Memorial of the Guardian Angels
Do you believe in angels? What about guardian angels? We’ve probably all heard stories of people having “close calls” and “near misses” which one may attribute to the work of their guardian angels. But we’ve also heard (or said) “his/her guardian angel must have been sleeping that day.” We may make light of it, but today’s readings and memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels gives us reason to pause and consider serious questions.
As we delve into the book of Job this week, today’s first reading finds Job cursing the day and wishing he had never been born, so great is his suffering. Having lost his family, his animals, and all his possessions, Job is understandably grieving and crying out in his anguish. We might ask, along with Job, where the guardian angels were when my loved one was seriously hurt or killed? Why do innocent people, including children, suffer abuse or terminal illnesses?
In today’s gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus reminds his disciples that they must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of heaven, “And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.” Further, Jesus admonishes his disciples to “not despise one of these little ones” and emphasizes their great worth in how they are represented by their angels before God. Jesus is serious about the importance and worth of the most vulnerable among us. So, the age-old question may come up here again, why are children “allowed” to suffer? Are God’s messengers present to them in their time of need?
I, of course, don’t have the answers to these difficult questions. But we can look back to the book of Job and be reminded that God is Love and God is also Mystery. God is beyond our imagination and beyond our control. With the book of Job, the Israelites began to understand that the suffering of innocent people is not a punishment (as previously believed); they began to understand suffering as a mystery. Later, we come to know that even Jesus was not immune to suffering. Although tempted by Satan to rely on the angels and throw himself down from the parapet of the temple, mocking, “For it is written: ‘he will command his angels concerning you’ and ‘with their hands they will support you, lest you dash your foot against a stone,’” Jesus responded with “You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.” (Matthew 4:5-7) Even when taunted on the cross to “save yourself,” Jesus accepted suffering and death. For without death there is no resurrection.
We do not have the answers to all of our questions, but we do have a faith history with numerous examples of God’s messengers informing, guiding, and protecting the faithful. Being faithful does not mean a life free from suffering, but it does mean God is with us, Jesus is with us, we are not alone. May our faith, trust, and patience increase like Job’s, and let us praise God for the gift of angels – part of the mystery that is God.
~Eileen Miller