The BreadCast

(Amos 5:14-15,21-24;   Ps.50:7-13,16-17,23;   Mt.8:28-34)  “Hear, my people, and I will speak; Israel, I will testify against you.” The chastising continues in our readings today.  Against the people’s vain sacrifices and “noisy songs,” both Amos and our psalmist speak in the Lord’s name.  In need of healing as the two men “possessed by demons” do we find ourselves in the sight of God. “Why do you...

(Amos 3:1-8,4:11-12;   Ps.5:4-9;   Mt.8:23-27) “The lion roars – who will not be afraid! The Lord God speaks – who will not prophesy!” Yes, the Lord prophesies against Israel today like a lion rending and roaring: “You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your crimes.”  He brings upon His chosen “such upheaval as when God overthrew Sodo...

(Lam.2:2,10-14,18-19;   Ps.74:1-7,19-21;   Mt.8:5-17)  “It was our infirmities He bore, our sufferings He endured.” And oh how deep are those sufferings; “great as the sea is [our] downfall.”  And graphically are they seen in the destruction of Jerusalem; sharply they pierce the flesh of the Son. Yes, the Lord “has torn down in His anger the fortresses of daughter Judah…  On the ground in silence...

(2Kgs.25:1-12;   Ps.137:1-6;   Mt.8:1-4)  “Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, led into exile the last of the people remaining in the city.” And so the exile is complete.  Not a soul remains in the holy city.  And their captors “burned the house of the Lord, the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem.”  Not a stone is left standing one upon another.  Not even the government appoin...

(2Kgs.24:8-17;   Ps.79:1-5,8,9;   Mt.7:21-29)  “The rains fell, the torrents came, the winds blew and lashed against his house. It collapsed under all this and was completely ruined.” Yes, “the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem, and the city came under siege,” and “Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother, his ministers, officers, and functionaries, surren...

(2Kgs.19:9-11,14-21,31-36;   Ps.48:2-4,9-11;   Mt.7:6,12-14) “I will shield and save this city for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.” Brothers and sisters, “renowned is He as a stronghold,” the Lord our God.  And faithfully does He watch over His chosen one. Our psalmist proclaims, “Great is the Lord and wholly to be praised in the city of our God.”  He extols the glory of Mount Z...

(2Kgs.17:5-8,13-15,18;   Ps.60:3-5,7,12-13;   Mt.7:1-5) “In His great anger against Israel, the Lord put them away out of His sight.” Jesus instructs His disciples today, “If you want to avoid judgment, stop passing judgment.”  In other words, “Judge not and you shall not be judged.”  Here is the prerequisite not only for avoiding judgment and condemnation at the hand of God, but also for assistin...

(2Chr.24:17-25;   Ps.89:4-5,29-34;   Mt.6:24-34) “Because you have abandoned the Lord, He has abandoned you.” How quickly Joash the king of Judah, who so recently had restored true worship in the temple at Jerusalem, “transgress[es] the Lord’s commands.”  After Jehoiada the priest died, the people “forsook the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and began to serve the sacred poles and th...

(2Kgs.11:1-4,9-18,20;   Ps.132:11-14,17-18;   Mt.6:19-23) “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your body will be filled with light; if your eye is bad, your body will be in darkness.” And “how deep the darkness” is upon Athaliah.  For her eye is evil, her “light is darkness,” as so desperately she seeks to “lay up for [herself] an earthly treasure” by unjust and murderous means. ...

(Sir.48:1-14;   Ps.97:1-7,12;   Mt.6:7-15) “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Our psalm sings of the greatness of our God; in our first reading we hear of how this greatness was revealed in the prophets Elijah and Elisha; and in the Lord’s Prayer we call for this greatness to be present in our midst. “Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes round about,” our psa...

(2Kgs.2:1,6-14;   Ps.31:20-21,24-25;   Mt.6:1-6,16-18) “As they walked on conversing, a flaming chariot and flaming horses came between them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” Jesus instructs us in our gospel, “Whenever you pray, go to your room, close your door, and pray to your Father in private.”  This prescription the holy prophet Elijah fulfills in our first reading when he miracu...

(1Kgs.21:17-29;   Ps.51:3-6,11,16;   Mt.5:43-48)  “Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.” We have hope, brothers and sisters; we have hope that the very depths of our sin and depravity against the Lord shall be forgiven, and we shall be made new, washed in His blood.  For the Lord “sends His rain on the just and the unjust,” and this He proves today in our readings. The Lord f...

(1Kgs.21:1-16;   Ps.5:2-3,5-7;   Mt.5:38-42)  “I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.” How divergent are the paths of Jezebel and Jesus.  This Queen of Israel, wife of Ahab, holds the philosophy that if someone won’t give you what you ask for, take it by force; whereas the Lord says if someone wishes to take something from you, give it and more. Here are the way of the world...

