The BreadCast

(Nm.20:1-13; Ps.95:1-2,6-9; Mt.16:13-23) "'You are the Messiah,' Simon Peter answered, 'the Son of the Living God!'" With this response, because of this faith come from the "heavenly Father," Jesus declares to Peter, "You are 'Rock', and on this rock I will build my Church." He entrusts to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, with power to bind and loose. As from the rock Moses struck, "water gu...

(Dn.7:9-10,13-14; Ps.97:1-2,5-6,9; 2Pt.1:16-19; Mt.17:1-9 – Mk.9:2-10 – Lk.9:28b-36 Note: since the three gospel accounts vary only in detail, they are treated as one in this one exposition for the day) "I saw one like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven." Daniel's vision, as John's vision in the Book of Revelation, is perceived in the flesh by the three apostles on MountTabor, and is know...

(Nm.12:1-13; Ps.51:3-7,12-13; Mt.14:22-36) "The presence of the Lord he beholds." Throughout the history of salvation, the Lord chooses one man to lead His people. In the Old Testament times, this was Moses; in the New Testament times, it is Peter. Though it is always the Lord Himself who guides and teaches, He ever puts His Spirit upon one particular man to act in His stead. Those who do not foll...

O priest exemplar, O preacher and confessor extraordinaire, healer of souls who by prayer and penance was made holy unto God and brought others to that same holiness before the Lord and Maker of all poor souls – pray indeed this day that our hearts will be set on Heaven, that our longing will be for the Lord, and so that by prayer we shall come to union with Him. Pray all your fellow priests will...

(Nm.11:4-15; Ps.81:2,12-17; Mt.14:13-21) "Israel I would feed with the best of wheat." But the best of wheat they despise, and seek to satiate their appetite with meat. The blessed food from heaven, come from the hand of God, the Israelites soon grow tired of as they travel through the desert. Their stomachs cry out for earthly flesh. As our psalm tells us, the people "heard not" the voice of God...

(Ec.1:2,2:21-23; Ps.90:3-6,12-14,17,95:7-8; Col.3:1-5,9-11; Lk.12:13-21) "If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." Yes, "all things are vanity!" without God. All is empty, for "like the changing grass" our life "wilts and fades"; we are turned "back to dust," and so what becomes of the earthly desires we pursue? Where do "immorality, imp...

O priest of the Blessed Sacrament, you gave your life in sacrifice at the altar of the Lord and in all the trials of this earth; you suffered all for Jesus and desired only to bring souls, all the children of God, to receive Him and His grace in the Sacrament of Communion, in oneness with our Lord – pray, O priest of Christ, that our very lives shall also be offered in sacrifice, especially in the...

O vigorous defender of the divinity of Christ, you who suffered exile for your work for the faith, you who had a true shepherd's heart and cared so deeply for the priests and people the Lord placed in your hands – pray the shepherds of the Church today will strive with your same selfless zeal to bring the love of the Son of God and the blessed demands of His call to every soul in their care, that...

(Lv.25:1,8-17; Ps.67:2-5,7-8; Mt.14:1-12) "It is really the number of crops he sells you." The earth is the Lord's; it is not our own. And it is only by His grace that we share the fruits of the land. "The earth has yielded its fruits; God, our God, has blessed us," our psalm declares. These fruits may be bought and sold, but the land is God's own. "In this year of jubilee, then, every one of you...

O patron of moral theologians and servant of the poor, how blessed was your loving wisdom, your understanding of God and His love for us, made perfectly known in His only Son whom you loved so much with His Mother and the Church, and whom you call us all to love through your blessed words – pray the redeeming love of Jesus our Savior flow in all our veins, that we might unite our wills to the Fath...

(Lv.23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37; Ps.81:2-6,10-11; Mt.13:54-58) "Offer as an oblation to the Lord holocausts and cereal offerings, sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day." Our first reading and our psalm speak and sing of the honor due our God. The Lord outlines for Moses "the festivals of the Lord" which must be celebrated "at the proper time with a sacred assembly," and our psalmist ex...

(Ex.40:16-21,34-38; Ps.84:2-6,8,11; Mt.13:47-53) "The cloud covered the meeting tent, and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling." The Dwelling is the Tabernacle of God, the place in which the ark of the covenant holding the Ten Commandments was housed; and so it was God's dwelling-place. And when this cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set forth; and when the cloud stopped,...

(Ex.34:29-35; Ps.99:5-7,9; Mt.13:44-46) "The skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the Lord." His face shining like the pearl of great price, with whom he speaks, Moses comes down from the mountain carrying the Ten Commandments. Here is a great treasure in His hands, which he has given up all to find. But, of course, the greater treasure is the Word of God from which it takes...

