Guardian Angels

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angels, blessings, Guardian Angel, Peace, presence, protection, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

“You are an angel!” That’s a common statement for people who have experienced the kindness and help of another in a time of need. We have pictures of angels from our childhood bedrooms and a prayer (“Angel of God, my Guardian dear…”) that got some of us through scary nights in our youth. Today is the commemoration of the Guardian Angels and we can find mention of those holy, welcome beings in both Scripture and Church documents (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 328, 336) Moreover most of us have stories that illustrate God’s protection that we attribute to beings of other realms and humans who have acted as such.

This is a comforting feast, a day on which we thank God for the presence of angels in our lives, be they seen or felt. May you know the blessing of angels and walk in peace today and every day!

Of Beams and Splinters

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Guardian Angel, hypocrites, Jesus, Luke, spiritual blindness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, the spiritual center

I was lucky this past week during the retreat I was leading at the Spiritual Center where I live that quick action and skill avoided a serious accident. Participants were out in pairs pruning trees and observing how mindfully they could be in working together. Suddenly, a large branch that had been wind-tossed during a storm came down and left a small piece of bark in the eye of one of the participants. It was quickly removed (to my great relief) by another “guardian angel” in the group and the pruning continued.

You can, perhaps, guess that today’s gospel was the famous text from Luke 6 where Jesus uses hyperbole to make his point. He asks, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?” He sounds frustrated, even calling that kind of offender a hypocrite. “You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your own eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye!”

Even a speck of dust in my eye can be painful. I notice any such invasion right away. I should take note of that when I begin to speak about the failings of others that seem so offensive, and practice reminding myself each time I am rubbing my eye to see clearly that focusing on the gifts of others would be a better way to avoid spiritual blindness of any kind.

Guardian Angels

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angel, attentiveness, comfort, faith, Guardian Angel, love, loving, personal, prayers, protection, safety, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Before I learned any of the prayers that are at the heart of my Church practice, I knew I had protection from heaven each night while I slept because of the simple prayer that helped me close my eyes in trust. You may have learned it too. In a sing-song voice to that matched the rhythm of the words, countless young people repeated night after night:

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this night be at my side to light and guard, to rule and guide.

Some of us repeated the prayer upon awakening, grateful for having survived the night and wanting to keep the protection going throughout the day. It was simple. Just one word (changing “night” to “day”) gave us continued peace and safety from harm.

These days there are workshops galore for people whose connection to the spirit realm has endured and deepened into adulthood. There are books written about angels, especially the “big three” archangels: Gabriel, Raphael and Michael, named in Scripture and revered for particular reasons: Michael for protection from evil, Gabriel as a messenger of Good News and Raphael, known for mercy and healing (esp. of Tobias’ blindness in the Book of Tobit). In a simpler and more elemental way, however, people still have confidence in God’s care, often manifested as a belief in a personal Guardian Angel.

This is what we celebrate today: faith in the kind protection of a God whose attentiveness to us is personal and loving. Today might be a day to reflect on those persons in our life who have been “angels” for us in God’s service and to thank God for what we cannot see with our human eyes but still perceive in our experience of comfort, protection and – best of all – love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Do Angels Do?

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angels, archangels, Be an Angel Day, Book of Daniel, Book of Tobit, communication, Fr. Don Miller, Gabriel, Guardian Angel, guidance, Jayne Howard Feldman, Michael, protection, Raphael, Spiritual Center, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

One of the first prayers I (and many others) learned as a child was about angels. (Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day (or night) be at my side to light and guard, to rule and guide.) It was great comfort to know that there was a being just over the border of our universe who was God’s gift to me personally. I didn’t have to theologize about it since it was a given and there were three great “Archangels” that we knew by name from Scripture, each with a mission: Michael protected, Gabriel announced and Raphael guided. (See visions in the Book of Daniel and stories from the Book of Tobit.) Why wouldn’t God give me someone to do those things for me? I never needed to name my angel as some children did. It was enough that God knew who was taking care of me.

Although devotional life has diminished in some cases in the face of scientific research, angels are still popular in more ways than as decorations on knick-knack shelves. Of the angels, Fr. Don Miller comments that “[B]elievers still experience God’s protection, communication and guidance in ways that defy description.” A frequent presence at the Spiritual Center in Windsor, NY where I live is Jayne Howard Feldman, called by many “The Angel Lady.” Her loving ways and guidance as well as her books on the angels have inspired many people in workshops and personal sessions. Jayne’s inspiration has led her to create “Be an Angel Day” and she is the best example of how to achieve that goal!

On this day when we are reminded of the “angels” in our lives, some of human description and some more ethereal, let us be grateful and imitate the ways in which we have been blessed by their inspiration and presence to us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guiding and Protecting

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angel, feast day, Gabriel, generous God, Guardian Angel, Michael, Raphael, spirit guide, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

My memories of very early childhood are rare so sometimes I’m not sure how I learned things that I already knew as I look back at life in kindergarten. I’m fairly certain that the first prayer I could recite was: 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, to rule and guide. I’m not sure I knew the meaning of all those words but I was surely aware that, in addition to my parents, God had assigned someone very special to take care of me.

Today the world is full of images, statues, literature and workshops that depict or teach about spirit guides, beings existing in realms other than ours, helping us along our spiritual path. The Judeo-Christian Scriptures and Tradition, where my early images came from, also speak of three Archangels (Michael, Gabriel and Raphael) who figure significantly in the stories of “salvation history.” Today we celebrate a feast in their honor on our Church calendar.

Whatever one intuits or believes about the spirit world, it is comforting to trust that we are protected as we negotiate the challenges and rejoice in the loveliness of the earth. It’s just one more way to celebrate the kindness and magnanimity of our generous God.