Num 11.25-29; Ps 18; Jas 5.1-6; Mk 9.38-43, 45, 47-48

1. Today’s scripture readings are stern stuff. In the second reading, Saint James has some severe warnings for the rich. Today’s gospel is even sterner – a serious warning to us all, rich and poor alike, about the real danger of ending up in hell. People who like to play down this doctrine, who say that hell is not real, just a medieval superstition, should perhaps take a more scriptural approach to their faith. There are several places in the gospels where the Lord Himself mentions hell quite explicitly. And we have no reason to suppose that He was speaking metaphorically. Hell is not a symbol or a metaphor. The appalling possibility of losing God for ever, our highest good and only true source of happiness, this is something which anyone with any sense would do all they possibly could to avoid.

2. We can take comfort from the fact that truly speaking, the only people who will go to hell are those who themselves choose to do so, those who choose to turn their backs on God, those who deliberately say no to God, for ever and ever. Fortunately, very fortunately, nobody need go to hell. Heaven will always be available, for those that really want it. The important thing is to be absolutely clear that heaven really is where we wish to spend eternity. By the use of our own free-will, we can and must choose God, again and again, every single day of our life. Then we shall be well prepared for the moment when we are called to leave this life, the moment when we come face to face with the Lord. Then our choice of Him, in the daily struggle with temptation, will bear fruit. The Lord we have chosen day by day will be our final choice for ever; unending happiness with God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, together with all His saints and angels.

3. The saints will be our company in heaven, and a very select company too. They are perhaps easier for us to imagine than the angels. The saints were and are human, after all. Angels on the other hand have never been remotely human, and never will be. What do we know about angels? Well, we know that they are pure spirits. They have never had a body, and never will. We know that God created the angels before He made humans. Scripture suggests that the angelic creation vastly outnumbers humanity. The last book of the Bible hints that when Lucifer rebelled and was cast out of heaven, one third of the angels sided with him, and shared his banishment. One third of the stars of heaven fell from grace. It is their place in heaven that redeemed humanity is destined to fill. We must also face the fact that the holy angels, those who never fell, are far more impressive than we are in terms of intelligence, power, and splendour.

4. Every single human being is called to become something so splendid, transformed in Christ, that we can scarcely imagine the weight of glory that will be ours in heaven. When we see people passing us in the street, so many strangers that we shall probably never meet, we should remember that they, like us, belong to a race of immortal beings that God has destined for unfading glory. All that’s required is that we co-operate with His merciful plans for us.

5. The trouble is that we so easily forget this glorious destiny which is the ultimate privilege of being human. All too easily we settle for a short-term and blinkered vision, which usually involves siding with the enemy, opting for Lucifer instead of Christ. To help save us from falling into the clutches of our unscrupulous enemy, God assigns to each one of us from the first moment of our creation a Guardian Angel. Each of us has our own Holy Guardian Angel, a pure spirit who continually looks upon the face of God, but who also busies himself on earth by taking care of us.

6. Each of us is like a ward, in the temporary care of a much wiser and much holier older brother. Our Guardian Angels bring us the inspirations and consolations of the Holy Spirit. They help us to resist the snares of the devil. They protect us as we lurch and stumble through the wilderness, on our pilgrim way to the promised land. We usually never see our Guardian Angels. We have no material contact with them, because they are disembodied spirits, but the Church teaches us that they are ever at our side, observing all that we think and do – all that we are – nudging us along the narrow path that leads to heaven.

7. At least once every day we should greet our Guardian Angels and invoke their supernatural help. Together with our own special patron saints, these angels are our friends at court. We on earth are still in the antechamber, but the angels and saints occupy the throne-room, and see the King face to face. May they guard and protect us on earth, and then one day present us, safe and sinless, at the throne of Our Saviour.