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 Tuesday, September 29th, and the scripture to reflect on is John 1:51.
And he said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
When I was little, I loved to play with my dolls.
I made up all sorts of elaborate and complicated stories for them.
They had characters, and there was a point to all of their little things that I had them do.
Even though they are just toys, I cared about them, and I knew who they were and what I pretended their backstory was.
In a very small way, this is how God knows us and his plans for us.
Each of us has a story that God writes for us, and he is directing everything that happens to us.
It might sometimes feel that we don’t really matter as much as the big stories and things, but we all have special and unique stories, and he knows about them.
We have a purpose.
This is why it’s important to pray and remember that he is with us, and we should act according to his love and laws.
It’s also great to recognize that God loves and cares for each and every one of us.
He loves us so much more than we love our toys because he created us.
He knows our names and our stories, but he also knows our future, our favorite things, and even how many hairs we have on our heads.
We are his most precious creation, and he has a special purpose for us.
Today’s saint of the day is Saint Oswald.
His birth is unknown, but he died in the year 992.
He is the patron saint of soldiers.
The people living in England wondered, why do monasteries matter?
A monastery is a building that is used as a church and a school.
Monks, who are men who dedicate their lives to the monastery, don’t have families or other jobs.
They pray, they learn, and they live in the monastery.
During Oswald’s life, some people thought monasteries were useless, but Oswald did not think so.
Christians needed to pray all the time.
They needed to pray alone, together, and monasteries offered space for people to pray together.
So monasteries mattered.
Oswald made sure that the monasteries in England weren’t closed.
The monasteries stayed.
Oswald even built a new one.
Saint Oswald died as he lived, serving.
He died while he was washing the feet of the poor.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Dear God, thank you for creating us and loving us so much.
We love you.
And thank you for the people gathered in places like monasteries and churches.
And thank you for the people who are praying for the whole world.
Saint Oswald, 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.