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Commentary on the Gospel of October 2, 2025
Turning Again to the Angels
Sometimes, when someone does us a favor, we say, “You’re an angel.” And it’s true: angels are good spirits who, in moments of need, come to the aid of those who need help. Maybe not always in the way we expect, but sometimes disguised as setbacks or difficulties—moments which, if we live them well, become times of growth and grace. There are always good spirits along the way.
There’s a well-known painting of an angel helping children cross a bridge without stumbling or falling. Angels are those who keep our feet from tripping into temptation and evil; those who rescue us from dangerous moral situations; those who warn us not to enter into easy ideas or errors that lead us away from God. They help us live the petition we make to God in the Lord’s Prayer: “Do not let us fall into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
In today’s Gospel reading, it almost seems that those angels are the children—the simplest and smallest—who must not be despised, ignored, or mistreated. And that is true. But it is also a call for us to be angels for those children: to protect them from danger, abuse, and the evil around them. And also to protect their lives: so many innocent ones who are denied the chance to live. So many children facing the horrors of war. So many suffering from hunger. So many enduring abuse. And even those other children who face the danger of a life that is too easy, spoiled, and permissive—where they are not taught the limits they need, nor shown the paths of goodness.
The good spirits—the guardian angels that we all have—remind us that we, in turn, must be guardians of others: protecting them from physical danger, yes, but also from moral dangers. And that means teaching well, proclaiming the truth, and educating with wisdom.