The BreadCast

(Gn.22:1-19; Ps.115:1-6,8-9; Mt.9:1-8) "God put Abraham to the test." And so is his faith in the living God made known. And so we see to what faith and obedience we are called. All that we hold back from the Lord, all that is due our God – and our neighbor – we must give without hesitation at the voice of His command. In Leviticus 5, a ram is prescribed as the sacrifice for those who have withheld...

(Gn.17:1,9-10,15-22; Ps.128:1-5; Mt.8:1-4) "Can Sarah give birth at ninety?" Abraham laughs to himself as he asks the question; and indeed many scoff at the idea today, or simply choose to reason the possibility away. And can a leper be made clean in an instant, just by a touch of Jesus' hand and the words "Be cured"? Is the arm of God, who created the universe, somehow shortened to such miracles?...

(Gn.13:2,5-18; Ps.15:1-5; Mt.7:6,12-14;) "How narrow is the gate that leads to life, how rough the road, and how few there are who find it!" In our first reading today, the way Abram walks with God is contrasted with the path Lot chooses for himself. Though the road seems wide and clear, this gate leads to damnation, and indeed, as our gospel states, is one which is chosen by the traveler himself;...

(Tb.12:1,5-15,20; Tb.13:1-2,6; Mk.12:38-44) "Almsgiving saves one from death." We must give alms, yes; and the greatest of alms is the gift of ourselves to God. In our gospel we hear of perhaps the most famous example of almsgiving: the poor widow who gave her two copper coins to the temple treasury; and in our first reading we complete the Book of Tobit, he who is himself a great biblical model o...

(Tb.11:5-15; Ps.146:2,7-10; Mk.12:35-37) "The Lord gives sight to the blind." Now in His teaching Jesus truly begins to open the eyes of the people. We have witnessed this week His fielding their questions regarding theology and the law, but He now takes a step further, revealing to them and to us the Truth itself – that He Himself is the Son of God. "The majority of the crowd heard this with deli...

(Tb.6:11,7:1,9-14,8:4-7; Ps.128:1-5; Mk.12:28-34) "Love the Lord your God" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." On these two great commandments rest all the Law and the Prophets. By them we shall be "not far from the reign of God." In them the Lord leads us into His bridal chamber, where we shall be made one with Him in glory forever. Here on earth we dimly mirror the love of the Lord for His Chu...

(Tb.3:1-11,16-17; Ps.25:1-9; Mk.12:18-27) "He is the God of the living, not of the dead." Rich readings. First of all, we see the striking similarity between the story woven by the Sadducees to thwart the wisdom of the Lord and the situation in which Sarah finds herself. In both cases, seven – the number representing fullness – husbands have died. In one the wife has also died; in the other, she w...

(Tb.2:9-14; Ps.112:1-2,7-9; Mk.12:13-17) "The heart of the just man is secure, trusting in the Lord." Today in our reading and gospel we find just men put to trial and testing. Our Lord is steadfast before the devious inquiry of the Pharisees and Herodians, answering them with a wisdom greater than Solomon's; for what can Jesus, who is Himself the Word made flesh, do but take refuge in the Father...

(Tb.1:1-2,2:1-9; Ps.112:1-6; Mk.12:1-12) "The stone rejected by the builders has become the keystone of the structure." First, Tobit is not a parable; it is not a "story". A parable begins, as does Jesus' own in our gospel, with a statement such as, "A man planted a vineyard…" It is always "a man", a generic man, never a particular man in a particular place at a particular time, as is the case wit...

(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 above all th...

(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 sin, and so...

(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 breath of His mo...

(Lv.19:1-2,17-18; Ps.103:1-4,8,10,12-13; 1Cor.3:16-23; Mt.5:38-48) "Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy." In the Book of Leviticus God says, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," and this is good. But in the gospel Jesus adds, "Love your enemies" – and this is better. In the old law we are commanded, "Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against any of your people"; but in the new w...

(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 all His glo...

(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 Israelites' travel...

(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 see, our...

(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 accordance...

(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 you nor my...

(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 be a waste...

(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 shall they be...

(2Mac.7:1-2,9-14; Ps.17:1,5-6,8,15; 2Thes.2:16-3:5; Lk.20:27-38) "On waking I shall be content in your presence." Our hope is in the resurrection, brothers and sisters. It is this which gives us strength, and it is our endurance which brings us to His presence. Brothers and sisters, indeed, as Paul wishes us, we have "everlasting encouragement and good hope" through the grace of our Lord. He stren...

(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 Lord," that...

(Wis.11:22-12:2; Ps.145:1-2,8-11,13-14; 2Thes.1:11-2:2; Lk.19:1-10) "The Son of Man has come to seek and save what was lost." How beautifully the readings speak today of our "Lord and lover of souls" whose "imperishable spirit is in all things" and who is "good to all and compassionate to all His works." It is indeed "in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ" that we be glorified...

(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. And this g...

(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 His disci...