When Mike and I were taking our Pre-Cana classes, we suddenly found things getting real. We had both heard of Natural Family Planning, but it hadn’t dawned on us until that moment that it would be something we would have to implement in our lives.
NFP wasn’t something in which I was well-educated; I just assumed that I would be on the Pill once we got engaged, like everyone else I knew. Now I was listening to someone talk to me about signs of fertility and periods of abstinence. We walked out of the first meeting in silence and hopped into Mike’s car.
“So, are we going to do this?” he asked.
“I mean, I don’t think we have another choice.” I replied.
While my resolve was tenuous at best, that response was a big moment in my faith life. Both Mike and I were finding our ways back into the Church after years of being lapsed, and we wanted to be all in. We wanted to side with God, and that has made all the difference.
Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel, three angels who chose God’s side and continue to battle and serve on His behalf, unlike Satan who freely chose to rebel against God and forever lose his place in the heavenly banquet. We can call on these Angels, particularly Saint Michael, in times of trial. They will help give us the strength to fight the good fight.
My road has not always been full of comfort, but we all know what Pope Benedict XVI has to say about that: we were made for greatness. Ask these Angels to fight for you today and always so that you may also side with God in your life even with knowing that the road ahead is full of adversity. Let God find no duplicity in you.
Call upon your own Guardian Angel to help you today; that is literally what the Angel is there for!
Jenna Hines has a teeny army of four children and is married to a bearded fellow named Mike. She is happiest when she has a moment to create or read, and she loves to chat about mental health. You can find out more about her here.