Listen to your guardian angel's advice - he is God’s messenger, Pope Francis says

Each of us has a Guardian Angel who, acting on behalf of God, advises us and protects us from evil, if we only listen to him, Pope Francis said during his homily at Mass on Friday.

“May we ask the Lord for the grace of this meekness, to listen to the voice of this companion, to this ambassador from God who accompanies us in His name and may we be supported by his help,”

the Pope said Oct. 2 during his celebration of Mass for the feast of the Guardian Angels, Vatican Radio reported.

He explained that when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, God could have left them to fend for themselves. But instead, as an act of love and mercy, the Lord sent with them an angel to guide and protect them.

The same is true for us today, Pope Francis said. Even when we feel alone or think that we can “hide so many things from God,” our Guardian Angels are by our sides, guiding us and trying to
show us the right path. “It’s like having God’s ambassador with us. And the Lord advises us: ‘Respect his presence!’ And when we, for example, commit a sin and believe that we’re on our own: No, (the Guardian Angel) is there,” he said.

   Although we cannot see our angels, we can listen to them and heed their advice, the Pope continued. “Show respect for (the angel’s) presence. Listen to his voice because he gives us advice. When we hear that inspiration: ‘But do
this … this is better … we should not do that.’
Listen! Do not go against him.”

In Mt. 18:1-5, 10, Jesus tells his disciples they must become like little children in order to enter heaven. In the same way, we must be childlike in our humility and meekness before our Guardian Angels, Pope Francis said.

“The Christian must be meek when it comes to the Holy Spirit. Meekness towards the Holy Spirit begins with this yielding to the advice given by this companion on our journey.”

He closed by saying that we must “ask the Lord for the grace of this meekness, to listen to the voice of this companion” who is a sign of God’s love for us.

“(I)n this Mass where we praise the Lord, let us remember how good our Lord is, who straight after we lost His friendship, did not leave us alone, did not abandon us.”

THE “AMAZIAHS” AND THE “AMOS’” OF THE PROPHETIC MINISTRY Homily for the Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B). Rev. Fr. Boniface Nkem Anusiem PhD

