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 Tuesday, June 9th.
In the summer weeks, we are going to do the ABCs of our faith and saints.
Today is the letter B for Baptism, and the scripture to reflect on is Matthew 28, 19.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Being baptized is the first step to becoming a member of God’s big family.
It’s the moment we become a child of God.
It’s like your spiritual birthday.
When you’re baptized, a priest or deacon pours holy water on your head and says, I baptized you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus told us to do.
He wants everyone to be baptized and filled with His love.
We put our faith in Jesus.
Just when we get baptized, we begin a new life with Jesus.
Even Jesus was baptized while on earth.
John the Baptist baptized Jesus.
As Jesus came up out of the water, the sky opened, and the Holy Spirit came descending in the form of a dove.
Then a voice came from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
If Jesus was baptized, then we should be too.
Today’s stage of the day is B, Bernadette.
She was born 1844 and died 1879.
She is the patron saint of sick and poor people.
Bernadette’s parents were very poor.
They lived near Lourdes in France.
One day in 1858, while Bernadette was gathering firewood, a beautiful lady stood in a cave before her.
She was wearing white and blue, and there were roses at her feet.
She smiled at Bernadette and asked her to say the rosary with her.
Bernadette saw the lady 18 times.
Once the lady said, I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in heaven.
Large crowds followed Bernadette to the grotto to say the rosary with her.
They could not see the lady.
The lady asked Bernadette to scrape the earth.
The miraculous spring of Lourdes started to flow.
Many pilgrims have been cured.
Our baptism reminds us of a new life we have in Jesus.
We light a candle and wear white.
The candle shows us that we are now filled with Jesus' light and grace, and the white clothes show us that we are pure and clean because we are forgiven of our sins.
If you were baptized as a baby, you probably don’t remember it.
But I wasn’t baptized as a baby, so I remember it, and it was one of the most important days of my life.
When Bernadette asked the lady her name, the lady looked up to heaven and said, I am the Immaculate Conception.
Her message was, pray for sinners.
She asked that a chapel would be built near the grotto.
Today, this spot is the Great Shrine of Our Blessed Virgin Mary.
Later, Bernadette became a nun.
Her life was one of the joyful suffering.
She died at the age of 36.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, thank you for saving us through baptism.
Help me to live as part of your holy family every day.
And help me to do everything for heaven, my true home.
Saint Bernadette, 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!