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 Wednesday, May 6th, and the Gospel reading is John 15, 1-8, and the scripture to reflect on is John 15, 5.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Did you know that Jesus talked about grapes?
People in those days knew a lot about farming and planting, and a lot of them probably had vineyards where they grew grapes.
Jesus said that he was the vine, and that we were the branches.
What might that mean?
He was explaining how important it is for us to stay connected to him.
Just as the vine provides nutrition that helps fruit grow on a plant, Jesus gives us all that we need to grow in our faith.
The branches on a grapevine has to stay connected to the vine, so that they can produce delicious fruit, otherwise they’ll dry up.
Today’s Saint of the Day, Saint Dominic Siveo.
He was born in 1842 and died in 1957.
He is the patron saint of treble teens.
One of ten children born into a hardworking family in Piedmont, northern Italy, Dominic showed great devotion from an early age.
He was allowed to receive his first communion at age seven, through the usual age of 12.
On that day, he made a few resolutions for his life.
One became his life’s motto, death but not sin.
Despite his youth, that single-hearted desire for holiness guided the rest of his life.
When Dominic was 12, his parents allowed him to go to the Oratory of Saint Francis de Scales, a school for boys started by Saint John Bosco.
Dominic got along well with the other boys and became a good influence on them.
Bosco noticed his goodness and guided his spiritual growth, with the help of some friends.
Dominic started a solidarity in honor of Saint Mary Immaculate.
Dominic had poor health in the early 1857, and he became sick with a cough and his condition worsened.
His father came to bring him home where Dominic died peacefully on his 15th birthday.
Spiritual fruit refers to things that help others and show that Jesus lives in and through us.
Those are things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Stay connected to the vine of Jesus, trust in God, and rely on him for all things.
Stay close to him and thank him for giving us life and hope.
After hearing John Bosco preach one day about becoming a saint, Dominic resolved to seek holiness of life more than before.
Bosco advised him to carry out his ordinary duties well.
After that, Dominic decided to do little things in honor of God’s love for him.
His spirituality is similar to the little way of Saint Therese LeCher, a path to holiness that all of us can take.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, help me to stay connected to the vine.
Thank you for always caring and loving me.
And help me to show great love to you and Mary.
And help me that I might learn the value of things that really matter.
Saint Dominic Salveo, 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!