LIVE IT TODAY: Thursday, October 2, 2025 | Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels
I give you the gift of childlike trust—walk in humility and know you are guarded by My angels.
LIVE IT TODAY: Thursday, October 2, 2025 | Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels
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GOD’S DECLARATION TO YOU TODAY
I give you the gift of childlike trust—walk in humility and know you are guarded by My angels.
INVOCATION
Come, Holy Spirit! Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, open my heart to hear and receive all that You desire for me. Draw me ever more deeply into the Love and Life of the Blessed Trinity!
GOSPEL | Matthew 18:1-5, 10
The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”
EVERY DAY QUESTION
What struck you? Challenged you? Inspired you? What questions did it raise?
GOING DEEPER
Greatness in heaven is measured by littleness on earth.
The disciples’ question—“Who is the greatest?”—comes from the same soil as ours: ambition, status, comparison. In the first-century world, greatness meant honor and power, often tied to wealth or lineage. Jesus answers not with a lecture, but a living sign. He summons a child, paidion in Greek—a word not only for a youngster, but one powerless, without social standing, dependent. He places the child before them, saying: the way up is down, the way in is surrender.
This lands like a thunderclap. Children were beloved in families, but in public life they were nobodies, invisible. Jesus insists: unless you turn—literally strephō, to turn back, to reverse direction—you cannot even enter the Kingdom. Heaven does not bend to our striving; it breaks open to the humble. The throne is reserved for those who know they are small.
In our homes, the temptation is constant to measure greatness in control, in income, in achievement. Parents feel pressure to secure the perfect education, the best opportunities, the right social image. Children are groomed to compete, to prove themselves, to climb. Yet Jesus calls us to sanctify family life not by performance but by presence, not by perfection but by humility.
The domestic church becomes radiant when adults stoop low—listening before lecturing, serving before demanding, repenting before defending. To receive a child is to receive Christ Himself. To scorn their littleness is to despise heaven’s angels, who never cease beholding the Father’s face. What could be more countercultural? To welcome the weak, the inconvenient, the dependent is to welcome the King.
Here is the piercing truth: The more we strive to be noticed, the less we resemble the Kingdom; the more we embrace obscurity, the more heaven shines through us.
Parents, choose today the greatness of humility. Set aside the frantic comparisons, and pray over your children by name, asking the Spirit to form in them—not worldly success—but the greatness of littleness that leads to eternal glory.
“Jesus identified himself with the little ones… His preferential love for the poor is one of the motives for the Church’s concern for justice.” (CCC 544)
LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS
Childlike Humility: Where is Jesus inviting you to set aside pride and embrace childlike trust?
Turning Back: What areas of your life require a strephō—a reversal back to God’s way of humility?
Receiving Christ: How can you more consciously receive Christ by welcoming and honoring the little ones in your life?
FAMILY LIVE IT
Make some time today to gather together and, going around, share one way you’ve recently experienced the humility or trust of a child—whether in your own home or from someone else.
After sharing, each family member should pray over another by name: Lord Jesus, pour out Your grace so that [Name] may know Your deep love personally. Free [Name] from lies that greatness comes from power or performance. Strengthen [Name] to overcome temptations to pride. Fill [Name] with joy to live Your Gospel in daily life, walking in the greatness of littleness.
DAILY PARENT & GRANDPARENT BLESSING
LORD JESUS CHRIST, let Your holy anointing be upon each of our children, grandchildren, and godchildren this day and week, including all to whom they are called in vocation, and all future generations! In Your Sacred Name we claim them for You! We renounce all whispers, lies, and influences of the Enemy! We pray right now that each know Your loving Presence, be forged in virtue, and be flooded with an abundance of Your Holy Spirit to live fully their identity and mission in You now and through all eternity, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother! Amen.
PARENT BLESSING PROJECT: bit.ly/ParentBlessing
GOING VERTICAL
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Just as the vertical beam upholds the horizontal beam of the Cross, so too does undistracted, dedicated daily turning to God as our lifeblood uphold and strengthen every part of life. Start with just three minutes. Wait patiently for the breakthrough beyond the noise. Let Him speak.
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