Why are guardian angels usually hidden?

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Another thought that comes to mind is the question of free will.

If our guardian angels were making themselves seen all of the time, how much free will would we actually have?

Would we really feel free to accept or reject God if His super powerful angels were showing up all the time whenever someone called for them?

There sure wouldn’t be any atheists left…😃
 
SMA_12 said:
Another thought that comes to mind is the question of free will.

If our guardian angels were making themselves seen all of the time, how much free will would we actually have?

Would we really feel free to accept or reject God if His super powerful angels were showing up all the time whenever someone called for them?

There sure wouldn’t be any atheists left…😃
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We run into strange problems if seeing an angel takes away your free will. That would mean Christ lost his free will at Gethsemane, St. Francis lost his free will when the seraph appeared to him, St. Thomas when the angels came in the dream to tie a golden chord of chastity around him, and on and on. The peasant children, Juan Diego, lots of people who were not necessarily saints…

Besides, I’m not asking that they show up all the time. There are a lot of options in between “all the time” and “almost never”.😃
 
Neoplatonist said:
We run into strange problems if seeing an angel takes away your free will. That would mean Christ lost his free will at Gethsemane, St. Francis lost his free will when the seraph appeared to him, St. Thomas when the angels came in the dream to tie a golden chord of chastity around him, and on and on. The peasant children, Juan Diego, lots of people who were not necessarily saints…

Besides, I’m not asking that they show up all the time. There are a lot of options in between “all the time” and “almost never”.😃
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True 🙂 it was just a passing thought. I’m no “philosifizer”😉
 
SnowAngels said:
I am sorry you feel this way, but I have to respectfully disagree with you. You have no way of knowing if your guardian angel has helped you or not. He/she may have saved you from countless near death experiences that you have no way of knowing about. Even though we can’t see our guardian angels, we can most definitely talk to them. We owe them great respect and love, as they are our guardians and a gift from God.
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I agree my guardian angel saved me from dying in a car accident I a fruit trailer had no break lights and I rear ended it me and my then 2 children should have died but we didnt we walked away perfectly fine no bruises no scratch our angels were watching us that day
 
I have never seen or heard my guardian angel, but on at least two occasions he saved my life from what could have been terrible accidents. I could not attribute them to anything else.

I don’t need to see my guardian angel to know he’s there.
 
Neoplatonist said:
1._But surely there are any number of consolations we might receive from a friend in our times of sorrow or doubt that would not suggest, in any way, that they “serve” us. It is similarly true for the other analogies I offered of a babysitter or a teacher. Neither is clearly meant to obey the will of the child, only the parent, but that doesn’t mean it is wrong-headed to ask either of them a question or to hope for comfort if we’re hurting inside or out.

2._What a strange case St. John of the Cross presents. It would be a sad model of gratitude to despise or ignore signs of love or support or consolation from a friend or mentor or parent, and to be seen as foolish or weak to look to them for such things.
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The angelic spirits that are assigned to be our guardians have one priority…our salvation. Our faith in the Lord’s purpose for them helps us to understand what they can or cannot do. What would be the purpose for them to be like a fairy-tale genie in a bottle that is there to do our bidding? I believe I understand what you are trying to say, and I am trying to help your perspective.

Prayer to the Lord, and acts of faith brings us comfort. Angels inspire us to pray and have faith.

St. John of the Cross is a Doctor of the Church on prayer. What he means is that when we receive what we believe to be a supernatural favor from God and it inspires us to love Him more, then we should accept it, thank Him, and move on. To overly dwell on it would be missing the point. To “look” for such things is desiring the consolation more than we desire God.

Because you have expressed such questions perhaps you would like to read some books on the subject?
“Angels and Demons” by Peter Kreeft is very good and easy to understand.

The teachings of St. John of the Cross are better understood with some background about the subject of prayer.

If you would like to know more about the spiritual journey in prayer there are some MP3s at this site that you may be interested in:

advancedchristianity.com

May our Lord and His Blessed Mother lead you!
 
