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198.1 First Point
Guardian Angels, being very enlightened and knowing the good
as it is, it is through them that God makes known this good and the
secrets of his holy will to those whom he has predestined to be his
adopted children in Jesus Christ, by whom he has called them to be his
heirs. By the light these angels share with those who are called, they
teach them the good that ought to be practiced, and what they ought to do
to become heirs.
This was symbolized by the ladder which Jacob saw in a dream
when he was going to Mesopotamia. Angels were going up and coming down the
ladder. They were going up to God to make known to him the needs of those
for whom he made them responsible and to receive his orders for them. They
were coming down to teach those whom they were guiding the will of God
concerning their salvation.
You must do the same thing for the children entrusted to your
care. It is your duty to go up to God every day by prayer to learn from
him all that you must teach your children, and then come down to them by
accommodating yourself to their level in order to instruct them about what
God has communicated to you for them in your prayer as well as in the Holy
Scriptures, which contain the truths of religion and the maxims of the
holy Gospel.
You must for this purpose not only know all these truths in
general, but it is also important that you have such a grasp on all of
them that you are able to expand on them sufficiently to make them
understood clearly and in detail by your disciples.
Have you studied well all these truths up to the present, and
have you been thoroughly committed to impress them firmly on the minds of
these children? Have you regarded this responsibility as the most
important in your work?
From this moment take the steps to make it your main concern
to instruct perfectly those who are entrusted to you concerning the truths
of the faith and the practical maxims of the holy Gospel.
198.2 Second Point
The holy Guardian Angels are not satisfied with illuminating
the minds of those under their guidance with the light needed to know
God's will for them and be saved. They also inspire their charges and
procure for them the means to do the good that is proper to them.
God uses the angels not only to deliver those entrusted to
them from the powers of darkness, and make them grow in the knowledge of
God, but also to help them lead a life worthy of God, so that they will be
pleasing to him in every way and produce good works of every sort. The
angels are zealous for the good of those in their care because of the
commission they commission they have received from God, the Father of
light and of all good. They contribute, as far as they are able, to
make those in their care worthy to share the lot of the saints.[i]
You share in the ministry of the Guardian Angels by making
known to children the truths of the Gospel, which you have been chosen by
God to announce.[ii]
You must teach them how to put these truths into practice and you must
have a very great zeal to procure the accomplishment of this practice for
them.
You must, in imitation of the great apostle, encourage them
to live in a manner worthy of God, since he has called them to his kingdom
and his glory.[iii]
Your zeal must go so far in this that in order to achieve
it, you are ready to give your very life, so dear to you[iv]
are the children entrusted to you.
It is your duty, then, to admonish the unruly, and
to do this in such a way that they give up their former way of life;
you must rouse up those who lack courage, support the weak, and be
patient toward all.[v]
Your purpose is to be in a position to stop and curb their corrupt
inclinations in such a way, and to establish them in such a way in the
practice of good, that they give the demon no entrance to them.[vi]
Is this the guidance you have maintained toward your
disciples up to now? Have you been helping them practice the good that is
appropriate to their years? Have you shown concern that they practice
piety, especially at prayer and in church, and that they receive the
sacraments frequently?
You must watch over them a great deal to procure for them
the practice of good and a horror for sin, which are two very useful ways
to help them achieve their salvation.
198.3 Third Point
If you want to accomplish your ministry as Guardian
Angels for the children whom you instruct, to build up with them
the body of Christ and to make them holy and perfect,[vii]
you must work to inspire them with the same sentiments and to put them in
the same dispositions in which Saint Paul tried to place the Ephesians
through the letter he wrote to them.
1. they not sadden the Holy Spirit of God, with whom
they have been marked in baptism and in confirmation as by a seal
for the day of redemption.[viii]
2. you would be deserving of blame if you did not engage them
to renounce their former way of life; you must, therefore, lead
them with the same zeal to renounce lying and to speak the truth to
their neighbor at all times.[ix]
3. you must help them to be gentle and to have a
tenderness for one another, mutually forgiving, as God has forgiven them
in Jesus Christ,[x]
and love one another even as Jesus Christ has loved them.[xi]
Is this the way you have instructed your disciples up to
now? Are these the maxims with which you have inspired them? Have you had
enough vigilance over them and has your zeal been ardent enough to bring
them to practice these maxims?
Bring all your efforts to be faithful in this for the
future.
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