Salve, Regina, Mater Misericordiae.
Praise be Jesus Christ.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Guardian Angels.
In these last two decades, there's been an increase of interest in the angels,
especially in the New Age movement, but not exclusively in the New Age movement.
There have been a lot of books written about presumed experiences with angels.
Then there was the popular television show called Touched by an Angel.
And there was even the trend among Catholics
of naming their guardian angel until the Holy See stepped in to correct that in 2001.
In 2001, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
published a document entitled The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy.
And this document states, quote,
popular devotion to the holy angels,
which is legitimate and good,
can, however, also give rise to possible deviations.
The practice of assigning names to the holy angels should be discouraged,
except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael, whose names are contained in Holy Scripture.
So while we should invoke
Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael by name,
we cannot invoke
our guardian angels by name.
But we simply call upon them as guardian angel.
And that is why the guardian angel prayer says,
Angel of God, my guardian dear.
And that's it.
There's no blank space to insert a personal name or anything like that.
And the reason why we cannot name our guardian angels
is because they are higher beings than we are.
And the reason why we cannot name our guardian angels is because they are higher beings than we are.
And the reason why we cannot name our guardian angels is because they are higher beings than we are.
As the scripture says,
Thou hast made him...
it is man,
Thou hast made man
a little less than the angels.
So we are less than the angels
because they are pure spirits.
Whereas we are composed of spirit and matter.
But we are, as the scripture says,
But we are, as the scripture says,
only a little less than the angels.
only a little less than the angels.
Because we, like them, have an intellect with which we can know God
and a free will with which we can choose to love God.
And we, like them and with them, are destined to enjoy the vision of God for all eternity.
But the wonderful thing is that though they are higher beings than we are,
that is, on the hierarchy of being, they are higher than us,
nevertheless, God made them to be at our service during our pilgrimage here on earth.
The angels, so much more intelligent and more powerful than we are,
are nevertheless at our service.
The angels are more intelligent than we are because their knowledge is infused,
whereas ours.
Our knowledge we learn by discursive reasoning, through labor and effort, fatigue.
They're much more powerful than we are because they're not limited to a material body,
which can grow weak with age and sickness.
And nevertheless, they are at our service.
So if the angels are here to serve us,
what exactly are,
what are they here to serve us for?
Well, the angels have one goal in mind,
and that is the glory of God,
which, for all of us,
consists in our salvation and sanctification.
So this is first and foremost in the eye,
in the minds of the angels is the glory of God.
And then with regard to their service for us,
our salvation,
and our sanctification.
They are prepared to do anything and everything
in order to procure our salvation
and increase our sanctification.
When we think of the assistance of the angels in our lives,
we tend to think of material assistance.
For example,
our guardian angel saves us from getting into a car accident
or from falling down the stairs.
And this is perfectly legitimate and correct.
In fact, it's scriptural.
Psalm 90 says,
For he will give his angels charge of you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
So the angels do indeed protect us physically.
But more than protecting us physically,
they do not protect our physical health.
They seek to protect our spiritual health.
Remember,
salvation and sanctification.
So the angels will enlighten our minds
to help us to know the good that we ought to do
and the evil that we ought to avoid.
In fact,
God usually communicates his inspirations to us
in the form of words.
Not directly,
but through the mediation of the angels.
The angels will also sometimes encourage us
to actually do the good
that we now understand we ought to do
or to avoid the evil that we know we should avoid.
They encourage us by acting upon that sensible part of our soul,
our emotions and our sentiments.
And so,
they'll inspire us with joy and peace and fervor
for that good that we know we should do.
And they'll also put into us a fear,
a holy fear or contempt or aversion
for that evil that we know we should avoid.
And finally,
always in line with our salvation and sanctification,
they defend us from evil spirits,
from Satan and his minions.
To put it simply,
we are not smart enough
and we are not strong enough
to make it through this world safe and sound,
saved and sanctified
without the help of the angels.
And so today,
let us thank God for their assistance
and let us glorify God with them
by becoming the saints we ought to be.
In the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.