by John Anderson
Archdiocese of Baltimore
1st College, St. John Paul II Seminary
Imagine a being perfectly suited to you. It has everything in common with you and it knows you better than anyone else. This being is so similar to you, if it were to become incarnate, it would become your best friend immediately--it was made to be perfectly compatible with you and only you. This being, who is immortal, highly intelligent, and extremely loving, is your guardian angel.
Our guardian angels are beautiful gifts given to us by God.
I never would have realized this outside of the seminary. The love, devotion, and intercession of the divine is so incredible here. It inspires me in faith to form relationships with beings that I cannot see such as my Guardian Angel. In my daily fifteen minute walk to class, I have begun praying a decade of the rosary and calling on my Guardian Angel to join me in prayer. This is a great enhancer of prayer because our Guardian Angels are directly connected to Christ, who wishes to share your prayer with the communion of saints.
We all go through times when prayer is difficult. Our angel’s primary job is to glorify God by protecting us. We see just how much they glorify God from this great passage in Matthew: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father” (Matt. 18:10). Our angels not only protect us, but are also in constant contact with our Heavenly Father. The ultimate glorification an angel can give to God is helping one of his children get to Heaven. The angel, therefore, provides us with a perfect example of the love for and dedication to our Father in Heaven.
Angels have a unique ability to help us receive the grace of Christ.
The summit of joy we obtain from this beautiful alliance is simply that we never have to worry about being alone. Remember that your Guardian Angel walks with you and guides you. This being only cares about walking with you and filling you with the grace of God to dispel the Evil One from your life. We see this clearly in the Bible--the Angel Gabriel in the Annunciation, Rafael protecting Tobit on his arduous journey.
A guardian angel will fight for you when all else is against you. View your guardian angel as a guide that wishes to show you the way to the ultimate sharing with Christ in Heaven. Always keep in mind that your Guardian Angel is a blessed gift from God and not one that should be taken for granted.
Never cease to thank your Guardian Angel for the infinite sacrifices that they make to love and protect you, and eventually lead you to paradise!
Semantics posts are pulblished each week on Tuesday during the academic year.