Pets are a big thing these days, especially in lonely cities. Lots of people live alone, unmarried, with no children and not many or any real friends, stacked like cordwood in multi-story apartment blocks, keeping doors triple locked and greeting no one along the way. 
   People keep pets so that someone or something will greet them as they return to their lonely apartment. If animals are too much trouble, people can buy smart speakers that can be programmed to “greet” them on demand. Folks used to leave their television sets bawling all day, but now smartphones and earbuds can provide the desired background noise, all the time and everywhere. 
   Still, there’s nothing like Man’s Best Friend to wag an excited greeting when you get back from work. Even cats and goldfish provide some feeling of life in an empty apartment. 
   Last Friday, October 2nd  the Church celebrated something different: the Guardian Angels, and today’s Gospel reading brings a vivid image of the angels of God. Many like to think of angels as cute pets, someone always there for us, always ready to affirm and comfort, helpful in so many ways. We like to think that our good angel would never condemn us. We imagine that they are to soften God’s demanding precepts when necessary, going to bat for us with the Almighty if we find it necessary to indulge in some small sin.
   In Exodus, chapter  23, the Bible’s first mention of a “guardian angel,” who has been sent to help the Israelites through the deserts, and rivers between them and the Promised Land. “See,” God says, “I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way…. Heed his voice … for he will not forgive your sin.”
   My Guardian Angel is not my “pet”. He answers to God, not to me. If I rebel against the Almighty, my angel will discipline me. He will not forgive my sins, because he cannot—only God and his priests can forgive sins. But neither will he wink at my sins—that would be a derelict of duty. The angels have been given an intellect and will far superior to ours, and they do not fail in their task. God has commanded them to protect us from evil, and most of the evil in our lives comes from our weaknesses. My angel does not find my peccadillos (Spanish for little sins) amusing. He speaks to my conscience when I err, and in his great love for me does not water down the truth. It is mine to listen carefully, to trust, and to obey my angel in all things.