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 Monday, March 2nd, and the Gospel reading is Luke 6, 36-38, and the scripture to reflect on is Luke 6, 36.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret.
My mom hates tit-for-tat.
She says it’s like nails on a chalkboard.
Tit-for-tat means you are returning the insult or injury back to the person, kind of like getting revenge.
If me or my brother tit-for-tat each other when we get in an argument, my mom usually sends us into extra long timeouts.
Oof, not cool.
When someone hurts us, sometimes the first thing we want to do is hurt them back.
It’s a natural feeling, but Jesus asks more of us.
He asks us to turn the other cheek.
How do we do that?
Well, we can stop, take a deep breath, and let out a nice and slowly as we pray to Jesus.
We can ask him to help us forgive those who have hurt us and treat them with kindness.
Today’s Saint of the Day, Saint Agnes of Bohemia.
She was born 1205 and died 1282.
She is the patron saint of Czech Republic.
Agnes was born into a royal family that included two saints, Saint Hedwig of Silesia, her aunt, and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, her cousin.
Agnes' parents, King Octobar I and Queen Constance of Bohemia, tried to arrange a marriage for her.
But Agnes wanted to dedicate herself totally to God.
She managed to refuse her suitors, including Emperor Frederick II, by writing to Pope Gregory IX to receive permission to dedicate herself solely to Christ.
Two Franciscan friars who had come to Prague told Agnes about Saint Claire and the poor ladies.
Their way of life appealed to the young princess who wrote to Claire and invited her to send some nuns.
Agnes built a convent and a hospital for them.
Then she shocked the high society she lived among when, in 1236, she entered Claire’s new order.
She fully embraced her new life of extreme poverty and dedication to the poor.
Claire wrote to Agnes, Although you, even more than others, could have enjoyed the splendors, honor, and esteem to the world, you despised all these things and with your whole heart and soul aspired to a life of most holy poverty and boldly self-denial to choose a nobler spouse, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Saint John Paul II canonized Agnes in 1989.
Sometimes forgetting is really hard and not easy to follow through, but the strangest thing happens when you are merciful.
Anger turns to peace and joy.
Give it a try! Saint Agnes had all that the world could offer, but she freely walked away from it for the love of Jesus Christ.
We too can have access to the greater goods of the Spirit if we want them.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, help me to be merciful like you.
And when I get angry, help me to have peace.
Help us set our hearts on the greater gifts, the gifts of the Spirit.
Saint Agnes of Bohemia, 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!