Hello everyone.
Heyo.
Welcome back to Scattering Flowers with Elise and Miles, a podcast where we read the daily Gospels and the Saint of the Day.
Let’s get started.
Today is Wednesday, August 27th, and the Gospel reading is Matthew 23, 27-32, and the scripture to reflect on is Matthew 23, 27. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanliness. Jesus talks about whitewashed tombs in today’s scripture.
Back in the day, they used to wash tombs on the outside to make them white or light color so that people would not accidentally touch them and become unclean.
It was tradition that if you touched a dead body, you would be unclean.
A whitewashed tomb looks beautiful on the outside, but inside there is death, decay, and probably smelled some. That is why Jesus uses this as an example of the hypocrites who look pretty nice on the outside.
But what is your heart like?
How are you really acting and treating people?
And how do you really live out your life with love? Today’s Saint of the Day is Saint Monica.
She was born in the year 331 and died in the year 387.
She’s the patron saint of wives, mothers, and widows. Saint Monica is one of the first saints to grow up without being persecuted for her faith, but she suffered a spiritual martyrdom.
Her parents gave her in marriage to a man who was not Christian and had a terrible temper.
Patiently, she sought to win over her husband and the faith with her virtues and forgiveness.
He finally became a Christian and devoted husband.
Monica had one happy year with him before he died. Monica’s son, Augustine, also gave her a reason to worry as a teenager.
He rejected his faith.
Monica tried everything to help him.
She found that prayer was her most effective strength.
It made her courageous to go after her son when he traveled from Africa to Europe.
Monica finally caught up with him in Milan, where she and Augustine found a spiritual guide in Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
After sharing the joy of Augustine’s baptism and some intimate moments talking about faith and the joys of heaven, Monica fell ill and died.
Her last request to Augustine was, remember me before God. We can go to Mass and brag about being Christian and even study the Bible for hours and hours.
However, that all means nothing if we are not living out our faith and genuinely loving others. From a young age, Saint Monica used to love praying, going to church, and helping those in need.
She helped her family to believe in God.
She never stopped praying. Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, help us to be true with our actions and live out our love.
And help us to live our lives through patience and understanding.
Saint Monica, pray for us.
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Thank you so much for listening.
We’ll be back tomorrow scattering more flowers.
See ya!