Hello everyone! Hey yo! 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, August 19th, and the Gospel reading is Matthew 21 through 16, and the scripture to reflect on is Matthew 20:16.
So the last will be first and the first last.
Let’s say I’ll be out of town, and I need someone to care for my little puppy.
I’ll be gone for 24 hours, and I’ll pay someone to care for little Fluffy.
Before you decide if you want the job, list all the things you need to do to care for the puppy during the day and night.
I need someone to let Fluffy out, give him food and water, and maybe walk him.
I’ll pay $100 for Fluffy’s care, but I want to hire a team of two people, one to handle the day and the other to handle the night.
I’ll pay your team $100.
What’s a fair way for you to split the money?
Splitting the money right down the middle with $50 each isn’t fair because the day person is going to do all the work.
How would you split it?
Jesus told a story about a vineyard and its workers.
God is fair and loving, and it’s a good thing for us that he’s loving, because if he gave us what we deserve, we’d all be in trouble, because we’re all sinners.
But God always loves us.
Today’s saint of the day is Saint John Eudes.
He was born 1601 and died 1680.
He is the patron saint of missionaries.
Saint John was a French priest and a missionary, famous for promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary.
Born in Normandy, France, he became a priest and cared for plague victims and was founded religious orders and wrote the first liturgical Masses of the Sacred Hearts.
At age 32, John became a parish missionary.
His gifts as a preacher and confessor won him great popularity.
He preached over 100 parish missionaries, some lasting from several weeks to even several months.
Saint John Eudes found a new community, ultimately called the Eudists, a congregation of Jesus and Mary.
He is probably best known for Theus writings, starting Jesus as the source of holiness, Mary as the model of Christian life.
His devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart led Pope Pius XI to declare him the father of the liturgical devotion of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, thank you for always loving us, even if we sin.
And help us to, and help us to have a devotion to the Sacred Hearts of Mary and Jesus.
Saint John Eudes, 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.