The Holy Gospel According to Matthew (18:1-5, 10).

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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Reflection:  Today is the Memorial of The Holy Guardian Angels.  In this Gospel, the disciples ask Jesus, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”  Jesus answers them by calling a child to Himself and tells them, “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus is not telling us to be childish but childlike.  There is a big difference.  Childish is about being immature and selfish, only caring about yourself and not looking out for others.  Being childlike is to trust in God completely, to be humble and to rely on God as a child relies on a loving parent.  In a secular world that values power, success and self-sufficiency, Jesus reminds us that true greatness comes from humility, simplicity, and dependence on God.  A childlike faith allows us to constantly be amazed at the goodness of God.  Jesus also reminds us to care for the weak, vulnerable, and those in need.  When we welcome them, we welcome Jesus Christ Himself. 

Jesus then reminds us, “Do not despise one of these little ones.”  To God, every person matters.  Nobody is insignificant in God’s eyes.  As Catholic Christians, we are called to protect, encourage, and care for those who are vulnerable, marginalized or struggling.

Today’s Memorial has been observed in the Church since the 16th century.  Pope Clement X assigned this Memorial to the first free day following Michaelmas day, (Feast of the Archangels).  We know that angels are intermediaries between God and humanity.  According to both Tradition and Scripture, God assigns guardian angels to each one of us.  Guardian angels guide us on our faith journey, help us in our struggles against evil, and protect us from troubles.  They also present our prayers to God. 

Action for the Day:  As we go about our day, reflect on this Gospel.  Ask ourselves do we approach God with childlike trust?  Do we value humility over pride”? Do we recognize Christ in those around us, especially in the most vulnerable?  Pray for the grace to help you trust in God and be humble.  Pray to be the light of Christ and to bring others to that light to build up the Kingdom of Heaven here and now.  Also, pray to your Guardian Angel, “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. 

Audio Reflection:

The Gospel according to John (1:47-51) 

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,

“Here is a true child of Israel.

There is no duplicity in him.”

Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered and said to him,

“Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”

Nathanael answered him,

“Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

Jesus answered and said to him,

“Do you believe

because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?

You will see greater things than this.”

And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you,

you will see heaven opened

and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Reflection:

Today, we remember the three great archangels, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael.  Angels in Scripture are messengers for God, and that is how we think of them today as well.  Archangels are those with special powers to communicate with humanity.  Gabriel was the one who spoke to both Zechariah and Mary to announce the birth of the herald of the Messiah (in Zechariah’s case) or the birth of the Messiah Himself (in Mary’s).  I think every Christian is aware of those two encounters in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke.

The other archangels are probably less known.  Michael, who is mentioned by name only in the last book of the Bible, Revelation, as the one who led the battle against the devil in Revelation chapter 12.  He’s one that I’ve come to know and think of more as we end daily Mass every day at my home parish of St Rita with the congregation praying the Prayer to St Michael for his protection over us.  And, Raphael only appears in the book of Tobit, which is missing from Protestant Bibles entirely.

We have another day where we remember our Guardian Angels, messengers from God who watch over each of us.  For today, let us be thankful for the archangels who speak and battle and heal with God’s power, even as they honor the fact that God gave us free will, meaning we can turn away from God and do what we want, no matter how harmful it may be.  I firmly believe that the angels do help steer danger away from us, even if we are not aware of it.

The Gospel for this particular feast doesn’t mention any of the archangels at all.  Instead, it shares a vision of what Nathaniel would one day see – Jesus in His heavenly glory, with angels “ascending and descending on the Son of Man”.  We may not see them, but we can trust that the God who created us and who loves us endlessly will make sure that His messengers are there to stand between us and evil, helping us to overcome it.  May we always be thankful for that, and look forward to the day when we see our God face to face, and also look into the faces of the archangels, who have been our protectors and guides throughout our lives.

Action for the Day:  

Say the Prayer to St Michael today, won’t you?  Let us always invoke him and his protection over us, that the power of God may rule in our hearts today and everyday.

Link to the DEACON5 website: https://deacon5.com/

If you would like to hear this reflection, click the link below! 

The Holy Gospel according to Luke 9:46-50

An argument arose among the disciples
about which of them was the greatest. 
Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child
and placed it by his side and said to them,
“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
For the one who is least among all of you
is the one who is the greatest.”
Then John said in reply, 
“Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name 
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.”
Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Reflection: In today’s passage, Our Lord addresses the disciples after He “realized the intention of their hearts.” This is a very important line. Essentially, Jesus noticed that the desire for boastfulness was just beginning. By analogy, when a weed begins to grow, it is easily pulled up by the roots. But if it is left to grow for a while, then the roots are more difficult to pull up, and doing so often affects the other plants and ground around the weed therefore, it is with sin. By gently bringing a child into their midst and stating that “the one who is least among you is the one who is the greatest,” Jesus was helping them to remove this “weed” of the sin of vainglory before it took deep root in their lives. As Jesus continues His conversation with the disciples, He continues to act with gentleness, addressing their slight error in their reasoning.

This is important to understand, because our Lord always desires to address our sin the very moment it begins. If we are open to His subtle promptings of grace, gently redirecting our actions the moment we begin to go astray, then our attentiveness to His loving rebuke will help keep us from becoming more deeply rooted in our error. Establishing a practice of constant self-reflection greatly helps with this. Establishing this habit means we do not see our Lord as a harsh and critical Judge; rather, we see Him in His gentleness and care. This image of Jesus gently bringing a child before the disciples to teach them about true greatness should help us to realize that we should never fear these gentle promptings of grace.

Ask the children if they think they have any gifts. They will probably be as confused as adults are when responding to this question. Children know about buying gifts. Place a gift bow on each child’s head and suggest that rather than buying gifts for their parents or new teachers, they try to be gifts to their parents and their teachers. Would someone want to get them as a gift? Help the parents to remember what gifts these children were and are. So … are you (we) a gift to Our Lord?

Action for the Day: Address the small sins with which you are struggling. Of course, all serious sins must be firmly dealt with first. But once all serious sin is rooted out of your life, be attentive to the gentle and merciful promptings of grace by which Jesus wants to root out every small sin at its beginning and even every spiritual imperfection.

Audio Reflection: