27th Sunday in Ordinary Time The Invisible Army On Your Side Mission Week

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time The Invisible Army On Your Side

Today is the feast day of our Guardian Angels. Scripture is full of moments when these divine creatures intervene in our history. We have lost the sense of the spiritual world and the multitude of heavenly beings that accompany us, including the saints and loved ones we have lost who are now with God. Jesus speaks in today’s gospel (Matthew 18:10) how each of us have an angel who is continually with us and yet contemplates the face of God. They connect us and root us in God’s presence and according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church “They pray for us, protect us and guide us”.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven”.

The following scene from 2 Kings 6 is a wonderful example of how we need to be awakened to the realm of the spiritual, there are legions on our side if we so as “open our eyes”.

“Then Elisha prayed, ‘O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!’ The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.” (2 Kings 6:17)

We all feel under attack from time to time. In fact, you may feel under attack right now. Maybe it’s the economy. Maybe you’ve lost your job, your income, or your retirement. Or maybe you’re feeling under attack from your friends or family — or even your own mind.

You think you’re all alone in this attack, and you can’t even fathom how God is going to help.

Yet you’re not alone, and God can help. You simply need him to show you all that is at your disposal for your protection.

That’s what happened in 2 Kings 6. The nation of Aram was always at war with Israel. Yet every time they would attack Israel, God would tell Elisha, a prophet of God in Israel, what the king of Aram’s war plans were. So Israel would win over and over again. When Aram’s king learned that Elisha was the one who was giving away his plans, he sent an army to get him. Elisha’s servant woke up and went outside one morning to see that he and Elisha were surrounded by enemy troops.

Scared, he ran back in and asked Elisha, “What are we going to do?” Then Elisha said something that must have seemed very odd to his servant: “Don’t worry. The people on our side far outnumber those against us.” I’m sure that statement must have really surprised Elisha’s servant. As far as he knew, only two people (Elisha and himself) were on their side!

So Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” (2 Kings 2:17). And so God did. Suddenly, Elisha’s servant saw an army of angels on the hills outside ready to protect them from the army of Aram. The servant wasn’t scared anymore, and God gave Elisha just the right tactics to defeat the enemy Aram (without ever firing a shot at them, by the way).

Just like Elisha and his servant, you have things attacking you right now. You’re tempted to panic. The truth is, you have a whole lot more that’s for you than against you. But when you’re in the midst of being attacked, you just can’t see it.

God needs to open your eyes to all that is on your side. Like Elisha, you just need to ask him for help. Even though you can’t see them, God has released his forces to protect you.

Will you ask him to open your eyes to them?