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Commentary

By Liz Quirin

Thanking Guardian Angels on Their Feast Day

The man came out of the night in Sarajevo 11 years ago. I was not exactly lost but I couldn’t find the place I needed to be. I had tried repeatedly to use the few words of German I knew to get directions but it didn’t work — not enough or good enough German. Suddenly, a man appeared and asked me if I needed help. Not being shy about asking and accepting aid from any quarter, especially in foreign countries, the man readily agreed to lead me where I needed to go. It was dark; the streets were almost empty, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

We walked and chatted in French, again, with very few words but they seemed to work. He didn’t speak English or German, so we fell into the only language left to me. After walking for 45 minutes in a city I did not know to an address I had never been, he deposited me at my destination and disappeared into the night. I didn’t know his name, and I’m sure I’ll never see him again.

Today, Thursday (if you get your Messenger on Oct. 2) is the feast of guardian angels. I had never thought much about whether guardian angels really existed. We all knew we had one although my mother insisted I probably had two because one would be constantly worn out from keeping me just on “this side” of danger. However, Pope Benedict XVI has weighed in on the side of the angels, and I believe him. “The invisible presence of these blessed spirits is of great help and comfort to us: They walk alongside us and protect us in every circumstance; they defend us from dangers and we can turn to them at every moment.”

With so many worries and fears these days about the economy, the next president, the many issues and threats to the sanctity of life, turning to our guardian angels may appear simplistic or even childish, but I don’t think so. Haven’t there been times when someone — like the man in Sarajevo — or something guided you in the right direction, or kept you from what you later learned was a danger to you? People sometimes wear an angel pin on their clothing, but I don’t think we need to wear our angels. We do, however, need to pay attention to them, and maybe thank them for their protection.

Most of the time we’re more about asking than thanking because our list of needs far exceeds our lists of what we remember to be thankful for. Why do we leap over the blessings we receive on a daily basis to put in our requests, like ordering from a fast food chain, for all that we think we need.

With thankfulness and mindful of all that we continue to need, we say: “Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen” and by the way, thank you for all of those times I could have been in so much more trouble than I ever knew.