(1Kgs.19:19-21;   Ps.16:1-2,5,7-10;   Mt.5:33-37)  “I will follow you.” Elisha gives His yes to Elijah, and so to God.  He “kiss[es] [his] father and mother good-bye” and weds himself to the prophet who has thrown “his cloak over him.”  And he shall not turn back, shall not fall short of giving his entire self to the service of God, and so shall be greatly blessed.  All he leaves behind.  His very...

(1Kgs.18:41-46;   Ps.65:2,10-13;   Mt.5:20-26)  “You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it.”  “There is the sound of a heavy rain.”  The Lord is speaking.  The Lord is teaching.  Jesus is revealing the strait path of holiness that leads to the Father, and His words and His Person come like a fruitful rain upon a drought-stricken land. O Lord, “thus have you prepared th...

(1Kgs.18:20-39;   Ps.16:1-2,4-5,8,11;   Mt.5:17-19)  “If the Lord is God, follow Him; if Baal, follow him.” Today “the only surviving prophet of the Lord” comes to reveal to the people that “the Lord is God!”  Elijah seeks to open the Israelites’ eyes to the presence of God, to bring them “back to their senses.”  And how evident it becomes that “they multiply their sorrows who court other gods,” a...

(1Kgs.17:7-16;   Ps.4:2-5,7-8;   Mt.5:13-16)  “The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” Again today we see in our readings that the Lord provides for His children’s needs, that indeed He is with us until the end of the age – yes, “the Lord does wonders for His faithful one.” As “the brook where Elijah was hiding ran dr...

(1Kgs.17:1-6;   Ps.121:1-8;   Mt.5:1-12) “My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” It is He whom we seek when we “lift up [our] eyes toward the mountains.”  And what do we find but that “the Lord is [our] guardian; the Lord is [our] shade; He is beside [us] at [our] right hand.” Does the Lord not watch over those who trust in Him?  Take Elijah for your example.  He is led into exile u...

(2Tm.4:1-8;   Ps.71:8-9,14-17,22;   Mk.12:38-44) “Put up with hardship, perform your work as an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” In final words to his blessed disciple, Paul exhorts Timothy with all the strength he is able to muster “to preach the word, to stay with this task whether convenient or inconvenient – correcting, reproving, appealing – constantly teaching and never losing patience.” ...

(2Tm.3:10-17;   Ps.119:157,160-161,165-166,168;   Mk.12:35-37) “Princes persecute me without cause but my heart stands in awe of your word.” The Word of God and persecution are our topics for today.  On the one hand, Paul tells Timothy, “All Scripture is inspired of God and is useful for teaching,” and Jesus uses a passage of Scripture (Psalm 110) to refute His persecutors and verify that the Son...

(2Tm.2:8-15;   Ps.25:4-5,8-10,14;   Mk.12:28-34) “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior.” Brothers and sisters, “Remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, was raised from the dead.”  He is our Lord.  He is our God.  He is our Savior who speaks only truth.  Listen to Him and walk in His way, “following a straight course in preaching the truth.” After Jesus proclaim...

(2Tm.1:1-3,6-12;   Ps.123:1-2;   Mk.12:18-27) “He has robbed death of its power and has brought life and immortality into clear light through the Gospel.” It is this Gospel which Paul exhorts his “dear child” Timothy to serve, to preach and to teach “with the strength which comes from God, bear[ing] [his] share of the hardship which the Gospel entails.”  Paul has suffered for the sake of the Gospe...

(2Pt.3:12-15,17-18;   Ps.90:2-4,10,14,16;   Mk.12:13-17) “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s but give to God what is God’s.” “Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent after Jesus to catch Him in His speech.”  These “two groups” seem to come one from God and the other from Caesar.  But their devious plotting shows the only party present of God is Jesus Himself. And to whom do we belong?  Peter makes it...

(2Pt.1:2-7;   Ps.91:1-2,14-16;   Mk.12:1-12)  “I will deliver him and glorify him; with length of life I will gratify him and will show him my salvation.” So the Lord speaks of us through prophecy of His only Son.  So the Lord seeks to accomplish in everyone who “acknowledges [His] name.”  So indeed He has sent “the Son whom He loved” for our salvation.  So He prays with Peter, the Rock of His Chu...

(Jd.17,20-25;   Ps.63:2-6;   Mk.11:27-33)  “Welcome the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ which leads to eternal life.” “As [Jesus] was walking in the temple precincts the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached Him.”  They come to Him who is the true Temple here in the place where He teaches, but they do not come “praying in the Holy Spirit” or “persever[ing] in God’s love.”  Their que...