Congratulations to all the children of our parish who have received their First Holy Communion! We thank their parents and our catechists and teachers for helping them to prepare for this important moment. We hope and pray that these children will grow in the knowledge and love of God in the years ahead and that they will join us at Mass to be fed continuously by the Lord with the Eucharist. On our cover and in today’s bulletin we share just a few photos so that our whole parish family can enjoy the sight of these wonderful children.

Felicidades a todos los niños de nuestra parroquia que han recibido su primera comunión! Agradecemos a sus padres y nuestros catequistas y profesores para ayudarles a prepararse para este importante momento. Esperamos y oramos que estos niños crecerán en el conocimiento y el amor de Dios en los años venideros y que ellos se nos unan en masa para ser alimentado continuamente por el señor con la Eucaristía. En la portada y en el boletín de hoy compartimos un par de fotos para que nuestra parroquia toda su familia pueda disfrutar la vista de estos niños maravillosos.

Ask Fr. John

Does everyone have a Guardian angel?  Is there a heirarchy of angels?

Angels are spirits, created by God, but mysterious to us because they are not known or comprehensible to us as are material things that have color, shape, weight and other physical properties.  Our profession of faith refers to God as Creator of things “visible and invisible.”  The people we meet in the Bible, including Jesus, had a definite awareness that there are such spiritual creatures. They fell into two categories: (1) those who do what God wants, namely angels, and (2) those who have rejected God’s will and work against his purposes, namely devils or demons.  The purpose of angels is contained in the Greek word from which our English word comes. “Angelos” means messenger. Angels are spiritual beings who serve God by bringing a message to us, as Gabriel did to Mary. Angels can also bring the message of God’s protection and his power over evil, as did the angel, Michael, who is dramatically portrayed in our sanctuary as he casts down the devil, Satan.

From the scriptures and tradition comes the belief that some angels have a special place in the hierarchy of spiritual beings who do God’s will. In this hierarchy we find what are called the nine choirs of angels. These include in hierarchical order (highest first): seraphim, cherubim, thrones, dominions, virtues, powers, principalities, archangels and angels. The church celebrates two groups of angels in its liturgical calendar. On September 28th, we honor the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Rafael. On October 2 we honor the guardian angels.  Guardian angels refer to those spiritual beings whom God sends to watch over us as individuals. What strikes me as helpful in our understanding of and devotion to angels and their place in our prayer is twofold. First, they are signs to us of God’s goodness and our need to have helpers, to know what God wants us to do and to do it. Secondly, they assist us in our efforts to pray. When our spirits are weak and we feel less than worthy or effective in our prayers, those many ranks of angels are there to make our prayers stronger.  Hence during the mass we call upon them – “all the choirs of angels” –  just before the Eucharistic Prayer, to join with us in singing God’s praise.