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, rule and guide.
A Prayer to Guardian Angels.
Jesus places the child in their midst and says – in today’s Gospel – “… unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
So here I am at the age of 53, still trying to find my inner child.
But at the same time, I also work hard at tapping into my inner adult so that I can understand the Gospels, the Homilies and the Lectures in our lives. As an adult, I need to comprehend things that I did not know when I was just a child.
So, there we have it … a conflicting message on what should be an easy lesson from our Lord.
Today would be a good day for me to ask my Guardian Angel for a little bit of help. That’s because today is also the Church’s Memorial of the Guardian Angels – a special day where we reflect on those who we cannot see.
Those who watch over us while always keeping one eye on God.
Those who stand ready to keep us from slipping off the edges of the cliffs we create with our pride.
The child in today’s Gospel is a symbol of the humility we need to have in order to spend eternity in heaven.
An interesting choice for such a symbol. Who knew children were prone to be naturally humble? But that is not exactly the point.
The real lesson is that children – very small and very young children – are symbols of humility because of their dependency.
Everything they need to live – to survive – comes not from the work of their own hands, but from their parents. They are totally dependent on them for their food, their water, their medical needs, their hygiene … their happiness.
They depend on mom, dad, family and others for the love that keeps them warm in their hearts and the care they need to keep their hearts pumping.
As adults, we need to realize that we are not any less dependent on God for everything – our food, our water, our medicine. Our capacity to give and receive love.
Without His gifts, especially the gifts of the Holy Spirit – wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord – we wouldn’t stand a chance in this world.
We all receive these gifts – doled out in just the right measures as he knits us in the wombs of our mothers. It’s our jobs to discern those gifts and put them to good use.
And to always remember that we are just a single breath away from having it all taken away.
Do you wake up every morning and thank God for, well, allowing you to wake up?
That’s what Jesus means about total dependence … like a child.
Jesus wants us to realize our own need for God … to stop walking around like we have all the answers … to recognize our own mortality.
You can almost hear God chuckle when someone utters the phrase: “Hey God, do you know what I plan to do tomorrow?”
It would show more wisdom to utter: “Dear Lord, I don’t know what you have planned for me tomorrow, but I ask you to give me guidance and strength to do your will … not my own.”
And then you can thank him and adore him the way a child looks at his mother.
When we reach that level of humility, we are not far from the kingdom of heaven.
