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 Friday, April 10th, and the Gospel reading is John 21, 1-14, and the Scripture to reflect on is John 21, 6.
So he said to them, Cast the net over the right side of the boat, and you will find something.
The disciples had been fishing all night, without success.
They were about ready to give up.
Jesus came along the shore and asked them to try one more time.
He told them exactly where to place their nets.
The disciples didn’t know it was the risen Lord yet, but when they followed his directions, they caught so many fish that they could hardly lift their nets.
That’s when they began to realize, this is Jesus! Today’s Saint of the Day is Saint Gemma Galgani.
She was born 1878 and died 1903.
She is the patron saint of pharmacists.
Gemma Galgani was born in a small town in Tuscany, Italy.
The fourth of eight children, she lost both parents before the age of 20, left in poverty with her siblings.
Gemma was sustained by her strong love of Jesus and her vibrant prayer life.
Gemma struggled with ill health all her life, but it gradually grew worse.
A serious illness in her spine led to hearing loss and paralysis.
On the verge of death, she received a miraculously cure and attributed it to the intercession of the young Passionist Saint Gabriel Posenti.
Gemma originally decided to become a Passionist young, but even after her cure, her persisting weak health prevented her from entering.
Bitterly disappointed, Gemma resolved to live a quiet life in simple humility.
She joined the Passionist Third Order and devoted herself in a special way to Jesus' crucified.
Gemma experienced mystical visions.
In 1899, she received stigmata.
A few years later, her spinal disease reoccurred and she died at the age of 25.
Sometimes we feel the same way, ready to give up, but Jesus has something to say to us too.
When we listen and follow him, he gives us all that we need.
St.
Gemma suffered many disappointments during her life, from the death of close loved ones to terminal illness.
She faced obstacles at every turn.
She was even denied entrance to the religious order to which she profoundly longed to belong.
Yet she died with no regrets, handing herself to Jesus and giving herself totally over to him.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear Jesus, continue to lead me.
I promise I’ll listen to everything you say.
And tell me to love you more and more, even though we have disappointments each day.
St.
Gemma, thou ganny, 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 next week, scattering more flowers.
See ya!