According to Church tradition we all have an angel with us, who guards us...

God said: 'I send an angel before you, to guard you,

to accompany you on the way, so you will not make a mistake.

 

The Holy Guardian Angels

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12

In the seventh month,

all the people gathered as one man in the square before the Water Gate,

and they asked Ezra to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel.

Ezra brought the law before the assembly, men, women and all the children who could understand what was being read.

It was the first day of the seventh month. So he read it before the plaza in front of the Water Gate from dawn till noon,

before the men, women and those children who could understand.

All the people were eager to hear the book of the law. Ezra,

the teacher of the law, stood on a wooden platform built for that occasion

 

Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was in a higher place;

and when he opened it, all the people stood. Ezra praised the Lord the great God;

and all the people lifted up their hands and answered, "Amen! Amen!" And they bowed their heads to the ground.

 

The Levites Joshua, Bani and the rest of their brothers explained the law to the people who were standing.

They read from the book of the law of God, clarifying and interpreting the meaning,

so that everyone might understand what they were hearing.

 

Then Ezra, the teacher of the law, said to the people, "This day is dedicated to the Lord, your God,

so do not be sad or weep." He said this because all wept when they heard the reading of the law.

Then he said to them, "Go and eat rich foods, drink sweet wine and share with him who has nothing prepared.

 

This day is dedicated to the Lord, so do not be sad. The joy of the Lord is our strength."

 

The Levites also calmed the people down, saying, "Do not weep. This day is a festival day.

Do not be sad." And the people went their way to eat, drink and share,

and they had a great feast because they had understood the words that had been proclaimed to them.

 

Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11

The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart.

 

＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊     

Matthew 18:1-5, 10

 At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, "I assure you, that, unless you change,

and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble,

like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child, in my name, receives me.

See that you do not despise any of these little ones; for I tell you, their angels in heaven continually see the face of my heavenly Father.

 

Gospel Reflection ：

"We are all as little children

"We are all as little children before God."

Above my bed when I was a child was the prayer to my guardian angel:

a simple rhyming prayer seeking accompaniment throughout each day and thus, throughout life.

Perhaps as we grow up, we might pray the prayer less often, and pay less attention to our guardian angel.

However, this means that we are not living our faith like a little child.

This doesn't mean that praying to angels is childish. Rather, Christ's words remind us that we are all as little children before God.

To think otherwise is pride. We always need God's help, and we struggle when we try to go it alone.

 

Therefore, we need the assistance of God's servants, his angels and his saints, to intercede for us and to guide us.

To ask for this help is not childish or foolish; it's wise and spiritually mature! In his Introduction to the Devout Life,

Saint Francis de Sales wrote several meditations in which we are to imagine ourselves standing with our guardian angel.

Thus, he is encouraging us to remember that we are constantly being accompanied and protected.

Seek to be familiar with them, he exhorts, and ask their protection in all you do.