(Ex.33:7-11,34:5-9,28; Ps.103:6-13; Mt.13:36-43) "The angels will hurl them into the fiery furnace where they will wail and grind their teeth." It is the justice of God which is our theme today. And though it is absolutely certain that the mercy of God far surpasses our merit and He does not "requite us according to our crimes," yet it is equally so – and Jesus could not make it more explicit than...

(Ex.32:15-24,30-34; Ps.106:1,19-23; Mt.13:31-35) "Eventually the whole mass of dough began to rise." The kingdom of God comes gradually, grows imperceptibly; from the smallest of seeds it becomes "the largest of plants," and "the birds of the sky come and build their nests in its branches." Indeed, this yeast is kneaded into our hearts, and by its grace we rise gradually unto the form heaven would...

(Gn.18:20-32; Ps.138:1-3,6-8; Col.2:12-14; Lk.11:1-13) "Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Prayer. Our wonderful gift from God. Our sharing in His will. The Lord ordains that Abraham should speak with Him, and so He stops and waits to hear the prayer of His favored one. And so in this mystical scene from our first reading, we are given a ho...

(Ex.24:3-8; Ps.50:1-2,5-6,14-15; Mt.13:24-30) "All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do." But will they? Who among them will remain faithful to the covenant they make with God? All the Israelites vow as one to follow "the words and ordinances of the Lord," yet only two men shall come from the desert and enter the Promised Land. Their children shall exhibit greater fidelity, but these, too,...

(Ex.19:1-2,9-11,16-20; Dn.3:52-56; Mt.13:10-17) "Blest are your eyes because they see and blest are your ears because they hear." Jesus tells us today, "Many a prophet and many a saint longed to see what you see but did not see it, to hear what you hear but did not hear it." How blessed are we, for the light of His face now shines upon us, for His teaching is now in our ears. With fear and trembli...

Ex.16:1-5,9-15; Ps.78:18-19,23-28; Mt.13:1-9) "I will now rain down bread from heaven for you." He gives us bread to eat; He gives us wine to drink. All our food comes from His hand. He provides for our every need. It is not by our own strength we are fed. It is not by our own strength we produce fruit to feed others. All our grain is from His hand and grows only with His blessing. The Israelites...

(Ex.14:5-18; Ex.15:1-6; Mt.12:38-42) "The Lord Himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still." But the scribes and the Pharisees cannot keep still, cannot hold faith firmly in their hearts, but are anxious for a sign. But it is "an evil and unfaithful age" that is "eager for a sign," and so no sign will bring it salvation. Jesus indeed will die and rise again, but it will be of no avail...

(Gn.18:1-10a; Ps.15:1-5; Col.1:24-28; Lk.10:38-42) "There is need of only one thing." Whether we teach or whether we serve, all must be done in the Name of the Lord. If it is not sitting at His feet that we do all things, if all is not a prayer offered in His Name, to His glory, it is all quite worthless. How "anxious and concerned about many things" we often are. How like Martha we often struggle...

(Ex.12:37-42; Ps.136:1,10-15,23-24; Mt.12:14-21) "All the Israelites must keep a vigil for the Lord throughout their generations." After four hundred and thirty years, as one man the Israelites left the land of Egypt. More than a million people all told were "rushed out of Egyptand had no opportunity even to prepare food for the journey." And so the exodus from sin we all must make is here prefigu...

(Ex.11:10-12:14; Ps.116:12-13,15-18; Mt.12:1-8) "The Son of Man is indeed the Lord of the sabbath." "There is something greater than the temple here," greater than the Passover and all the feasts of the Lord, greater than the Law… for Jesus and His mercy subsume all these by His holy sacrifice, by His very presence amongst us. And now on the new sabbath day, the words of the psalmist are fulfilled...

(Ex.3:11-20; Ps.105:1,5,8-9,24-27; Mt.11:28-30) "My yoke is easy and my burden light." I AM has come and led His people "up out of the misery of Egypt," up out of slavery. The heavy yoke of sin He breaks from our necks, and in its place we find His gentle presence. How this world can make us weary! How the Israelites suffered under the iron hand of the Pharaoh. But the Lord says to them, "I am con...

(Ex.3:1-6,9-12; Ps.103:1-4,6-8; Mt.11:25-27) "An angel of the Lord appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush." The Lord appears to Moses. "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," reveals Himself on Horeb, the mountain of God. He comes to him who, as we are told elsewhere, is the humblest of men, calling him – much as He will later call Peter, James, and John from their nets to...