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 Tuesday, September 23rd, and the Gospel reading is Luke 8, 19-21, and the Scripture to reflect on is Luke 8, 21.
But he said to them, My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it.
Who are the people in your family?
I have my dad, my mom, my brother, and our puppy, if that counts.
What are some things you like to do together?
For example, we like to go hiking, we like reading books aloud together, and we especially love cooking and having dinner together.
Today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is teaching a large group of people.
His mother and others come to see him, but they were so many people that he could not get close to him.
Someone told Jesus that his family was outside and wanted to see him.
At that moment, Jesus used his time to teach an important lesson to everyone listening.
He said that his true family are the people who listen to God’s word and obey it.
We often think of family as people we live with, but Jesus was teaching that people who follow God’s words are like family too.
Today’s Saint of the Day is Saint Padre Pio.
He was born May 25, 1887, and died on September 23, 1968.
He’s a patron saint of teens, relief of stress, and civil defenses volunteers.
Saint Padre Pio was named Francisco Forgione at birth.
His family were poor farmers, and he stayed home to help instead of going to school.
Padre Pio had very poor health and had many mystical gifts.
He received a stigmata in 1918.
People were jealous of his humility that the Vatican didn’t allow him to celebrate mass in public or hear confessions.
In the end, he was permitted to say mass and hear confessions again.
Padre Pio often prayed with hope and encouraged others not to live with worry.
Padre Pio died praying the rosary, his favorite prayer he offered constantly.
This passage teaches us that we become a part of God’s family when we listen to him and do what he tells us in the Bible.
God’s family is not only about parents and brothers and sisters.
It’s about people who love and follow him.
God’s family is made up of people who listen to him and follow his words.
Jesus teaches that obeying God is more important than only being family by blood.
When we trust in God and follow his word, we become part of his forever family.
The church is like a big family of people who love and obey God.
Padre Pio believed in choosing faith over worry, even though his life wasn’t easy, and he couldn’t have worked about anything.
He had pains in his stomach and tumors in his ears.
Some part of the body could have caused him to worry, but he always trusted in God.
He was a man close to Jesus, but a very humble man.
We too could be humble and acknowledge that we have and all we are because of God.
Let’s pray in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, thank you for loving us and letting us be a part of your family.
Help us to listen to your word and follow you every day.
And help me not to worry and to trust you with everything.
Saint Padre Pio, 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!