He Has Given His Angels To Watch Over You

My dearest Jesus, I thank you with all my heart for the gift of my Guardian Angel! In your compassion, you have assigned to every soul on earth a heavenly companion, to be with us at all times and to protect us from harm, whether temporal or spiritual. My angel is a constant reminder to me of your love and concern; only in Heaven will I know how many times my angel has rescued me from impending troubles.

This world is so troubled, my Lord, and so many of your children seen overwhelmed by it all. My prayer today is that you will open the eyes of gay people everywhere, that they may realize the presence of their guardian angels, learn to call upon their angels, and permit their angels to lead them into closer union with God and to a life more closely in harmony with the Gospel.

My friends, our angels are with us always! As long as our intentions are pure, and as long as we seek to love God no matter how often we fall each day, our angels will never abandon us. For gay people, the world can be an unfriendly place in so many ways... but if we are granted the gift of trust in our guardian angels, then fear will lose its hold over our lives! Let us live with courage, dear friends, for God is truly with us, and our guardian angels are ever ready to protect us!

God Is With Us!

In the very first chapter of the Gospel According to St. Matthew, when Joseph is told that Mary is with child through the action of the Holy Spirit, he is asked to name the boy "Jesus," and told of his foster son, "et vocabunt nomen eius Emmanuhel quod est interpretatum Nobiscum Deus." My friends, let us take encouragement that we have the word of the angels themselves that Jesus is our Emmanuel, our "God-with-us," or "Our Divine Companion." Sometimes, in the stresses and challenges of daily life, we might feel as though we are walking this earth alone. We might feel as though there is truly no one who knows us as we really are and still loves us. Even if we are blessed with family members and dear friends who care about us, there are probably times when we doubt their affection toward us, and in those hours, life can be so lonely and so seemingly unkind.

For those of us who are gay, our acquaintance with loneliness often begins at an early age. As a rule, most of us grow up in families with parents and siblings who are straight, and as we make the transition from children to young adults, and first become aware of our romantic desires and interests, we often have no one with whom to share them. The teenage years are difficult under the best of circumstances, but for many gay people, they are years of terrible isolation and self-doubt. The suicide rate among gay teens is quite high, as is the abuse of alcohol and drugs, and other self-destroying behaviors that are rooted in a flight from pain.

Oh my Jesus, look with kindness and tenderness upon all gay people, especially those who are feeling sad and lonely this day. It pleased you for the angels to call you "God With Us," and for two thousand years, you have been loved and honored here on earth as "Our Emmanuel." My Lord, look at the world we live in today, and see all the suffering that afflicts your children! In your mercy, let every one of us feel in the depths of our souls that you are with us, and that we are not alone! Help us to see that you are with us in good times and bad, in our youth and in our old age, and in our prosperity and our poverty. No matter how we reject you or ignore you out of our own boundless ignorance, you will never abandon any of us! The malice that we all carry in our hearts, the moral sickness we spread throughout your Good Creation, is strong, but it will never triumph over your Love!

Jesus Christ, My Lord and Savior, You Who Are God With Us, heal me of all that displeases you, and guide me along the path you have laid out before me. Take away my loneliness and my self-doubt, and give me the grace to know of your infinite love for me. Let this knowledge flood into my mind, my heart, and my soul, that I may ever say with joy, "Jesus, I am yours! Speak, for your faithful servant is listening!"

Two saints who have become popular with gay Christians over the past few decades are Sergius and Bacchus, who were martyred sometime in the third century. According to pious tradition, they were best friends who served together in the Roman army, and who secretly worshipped Christ. Somehow, their devotion to the outlawed religion was discovered, and the two men were subjected to various humiliations and tortures before being put to death. These saints were greatly revered for centuries, particularly in the Byzantine Empire, where cults honoring soldier-saints were quite popular.

In recent times, historians such as the late John Boswell have argued that Sergius and Bacchus would be, in today's language, considered homosexual, and that their deep love for each other was romantic or erotic, as well as spiritual and fraternal. Other scholars have argued against such a case, and so the debate continues unresolved.

Whatever the precise nature of the relationship between these two saints was, one thing is clear: they loved each other a great deal, and they loved Christ, even to the point of choosing death rather than rejecting their Lord and Savior. And these two brave and loyal men did not see the love they bore for each other as in any way demeaning or contradicting their love for Christ. Indeed, their common piety undoubtedly helped them maintain their strong friendship and gave their love for each other an added depth.

Oh Sweet Jesus, my Most Gracious Lord, I thank you so much for the life and witness of your Saints, such as Sergius and Bacchus! They inspire and encourage me, for they show me clearly that life in accord with the Gospel teachings is not an impossible ideal, but rather something I can strive to attain. You ask of me not perfection, but simply my best effort, and the example of the saints shows me that whatever I lack, you will supply in abundance.

Blessed Sergius and Blessed Bacchus, from your thrones in Heaven where you see God face to face, look with mercy and compassion upon all who strive to lead lives of virtue, especially those who find the path of righteousness burdensome and difficult. Through your constant prayers at God's feet, remember all those who are persecuted for their Faith, and bless those Christians who find their best friends, spouses, partners, and soulmates among persons of the same gender. Smile down upon all gay men and lesbians who seek to be loving and kind, and from your Heavenly repose, protect us from all harm, both temporal and spiritual. Oh Holy Saints Sergius and Bacchus, pray for us, and obtain for us from Our Blessed Lord and Our Gracious Mother every good thing that our spirits require! Guide us in the path of peace until that glorious day when we will see God face to face, and at last experience what it truly means to love and to be loved!