Guardian Angel II 17
While her friend goes back to idle chatter, our young lady mentally begins to rebuke her Guardian Angel for allowing her to feel so empty and apathetic. He responds through images and memories she's encountered in the past until she becomes better tuned to Him, then "speaks" through her mental thoughts.
"The angels do not know the secrets of hearts" (St. Thomas's Summa Theologica, I, 57, 4). Only God can know the depths of our souls. Nevertheless angels and devils can often figure out our thoughts. They can do this in two ways: by reading our faces, and by the way in which we appear and react when encountering people, ideas, etc. The angels and the devils have not only a superhuman intellect, but also thousands of years of experience at observing the behavior of human beings under all kinds of conditions and circumstances. For this reason, they are very skilled at discerning what we might be thinking without actually knowing our thoughts or being able to read our minds.
However,"if we willingly direct our thoughts to an angel (e.g. in mental prayer or inner conversation), then the angel can "hear" those thoughts. Just as the angels communicate between themselves by an act of the will, so we can communicate with them by an interior act of the will.. .. The essence of all spiritual communication is the decision that we make to transmit a thought or an idea to another person, be it an angel, a devil, a saint in heaven, or God Himself. Therefore, as soon as we make the decision to speak with of to pray to the angels, they will become aware of what we want to communicate to them." (Opus Angelorum)
How do they communicate with us? There are several ways. First, they can put thoughts in our minds by sending us words we might attribute to our imagination. Secondly, they can send us intellectual visions. Thirdly, they can give us spiritual consolations, as St. Ignatius of Loyola tells us in his Spiritual Exercises. Fourthly, they can cause a kind of tension or pressure. And finally, they can speak out loud in a way we clearly understand. This is rare, but we see it recorded many times in Scripture.
It is important to communicate with and ask for the help of your Guardian Angel. Just knowing what we need doesn't entitle our angels to mediate every grace to us. Many graces require prayer and hope. In addition, when we pray we show our angels the dispositions of our heart and soul, which helps them to guide us and better meet our inclinations and abilities to cooperate with grace.
UPDATE: I previously learned that we notice aspects in our Guardian Angel that are very different to us. Therefore, a woman will notice more masculine qualities in her Guardian Angel, and a man will notice more feminine qualities in his. I tried to draw the Guardian Angels accordingly. However, according to Opus Angelorum (which is a Vatican approbated international spiritual movement of the Catholic Church which focuses on the angels), angels in Scripture are always depicted and spoken of in masculine terms. "We have to see these facts as a revelation from God, and a manifestation of His will. It is an indication, and a strong one at that, that the Lord wants us to understand that masculine qualities are more fitting in the representation of the angelic spirits." So there will be no more female angels depicted here.
She feels as though if she continues to move towards Christ, she will lose her friend. Losing things and people doesn't seem to her to be the "good" result, and so she feels a little betrayed - things seem to be headed in a worse direction. She feels uncomfortable, and wants a way out. The discomfort is because right now she is trying to serve both God and mammon. She knows she can't stay like this, but rejects the thought of confession and a change of life towards Christ.
"The angels do not know the secrets of hearts" (St. Thomas's Summa Theologica, I, 57, 4). Only God can know the depths of our souls. Nevertheless angels and devils can often figure out our thoughts. They can do this in two ways: by reading our faces, and by the way in which we appear and react when encountering people, ideas, etc. The angels and the devils have not only a superhuman intellect, but also thousands of years of experience at observing the behavior of human beings under all kinds of conditions and circumstances. For this reason, they are very skilled at discerning what we might be thinking without actually knowing our thoughts or being able to read our minds.
However,"if we willingly direct our thoughts to an angel (e.g. in mental prayer or inner conversation), then the angel can "hear" those thoughts. Just as the angels communicate between themselves by an act of the will, so we can communicate with them by an interior act of the will.. .. The essence of all spiritual communication is the decision that we make to transmit a thought or an idea to another person, be it an angel, a devil, a saint in heaven, or God Himself. Therefore, as soon as we make the decision to speak with of to pray to the angels, they will become aware of what we want to communicate to them." (Opus Angelorum)
How do they communicate with us? There are several ways. First, they can put thoughts in our minds by sending us words we might attribute to our imagination. Secondly, they can send us intellectual visions. Thirdly, they can give us spiritual consolations, as St. Ignatius of Loyola tells us in his Spiritual Exercises. Fourthly, they can cause a kind of tension or pressure. And finally, they can speak out loud in a way we clearly understand. This is rare, but we see it recorded many times in Scripture.
It is important to communicate with and ask for the help of your Guardian Angel. Just knowing what we need doesn't entitle our angels to mediate every grace to us. Many graces require prayer and hope. In addition, when we pray we show our angels the dispositions of our heart and soul, which helps them to guide us and better meet our inclinations and abilities to cooperate with grace.
UPDATE: I previously learned that we notice aspects in our Guardian Angel that are very different to us. Therefore, a woman will notice more masculine qualities in her Guardian Angel, and a man will notice more feminine qualities in his. I tried to draw the Guardian Angels accordingly. However, according to Opus Angelorum (which is a Vatican approbated international spiritual movement of the Catholic Church which focuses on the angels), angels in Scripture are always depicted and spoken of in masculine terms. "We have to see these facts as a revelation from God, and a manifestation of His will. It is an indication, and a strong one at that, that the Lord wants us to understand that masculine qualities are more fitting in the representation of the angelic spirits." So there will be no more female angels depicted here.
She feels as though if she continues to move towards Christ, she will lose her friend. Losing things and people doesn't seem to her to be the "good" result, and so she feels a little betrayed - things seem to be headed in a worse direction. She feels uncomfortable, and wants a way out. The discomfort is because right now she is trying to serve both God and mammon. She knows she can't stay like this, but rejects the thought of confession and a change of life towards Christ.