At Home with Faith
Guardian Angels Near
October 2, 2022
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
God promises his people, “See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.” (Exodus 23:30) And since St. Basil, the Church has affirmed that not only is human life surrounded by the care and intercession of angels (heavenly messengers), God provides each of us an angel to help lead us to life with him.
It makes sense for each of us to encourage our children by letting them know that God provides us these heavenly messengers and guides. One of the gifts of prayer and faith is that, over time, we may become more aware of how these spiritual guides are at work in our lives.
Read
Habakkuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4
Despite destruction around us, have faith.
Psalm 95
Hear his voice and open your hearts.
2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with strength from God.
Luke 17: 5-10
Do what you have been commanded as you are required.
Talk
Remind your children of God’s promise of an angel to guide us:
- Reflect on a time in your life when you think your guardian angel may have guided you spiritually. Think specifically of a time when you felt encouragement to pray or do the right thing in a difficult situation and especially reflect on how things might have gone differently if you did not listen.
- Tell your child that the Church teaches that we each have a guardian angel. Find out if your child is familiar with this teaching. If your child is older, see if they still take the teaching seriously.
- Encourage your child to see how the guardian angel helps us spiritually. Share your reflection of a time when your guardian angel helped you to grow spiritually.
Go Deeper
Two articles about the Feast of the Guardian angels:
The Guardian Angels (Catholic News Agency)
Feast of the Guardian Angels (University of Notre Dame)
A prayer to the guardian angels:
Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom His love commits me here, ever this day be at my side to light and guard to rule and guide. Amen.
Feast of the Guardian Angels (Archdiocese of New York)
A one-minute video from the Archdiocese of New York about the encouraging promise of a guardian angel for our children.