Taking the Hand of Our Guardian Angel!

Friday, October 2, 2026

Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels

Job 38: 1, 12-21; 40: 3-5; Mt 18: 1-5, 10

The Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels invites us to revere and celebrate the unseen presence and accompaniment of our guardian angels. 

The biblical example of Tobias in the Old Testament Book of Tobit helps us understand who guardian angels are. St. Raphael, in the guise of a young man, accompanies Tobias to collect the sum of money that his father entrusted to a distant relative. Archangel Gabriel becomes a travel companion for Tobias. The divine companion accompanies Tobias on his journey, saves Sarah and makes her a bride for Tobias, and finally helps cure Tobit’s blindness. 

In this regard, Archangel Raphael’s parting words are important: ‘Don’t be afraid; everything is all right. Always remember to praise God. He wanted me to come and help you; I did not come on my own. So sing God’s praises as long as you live. When you thought you saw me eating, I did not really eat anything; it only seemed so. While you are on this earth, you must praise the Lord God and give Him thanks. Now I must go back to Him who sent me. Write down everything that has happened to you’ (Tobit 12:16-20).

The biblical story of Tobias and Archangel Raphael helps us discover that in our lives too, we experience God’s nearness and presence through our guardian angels, with or without us realizing it. Sometimes what we attribute to some ‘good fortune’ could well be God’s providential intervention. Sometimes what we praise as our ‘gut feeling’ could be the work of our guardian angel to help us avert danger. Sometimes what we name as ‘luck’ could be God’s generous plan for us. Though all these moments happen to anyone, unfortunately, we are less likely to acknowledge the unseen help of our guardian angels.

The celebration of the feast presents yet another difficulty for people with a technocratic mindset, because the world of science and technology and its most advanced security systems assure them the needed protection from external threats and enemies. Besides this, how can we appreciate the idea of a guardian angel as it becomes increasingly hard for us to acknowledge the need for the nearness of another human person?

Some of us take pride in the exponential growth of science and technology. However, we fail to realize that one of the ironies of our times is that we lag behind moral and spiritual wisdom. This is beside the already existing modern complexities. For instance, reports and surveys indicate that the world in general has become a low-trust society, and this is true of many parts of the world. In other words, we make strides in science and technology, but at the end of the day, we have difficulty trusting our neighbors. 

This is precisely why I believe we need to celebrate our invisible guardian angels who keep watch over us and guide us ultimately to God. We need their help and guidance to distinguish between a voice that leads us towards God and a voice that leads us away from Him. Our guardian angels inspire us to use our time and talents for God and others. Their active role in our lives and their invisible and accompanying presence with us help us realize that what we do not or cannot see is still true. 

When we mean to trust in the guidance of our guardian angels, it is not as if nothing bad will ever happen to us. But we have the solace that having a divine agent accompanying us all the time helps us discern our decisions, estimate sin and danger, encounter difficulty, and act courageously in the way of God. Though we do not know who walks with and beside us, we know that we are not alone in our life journey. 

As we celebrate the feast of the Guardian Angels, let each of us say to ourselves: ‘I am not alone because the one who watches over me is God’s Messenger – My Guardian Angel.’

Let us pray that we may take the hand of our guardian angel to reach God. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar