In Jesus, We Are A Bethel

𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐓. 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐓𝐒. 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐋, 𝐆𝐀𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐋 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐀𝐄𝐋, 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐑𝐄𝐕. 𝟏𝟐:𝟕 – 𝟏𝟐𝐚𝐛 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐀𝐍 𝟕:𝟗-𝟏𝟎, 𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟒

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟑𝟖:𝟏-𝟓 “𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟏:𝟒𝟕-𝟓𝟏

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “… 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒏.” (𝒗.51) 

The Scriptures record at least two known skeptics among the followers of Jesus. There was Nathanael who wondered: “𝑵𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒉! 𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆?” (𝒗.46) The other doubter is of course Thomas whom everybody knew as the one who wanted physical evidence of Jesus before he would believe that Jesus indeed rose from the dead.

          And the Apostle John writes that Nathanael went with Philip to see for himself who was this man whom Philip referred to as the one that Moses wrote about and, when Jesus saw Nathanael approaching Jesus said: “𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝑰𝒔𝒓𝒂𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆, 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒆.” (𝒗.47)        

The key that unlocked the doubt in Nathanael’s mind was when Jesus told him “𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒈 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆…” (𝒗.48) and Nathanael responded by saying “𝑹𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒊 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅: 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝑰𝒔𝒓𝒂𝒆𝒍.” (𝒗.49) and there is reason for this because for the Jews the fig tree which is shady is a symbol of peace when a man can sit under its branches and there remain unruffled by the cares of the world.

          Nathanael’s conversion became complete when Jesus said: “…𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕.” (𝒗.50) and he added: “𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒂𝒏.” (𝒗.51)        

This verse is known to practically all the Jews at the time because it tells of the story of Jacob who ran away and left home because his brother Esau wanted to kill him. This Old Testament story (𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟐𝟖:𝟏𝟐) goes on to say that Jacob who spent the night in a town called Bethel thought that God remained in his home when he left but was surprised to see in his dream a ladder that connects heaven to earth where angels were going up and down.

           Since then, the Jews have developed the notion that wherever God or his representatives are present, that place becomes a Bethel or a sacred place and they built altars in these places in honor of God who visited these places.

          Aware of Nathanael’s honesty notwithstanding his initial doubt of Jesus having come from Nazareth, Jesus told Nathanael he shall see heaven open (𝐯.𝟓𝟏) and this brought a new configuration to the Old Testament beliefs of the Jews because what Jesus was telling Nathanael was that not only places can become sacred when visited by God but even persons.

          And we can see this in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (1 𝑪𝒐𝒓 6:19) “𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕, 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑮𝒐𝒅? 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏.” Because God is in us and with us, everywhere we as disciples go to minister becomes a sacred place such as the outreaches to where we bring the Gospel of Christ such as the NBP, CIW, Villa Paraiso, PGH, and the outreaches of our BLD Districts in the Philippines, HK, US and Canada.

           It follows that when we bring the same Gospel to others especially to unbelievers and doubters and where there is conversion that person also becomes a sacred person because they now have Christ in them.

          In this narrative, Jesus also shows us the transition from the Old Testament beliefs in Jacob’s ladder to the New Testament theology of Christ becoming the ladder upon whom we can connect with Our God and Father in heaven.

         "𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆. 𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒎𝒆.” (𝑱𝒏 14:6) To transpose this narrative to the practice of our faith, it simply means that Jesus should not only be viewed as the ladder to whom we remain connected with God but the One that we should all put our trust on.

          This is the message of this Gospel and the reality that we should all acknowledge is that we can also become the Bethel or a sacred place if we will keep Christ in our hearts.

And today we celebrate the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

           Michael appears in Daniel's vision as "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆" who defends Israel against its enemies; in the Book of Revelation, he leads God's armies to final victory over the forces of evil. Devotion to Michael is the oldest angelic devotion, rising in the East in the fourth century. The Church in the West began to observe a feast honoring Michael and the angels in the fifth century.

