Angel of God My Guardian Dear

Happy Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul!  It has been one month since Christmas.  Have your New Year’s resolutions fallen apart yet?  Did you give up on dieting?  Working out?  What about any spiritual resolutions?  If you’re still going strong on whatever you’ve chosen to do to improve yourself in 2019, then a big CONGRATULATIONS to you.  Keep it up!

After Saul’s initial conversion on the road to Damascus, after he was struck blind, after Jesus spoke to him, and after he was filled with the Holy Spirit, his ministry took off in an incredible way.  In at least one instance, we know an angel appeared to him while his ship was caught in a violent storm at sea.  (Acts 27:23)  In several others, we could assume that divine assistance from members of the angelic body must have given him wisdom in his teachings.

Peter was also visited and assisted by angels.  When he was being held prisoner by Herod, an angel of the Lord physically freed him from his chains and his imprisonment. (Acts 12:7-11)  Angels appeared to Joseph various time in dreams to give him direction.  (Matthew 1:20-21 & Matthew 2:13)  The angel Gabriel was sent to Mary to announce Jesus’ birth. (Luke 1:26-56)  You’re likely familiar with these, and many other instances throughout the New and Old Testament, where angels of the Lord are shown interacting with mankind.

Angels are all around us.  They are there to ease our path in society.  Our guardian angels love us, and want what’s best for us, which is namely, for us to get to heaven.  At lease these are the sentiments I heard, paraphrased, from Mike Aquilina on a recent radio broadcast.  Mike is an award-winning author of books on Catholic history, doctrine, and devotion.  One of his best-sellers, “Angels of God” explores the Heavenly Hosts in the bible and in the church.

While listening to this broadcast, Mike encouraged us to greet our guardian angels.  Talk to them and ask for assistance.  Also, greet the guardian angels of others.  This was not the first time I’ve heard that advice.  When we are faced with a difficult situation, in dealing with another, we should greet that person’s guardian angel first.  Perhaps we could even ask our own guardian angel to go ahead of us.  That way it will be “three against one!”  (Us, our guardian angel, and their guardian angel…assuming we have that person’s best interests in mind.)  This theory seemed especially promising in dealings with hard-headed teenagers!

I wonder how many of us think of angels when we need assistance, or how many of us have given much thought at all to our Guardian Angels since childhood.  Was the most recent image you have of angels, conjured from the character Clarence, while watching “It’s A Wonderful Life” over Christmas?  Come February, will our idea of angels change to chubby, winged cherubs when we start seeing pictures of Cupid everywhere? 

As Christians, we need to do everything we can to dissuade attacks from evil.  I personally like to think of Michael, leading God’s army as he drives Satan from heaven. (Revelation 12:7-9)  Short of having Michael appear, and start using his fiery sword to take out anyone who stands in my way, however, I think that a call to my Guardian Angel will be a big help in my daily life.  At even a low psychological level, if I admit that God’s forces are all around me, and view others that I deal with as people who are also under God’s protection, then I must certainly look at them in a more positive way during our dealings.  At a higher, spiritual level, if I call on the help of angels, perhaps I will have some hand in directing another person closer to God. 

If angels truly love us and want the highest and best calling for each of us, then their intercession will certainly direct things towards an ultimate good, even if my own intentions in calling upon them might be misguided.  Call upon them in your difficult dealings, and greet them throughout your daily life.  And if you are one of the people who have already broken your New Year’s resolution, I don’t think it would be bad to implore your angel to watch over you as you restart on your immediate path to health and wellness, while you continue along your longer path to heaven.  That being said, I wouldn’t count on losing 40 pounds without diet or exercise, just because you declare your Guardian Angel as your personal trainer!

If you want to read more from an expert, instead of just my ramblings, Mike Aquilina’s website is:  FathersOfTheChurch.com

I most recently heard him on Matthew Leonard’s podcast “The Art Of Catholic” (also highly recommended), which can be heard regularly on Catholic Radio.  Matthew’s website is:  MatthewSLeonard.com

By: Matt Buehrig

Team Sisters

As many of you know, my oldest daughter is on a 9-month mission trip.  I have been sharing with you some of the blogs she has written charting her journey, both physical and spiritual. 

What you probably don't know is that she is on this mission with 7 other young women.  They call themselves Team Sisters.  They are together 24/7, and are making bonds thicker than blood.  When Maggie started this trip back in September I did not know any of them, but through reading their blogs I have come to have a special place in my heart for each one - they are so open and vulnerable in their pursuit of Christ.  It has been humbling to learn so many great spiritual insights from them.  I thank God each day for placing them on this journey with my daughter.    

Held Captive on the Mountaintop of the American Dream

For a long time in life I wanted to ‘be’ just where I am, idealistically living the American dream – healthy, financially comfortable, successful in my career, happily married with happy children. As I shared in my last post, wisdom and experience gained from the pursuit and achievement of that goal has deflated this dream. The mountaintop of wealth and success hasn’t delivered what it promised.

This mountaintop is proverbially where I stand, where I feel I am in exile. I would venture to say I have a lot of company here. Maybe you stand here with me. I sense that you, my fellow climbers, see the same emptiness – after all you are reading the spiritual musings of some obscure, neophyte blogger. I wonder if like me you notice the longing in your heart calling your to leave this state of ‘being’ and pursue another way.

The Mink

The Mink

The college freshman affirmed her autonomy.  “Carver made an incredible impact!  He’s a genius, compassionate, my mentor!”

Hands waiving the air as if sweeping her aside, Hami, her brother, winced in agony ridiculing her.  “You goin’ Iowa State ‘cause Carver goes there?  What idiot does that?”

“Carver?  He’s dead.”  Blushing, Mia grinned adeptly rolling her eyes over her brother’s left shoulder as not to offend him for his lack of knowledge.  “I chose botany and genetics.  I chose Iowa State because they’re great in both.”

“You dying to be dead.”  Hami teased mocking.  “His spirit talking to you?”

“I do read, Hami.”  Mia reached across the table to clutch his sleeve, trap his attention, but he moved quickly to avoid.  “You should try it sometime.”

“Hey guys,” a youthful café owner prompted as she cleaned the dining counter, “time to close shop.” She dried her hands on her festive apron.  Her smile welcomed payment for their meal. “On Christmas Eve, you got a better place to be than my diner.”

Christmas Fertilizer

Merry Christmas!  Today I write to you about manure.

What does manure have to do with Christmas?  To start with, Jesus was born in a stable, which isn’t exactly the most sterile of environments.  Despite the overly idealized versions of our current Nativity scenes, Jesus’ birth was certainly not a pleasantly aromatic experience.  However, I’ve touched on that already in the past.  Today I’d like to concentrate on a very interesting take I recently heard regarding the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree. 

Luke 13:6-9 (taken from usccb.org online bible):

And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none.  Cut it down.  Why should it exhaust the soil?’

He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

We are all familiar with this story about how the gardener would add tender loving care to the fig tree for a year to try to revive it and nurture it along.  At least that was the thought that had gone through my head whenever I hear the parable.  I imagined the gardener kneeling down beside the tree and gingerly patting up dirt around its base with his bare hands.  I imagined him spreading fertilizer around the soil, and whenever I did, in my mind it somehow looked like the bleached white granules you pour out of a Miracle-Gro bag.  I’ll admit I probably even envisioned him wrapping his blanket around the trunk, and having the fig tree spring back to life, just like Linus did in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”