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 Tuesday, January 20th, and the gospel reading is Mark 2, 23-28, and the scripture to reflect on is Mark 2, 27.
And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Can you do something with me?
Take a deep breath and relax like you’re resting on the Sabbath.
Think about a time when you needed to rest or take a break.
Maybe it was after a busy day at school or playing sports.
God wants us to rest and be kind to ourselves and others.
Jesus explained that the Sabbath was created to help people rest and worship God, not to make their lives harder.
He wanted the Pharisees to understand that showing love and kindness is what God cares about most.
Today’s Saint of the Day, Saint Sebastian.
He was born 263 and died 288.
He’s a patron saint of archers and soldiers.
Legend has it that Sebastian grew up in Mulan.
He entered the army in Rome and eventually became an officer in an imperial army.
A man filled with faith, Sebastian knew that being a Christian was dangerous, but he nevertheless regularly tried to share the faith without fear and won many converts.
When he discovered that Sebastian was a Christian, he appeared before the imperial diocesan sentences to death by arrows.
He miraculously survived with the help of Saint Irene, who nursed him back to health.
Rather than going into hiding after his recovery, however, it is said that Sebastian instead sought out the empire and chastised him for persecuting the Christians.
The emperor, after getting over his shock at seeing the healthy man before him, sentenced Sebastian to be clubbed to death.
For this reason, Sebastian is sometimes referred to as the saint who was martyred twice.
He was buried in the cemetery in the Appen Way, close to where the Basilica San Sebastio Fior di Mora was built in his name.
For centuries after Sebastian’s death, many who sought his intercession against the plague were healed.
The Sabbath day is a special day for us to recharge so we can be calmer, kinder people for the rest of the week.
It is a day to spend extra time focusing on God together.
So prepare ahead of time.
Make sure your room is clean that day before so you don’t have to use God’s special day doing a lot of cleaning.
And make sure you finish your homework because that’s certainly not restful.
And you can spend extra time talking to God in prayer.
Sebastian’s martyrism has captured the imagination of many artists who memorialized the legend of his death.
As a young man pierced through his face with a barrage of arrows, his courage and intensity in the face of persecution, despite all these beautiful works of art, can be a source of inspiration for all Christians who suffer what they believe.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, help us to treat your Sabbath as your holy day.
And help us that we are able to endure any hardship that comes our way.
Saint Sebastian, 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!