Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? Heb. 1: 14
In our so called ‘modern’ and noisy world today, one of the world’s most respected Catholic philosophers, Charles Taylor, believes “We have moved from a society where belief in God is unchallenged and indeed, unproblematic, to one in which it is understood to be one option among others and frequently not the easiest to embrace.”
Certainly, in this pic n mix society of choice, religion may have become in some sense a harder choice, but it doesn’t vanish, and religious experience may even gain new wings, a new understanding and new dimensions. We need to reimagine our presence in this secular age and challenge with our own voices the phenomena of secularity as well as the varied random ‘ideologies’ or ‘isms’ mostly based at best on the so-called new trinity of me, myself and I.
As I reflected for this piece on how I can better speak of and speak up for my faith as a true witness of Christ, I was rather moved by the fact in this years’ Ordo we shall not celebrate the memorial of the Guardian Angels on the 2nd of October. Perhaps we have missed out on remembering and reconnecting with our divine ministering spirits who are constantly in the presence of God yet sent to serve us in their angelic offices.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 325 – 336 tells us that the existence of angels is a truth of faith. Our Guardian Angels are purely spiritual creatures who have intelligence and will. They are personal to us yet unseen. They have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation. Jesus Christ is the centre of the angelic world for they are His Angels, created through and for Him. Jesus has made and sent them as messengers of His saving plan, for all angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.
We and the whole life of the church benefit from the mysterious and powerful help of angels. So, let us not forget our Guardian Angels or maybe take time to reconnect with our Guardian Angels, who we already here on earth, share by faith, in the blessed company of angels and humanity united in God. Let us reimagine our Christian lives so as belief in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is no longer understood as an option among others but as the Way, the Truth and the Life of us all.
Perhaps this coming week we might pray to our Guardian Angels for their help and intercession along with Saint Francis, Saint Faustina and Our Lady of the Rosary, remembering always that the greatest wireless connection of them all is prayer.
“Oh Angel of God, my guardian dear to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day, be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.”
Michael McCaul is a Deacon of the Derry Diocese, currently serving in Saint Eugene’s Cathedral.
