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, January 15th, and the Gospel reading is Mark 1, 40-45, and the scripture to reflect on is Mark 1, 42.
And immediately the leprosy left him and he was made clean.
Grab a piece of paper and write these letters down.
C-O-N-T-A-G-I-O-U-S.
Do you know what this word is?
It’s contagious, a fancy word that we call a sickness that gets spread around.
That’s contagious.
Have you ever had a cold that made you cough a lot?
And when you would cough, would people tell you to cover your mouth with your hands or your arm?
Why do people tell you to do that?
Because it stops the germs from spreading, of course.
Because that’s how more people get the same sickness.
There were many diseases in the ancient world without cures yet.
Leprosy was a disease that caused someone’s skin to break out in large bumps.
It was very contagious.
So anyone with leprosy was sent away from the communities to live in isolation.
Today’s Saint of the Day, St.
Paul the Hermit.
He was born 228 and died 341.
He is the patron saint of hermits and basket weavers.
When Paul was young, Paul escaped from people who wanted him dead.
Why did they want him dead?
Because Paul was a Christian.
Christians were hated so much during Paul’s lifetime that people often brought them before leaders who hated them and had them killed.
Many Christians had to run away, far away to survive.
Paul ran all the way to the desert.
As the story goes, God provided to Paul, giving him enough food and water to survive.
He drank water from a nearby stream and a ravine brought him a loaf of bread every day.
In all his time alone, Paul prayed constantly to God.
Jesus wasn’t afraid of catching the man’s contagious disease.
He touches him and says, be made clean.
There’s something even more powerful and contagious than a scary disease.
God’s love.
It’s healing and comforting.
Jesus wasn’t afraid to share God’s healing love.
Are there some ways that we can show his love to others?
What are ways that you can make others feel loved?
Eventually, St.
Anthony of Egypt found St.
Paul the Hermit and the two instantly became friends.
How can we be friends with someone who is an outcast?
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, help us to be even more contagious with your love than a disease.
And help us to always love you no matter what the consequences.
And to always befriend your people.
St.
Paul the Hermit, 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!