"We need the faith of little children to be able to place our faith and trust in the angels sent by God to protect us from danger and evil. Let us never look scornfully at those who have a simple, and maybe naive faith, but see in them the inspiration to simplify our lives and faith so that we can follow Jesus more closely." Wednesday October 2 - GOSPEL - Luke 9:57-62 (or Matthew 18:1-5, 10) As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus answered him, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” Reflect: THE FOLLY OF PRIDE A Harvard professor went to a doctor to have herself checked. After a series of tests, the doctor said, “Ma’am, you have cancer.” The lady scoffed at the doctor and said, “I don’t believe you. I want a second opinion.” The doctor added, “OK. You are arrogant as well.” We celebrate today the Feast of the Guardian Angels. Pride and arrogance played a role in the life of the angels. May I share with you then quotes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church about the fall of the angels. 391 Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice opposed to God which makes them fall into death out of envy. Scripture and the Church’s Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called “Satan” or the “devil.” The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing.” 392 Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. This “fall” consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and His reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter’s words to our first parents: “You will be like God.” The devil “has sinned from the beginning”; he is “a liar and the father of lies.” 393 It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels’ sin unforgivable. “There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death.” It is no surprise then that today’s Gospel gives us the image of a little child — humble, open and receptive — as a model of one who will enter the Kingdom of God. We read from the Catechism above that from the beginning, God intended all of His creation to share in His very life. However, pride and envy turned the angels into devils. It is humility then childlike humility — which will turn men into angels. -Fr. Joel O. Jason
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 04:36:22 +0000
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