September 29, 2024
Children were very special to Jesus. In Matthew 18:1-10, he talks about how it is necessary for us to become childlike to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and how their guardian angels watch over them.
“At that time 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. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea….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.’”
It is comforting for us to know we have guardian angels watching over us and our children. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the 12th century Doctor of the Church, often preached about our angels. In one sermon, he said, “So let us be devoted and grateful to such great protectors; let us return their love and honor them as much as we can and should….
“We should then show our affection for the angels, for one day they will be our coheirs just as here below they are our guardians and trustees appointed and set over us by the Father….Even though we are children and have a long, a very long and dangerous way to go, with such protectors what have we to fear? They who keep us in all our ways cannot be overpowered or led astray, much less lead us astray. They are loyal, prudent, powerful. Why then are we afraid? We have only to follow them, stay close to them, and we shall dwell under the protection of God’s Heaven.”
On October 2, we celebrate the Feast of the Guardian Angels, which was first observed in the 16th century, and by 1615 Pope Paul V added it to the Roman calendar.
This October 2 at 7 p.m. at St. Rose of Lima Church in Newtown, there will be a Mass of the Guardian Angels for those who have lost a child.
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