OCTOBER 2, 2026 FATHER BERNARD CARROLL
My brothers and sisters,
We are celebrating the Feast of the Guardian Angels—a beautiful reminder that God never leaves us alone. God walks with us and sends angels to guide and protect us on the journey of life.
In our first reading from the book of Exodus, God says to Moses: “See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.”
Those words are at the heart of today’s celebration: “to guard you on the way.”
Notice that God does not simply say, “I will give you an angel so that nothing difficult will ever happen to you.” Instead, he says that the angel will guard you on the way. God does not promise a life without struggle.
There is a journey to be made.
The Israelites still had to travel through the wilderness. The road would not always be easy. There would be dangers, temptations, uncertainty, and moments when they would wonder whether God was still with them. Yet God promised them his presence and guidance always.
Our lives are also a journey. We do not know everything that lies ahead. There are moments of joy and moments of sorrow, moments when the path seems clear and moments when we feel lost. But today’s feast reminds us: we are never walking alone.
Psalm 91, our responsorial psalm, beautifully expresses this confidence:
“He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”
God’s care is constant, even when unseen. Many times we only realize in hindsight how we were protected, guided, or strengthened at just the right moment.
Faith allows us to say: God was there.
And there is an important companion lesson in today’s Gospel.
When the disciples ask: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus responds by placing a child in their midst.
“Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles him or herself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
For Jesus, the child becomes a sign of humility, dependence, and trust.
The world often measures greatness by power, wealth, influence, intelligence, or success. Jesus measures greatness very differently.
Greatness in God’s kingdom is not power or status. It is humility, service, and love. It is in the person who quietly cares for another; and in the one who protects someone who cannot protect themselves; or in one who notices the lonely person in the room.
It is in caring for the small, the weak, and the overlooked. Every person can be a guardian of someone who needs encouragement, compassion, or forgiveness. In this way, we too become instruments of God’s care for one another.
A child does not need to understand everything in order to trust a loving parent. We, on the other hand, often want explanations from God. We want to know why something happened, what will happen next, and how everything will turn out.
What we learn from today’s feast is that, we are called to trust like children in the care of a loving Father.
If God gives angels to watch over us, then we are also called to become, in a very human sense, instruments of God’s protection for one another, especially the vulnerable and forgotten.
And when suffering comes, we need to remember that even Jesus carried and died on a cross. And he trusted that God was with him to the very end, saying: “Into your hands I commend my spirit.”
God stays true to the promise never to abandon us on life’s journey.
So today we can pray simply:
“Angel of God, my guardian dear, lead me, guide me, and keep me close to God. Help me to trust, to love, and to protect others as you protect me.”
Our guardian angel does not remove our responsibility, but strengthens us in it—helping us choose what is good, avoid what is evil, and return to God when we fall.
The Feast of the Guardian Angels ultimately points beyond the angels themselves. It points to the Father who loves us, the Son who walks with us, and the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
So let us walk forward with trust and peace, knowing that we are held in the loving care of God every step of the way.
God bless you.
