Pope
Francis: Respect and listen to your Guardian Angel
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says God has given
everybody a Guardian Angel to accompany us and offer advice and protection, an
Angel to whom we should listen with meekness and respect. He was speaking
during his homily at Mass on Friday (2nd October) celebrated in the Santa Marta
Residence.
Taking his cue from Friday’s feast of the Guardian Angels, the
Pope’s homily reflected on this divine presence in our lives, describing the
Angel as God’s ambassador who accompanies each one of us. He noted how the
proof of this was illustrated when God chased Adam out of Paradise: He didn’t
leave Adam on his own or say to him: “fend for yourself as best as you can.”
The Pope stressed that every person has been given a Guardian Angel by
God who stays by our side.
God's Ambassador by our side
“He is always with
us! And this is a reality. It’s like having God’s ambassador with
us. And the Lord advises us: ‘Respect his presence!’ And when we, for
example, commit a sin and believe that we’re on our own: No, he is there. Show
respect for his presence. Listen to his voice because he gives us advice. When
we hear that inspiration: ‘But do this … this is better … we should not do
that.’ Listen! Do not go against him.”
Pope Francis explained
how the Guardian Angel always protects us, especially from evil. Sometimes, he
noted, “we believe that we can hide so many things,” “bad things” that in the
end will always come to light. The Angel, he continued, is there to advise us
and “cover for us” just a friend would do. “A friend who we don’t see but we
hear.” “A friend who one day will be with us in the everlasting joy of
Heaven.”
Respect him and listen to him
“All he asks is that
we listen to him and respect him. That’s all: respect and listening (to
him). And this respect and listening to this companion on our journey is
called meekness. The Christian must be meek when it comes to the Holy Spirit.
Meekness towards the Holy Spirit begins with this yielding to the advice given
by this companion on our journey.”
The Pope went on to
explain that in order to be meek, we need to become small like children and our
Guardian Angel is a companion who teaches us this humility and just like
children we should listen to him.
“May we ask the Lord
for the grace of this meekness, to listen to the voice of this companion, to
this ambassador from God who accompanies us in His name and may we be supported
by his help. (We must) always journey forward. And in this Mass
where we praise the Lord, let us remember how good our Lord is, who straight
after we lost His friendship, did not leave us alone, did not abandon
us.”
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