The BreadCast

(Sir.51:12-20;   Ps.19:8-11;   Mk.11:27-33)   “When I was young and innocent, I sought wisdom. She came to me in her beauty, and until the end I will cultivate her.”   Oh how Sirach speaks of his love, of the wisdom that is the light of his life!  He is “resolutely devoted to her” and does “never weary of extolling her.”  To his teacher he gives “grateful praise,” for he treasures her sweetness ab...

(Sir.44:1,9-13;   Ps.149:1-6,9;   Mk.11:11-26)   “They are as though they had not lived, they and their children after them.”   This line from Sirach could refer well to the Jewish nation symbolized by the fig tree “withered to its roots.”  For “never again shall anyone eat of [its] fruits”; its temple now destroyed shall never be rebuilt.  And yet Sirach speaks not of those who have perished in s...

(Sir.42:15-25;   Ps.33:2-9;   Mk.10:46-52)   “As the rising sun is clear to all, so the glory of the Lord fills all His works.”   “How beautiful are all His works! even to the spark and the fleeting vision!”  “Can one ever see enough of their splendor?”  Yet how blind is man to their glory!  How much we need to receive the Lord’s vision. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made; by the breat...

(Heb.11:1-7;   Ps.145:2-5,10-11;   Mk.9:2-13)   “Rabbi, how good it is for us to be here.”   In yesterday’s gospel Jesus promised, “Among those standing here there are some who will not taste death until they see the reign of God established in power.”  And today we witness the keeping of that promise, as upon “a high mountain” Jesus is transfigured before the eyes of Peter, James, and John.  In a...

(Heb.9:2-3,11-14;   Ps.47:2-3,6-9;   Mk.3:20-21)   “Behind the second veil was the tabernacle call the holy of holies.”   To this holy of holies in the temple of Jerusalem only the high priest could come, and only once a year.  So holy was it deemed.  This tabernacle contained the ark of the Lord with the two tablets upon which the commandments of God were written, and some manna from the Israelit...

(1Jn.5:14-21;   Ps.149:1-6,9;   Jn.2:1-12) “He hears us whenever we ask for anything according to His will.”  In our gospel, the waiters come to Mary; their misfortune is witnessed by her compassionate heart: “They have no more wine,” she tells her Son.  She knows what she is saying, she knows what she is asking… and Jesus knows, too.  And though He seems not prepared to answer her concern (you se...

(Is.56:1-3,6-8;   Ps.67:2-3,5,7-8;   Jn.5:33-36)      “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”   The Truth has come, and all nations are drawn to Him. None is excluded in the House of God; His holy Temple is a place where all take refuge, where all find fulfillment, where all find joy.  He only asks that we heed His testimony, that we see the works which He performs and act in...

(Is.54:1-10;   Ps.30:2,4-6,11-13;   Lk.7:24-30)   “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great tenderness I will take you back.”   We are “the barren one who did not bear,” the “wife married in youth and then cast off” by our God.  Once “forsaken and grieved in spirit,” blushing for the “shame of [our] youth,” now the Lord takes us home and promises us His love.  “My love shall never leave...

(Is.45:6-8,18,21-25;   Ps.85:9-14,Is.45:8;   Lk.7:18-23)   “There is no just and saving God but me.”   Jesus is “He who is to come”; His deeds speak for themselves.  “There is no other!” “Justice shall walk before Him, and salvation, along the way of His steps.”  How evident this is in Jesus’ life, for wherever He goes He teaches wisdom; whomever He touches He heals.  God created the world “not to...

(Rv.22:1-7;   Ps.95:1-7,Rv.21:20;   Lk.21:34-36)   “Remember, I am coming soon!”   And when He comes what blessings there shall be for those who have been faithful to Him.  They shall eat of “the trees of life which produce fruit twelve times a year,” which grow either side of “the river of life-giving water, clear as crystal” flowing from “the throne of God and of the Lamb.”  Healed entirely shal...

(Phil.4:10-19;   Ps.112:1-2,5-6,8-9;   Lk.16:9-15)   “Well for the man who is gracious and lends.”   “Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever; his horn shall be exalted in glory.”  Such is the man who knows the proper use of this world’s goods, that is, to give them all as “a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.”  This shows that he “fears the L...

(Phil.1:18-26;   Ps.42:2-3,5;   Lk.14:1,7-11)   “When you are invited by someone to a wedding party, do not sit in the place of honor in case some greater dignitary has been invited.”   At the feast of the marriage of Christ to mankind, we are the lesser party, and must act humbly before our God. Jesus comes among us as a guest to eat a meal in our house; He humbles Himself to sit at our table.  A...

