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Hey there, Sprouts. Today is Thursday, March 4th, 2021. It is also the feast day of the Polish Saint-Saint-Casimir.

Now, all week, we have been reminding ourselves of why we are doing all of these crazy things for Lent,

why we are fasting, praying more, and giving alms.

And the reason why we do these things, so that we can become more like Christ.

That when Christ rises up from the dead once again this Easter, that we will rise with him out of sin and into a life that is connected to his. Now, we've already learned about fasting through the example of

St. David of Wales, prayer through the example of St. Agnes, Bohemia. Yesterday, through St. Catherine Drexel's example,

we reminded ourselves of the powerful calling to give alms. And today, through St. Casimir's example,

we will see that sometimes when we make these commitments to pray, give alms, and fasts, we need to stubbornly defend those commitments.

Now, St. Casimir lived in the 1400s, and she actually was the son of the Polish king.

So this is our second saint this week, who was the son of royalty. St. Agnes,

the Bohemia, was the daughter of the Bohemian king, and Casimir is the son of the Polish king.

Now, at the time, the kings of Poland, they didn't just rule, but they also led the army. So as a son of the king,

he was expected to be a warrior,

to be out there fighting various nations. Nations at the time were always sort of in battle with

each other over land disputes and other reasons. But St. Casimir from a very young age was

incredibly stubborn. He had discerned that he had no desire to go and fight.

He desired peace. He desired to be like Christ and he desired to care for the poor.

So even though his father threatened him, even though his father

sometimes forced him to take the army and head off into war, he refused to fight. Instead, he

became a voice for peace with the other nations. Now, St. Casimir, although he was the son of the king, and he could have dressed an incredibly fine clothing and sat down to a feast every single night, he also had discerned that he was called to a simple life of fasting and almsgiving.

He desired above all else to be like Christ, and he knew that denying himself

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