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, June 19th, and for the summer weeks, we are going to do the ABCs of our Catholic faith and saints.
Today is the letter J for JMJ, which means Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and the scripture to reflect on is Luke 2, 39 through 40.
And when they have performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own city Nazareth.
And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.
The Holy Family wasn’t rich or famous, but they were faithful and full of love, just like God wants all families to be.
You know the story of the first Christmas, when the angel came to Mary and told her she would have the Son of God.
His name would be Jesus.
Jesus wasn’t a regular baby.
He was born of the Virgin Mary and was the Son of God, and Joseph was Jesus' earthly father.
So with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph became a family of three that we call the Holy Family.
Joseph and Mary taught Jesus how to be a good Jew.
They went to the temple to pray and to give thanks to God for all the blessings they have given them.
Today’s Saint of the Day is J, St.
Josephine Bikita.
She was born in 1869 and died in 1947.
She is the patron saint of South Sudan.
As a young child, Bikita was kidnapped from the village in Sudan and sold into slavery.
The trauma of the experience wiped out all memory of her family and name, and she was known by her kidnappers' nickname of Bikita, the fortunate one.
After suffering in human treatment at the hands of several captors, Bikita was sold at the Italian Council and eventually moved to Italy with his family.
There, she became the governess for the Micheli family.
Although still a slave, the Micheli family treated her with greater respect, educated her, and introduced her to the Catholic faith, which responded deeply in her heart.
Since the early days of the Church, the Holy Family, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus, have been held up as an inspiration and model for every Christian family.
The Holy Family has long been one of the most popular subjects in religious art.
Not much is written in the Gospel about the Holy Family.
There are stories of Jesus being presented in the temple and the family’s flight to Egypt, and when Jesus was twelve and went missing for three days.
His parents found him in the temple, astounding the teachers.
He went home with his parents and was obedient.
It seems the family of Jesus was rich with love, devotion, and prayer.
Despite her great suffering, Bikita always had a deep sense of awe at the majesty of creation, a wonder that ultimately led her to embrace faith in God and Christian discipleship.
At the age of 21, Bikita was baptized and took the name of Josephine.
Soon after, despite her persecutions of the discerned, a call came to the concerted religious of the Cancionian sisters.
Just six years after her baptism, she professed her vows.
Mother Josephine, as she was called, bore witness to healing love of God for the next 50 years, serving others with sympathy and compassion.
Let’s pray, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Dear Jesus, help me too to be loving to our family like the Holy Family was to each other.
And help me to rely on you, even in the most difficult experiences.
Saint Josephine Bikita, 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!