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 Wednesday, September 30th, and the scripture to reflect on is Luke 9:58.
And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
When you’re absent from school, your parents must write an excuse so that the school will know why you were absent.
Sometimes the excuses are pretty hard to believe, and sometimes they can be funny.
My mom and I Googled some crazy notes parents have sent in and had a laugh.
Here are some of them for you to laugh at.
Please excuse Joss from being absent.
I forgot to wake him up and did not find him until I started making the beds.
By then, it was too late for him to get to school.
John didn’t come to school yesterday because he was feeling like he was going to be sick.
Thankfully, he wasn’t.
Please excuse Jeanette’s absence from school.
It was Take Your Daughter to Work Day.
Since I don’t have a job, I made her stay home and do housework.
Making excuses is nothing new.
People even made excuses in Jesus’s day.
Jesus was calling those who would give up everything—family, friends, their job—and follow him.
What he got instead was excuses.
Jesus is still calling today.
Follow me.
Will you follow him or will you make excuses?
Today’s Saint of the Day is Saint Jerome.
He was born 347 and died 420.
He is the patron saint of translators.
Jerome mastered many languages and used this gift to give an amazing gift to the Church.
Jerome studied Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, and because he studied so hard for so long, he was able to translate the Bible, written in Hebrew and Greek, into Latin, a language that was understood throughout the continent of Europe.
Jerome’s work was so important because it helped the priests across many countries, who already know Latin, understand what the Bible said.
Regular people, those without higher education or training from the Church, could read and understand it.
Jerome’s translation of the Bible helped unify the Church.
As the story goes, Saint Jerome removed a thorn from a lion’s paw, and a lion became his pet.
Let’s pray.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Dear Jesus, help us not to make excuses and to follow you wherever you go.
And may we all be one through you and your world.
Saint Jerome, 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.