What does it mean to be like a child? Most of us long for simpler times in our lives. For the first couple of decades, we rush to get out on our own. Wanting to make our mark on the world and prove ourselves to our parents, we charge headlong into the world to stand on our own two feet. Then reality hits and we begin to see that maybe our parents weren’t so ignorant of how the world works today. A child doesn’t have to worry about all that. They are totally reliant on their parents for help. Food, clothing, and all the other comforts of life come directly from their relationship to their mom and dad. From the day of our birth, we continue to grow in independence, but until adulthood, we are still relying on our parents to live from day to day.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells His disciples: “unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.” He goes on to say humility is the key to that. That means we need to have a radical dependence on God. Not just in the spiritual sense, but also in the physical. The modern world makes that even more difficult with it’s preserved foods and creature comforts. That’s what makes Saints like Francis of Assisi so very different from our modern mindset. Throwing his clothing to his earthly father to instead rely on God for everything. That’s not easy to do. We innately want to be in control, to know what tomorrow will bring, and to be prepared.
I don’t think God is telling us that we need to stop preserving food, or to go out and become a beggar (though for some that might actually be what they need.) I do think He is telling us: “I got this.” For many of us, our Guardian Angel is thought of almost as “the guy who finishes my rosary when I fall asleep,” rather than the fierce protection of God manifested in our lives. This spiritual being is sent to protect us, to help remind us of the steps to holiness, and to keep us walking toward the path to heaven. While our angels can’t take away our free will, they can influence our minds and hearts to try and get us off the path toward sin.
What’s my take away from all this stuff about angels? I am overwhelmed by how much God loves a sinner like me. Enough to not only create me knowing I would cause Him pain, but enough to create and assign someone to watch over me, guide me, and try to help me so that I too might get to see God face to face for eternity. Do you realize how much God loves you?
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.
Amen.