3 Ways Guardian Angels are Examples for Priests
A few months back, I read a wonderful Register article by Jimmy Akin entitled, “8 Things to Know and Share about the Guardian Angels.” As usual, he did a terrific job summarizing and clearly explaining the theology of guardian angels from the fonts of Divine Revelation, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
Recently, I turned to this article in an attempt to assist with some online catechesis about the guardian angels. I have a special love for the guardian angels because on the feast of the guardian angels (Oct. 2, 1997), I entered into Holy Orders. My ordination to diaconate took place at the Altar of the Chair at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City and the late Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte, CICM, was the ordaining prelate.
In the midst of this global pandemic, many priests, myself included, find our priestly ministries very changed. I salute my brother priests who are working hard to livestream their Masses, exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours, catechesis and many other parochial services. As a professor of theology, I am teaching my two seminars for the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in which we are reading and discussing Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s classical text, Introduction to Christianity (1968) via Zoom. And as a seminary formator at the Pontifical North American College, I am keeping up with the seminarians for whom I am responsible via WhatsApp, FaceTime and telephone, as the majority of our seminarians are currently back in the United States.
This is not what we thought our priestly ministries would be like but, thanks be to God and modern technology, we are doing our best to still minister to the People of God to whom we have been assigned. For many of us, our ministries, even as diocesan priests, have become quieter, more contemplative. And this is precisely what got me thinking about priests praying to their guardian angels even more and using the guardian angels for inspiration. The guardian angels remind us, ultimately, of God’s presence and love for us as individuals. It is the Lord who is guiding the faithful in the way of peace by the ministry of his holy angels. They are not physically seen, but they are present, powerfully so. And so should we priests be, even in this time of a more hidden ministry.
