2 October 2013
Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels
Angels are messengers or mediators – spirits that bring help from God. When talking about angels in this way, some people object that God doesn’t need the help of anything or anyone, so angels are unnecessary. In the same way, some have accused Catholics of failing to respect God’s primacy when they appeal for angelic help.
What these objectors miss is that we take it for granted that God doesn’t need angels. He also doesn’t need sacraments, priests, our love, or even our existence. God doesn’t need anything to be God. But the whole of Christian doctrine is based on God freely choosing to create and to involve these unnecessary creations in His own plan of salvation. So God could work without angels, but evidently He chooses not to do so. By asking for their assistance, we tap into help that God has given them to use for our benefit. Why would we pass that up?