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 Wednesday, March 11th, and the Gospel reading is Matthew 5, 17-19, and the scripture to reflect on is Matthew 5, 17.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets.
I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
Jewish leaders of the day were making following God more about outward rules and religions and not about obeying God from the heart.
Jesus makes it clear that living in God’s kingdom is not just about what people do or seem to do on the outside that matters.
God wants our actions and our hearts, because Jesus compares this new way of living to the Old Testament laws.
Some people compare this part of the sermon to God giving the law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The Old Testament looks forward to Jesus through promises.
The New Testament looks at Jesus' life and ministry and shows how he fulfilled the Old Testament and what that means for his people.
Today’s Saint of the Day, Saint Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart.
She was born 1747 and died 1770.
She is the patron saint of unexpected death.
Teresa Margaret joined a convent or a group of women dedicated to loving Jesus and serving others.
When she was only 18, Saint Teresa of Avila created this convent in the 1500s.
Even though it was 200 years later, Teresa Margaret believed that she felt a call from Teresa of Avila herself to join the convent.
As a young Teresa Margaret took on difficult jobs, she worked as a nurse and often did the jobs that no one else wanted to do.
Teresa Margaret used hand gestures to speak to the nuns who couldn’t hear.
She was calm and gentle with the nuns who couldn’t speak and think quickly.
By loving the women who weren’t loved often enough, Teresa Margaret knew God.
Think about a traffic light and how they help drivers take turns.
What if a driver didn’t feel like stopping at a red light?
That would be dangerous.
There would be many car crashes.
Roads don’t belong to just one person.
Everybody has places to go and we would only get there safely when we cooperate with each other.
God’s laws are like that too.
They remind us that the world doesn’t belong to any one of us.
God’s laws help us think of others, not just ourselves.
They help us know how to treat each other.
St.
Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart was always cheerful, even when others made fun of her.
She was always so helpful and helped the nuns that needed it the most.
She dedicated her life to being a nurse.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, help us to follow your laws and to not just think of ourselves, but everyone around us.
And to give me the desire to be with the people that no one else wants to be with.
St.
Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart, 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!