Our Heavenly Helpers
A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS
Did you know that … “From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their [angels’] watchful care and intercession. ‘Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.’ Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), 336).
The Catholic News Agency’s daily report of October 2, 2022, shows a number of quotations from saints on guardian angels. Here are a few of these:
· St. John Vianney: “Our guardian angels are our most faithful friends, because they are with us day and night, always and everywhere. We ought often to invoke them.”
· St. John Bosco: “When tempted, invoke your angel. He is more eager to help you than you are to be helped. Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him; he trembles and flees at the sight of your guardian angel.”
· St. Jerome: “How great is the dignity of souls, that each person has from birth received an angel to protect it.”
· St. Basil the Great: “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd, leading him to life.”
· St. Bernard of Clairvaux: “We should show our affection for the angels, for one day they will be our co-heirs just as here below they are our guardians and trustees appointed and set over us by the Father.”
We can pray to our Guardian Angels but not worship them. Guardian Angels, whose feast day is October 2nd, have intercessory powers just as saints do. There are angels for all human beings and for groups such as (for instance) the Secular Franciscan Order. We cannot see them, and we should not try to see them. They are spirit and have been created to help us in our daily lives.
Pope St. John Paul II wrote: "Sacred Scripture refers to the angels also by using terms that are not only personal (like the proper names of Raphael, Gabriel, Michael) but also "collective" (like the titles: seraphim, cherubim, thrones, powers, dominions, principalities), just as it distinguishes between angels and archangels. While bearing in mind analogous and representative character of the language of the sacred text, we can deduce that these beings and persons, as it were grouped together in society, are divided into orders and grades, corresponding to the measure of their perfection and to the tasks entrusted to them. The ancient authors and the liturgy itself speak also of the angelic choirs (nine, according to Dionysius the Areopagite).
"Jesus Himself tells us this: "The angels in Heaven always see the face of my father who is in Heaven!' (Mt. 18:10). "To see the face of the Father always" in this way is the highest manifestation of the adoration of God. One can say that this constitutes the "heavenly liturgy," carried out in the name of all the universe; with which the earthly liturgy of the Church is incessantly joined, especially in its culminating moments."
"We find these experiences in various passages of Sacred Scripture, like for example, Ps. 90 which has already been quoted several times: "He will give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone" (Ps. 90:11-12). Jesus Himself, speaking of children and warning against giving them scandal, refers to "their angels" (Mt. 18:10). Besides this, He attributes to the angels the function of witnesses in the last divine judgement about the fate of those who have acknowledged or denied Christ: "Whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man likewise will acknowledge him before the angels of God, but whoever denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God" (Lk. 12:8-9; cf. Rev. 3:5)."
"These words are significant because, if the angels take part in the judgement of God, then they are interested in the life of man. This interest and participation seem to be accentuated in the eschatological discourse, in which Jesus has the angels appear in the Parousia, that is, in the definitive coming of Christ at the end of history (cf. Mt. 24.31; 25:31-41)." ¹
God is so good. It is important for Franciscans to understand our theology about why Jesus came among us. The Incarnation, i.e. God coming among us in Jesus, which was the result of God’s love for us. Franciscans believe that since the nature of God is LOVE, the actions of God flow from that love. Hence, we believe that Jesus came among us because God desired to be with the people he loved and the earth God created. ²
God, in his goodness, and wishing to protect us even more, made these myriads of angels available to us, to guide us, guard us, protect us, and keep us away from sin if we cooperate. Notwithstanding, there are accidents in nature (e.g. a bad hurricane as we just experienced), where things go wrong, nevertheless. Try not to blame God nor the angels – storms come and go, weather changes, seasons arrive. It’s sad that people get hurt, but God does not love them any less. Keep praying that when your time here has ended you will see Him face to face. I just lost a very dear friend, two weeks ago, I miss him but I know he is in Heaven because he led a devout life and he tried hard not to sin. So keep praying and don’t give up hope.
Peace and all Good,
Fred Schaeffer, OFS 10/2/2022 Republished 1/26/2026. (I could not find the original (2022) on this site)
1. (Quoted from a very lengthy EWTN document, some of which was previously used in “Our Guardian Angels,” one of my reflections, dated 4/1/2008 but not on-line anymore.)
2. Quoted from “A focus on Christ” (SFO Rule Ch. 2 pg. 132), in “The Franciscan Journey” upd. Version by Lester Bach, OFM Cap. (d. 2020) National Fraternity OFS in USA.