Hello everyone! Heyo! Welcome back to Scattering Flowers with Elise and Miles, a podcast where you read the daily gospels and the saint of the day.
Let’s get started! Today is Monday, June 2nd, and the gospel reading is John 16, 29-33, and the scripture to reflect on is John 16, 32.
The hour is coming indeed.
It has come when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone.
Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.
Some of you might know that we have recently moved.
I thought that it was going to be tough packing everything up, finding a new church, making new friends, but it really hasn’t been that bad.
The neighbors here are really nice, we’ve made lots of new friends, and our parish is great.
My family is pretty happy with our new setup.
Even if it was tough for a little bit in the beginning, and maybe even had thoughts that we might not get new friends, I knew I wasn’t alone, because like in the scripture today, it says that we are not alone because the Father is with us.
Today’s saints of the day are Saint Marcellinus and Peter.
They died in 303.
They are the patron saints of persecuted Christians.
We know very little about these two martyrs.
In 302, the ruler ordered the burning of Catholic churches and their sacred texts, as well as the imprisonment of torture of clergy and laypersons.
He wanted to force Christians to summit the Roman pagan religion, including the worship of the empire himself.
Around 303, Peter, a Roman exorcist, was imprisoned for his faith.
While in prison, it is said that Peter freed Pollyanna, the daughter of the prison keeper, from demons by his prayers.
This shows Christ’s power over demons, and led Pollyanna, Artemis his wife, and the entire household to be baptized by the Roman priest Marcellinus.
After this, both Marcellinus and Peter were called before a judge who was to enforce the empire’s degree against the church.
One Marcellinus testified courageously with his faith in Christ.
He was beaten, stripped of his clothes, and starved in the dark cell filled with broken glass shards.
Peter, too, was put in jail, but neither men would deny Christ, and both preferred death over submission to pagan worship.
It was arranged for the two men to be executed secretly, in order to prevent the faithful from gathering in prayer.
Their executor forced them to clear away thorns and briars, which the two men did cheerfully, accepting their death with joy.
Both men were beheaded in the forest and buried in the clearing they had made.
The location of the saints' bodies remained unknown for some time, until a devout woman named Lucilla received a revolution informing her where they lay.
With the assistance of another woman, Fermina and Lucilla received the two saints' bodies and had them placed in the Roman catacombs.
Sometimes it’s hard to think of being alone.
It makes us sad, and you don’t like the feeling.
When you feel that way, just remember that we have an amazing, unbreakable relationship with God that gives us peace.
You know when your priest says the Eucharist prayer of the saints and he lists names?
Well, Saint Marcellinus and Peter are among the saints named in the most traditional Eucharistic prayer at Mass.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, thank you that you are always there and never leave us in our hearts and thoughts.
And thank you for the ability to grow in our faith so we can stand up for what’s right.
Saint Marcellinus, pray for us.
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Thank you so much for listening.
I’ll be back tomorrow scattering more flowers.
See ya!