SnowAngels said:
I am sorry you feel this way, but I have to respectfully disagree with you. You have no way of knowing if your guardian angel has helped you or not. He/she may have saved you from countless near death experiences that you have no way of knowing about. Even though we can’t see our guardian angels, we can most definitely talk to them. We owe them great respect and love, as they are our guardians and a gift from God.
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I agree with you.
 
SMA_12 said:
I am convinced my guardian angel saved me from near certain death.

Long story short: 75mph, traffic slamming on their brakes ahead of me, my brakes snap and no longer work, no where to go but in a ditch or slamming another car…

I end up on the opposite shoulder of the road, across a lane of traffic, unharmed and rolling to a stop. Still not sure how I got there untouched.

And I was living in a state of mortal sin at the time having gone years without confession. Needless to say I am extremely fortunate. I am living on borrowed time as they say.

Mine is an extreme example but you really have no clue how much your guardian angel aids you. In some cases maybe the best thing for you, is not to help you miraculously, but to let you grow stronger through the cross God gave you to bear.

I needed a miracle for the sake of my soul, maybe some of us need not to have a miracle for the sake of theirs.
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Excellent insight! Thank you for sharing your experience.
 
Where are the guardian angels of the countless children who get abducted on the streets every day around the world, and end up being sexually assaulted, tortured and finally end up dumped into a garbage dump to get rid their bodies?
 
It might be me making something out of nothing but on many occasions when i say the Guardian Angel prayer i am sure i can feel a very slight, cold, breeze wift across my face!

Now, i almost expect to feel it!
 
mikekle said:
Where are the guardian angels of the countless children who get abducted on the streets every day around the world, and end up being sexually assaulted, tortured and finally end up dumped into a garbage dump to get rid their bodies?
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The angels are there to transport them to heavenly bliss, into the arms of Our Lord, where He will wipe away every tear.

The angels are not there to put a stop to free will, but to lead us to salvation with their inspirations.
 
Neoplatonist said:
Post #19 by James Caruso
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Consider that God knew whether or not James would** respond **to this grace.

Had God allowed this grace and James would have rejected it by failing to act on it, it would actually have increased his culpability in regards to the estrangement between him and his father (that presumably would have continued).

God knows when it is to our benefit to grant us extraordinary/supernatural graces (such as you’re seeking), and when it is to our benefit NOT to grant them.
***Luke 12:48 … Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required; ***…I recall reading once that Padre Pio was concerned over his eternal welfare – because he knew more would be expected of him because of the many extraordinary graces he had been given.
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Dorothy said:
The angelic spirits that are assigned to be our guardians have one priority…our salvation. Our faith in the Lord’s purpose for them helps us to understand what they can or cannot do. What would be the purpose for them to be like a fairy-tale genie in a bottle that is there to do our bidding? I believe I understand what you are trying to say, and I am trying to help your perspective.

Prayer to the Lord, and acts of faith brings us comfort. Angels inspire us to pray and have faith.

St. John of the Cross is a Doctor of the Church on prayer. What he means is that when we receive what we believe to be a supernatural favor from God and it inspires us to love Him more, then we should accept it, thank Him, and move on. To overly dwell on it would be missing the point. To “look” for such things is desiring the consolation more than we desire God.

Because you have expressed such questions perhaps you would like to read some books on the subject?
“Angels and Demons” by Peter Kreeft is very good and easy to understand.

The teachings of St. John of the Cross are better understood with some background about the subject of prayer.

If you would like to know more about the spiritual journey in prayer there are some MP3s at this site that you may be interested in:

advancedchristianity.com

May our Lord and His Blessed Mother lead you!
Click to expand...
Interesting. I’ll have to get my hands on the Kreeft book.

In general it seems a bit like sweeping it all under the carpet. How do two things (or n things) that I can’t see and must just trust on blind faith strengthen my faith or console my suffering any more than having just one thing I can’t see and must trust on blind faith? What I mean is, if guardian angels are just as inaccessible and aloof as God is, what has believing in them added to my experience?
 
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