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, November 20th, and the gospel reading is Luke 19, 41-44, and the scripture to reflect on is Luke 19, 43.
For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will cast up a bink about you and surround you and hem you in every side.
In my grandma’s old house, my grandma’s house had a pool with a gate around it.
We knew that we weren’t allowed to go in the area unless we had an adult with us.
My cousin was over for a holiday party and he opened the gate and told me to come with him.
I said I’m not allowed to go unless there was an adult with us, but he kept nagging me to come in, so he grabbed me to go in there with him.
And my grandma found us and made him get out of the gated area.
I went and got my mom to tell her and he wanted me to go inside the gated area because I knew it was wrong and I didn’t want to get hurt or in trouble.
Then my cousin was mad at me for the whole rest of the party.
Today’s saint of the day, Saint Clement I, whose birth is unknown, but he died in 97.
He is a patron saint of stone cutters, marble workers, and mariners.
Clement I had great importance as a saint of the early church.
He shepherded the early Christians during difficult times when they were suffering terrible persecution.
Clement is acknowledged as an apostolic father.
This is one of the early church writers thought to have his personal contact with the apostles.
Clement wrote what was known as his first epistle to the Corinthians around AD 96.
The church of Corinth, which has been founded by Saint Paul, was still troubled by divisions and conflicts.
In his letter, Clement exhorted them to heal their divisions and to recall their unity in Christ in order to give more profound Christian witnesses to the world.
At one point he writes, let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ and see how precious in the sight of God is his blood, which having been poured out for our salvation, brought the grace of repentance to the whole world.
Clement suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Emperor Trajan.
Because of the tradition that Clement was martyred by drowning, he is sometimes shown with an anchor and is considered the patron of mariners.
We can’t blame other people for our choices and actions.
God expects us to choose what is right no matter what.
But God doesn’t leave us alone.
He’s given us gifts like our conscience and the commandments to help us.
At our baptism, he gives us gifts like courage and wisdom.
Stay close to God and he’ll help you choose what’s right.
In his willingness to lay down his life for others as Jesus the Good Shepherd did, Clement shows us the true meaning of leadership in the church.
In whatever ways we might exercise authority over others, we can follow Clement’s example of faithful love and sacrifice.
His call to the Corinthians to live in harmony and love needs to be heard today, especially where divisions and conflicts threaten to divide us.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, give me courage to do the right thing today, no matter what.
And help me to inspire all the faithful and to witness to your faith to fight difficulties.
St.
Clement I, 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!