From Catholic News Agency
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Pope Benedict XVI used his Sunday Angelus address to remind Christians
to call upon their guardian angel for help throughout life.
“Dear friends, the Lord is always near and active in human history, and
follows us with the unique presence of His angels, that today the Church
venerates as 'Guardian,' in other words those who minister God's care
for every man,” the Pope told pilgrims gathered in Rome's St. Peter's
Square, October 2.
“From the beginning until death,” he said, “human life is surrounded by their constant protection.” [Imagine the struggle the guardian angels wage to protect the life of the unborn!]
The Pope's comments come on the Feast of the Guardian Angels, a day
celebrating the Catholic Church's teaching that each person is assigned
an angel to help protect and guide them through life. It was Pope
Clement X who first extended the feast day to the entire Church in the
early 17th century.
Pope Benedict also reflected upon today's Gospel, which contains a
“particularly severe warning by Jesus, addressed to the chief priests
and elders of the people,” for their lack of generosity towards God.
“Therefore I tell you,” Christ says in the Gospel of Matthew, “the
kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation
producing the fruits of it,” comparing the Jewish religious authorities
to vineyard workers who reject the will of the owner.
“God has a plan for his friends, but unfortunately man's response is
often driven to infidelity, which results in rejection,” the Pope said,
noting that “pride and selfishness prevent us from recognizing and
accommodating even the most precious gift of God: his only begotten
Son.” [It is pride that leads a man to become a Modernist, relying much on his knowledge to explain everything in a secular and human level everything that happens in the Bible. It is pride itself that drives them further down the road of perdition leading to become agnostics then later as they go down further, ATHEISTS!]
“These words make us think of the great responsibility of those who in
every age, are called to work in the vineyard of the Lord, especially in
a role of authority, and the push us to renew our full fidelity to
Christ,” the Pontiff said. He observed that the “rejected and crucified”
Christ is now “the 'cornerstone' on which the foundation of all human
existence and the whole world may rest with absolute certainty.” [All of us are called to work in the vineyard of the Lord, whether we are ordained, professed religious or the laity, married or not! We need to harvest souls for the Lord!]
This was the Pope's first Sunday Angelus address since returning from
his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, 15-miles to the south of Rome.
Some 20,000 pilgrims gathered to hear his address from the window of his
study at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace.
Pope Benedict said that the faithful must be “anchored in faith in the
cornerstone who is Christ, abiding in Him like the branch that can not
bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine.” He urged those
assembled to be faithful to Jesus because “only in Him, through Him and
with Him is the Church, the people of the New Covenant built.” [A simple question: Where are we rooted? Where do we get our "energies" from? What is your purpose for being?]
“The Servant of God Paul VI wrote about this,” the Pope said, quoting
his predecessor: “the first fruit of the deepening consciousness of the
Church itself is the renewed discovery of its vital relationship with
Christ. A well-known thing, fundamental, essential, but never quite
understood, meditated upon, celebrated enough.”
Pope Benedict concluded by imparting his apostolic blessing to those assembled.
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Angels have played an active role in Salvation history. Christ Himself told us of the role that Angels play.
Now, I realized. I should ask my Guardian Angel to pray for me. I know he usually does but I ask him to do it double time especially when in the presence of the person who hurt me the most for no apparent reason whatsoever.
I may even pray to "his" guardian angel that the Lord finally convert "him" and stop "him" from spewing venom against other people.
Offer the Rosary especially in this Holy Month dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary of our Mother. The Rosary conquered a lot for the Lord. Why are we to doubt the powers of the Lady's beads?
When you pray, ask your guardian angel, your patron saint/s and our Mother to pray with you, so that with one loud voice, you beg the Lord to give you what is according to His Most Holy Will.
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