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 Friday, August 29th, and the Gospel reading is Matthew 6, 14 through 29, and the scripture to reflect on is Matthew 6, 20.
For Herod feared God, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and kept him safe.
When he heard him, he was much perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
I’m going to wrap myself out.
I’ve told lies before.
There, I said it.
One time I told a big whopper too.
I had to learn from my mom that exaggerating is a form of a lie.
I once made up a story that my dance teacher wasn’t treating me fairly, and so my mom called the office to fix it, and it turned into a huge deal, and the teacher called my mom, explained how things really went on, and I knew that I was in it with my mom.
Part of my complaining was true, but I definitely made it a bigger deal, and used better sounding words to make me feel like it was worse than it was.
I learned from that experience that I was being silly trying to fit in instead of being who God made me to be.
King Herod agreed to cut off John’s head because he promised that he would give the girl whatever she asked for, and because he wanted to show off in front of the guests at his birthday party.
Sometimes our friends ask us to do things that are wrong, or we want to do things that are wrong just to show off to other people, or we do things to seem cool or to fit in, but we have to remember that doing the right thing is more important.
Today’s Saint of the Day, Saint John the Baptist.
He was born in the first century.
He is the patron saint of builders, tailors, and baptism.
John the Baptist’s unusual life was side by side with Jesus' life and ministry.
His birth was announced by the angel Gabriel to John’s father, Zechariah.
Gabriel declared that Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin, would soon have a son.
Despite their old age, John was born.
Zechariah prophesied about his son.
As an adult, John went to live in the desert, wearing clothes of camel hair and to eat locusts and wild honey.
He warned the people that the Messiah was coming.
Crowds flocked to the desert to be baptized as a sign of their repentance.
Those endless, Jesus wanted to be baptized by John too.
John was imprisoned after criticizing Herod for marrying his half-brother’s wife.
She hated John for speaking the truth and wanted him dead.
Her opportunity came when her bow to do anything for her daughter.
After she danced for him at the request of her mother, she requested John’s head on a platter.
Therefore, John must beheaded.
John the Baptist’s life ended horribly.
John wore the glorious crown of martyrism.
John once said of Christ, he must increase but I must decrease.
On the feast day of Saint John the Baptist’s beheading, we should remember that doing the right thing is more important than looking cool or fitting in or telling lies to look better.
We can be more like Saint John the Baptist by obeying God, having courage to live our lives out the way Jesus wants us to.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, show me the way to live and help me to make the right choices.
Thank you for wisdom and help our thoughts, words, and actions to point others directly to you.
Saint John the Baptist, 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 next week, scattering more flowers.
See ya!