Our Guardian Angels Revive and Inspire Us

Homily for Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

The Memorial of the Guardian Angels offers a beautiful opportunity to reflect on God’s intimate care for each of us. The readings you've chosen interweave themes of divine guidance, joyful reverence, and childlike trust.

From the Book of Nehemiah, we hear the story of proclamation of the covenant law that had been mediated by Moses atop Mount Sinai. It was read out by Ezra the scribe before all of the people, adults and children. As they heard Ezra proclaim the covenant law before them, the people wept because they realized how their ancestors had abandoned the law. They came to believe that the Babylonian captivity occurred because of the betrayal of their ancestors, for they were still under the impression that God turned against them as they had turned against God.

Nehemiah stands before the children of Israel and proclaims a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks and asks the people to cease their weeping. He understood that God had brought about the end of their captivity out of his love for them. Psalm 19 is used as a response because it proclaims that the covenant law is a source of joy. Consequently, they need not weep for the past.

Just as the people renewed their commitment to God’s covenant, our Guardian Angels act as agents of renewal within our own lives, constantly calling us, stirring our hearts when we have grown cold, prompting us to return to prayer. They rejoice when we responded to their guidance. These Guardian Angels also remind us that we are called to be childlike - trusting, dependent upon, and loving God as Jesus has told us through the Gospel. They inspire us to adopt a childlike trust in God’s care for us, to place our faith in God’s love for each of us.