Standing guard

In light of today's earlier post, perhaps it is somewhat providential (since some believe that nothing happens by mere chance), that today happens to be the Memorial of the Guardian Angels.

Although the Church has never officially said anything about the existence of guardian angels, popular piety has believed and taught that each of us has one of these celestial bodies assigned to us, to light our way, to guard us from evil, to rule our hearts and to guide us to the Father.

As a curious aside, in the process of doing some research about guardian angels, I came across another reference to Guardian Angels, a non-profit, international, volunteer organization of unarmed citizen crime patrollers. This group exist in New York and in other large cities where crime is rampant, and try to make a difference by patrolling the streets in collaboration with the local police force in an attempt to identify potential crimes and to cut them off at the pass.

Perhaps that's how we should understand the function of our heavenly partners too: as ambassadors of protection and goodwill, intended to protect us from harm and to help us avoid occasions that might get us into trouble.

Now this is something worth giving thanks for.