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 Thursday, July 17th and the Gospel reading is Matthew 11, 28-30 and the scripture to reflect on is Matthew 11, 28.
Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.
Do you have a backpack for school?
I do.
I get a new one every year.
Do you have a locker at your school?
My parents both had lockers in high school.
My mom told me that in high school you have a lot of books, like a lot more books, and they are thick and heavy, so you put your books in a locker.
It would be quite heavy and your back would hurt so bad to carry it around all day.
Lucky for us, Jesus offers to carry our burdens, or heavy loads.
We can get tired out because we have to worry too much, or we can do things all on our own.
Jesus gives salvation if we trust him.
Today’s Saint of the Day is Saint Solanus Casey.
He was born November 25, 1870 and died July 31, 1957.
He is the patron saint of failure and setbacks.
Blessed Solanus Casey was named Bernard Francis Casey when he was born.
He is the sixth of sixteen children born to his Irish immigrant parents in the state of Wisconsin.
Even as a young boy, he longed to be a priest, but he wasn’t very smart in his school studies.
He even struggled in his studies at a seminary, so he even decided to look into religious orders and become a Capuchin, and received the name Solanus Solus.
He barely passed his classes, so he was ordained as a simplex priest.
This means he could not preach or hear confessions, but he loved and took a great joy in celebrating the Holy Mass.
Father Solanus spent 20 years in New York City doing simple jobs in monasteries.
He was a doorkeeper and people noticed his gifts and came to him for counseling and intercession.
He was transferred to Detroit, Michigan and spent long hours listening to everyone who came to the door.
He is known for his wisdom, compassion, and humility.
He prayed for people to receive miraculous cures and made sure that everybody knew all miracles come from God.
He died at the age of 86, and his funeral was attended by thousands of people who had helped him during his life.
Isn’t it cool that we can let Jesus take care of things and bear our burdens for us?
He promises rest and gives us carefree life.
When we do things that are wrong, it sort of messes up our lives.
God offers to set us free from that and gives us joy instead.
Jesus wants to help us and make our lives better.
He promises to give us rest and peace.
Blessed Solanus Casey is not known for being overly smart, but he is known for always having the time for those who came up to him.
He made a difference just by listening and having compassion and offering good advice without passing judgment.
I think we should be more like Blessed Solanus Casey.
We can listen without speaking and pray for others and not interrupt conversations so that we might receive God’s blessings.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, thank you for carrying our burdens and giving us freedom.
Help us to trust you and cast our care.
And help us to be good listeners and make our compassion for others grow in our hearts so that we can show others to you.
Blessed Solanus Casey, pray for us.
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Thank you so much for listening.
I’ll be back tomorrow scattering more flowers.
See ya!