It’s fair to say that our Guardian Angels love us with a perfect love. They know us, care for us and desire deeply that we become holy. Their primary purpose is to care for us, get us to Heaven, and to draw us into the heights of sanctity.
They do it by mediating God’s grace to us. The word “angel” means messenger. Thus, our angels play a central role in communicating to us the will and mind of God. They can speak all that God wants to say to us. They are also protectors in that they bring grace from God to particular situations in our life to fight against evil and to help us do good.
Only God knows how often we are helped by angels. Every day we experience them in little "coincidences" and so-called "hunches" we follow that turn out to be blessings. However, the role of angels is much more important than that. Angels teach us how to live holy lives. As Psalm 91: 11-13 declares, God “commands his angels with regard to you, to guard you wherever you go.”
Exodus 23:20-23 points out that "guarding us in all our ways" includes giving us messages (guidance) from God, and we had better not rebel against this help. The word "angel" means "messenger from God."
As Jesus said in Matthew 18:10 our angels are not only with us every minute of every day but also face-to-face with God, Himself, presenting our petitions, joys and anxieties to Him. They can influence our thoughts and our actions, but they can’t control them—that’s the purpose of our free will. What the guardian angels will do is remind us of what is good and urge us to follow that. They will also step in and protect us from physical harm, if it is God’s will.
To hear the guidance that our angels give us, we have to ask the Holy Spirit to teach us to be open to their help. We might never hear them speak in audible voices nor see them appear in physical form, although many Saints have, but our human spirits can become attuned to their holy spirits.
We develop good listening skills by working on improving our friendship with Christ. The better we are at listening to God, the more natural it becomes to be guided by angels. Then, if we ask for their help and it's within God's will, they always rush to the task. Always!
The first prayer my mom taught each of her children before she even taught us the Rosary was the Prayer to My Guardian Angel:
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God’s love entrusts me here.
Ever this day (night) be at my side,
To light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
I must admit that even with a daily prayer to my angel, I sometimes forget he’s there. He’s become so much a part of me that I take him for granted sometimes, like I do others in my family who I hold dearest. But I just know that he’s the one that opens my eyes and ears to the Holy Spirit when I don’t feel like praying or going to Mass every day.
About 10 years ago, I was having a discussion with my mom about our guardian angels. She said that she had decided hers was named “George” when she was a kid, and that George had helped her in countless small ways over her lifetime. For instance, if she was in a deep sleep when she should be waking up, she would hear a voice gently rousing her. Or if she was in a full parking lot looking for a space to open up close to where she was going into, she would ask George for help in finding one. “Most of the time, he’s pretty good at it”, she said, smiling, “and I always make sure I say ‘Thanks, George!’” I asked her how she came up with the name, and she said “I just like the name! I figure if it’s not his name, he answers to it anyway!” You have to love my mother’s sense of humor.
I told her that I read somewhere if you ask your guardian angel his name just before going to sleep at night, he will let you know when you wake up. I know it sounds superstitious, but I figured I was not toying with the forces of the supernatural by simply asking my angel his name, so I did it that night.
To my surprise, when I woke up the next morning, the first thought I had was “Lawrence”. I laughed it off, because Alicia’s boyfriend at the time was Lorenzo, and I thought, “No way!” Then I thought, “Why not?” So to this day, when I think of my guardian angel, I call him “Larry”. I guess I inherited my mother’s sense of humor in these things.
I did a lot of driving as part of my job with U-Haul for 25 years. There were several times when I was so sleepy, I should not have been driving. I managed to get to my destination without even realizing how I got there! I’m sure it was my guardian angel driving! It’s a good thing I didn’t get pulled over, or there would have been, in the words of Desi Arnaz, “some ‘splainin’ to do, Larry!”
Speak to your angel, today. Holy angels are ready to help us with every sort of need. Praise God who is so good to us that he gives us angels to assist us in all things!
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