The
psalmist today expresses how he cries out to the Lord, how he hopes that the
Lord will incline his ear and listen to his cries. Most of us wonder from time to time: Is God
indeed listening? Does he answer my
prayers? When I want something so badly,
why doesn’t it seem like God is listening?
Why aren’t my prayers answered?
We in the Catholic Church believe in
angels. We see angels as spiritual being who were created by God. Our English word “angel” comes from the Greek
word “angelos”, which means “messenger”.
God sends out his angels to carry special messages for him. Today, we celebrate the feast of the Guardian
Angels. We see the role of the guardian
angel as to guide us to good thoughts, in good works, and in good words, to
keep us from succumbing to evil. Since the 17th century, the Church has celebrated a feast honoring the
Guardian Angels in October. We talk
about how our American society is becoming more secular, but I was looking at
an article from Time Magazine from 2008 that quoted statistics from a study on
religious belief in American conducted by Baylor University, which stated that
55% of those surveyed agreed with the statement that “I was protected from harm
by a guardian angel.” Very
interesting.
I love the prayer to the Guardian
Angels. It is a favorite prayer of many
Catholic children, and many Catholic adults remember this prayer from their
childhood: Angel of God, My Guardian Dear, to whom God's love commits me here. Ever
this day be at my side, to light and guard and rule and guide. Amen.
In the prayers that we say, we
communicate with God and we develop and grow in our faith. May the angels and the saints hear our prayers
and pray for us as members of the kingdom of God.
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