(Eph.1:11-14;   Ps.33:1-2,4-5,12-13;   Lk.12:1-7)   “What you have whispered in locked rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.”   What we have whispered and what has been whispered to us, the teaching of the Lord, the truth of the Spirit, is destined to grow unto praise of God – to be proclaimed to the ends of the earth.  What begins here in a small way in Jesus the Messiah, shall proceed in...

(1Cor.15:35-37,42-49;   Ps.56:10-14;   Lk.8:4-15)   “Just as we resemble the man from earth, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.”   It is not difficult to recognize our earthly bodies.  They are with us always, and make themselves known in the “weakness” that befalls us.  Adam’s sin is upon us his children and reminds us always that we are human, of the earth. But as we know this...

(1Cor.10:14-22;   Ps.116:12-13,17-18;   Lk.6:43-49)  “Is not the cup of blessing we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread we break a sharing in the body of Christ?” The Body and Blood of Christ we have upon our altar and in the Word of His teaching.  It is these which set a firm foundation within ourselves, these by which we bear fruit in His Name – these by which we come to...

(Ez.43:1-7;   Ps.85:9-14;   Mt.23:1-12)  “The temple was filled with the glory of the Lord.” Certainly the vision of Ezekiel is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus and His founding the Church, the New Jerusalem, here amongst us.  In this Temple He has “set the soles of [His] feet”; here He “dwell[s] among the Israelites forever.”  For though the temple in Jerusalem shall be restored, it shall again b...

(Ez.12:1-12;   Ps.78:7,56-59,61-62;   Mt.18:21-19:1) “As captives they shall go into exile.” “The prince who is among them shall shoulder his burden and set out in darkness, going through a hole he has dug in the wall, and covering his face lest he be seen by anyone.”  O the woe of the “rebellious house”!  How their sins eat away at their souls like hands digging holes in a wall; how they must hid...

(Jas.2:14-24,26;   Ps.112:1-6;   Mk.8:34-9:1)  “Faith without works is as dead as a body without breath.” How dead indeed is a body without breath; how short a time we can go without breathing before dying.  And so how much is our faith dependent on works to remain alive. Brothers and sisters, we are human, we have bodies – of the earth, of flesh and bone, we are.  We are not angels.  And having b...

(Jas.2:1-9;   Ps.34:2-7;   Mk.8:27-33)  “You are not judging by God’s standards but by man’s!” This is a most important statement Jesus makes; it really cuts to the heart of His teaching, and to His sacrifice for our sins. He has just finished asking His apostles, “Who do you say that I am?” and for perhaps the first time heard their belief that He is the Messiah.  This is a critical moment.  But...

(Jas.1:19-27;   Ps.15:1-5;   Mk.8:22-26)  “Jesus laid hands on his eyes, and he saw perfectly.” What is it to see perfectly but to be as “the man who peers into freedom’s ideal law and abides by it”?  For to see perfectly is to see as God sees, not looking upon the surface of things – that which is reflected in a mirror – but to see the light of God reflected off the souls of His children.  And no...

(Sir.36:1,5-6,10-17;   Ps.79:8-9,11,13;   Mk.10:32-35)   “Take pity on your holy city, Jerusalem, your dwelling place.”   The prayer of the wise man is good, but I see that the same answer the Lord gave James and John when they asked to sit “one at [His] right hand and the other at [His] left” in His glory, could be given to Sirach: “You do not know what you are asking.”  For neither knows the imp...

(Phil.1:1-11;   Ps.111:1-6;   Lk.14:1-6)   “My prayer is that your love may more and more abound.”   Paul’s prayer is addressed to the Philippians, who “have all continually helped promote the Gospel from the very first day” he came into their midst preaching.  He overflows with love for them himself and finds them present “to a man” sharing in his “gracious lot,” even as he “lie[s] in prison” far...

(Hb.1:12-2:4;   Ps.9:8-13;   Mt.17:14-20)  “They trust in you who cherish your name, for you forsake not those who seek you, O Lord.” “Why could we not expel it?” the disciples asked Jesus regarding the boy so severely possessed by a demon.  “‘Because you have so little trust,’ He told them.” Brothers and sisters, is it the Lord who “delays”?  Is it He who fails to cast wickedness and misery from...

(Jer.30:1-2,12-15,18-22;   Ps.102:16-23,29;   Mt.15:1-2,10-14) “Every planting not put down by my heavenly Father will be uprooted.” Is it not these Pharisees of whom Jeremiah speaks when he prophesies, “Incurable is your wound, grievous your bruise”?  Truly there is “no remedy for [their] running sore, no healing for [them].”  Blind shall they ever be, for they do but harden their hearts when the...

(Ex.14:21-15:1;   Ex.15:1,8-10,12,17;   Mt.12:46-50)   “Thus the Lord saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians.”   The Lord fought for the Israelites, His people.  Working great wonders, He brought them forth from the land of Egypt.  Indeed, “the Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.”  So great was His...