Discourse of the
Community (Mt 18: 1-35), in which Matthew gathers together some phrases of
Jesus to help the communities of the first century to overcome the two problems
which they had to face at that moment: the leaving or going away of the little
ones because of the scandal caused by some (Mt 18: 1-14) and the need for
dialogue to overcome the internal conflicts (Mt 18: 15-35). The discourse of
the Community treats several themes: the
exercise of power in the community (Mt 18: 1-4), the scandal that excludes the
little ones (Mt 18: 5-11), the obligation to struggle to bring back the little
ones, for their return (Mt 18: 12-14), fraternal correction (Mt 18: 15-18),
prayer (Mt 18: 19-20) and pardon (Mt 18: 21-35). The accent is placed on
acceptance and on reconciliation, because the basis of fraternity is the
gratuitous love of God which accepts us and forgives us. It is only in this way
that the community will be a sign of the Kingdom.
In today's Gospel we meditate on the part that speaks about
the acceptance of the little ones. The expression, the little ones, or the
least, does not only refer to children, but rather to persons who are not
important in society, including children. Jesus asks that the little ones be at
the center of the concern of the community, because "The Father does not
want any of these little ones to be lost" (Mt 18: 14).
•
Matthew 18: 1: The question of the disciples
which results in the teaching of Jesus. The disciples want to know who is the
greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. The simple fact of asking this question
indicates that they have not understood the message of Jesus well. The response
of Jesus and the whole discourse of the community serve to make us understand
that among the followers of Jesus the spirit of service, dedication to pardon, reconciliation and gratuitous love, without seeking one's own
interest, must be a priority.
•
Matthew 18: 2-5: the fundamental criterion; the
one who makes himself as little as this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of
Heaven. "Then Jesus called to himself a child and placed him in the
middle"; the disciples want a reference point to be able to measure the
importance of persons in the community. Jesus responds that it is the little
ones! Children are not important in society; they do not belong to the world of
the great. The disciples, instead of growing towards the heights and toward the
center, should grow down and toward the periphery! In this way they will be the
greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven! And the reason for this is the following:
"anyone who welcomes one little child like this, in my name, welcomes
me!" The love of Jesus for the little ones cannot be explained. The
children have no merit; they are loved by their parents because they are
children, not because of their position or ability or power. This is a pure
gratuitous love of God which is manifested here and which can be imitated in
the community of those who believe in Jesus.
•
Matthew 18: 6-9: Do not scandalize the little
ones. The Gospel today omits verses 6 to 9 and continues in verse 10. We give a
brief key for the reading of these verses from 6 to 9. To scandalize the little
ones means to be a reason for the loss of their faith in God and abandonment
from the community. The excessive insistence on the norms and observance, as
some Pharisees did, caused the little ones to go away, because they no longer
found the liberty that Jesus had brought. Before this, Matthew keeps very
strong phrases from Jesus, such as the one of the mill stone put around the
neck, and the other one, "Alas for those who cause scandal!" This is
a sign that at that time the little ones no longer identified themselves with
the community and looked for another refuge. And today? In Brazil alone, every
year, approximately one million persons abandon the historical churches and go
to the Pentecostal ones. And these are the poor who do this. They leave because
the poor and the little ones do not feel at home in their house! What is the
reason? To avoid this scandal, Jesus orders to cut off the foot or the hand and
take out the eye. These affirmations of Jesus cannot be taken literally. They
mean that it is necessary to be very demanding in the struggle against scandal
which drives away the little ones. It means to remove those things in our
actions and ways that drive the little ones away. The hand, foot and eye were
the mechanisms for action then. Today we have many more ways to perform actions
and to interact with each other. We cannot in any way allow that the little
ones feel marginalized in our community because in this case, the community
would not be a sign of the Kingdom of God. It would not belong to Jesus Christ.
It would not be Christian.
•
Matthew 18: 10: The angels of the little ones
are always in the presence of the Father. "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." Today we sometimes
hear the question, "But, do the angels exist or not? Perhaps they are an
element of the Persian culture, where the Jews lived for long centuries during
the Babylonian exile?” It is possible. But this is not the important thing or
the principal aspect. In the Bible the angel has a different significance.
There are texts which speak about the Angel of Yahweh or of the Angel of God
and then suddenly they speak of God. They exchange one for the other (Gen 18:
1-2, 9, 10, 13, 16: cf. Gen 13: 3, 18). In the Bible the angel is the face of
Yahweh turned toward us. The face of God turned toward me and toward you! It is
the expression of the most profound conviction of our faith, that God is with
us and with me - always! It is a way of making God's love concrete in our life,
even up to the smallest detail.
Personal Questions
•
Are the little ones accepted in our community?
Do the poorest people participate in our community?
•
The angels of God, our Guardian Angel, and many
times the angel of God, is the person who helps another person. Are there many
angels in your life?
Concluding Prayer
Lord, you created my inmost self, knit me together in
my mother's womb. For so many marvels I thank you; a wonder am I, and all your
works are wonders. (Ps 139: 13-14)
The Church
has never formally declared that every individual has a protecting angel.
However, a writer as far back as St Jerome said it was the “mind of the
Church”. He wrote in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew:
How
great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from birth an angel
commissioned to guard it.
Belief in
guardian angels was common among many cultures in ancient times. Examples can
be given from Menander, Plutarch and Plotinus as well as from the Babylonians
and Assyrians. In fact, it was their belief which was taken up by the Jews
following their periods of conquest and exile.
In the Old
Testament, the evidence of protecting angels is frequent. For example, an angel
led Lot to safety before the destruction of Sodom. During the Exodus, an angel
is appointed as leader of the Israelites. As well, God tells Moses in today’s
Memorial’s First Reading:
I am
going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring
you to the place that I have prepared. (Exodus
23:20)
There is
also the lovely story of the angel (Raphael) who took protective care of Tobias
as he went in search of a bride and for medicine to heal his blind father
(Tobit chap 5).
In Psalm
91:11 we read:
For he
will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
Ironically,
these same words were used by Satan tempting Jesus to jump from the top of the
Temple.
In chapter
10 of the Book of Daniel, angels are entrusted to take care of particular
districts. It is clear the Old Testament understood God’s angels as messengers
carrying out his will, including the protection of people.
In the New
Testament, angels are frequently the links between God and his people. We hear
Jesus saying:
Take
care that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you, in
heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. (Matt 18:10)
There was
the angel who consoled Jesus during his Agony in the Garden (Luke 22:43), and
it was an angel who delivered Peter from prison (Acts 12:6-10). And finally, in
the Letter to the Hebrews we read:
Are not
all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those
who are to inherit salvation? (Heb
1:14)
As
children, many of us remember the prayer we were taught to say every night
before sleep:
Angel
of God, my guardian dear
to whom God’s love commits me here.
Ever this day/night be at my side
to light, to guard, to rule and guide.
Amen.
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