In order that we are never left alone, God has put at each person’s side a guardian angel to support and protect us, to accompany us in life (CCC 336). It is up to us to perceive his presence, listening to his advice, with the docility of a child, in order to keep ourselves on the right path toward paradise.
God has always sent us help, to Moses he said “Behold, I will send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared” (Exodus 23:20-23). So, the Lord did not abandon but walked with his people. He walked with the man who had lost his friendship with Him: God’s heart is a father’s heart, and he never abandons his children.
Our guardian angel is always with us and this is a reality: he is like an ambassador of God with us. Again, in the passage from the Book of Exodus, the Lord counsels us: “Give heed to him!” (Exodus 23:21) Thus, when we, for example, do something bad and think we are alone, we have to remember that it isn’t so, because our angel is there. Here then, is the importance of heeding his presence and hearkening to his voice, because he advises us. This is why, when we feel that inspiration, ‘Do this… this is better… you shouldn’t do this’, the best thing to do is heed the advice and not rebel against your guardian angel.
He advises us, accompanies us, walks with us in the name of God. The Book of Exodus also points out the best attitude: “if you hearken attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries” (Exodus 23:22). But what does this mean? God’s response is clear: “I will be your protector, I will always defend you, guard you. ‘I!’, the Lord says, but because you have heeded the advice, the inspiration of the angel.
Let us ask the Lord for the grace of this docility, of hearkening to the voice of this companion, of this ambassador of God who is beside us in his name, so that we may be supported by his help, always on the way.
Francis, “The angel and the child” homily, Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, Vatican City, 2 October 2015, www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/cotidie/2015/documents/papa-francesco-cotidie_20151002_the-angel-and-the-child.html