          Gabriel also makes an appearance in Daniel's visions, announcing Michael's role in God's plan. His best-known appearance is an encounter with a young Jewish girl named Mary, who consents to bear the Messiah.

          Raphael's activity is confined to the Old Testament story of Tobit. There he appears to guide Tobit's son Tobiah through a series of fantastic adventures which lead to a threefold happy ending: Tobiah's marriage to Sarah, the healing of Tobit's blindness and the restoration of the family fortune.

          The memorials of Gabriel (March 24) and Raphael (October 24) were added to the Roman calendar in 1921. But in a 1970 revision of the calendar, the Church joined their feasts to that of Michael's which now fall on Sept. 29.

How important then are the Holy Angels in our life as a believer. The 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 and other Catholic writings acknowledges the existence of the Holy Angels and the Catholic Church confirms the existence of angels, and that they are active in our lives.

So, what is an angel? What is an archangel? And what makes them so special? The Catechism states, "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 '𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘴' 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩," (𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩 328).

The word, "angel," comes from the Greek word, "𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐬," which means, "messenger." The Bible recognizes, "nine choirs" of angels. Each choir has a name and a purpose. The Bible also mentions archangels. Archangels are recognized as leaders, and they are entrusted by God with special duties.

The Bible and the Church recognize seven archangels, although just three are known by name, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. The name 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 means "𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒅." His will is focused, immovable, and entirely driven toward accomplishing goodness; he is the protector of souls and wields his powerful sword against the poisonous and indictive aspirations of the devil whom Jesus calls a "𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈" 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 "𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔" (𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 8:44).

St. Michael the Archangel visited three children at Fatima, Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta in 1917 to prepare them for the work of the Blessed Virgin. St. Michael the Archangel said to them, "𝑭𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆." Then he prostrated himself and repeated three times: "𝑴𝒚 𝑮𝒐𝒅; 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆, 𝑰 𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒆! 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒈 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆, 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒆!"

During a visit to the Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint John Paul II said, "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 . . . 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍."

Scripture narrates the same truth: "𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏; 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏. 𝑨𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒈𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕; 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎" (𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 12:7-9).

𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥 means "𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉". He was sent from God to Nazareth, "𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒉, . . . 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒏'𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒚. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, "𝑯𝒂𝒊𝒍, 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖" (𝑳𝒖𝒌𝒆 1:27-28).

𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐒𝐭. 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 wrote: "𝑯𝒆 [𝑮𝒂𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒍] 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒖𝒔, 𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆" (excerpt from Homily 34, 8-9).

𝐑𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐞𝐥 means "𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉". He is one of seven angels "𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅" (𝑻𝒐𝒃𝒊𝒕 12:15). The meaning of Raphael's name reflects the fact that he touched Tobit's eyes in order to heal them of blindness.

St. Augustine teaches in reference to the angels' office and nature: "𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is '𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭'; if you seek the name of their office, it is '𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥': from what they are, 'spirit,' from what they do, 'angel.' In other words, the office of the angels is one of mission, as messengers of God, while their nature is defined as non-physical, personal spiritual beings created by God.

The Catechism teaches in reference to the angels' office: "𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧' 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝'" (𝐂𝐂𝐂 𝟑𝟐𝟗; 𝐌𝐭 𝟏𝟖:𝟏𝟎).

The angels are truly beautiful. As we reflect upon them, we are drawn toward a deeper and clearer understanding of God's love for man; for billions of angels, to be sure, are given the personal charge of looking after God's children as their guardian angels.

Every moment of each day, day after day, year after year, our faithful guardian angels stand at our side, focused on our well-being with far greater power and intensity than we ourselves can summon, since the strength of their angelic will is far greater than ours. Let us thank God each day for their protection and guidance, giving to us great advantage here below, for they see the reality of our life in clarity, which is something we often fail to do.

God has commended to each of us an angel for our very own. What love has God for his children, for those he has created in the image of his incarnate Son! (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘚𝘦𝘱𝘵. 29, 2025)