Today's Gospel

Meet Your Guardian Angel

Welcome back to Radical & Relevant, where every day we're exploring the genius of the gospel, looking for one word, one phrase, one idea to anchor our day in the life and teachings of Jesus. Today's reading comes from the Gospel of Matthew 18:1-5, 10, and 12-14. "At that time, the disciples came to Jesus saying, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, 'Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven, their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven. What do you think? If a man has 100 sheep and 1 of them has gone astray? Does he not leave the 99 on the hills and go in search of the 1 that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the 99 that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.'"

What jumps out at you today? There's a lot here. Who is the greatest? We've got the child. We've got the invitation to be as children. And then we've got this parable about the 1 in the 99. But what jumps out at me is just one word, angels. And Jesus said, "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven, their angels always behold the face of my father." Their angels. So it's interesting, Jesus is referring to their angels. And we talk about guardian angels. We talk about the power of angels. But very often, we get dragged into the worldly affairs, and we forget the spiritual realities that are always taking place around us. When is the last time you prayed your guardian angel? When is the last time you asked your guardian angel to intercede for you? When was the last time you asked your angel to keep you safe, to guide you, to protect you? My grandma used to have this great, great technique she taught me. And that is like, if you're having a meeting with somebody, send your guardian angel to talk to their guardian angel to help the meeting go smoothly. And that's something I've never forgotten.

And it's one example, but there are thousands of ways we can call on the saints, the angels, all the spiritual powers in this universe to help us, to guide us, to protect us in our journey. Have an amazing day. And remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.