From a very tender age as a junior seminarian, I became
accustomed to the saying: “Many are called but few are
chosen”. Back then I wondered in my little mind if I will be
among those that will be chosen. Then I will start counting
the big boys in my class as those who will be chosen first
because of their sizes. I would often tell myself that I had
to buckle up and grow fast (I was small then) to be among
the “big ones” to be chosen. It was later that I learnt that it
was not all about size or even personal effort; but the
grace of God understandable as unmerited favour.
Today we have interesting prophetic episodes both in the
First Reading (Amos 7:12-15) and in the Gospel Reading
(Mark 6:7-13). In the first reading, we are presented with
the verbal attack on Amos by the priest at Bethel called
Amaziah. Amos’ oracle indicated an impending disaster
that will befall the King and the people in form of exile due
to their dissociation from God. Amaziah who was more of
a political priest accosted the prophet Amos and asked him
to leave the land of Israel to Judah and earn his bread as a
prophet there.
From the scenario, it is clear to us that religion at that
moment was commercial and political enterprise.
Amaziah’s position as the (chief) priest at Bethel could
have been at the instance of the political scheme of king
Jeroboam who must have brought in people who will tell
him what he wants to hear. One can then imagine what the
prophecy of Amos portends. From Amaziah we understand
that Bethel (house of God; the site of Jacob’s dream
(Gen.28:18-19)) was now seen as royal sanctuary and
national temple. The people at the time were seeing the
worship of God as a mere religious observance not as a
spiritual activity.
There is a difference between religious observance and
spiritual practice. It is in this sense that one can be
religious without being spiritual. Religious observance
includes, though not restricted to conventions like strict
attention to time, context, rubrics, and other religious
rituals that are external to the religion in question. On the
other hand worship as a spiritual activity has to do with an
inner disposition which connects the worshipper with the
object of worship (Jn. 4:24). In spiritual worship of God we
talk about faith, hope and love (1 Cor. 13:13).
During this time the people were deeply preoccupied with
religious observances and not with spiritual practices of
their religion. Their worship was based on the external
ritual obligations without a corresponding internal spiritual
interface. Worship for them was at the service of royalty
not divinity. It was more of a national affair than personal
commitment. This is still very valid in our contemporary
human society where people go to Church because it is
Sunday and they have to carry out that religious obligation.
People go to Church because others are going; some go to
Church because they don’t want to be alone in the house.
The question is how many are motivated by faith, love and
their hope in God?
From the point of view of Amaziah the priest the prophetic
ministry ought to be a commercial activity. That was why
he asked Amos to leave the land of Israel to Judah and
earn his living as a prophet from that region. From the
words of Amaziah, he was not concerned about the
prophetic message. He was more concerned about how
Amos and his message would affect his business in Bethel.
We see the above situation taking place in our day with so
much commercialization going on with the message of
God. People are asked to pay consultation fee before they
could see a man of God. They are still required to pay
sometimes heavily before they can be prayed for. These
are the Amaziahs of our time. And they can go to any
length to fight a perceived competitor or rival. Amos was of
a different stock. He was called from the work of
shepherding to become a mouthpiece of God. He had the
mission of delivering the word of God as it is.
In the gospel today, Jesus SUMMONED the Twelve and
began to send them out in PAIRS. He gave them
AUTHORITY over unclean spirits. He further instructed
them to take NOTHING for the journey except a STAFF, no
BREAD, no HAVERSACK. They were to wear SANDALS but no
spare TUNIC. They should stay wherever they are
welcomed. They should preach REPENTANCE, cast out
devils and anoint the SICK.
Before going into the explications I wish to call back what
happened to me as a seminarian; I true confession really. I
was posted on apostolic work to a certain popular town.
My mates congratulated me on what everyone perceived
to be a good posting. I was convinced that I was going to
have a good time so I got a big bag and packed all the
things I felt I would need: electric iron, electric boiler,
clippers, a transistor radio and other things. After packing,
I had a big bag and another hand luggage. On reaching the
parish I met other seminarians posted to the same parish,
we were five in number. I also saw people from the out
stations that came along to pick us. Some of them came
with cars, others with motorcycles and one person with a
bicycle. The Parish priest wanted to be fair enough so he
asked us to pick from folded papers where each will be
going. I was the last to pick and opening the paper I saw
myself picking the least Out Station and being carried by
the man with the bicycle to a remote village without signs
of civilization. Consequently my electrical and electronic
appliances became useless. They actually occupied spaces
for nothing.
Let us go back to the gospel. We are told that Jesus
SUMMONED the Twelve. This means that he called them
out from the rest of the disciples for a brief apostolic work.
They were chosen from the lot to set afire what they had
learned from the master so far. It is actually the Lord who
calls, he also chooses. The letter to the Hebrew says that
no one takes the honour upon oneself each is called as
Aaron was called (Heb.5:4). From our contemporary day
and age we experience a situation wherein we make a
harvest of apostles, pastors, evangelists, prophets,
prophetesses etc. We see such people claiming to have
heard God calling and sending them to some mission. Of
course for most people like Amaziah it is all about earning
bread!
The Lord sent them out in PAIRS. This has a physical and
spiritual denotation. Physically there is need for fellowship
in the ministry. This later turned into the concept of
community in the early Church. Spiritually it assures us of
God’s abiding presence; hence we are not alone. Our Lord
did say when two or more are gathered in my name, I am
in their midst (Matt.18:20 ).They were given AUTHORITY not
just power. Authority is not something that anybody can
get anyhow. People acquire powers in various ways but
authority is far-fetched. Powers fail and fade but authority
subsists and even survives one who holds it for instance
the authority of the papacy. A further instruction was for
them to take a Staff which ascertains the fact that they
have authority given to them.
They were asked to take NOTHING for the journey! Why?
The simple answer is that they have EVERYTHING. Yes
whoever has God has everything. God is not only their
provider He is also their provision. God will definitely
orchestrate assistance for them wherever they go. Often
God plants Samaritans for us in the various routes we go.
We remember that God asked ravens to feed Elijah during
the famine in the land of Israel (1ST king 17:4).
For the journey they were asked to wear Sandals. This
needs to be understood as standing for the spreading
goodnews of peace (Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15 & Eph.6:15).
Furthermore they were asked not to be moving around in
search of comfort. This means that they should accept any
situation that presents itself as part of their mission. This
has been overlooked in our day wherein some people are
looking for financially greener pastures overlooking the
spiritually needful pastures. Everyone wants to be located
among the rich and wealthy. We often forget that the poor
people also have souls that should be saved.
Finally they were asked to preach REPENTANCE.
Repentance here entails denouncing evil and sin and
accepting God. Accepting God also entails knowing Him.
This knowledge leads us to faith, love and hope. In our day
the preaching is overly based on prosperity. Some
preachers paint the picture of a world without the poor or
needy. A world where you get whatever you want and
anytime; indeed an Eldorado! Our Lord actually said that
the poor will be with us always.
Today we are called upon receive the word of truth in our
lives and not to replicate Amaziah. We are called upon to
worship God in spirit and not like a mere religious
obligation. We are called upon to reflect the missionary
script given by our Lord Jesus to the apostles. Among other
things we should know that if God has called, chosen and
sent us, He will also provide for us. Thus there will be no
need for struggling over material remunerations; they are
distractions from the main purpose of our ministry as
ordained priests and our vocation generally as Christians.
There is also need to fight the Amaziah in us. This Amaziah
comes in various shapes and shades. It stands for jealousy
which is one of the viral attacks we face in our vocation.
We should be able to accept the fact that we are differently
gifted and should also appreciate and encourage one
another.
Amaziah also stands for materialism that is rocking the
foundation of our ministry. Many are today more
conscious of what will come to them than what will be
gainful in the life of the people they minister to. This is the
trend of our day and age where men of God live in
mansions and drive exotic cars while the members of the
church may not afford one modest meal. Yet they are
persuaded to donate their last saving with the promise that
God will make them suddenly rich.
There is need for us to exterminate those destructive
Amaziahs of selfishness and materialism in the ministry
and incorporate the Amos’ that represents true mission as
set out by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Have a wonderful Sunday and a blessed week ahead.
Fr. Bonnie
(fatherbonny@hotmail.com).