At a Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae in 2014, the pope recommended that we ask ourselves some questions about our guardian angels and our relationships with them.
In his homily, he warned against becoming rebellious with our guardian angels, since all of us humans — back to Adam and Eve — have the temptation to be independent and disregard what’s for our own good.
He said that “if you have this attitude of docility, this attitude of listening to advice, of an open heart, of not wanting to be the greatest, that attitude of not wanting to walk the path of life alone, you will be closer to the attitude of a child and closer to the contemplation of the Father.”
Francis also urged us to take the doctrine of guardian angels as truth, not as something “a little imaginative.”
It is God himself who explains the presence of guardian angels, he noted, quoting Exodus: “I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him …”
The greatest thinkers in the Church and the great figures of the Old Testament, along with the Psalms and the teaching of the Church, all agree with Jesus that we each have a guardian angel.
The pope concluded his homily with some questions so that we can examine our consciences in regard to this gift from God:
- How is my relationship with my guardian angel?
- Do I listen to him?
- Do I bid him good day in the morning?
- Do I tell him: ‘guard me while I sleep?’
- Do I speak with him?
- Do I ask his advice?
And today we celebrate...