The Guardian Angels – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcasts

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The Guardian Angels – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr John Esseff

Msgr. Esseff discusses the important role of guardian angels in the life of every person. He shares personal reflections on his childhood experiences and how angels have been part of his spiritual life. Guardian angels are assigned to individuals from the moment of conception and remain with them throughout life, even after death, working to inspire prayers for those in purgatory.

There is an an importance in developing a personal relationship with one’s guardian angel, and Msgr. Esseff suggests that people can even ask their angel for its name. Angels are immensely powerful spiritual beings created individually by God, with different choirs of angels serving specific roles. These angels are protective, guiding people in daily life, and helping them in moments of danger or difficulty.

Guardian angels provide support during times of suffering, using the example of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, where His angel ministered to Him in His agony. Msgr. Esseff encourages us to draw closer to their guardian angels, especially in moments of loneliness or hardship, recognizing them as companions who offer love, guidance, and protection.

Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions

The Presence of Your Guardian Angel
How can you become more aware of your guardian angel’s presence and influence in your daily life?
Guardian Angel’s Role in Your Spiritual Journey
In what ways have you experienced or can you imagine your guardian angel guiding and protecting you through challenges?
Developing a Relationship with Your Guardian Angel
How might asking for your guardian angel’s name deepen your relationship with this spiritual companion?
Trust in God’s Plan for Protection
Do you trust that your guardian angel, sent by God, is actively working to safeguard and assist you in both physical and spiritual matters?
Guardian Angels in Times of Suffering
When faced with suffering or isolation, how can you turn to your guardian angel for comfort and support, as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane?
Intercessory Role of Angels
How does the knowledge that your guardian angel intercedes on your behalf and reminds others to pray for you shape your prayer life?
Angels and the Resurrection of the Body
What significance does the belief in angels’ involvement at the time of death and the resurrection of the body have on your understanding of eternal life?
Angels and Service through Love
How can you embrace the idea of your guardian angel’s loving service as an extension of God’s love, rather than viewing them as merely a protector?
Recognizing the Beauty of Angels
How can reflecting on the beauty and purpose of angels inspire a greater appreciation for God’s creation and your own divine calling?
Blessings of the Angels in Your Life
What steps can you take to open yourself more fully to the blessings and healing that your guardian angel seeks to bring into your life?

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30th 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA. Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to Blessed Mother Teresa. He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the missionaries of charity around the world. Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him. He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical missions, a Catholic organization established by Bl. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor. Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.

The Guardian Angels – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr John Esseff – Discerning Hearts Podcasts

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:29 — 21.7MB) | Embed

The Guardian Angels – Building a Kingdom of Love with Msgr John Esseff

Msgr. Esseff gives us some teachings on The Holy Angels. In this episode, he discusses our GUARDIAN ANGELS.

He addresses many topics including:

The nature of the Guardian Angel
Why the Guardian Angels accompanies us
The difference between “giving your angel a name” and asking the Guardian Angel their name
How and why the Guardian Angel desires to serve us
How our Guardian Angel stays by our side no matter what. How our Guardian Angel can minister to us in pain, confusion, fear, and other areas of suffering

A prayer to our Guardian Angel

Angel of God,
my guardian dear,
To whom God’s love
commits me here,
Ever this day,
be at my side,
To light and guard,
Rule and guide.
Amen.

“From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their (the angels) watchful care and intercession. Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life. Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united to God.”

– from the Catechism of the Catholic Church; 336.

The Guardian Angels -The Holy Angels with Msgr John Esseff

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:35 — 39.3MB) | Embed

Msgr. Esseff begins a series of teachings on The Holy Angels. In this episode, he discusses our GUARDIAN ANGELS.

He addresses many topics including:

The nature of the Guardian Angel
Why the Guardian Angels accompanies us
The difference between “giving your angel a name” and asking the Guardian Angel their name
How and why the Guardian Angel desires to serve us
How our Guardian Angel stays by our side no matter what. How our Guardian Angel can minister to us in pain, confusion, fear, and other areas of suffering

A prayer to our Guardian Angel

Angel of God,
my guardian dear,
To whom God’s love
commits me here,
Ever this day,
be at my side,
To light and guard,
Rule and guide.
Amen.

“From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their (the angels) watchful care and intercession. Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life. Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united to God.”

– from the Catechism of the Catholic Church; 336.

To obtain a copy of Msgr. Esseff’s book byvisiting here

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website “Building a Kingdom of Love”

The Feast of the Guardian Angels – Discerning Hearts Podcasts

Angel of God,
My Guardian Dear,
to whom His love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and to guard,
to rule and guide.
Amen.

For they are ministering spirits, sent for service, for the sake of those who will inherit salvation” (Heb 1:14)

O holy Guardian Angel, my dear friend and solicitous guide on the dangerous way of life, to thee be heartfelt thanks for the numberless benefits which have been granted me through thy love and goodness and for the powerful help by which thou hast preserved me from so many dangers and temptations. I beg of thee, let me further experience thy love and thy care. Avert from me all danger, increase in me horror for sin and love for all that is good. Be a counselor and consoler to me in all the affairs of my life, and when my life draws to a close, conduct my soul through the valley of death into the kingdom of eternal peace, so that in eternity we may together praise God and rejoice in His glory. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord.
Amen.
O Angel of God, make me worthy of thy tender love, thy celestial companionship and thy never-failing protection!

For He will give His angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways.

On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. (Ps 91)

The Holy Angels, and in particular our Guardian Angels, are such a wonderful gift to us from the Father! Let us give thanks to Him for his generosity and to our Guardian Angel for their presence in our lives!

It’s really important to understand the difference in the angels beyond all the New Age silliness. There are the Holy Angels (we love them and they love us) and the fallen angels (bad, bad, bad)…it’s what discernment and spiritual warfare, on many levels, are all about.

Bruce and I, thanks to Fr. Damien Cook, had the opportunity to speak to Fr. Titus Kieninger of Opus Sanctorum Angelorum about the role of Holy Angels. Be prepared…you’ll have to listen a couple of times to this discussion; Fr. Titus Kieninger gives so much information about their mission that you’ll need hear a few times to get it all.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:12 — 31.3MB) | Embed

Be sure to visit Opus Sanctorum Angelorum

Let us affectionately love His angels as counselors and defenders appointed by the Father and placed over us. They are faithful; they are prudent; they are powerful; Let us only follow them, let us remain close to them, and in the protection of the God of heaven let us abide. ~ St. Bernard of Clairvaux