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 Thursday, August 27th, and the Gospel reading is Matthew 24:42 through 51, and the scripture reflection is Matthew 24:42.
Watch, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
Do you know how to tell time using a clock?
If the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 4, what time is it?
It’s 4 o’clock.
Or maybe you use a digital clock, because it’s easier.
A digital clock tells you both the hour and the minutes using numbers, such as 11:15.
No matter what kind of clock we use, most of us look at it many times a day to check to see what time it is.
Suppose your best friend was to pick you up at 2 o’clock to go to a movie.
You would probably check the clock every few minutes to see what time it is before your friend gets there, wondering, Is it 2 o’clock yet?
Jesus told us that he would come again, but he didn’t tell us what time he would be there.
He said, No one knows the day or hour when I will return.
Only the Father knows, and that’s why you must be ready.
I will come at the time when you least expect it.
If we don’t know when he’s coming, how will you be ready?
If we do the things that Jesus would want us to, like doing and loving one another, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, and helping the poor, we will be ready for when he comes.
Today’s Saint of the Day is Saint Monica.
She was born 331 and died 387.
She is the patron saint of wives and wives who suffer abuse, mothers, widows, and alcoholics.
Saint Monica is one of the first saints to grow up without being persecuted in her faith.
Yet she suffered a spiritual martyrism.
Her parents gave her in marriage to a man who was not Christian and had a terrible temper.
Patiently, she sought to win over her husband to the faith with her virtues and forbearance, patience, and forgiveness.
He finally became a Christian and a devoted husband.
Monica had one happy year with him before he died.
Monica’s son Augustine also gave her reason to worry.
As a teenager, he had rejected his faith.
Monica tried everything to help him: tears, arguments, even briefly forbidding him to visit her.
But she found that prayer was her most effective recourse.
Strengthened by her faith, and Courageousness window went after her wayward son as he traveled from Africa to Europe.
Monica finally caught up with him in Milan, where she and Augustine found a spiritual guide in Saint Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
After sharing the joy of Augustine’s baptism and some intimate moments talking about faith and the joys of heaven, Monica fell ill and died.
Her last request to Augustine was, Remember me before God.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, help us to be ready for the time when you come again, and teach us to love with the heart of God.
When we cannot directly help those we love, Saint Monica, 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.