Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, remembering all those faithful and committed servants of God, the Guardian Angels whom God had tasked and committed to us, to protect and to guide us all in our respective paths in life. God has always been concerned with us and our well-being and He does not leave us all alone in our struggles and difficulties in life, especially in our daily struggles against sin and against the spiritual warfare ever always raging around us, the forces of Satan, the evil ones arrayed against us. That is why He sent us all those Angels to stand guard by our side, to provide us the spiritual guidance and support during times of difficulties and troubles.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus we heard of the Lord Himself speaking to His chosen people, the people of Israel, whom He had led with His mighty hands and power out of the land of Egypt, delivering them from the hands of their enemies and protecting them throughout their way. The Lord reminded His people through Moses, His servant that He would never leave them alone, and His Angels would always stand by them, protecting them in their time of need, against all the forces arrayed against them. Therefore that is also the same assurance which the Lord gave to all of us as well, His beloved people, those whom He had called and chosen from this world to be His own people like those Israelites in the past.

Essentially this reminds us all that we are never alone in the struggle against sin and evil, no matter how mighty are the forces of those arrayed against us. There are indeed many of those who seek our destruction, but none of these can stand and last against those that the Lord had sent to guard us, the Angels of God, the Guardian Angels that He has given to each and every one of us. Yes, brothers and sisters, each one of us have a Guardian Angel standing by our side, guarding us as mentioned against all those forces of evil. Our Guardian Angel is always there when we are facing difficult choices in life, as the one gently nudging us to stay strong in our faith and trust in the Lord despite the many challenges and trials that we may have to face and endure.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples, in which He told the disciples clearly about what it truly means to be His disciples and followers. Just as I have mentioned yesterday in a related Gospel passage about the faith and attitudes of little children who came to the Lord, the disciples of the Lord often quarrelled and debated among themselves about who among them was the greatest among them all and who would be worthy of God’s kingdom and glory. However, as they kept on disagreeing and debating among themselves, they missed the point and the truth about what it truly meant for them to follow the Lord.

They ended up focusing on themselves and their desires, their ambitions and wants, all of which would distract them from truly being able to commit themselves to the Lord. They were so engrossed on their desires for greatness and glory that they forgot the true essence and meaning of following the Lord. For the context, so that we understand better the motivation behind those disciples, we must understand that the general perception and expectation that the people had on the coming of the Messiah, the One Whom God would send to His people in order to save and rescue them from destruction, was that this same Messiah would lead them into glorious triumph against their enemies, and would restore the Kingdom of Israel as how it was during the days of King David and King Solomon.

Hence, many of those disciples might have harboured the ambition of being close to the Lord so that they would receive the bounties and the benefits of being trusted associates and collaborators of the Lord, that when He won those glorious victories and triumphs that they expected, they too would share in this glory and fame, and they would have expected worldly comforts, pleasures and glories, but the reality is that this is not what the Lord intended for those who followed Him. The reality was that those who followed Him would suffer the same challenges, persecutions and trials that He Himself would be suffering from. And that was why He reminded all of them that they should be humble and simple like those little children, whose love and devotion to Him were indeed pure and uncorrupted, untainted by worldly desires.

And that is why all of us should always hold firmly to our faith in the Lord and be more like those little children in our faith and belief in God. We should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by various worldly temptations and desired that can lead us further and further away from God and His path. Let us thank the Lord for having been with us throughout all the struggles and challenges that we have to face in our respective parts and areas in life. Let us thank Him for having blessed us in our works and endeavours, and for having given us reassurances, guidance, help and strength, especially by giving us our Guardian Angels to guide and protect us in our path and journey towards Him.

Let us all therefore thank our Guardian Angels at all times, for having been there for us, even in our darkest and most difficult moments. Let us all pray to our Holy Guardian Angels with the popular prayer, ‘Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love entrusts me here, ever this day and night be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.’ Holy Guardian Angels, pray for us always and be with us at all times, in our journey towards God. Amen.