The BreadCast

(2Thes.1:1-5,11-12;   Ps.96:1-5;   Mt.23:13-22)  “Which is more important, the offering or the altar which makes the offering sacred?” The Pharisees in their blindness taught: “If a man swears by the altar it means nothing, but if he swears by the gift on the altar he is obligated.”  Indeed, “How blind [they] are!”  For what do they do but exalt that which is secondary beyond that which is primary...

(Ez.37:1-14;   Ps.107:1-9;   Mt.22:34-40) “I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel.” The commentary in the missal I read states: “The lesson here is return from captivity, not life after death.”  And so the speaker proves once again the limited vision of so many of our scholars – indeed, how like the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the lawyers...

(Ez.36:23-28;   Ps.51:12-15,18-19,Ez.36:25;   Mt.22:1-14)  “Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.” The Lord desires to “prove the holiness of [His] great name,” which has been “profaned among the nations” by the children of Israel.  And so He determines to “gather [them] from all the foreign lands,” to bring them back from their exile from His sight, and bless...

(Ez.34:1-11;   Ps.23:1-6;   Mt.20:1-16)  “I myself will look after and tend my sheep.” How grateful we should be that “the Lord is [our] shepherd,” for with Him we want for nothing.  Indeed, our “cup overflows” and “only goodness and kindness follow [us] all the days of [our] life”; for it is He who watches over our every step, and He is only goodness, He is only kindness – His mercy endures forev...

(Ez.28:1-10;   Dt.32:26-28,30,35-36,39;   Mt.19:23-30)  “Only with difficulty will a rich man enter the kingdom of God.” Yes, “close at hand is the day of their disaster, and their doom is rushing upon them!” – those like the prince of Tyre who are “haughty of heart, and say, ‘A god am I!  I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea!’”  What condemnation they mount up for themselves, those who...

(Ez.24:15-24;   Dt.32:18-21;   Mt.19:16-22)  “Son of man, by a sudden blow I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes, but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears.” A striking similarity there is between our first reading and our gospel: as Ezekial’s wife dies, and so his most valuable treasure is taken from him by the Lord, so the rich young man is told by Jesus, “Go, sell your possessions...

(Ez.18:1-10,13,30-32;   Ps.51:12-15,18-19;   Mt.19:13-15)  “Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me,” David cries out in his psalm.  Ezekial speaks of the same cleansing needed to find the life of God.  And Jesus amongst the children reveals the purity to...

(Ez.16:1-15,60,63 or Ez.16:59-63;   Is.12:1-6;   Mt.19:3-12)  “I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you.” Ezekial first “make[s] known to Jerusalem her abominations,” telling the people, “You were thrown out on the ground as something loathsome, the day you were born.”  And though by the Lord’s blessing they “grew and dev...

(Ez.9:1-7,10:18-22;   Ps.113:1-6;   Mt.18:15-20) “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst.” And so the four living creatures, the cherubim gathered beneath the feet of the Lord, “rise from the earth” and move “straight forward,” the breath of the Spirit animating every beat of their wings.  And so the angels called forth by the voice of God protect or destroy the inha...

(Ez.2:8-3:4;   Ps.119:14,24,72,103,111,131;   Mt.18:1-5,10,12-14)  “How sweet to my palate are your promises, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” And is there a sweeter promise or a sweeter teaching than that which Jesus gives today in our gospel?  In answer to the disciples’ question, “‘Who is of greatest importance in the kingdom of God?’ He called a little child over and stood him in their midst a...

(Ez.1:2-5,24-28;   Ps.148:1-2,11-14;   Mt.17:22-27)  “His majesty is above earth and heaven.” Gleaming like gold or silver, shining forth like burning fire, splendorous as “the bow which appears in the clouds on a rainy day” – “such was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” given the prophet Ezekial.  And this is but His likeness; nothing could describe the glory of the One who has...

(Nah.2:1,3,3:1-3,6-7;   Dt.32:35-36,39,41;   Mt.16:24-28) “It is I who bring both death and life, I who inflict wounds and heal them.” When the Lord comes indeed “He will repay each man according to his conduct.”  And the justice and judgment that are the Lord’s alone are evident in His work amongst Israel and their enemies, spoken of in our first reading and psalm today. “The flame of the sword,...

(Jer.31:31-34;   Ps.51:12-15,18-19;   Mt.16:13-23) “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” Do not the days come to pass, is not this promise made through Jeremiah fulfilled, when the Lord declares to Peter, “On this rock I will build my Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it”?  Does Jesus not hereby wrest the covenant from the hands of the...

(Jer.31:1-7;   Jer.31:10-13;   Mt.15:21-28)  “Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming to the Lord’s blessings.” In our first reading Jeremiah prophesies the restoration of “all the tribes of Israel” to the grace and “age-old love” of their Lord and God.  The Lord promises His virgin daughter Israel: “Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing wi...

(Jer.30:1-2,12-15,18-22;   Ps.102:16-23,29;   Mt.14:22-36)  “His assembly before me shall stand firm.” The words of the prophet Jeremiah are fulfilled in the Apostle Peter and in the Church, for upon this Rock we have our firm foundation. “The Lord looked down from His holy height, from heaven He beheld the earth”; and when the time had come, He sent His only Son.  And that Son, in all His wisdom,...

(Jer.28:1-17;   Ps.119:29,43,68,79-80,95,102;   Mt.14:13-21)  “Take not the word of truth from my mouth, for in your ordinances is my hope.” The word of truth is what Jeremiah speaks in the face of the lies of Hananiah. The false prophet declares in the name of God: “I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from off the neck of the nations,” even as he “took the yoke from upon the...

(Jer.7:1-11;   Ps.84:2-6,8,11;   Mt.13:24-30)  “Reform your ways and your deeds, so that I may remain with you in this place.” We hear again today of the failure of “the temple of the Lord” and its sacrifices to bring the Israelites to the eternal presence of God.  For though the Lord “sowed good seed in His field,” though He made His temple a house of prayer, it has become “a den of thieves” in t...

(Jer.1:1,4-10;   Ps.71:1-6,15,17;   Mt.13:1-9) “O God, you have taught me from my youth, and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.” So does the seed grow, and bear fruit in the sight of the Lord. Our psalmist declares, “On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength.”  Indeed we are planted in our mother’s womb and we grow by the grace of the Lord.  And as our bod...

(Amos 8:4-6,9-12;   Ps.119:2,10,20,30,40,131,Mt.4:46;   Mt.9:9-13) “Many tax collectors and those known as sinners came to join Jesus and His disciples at dinner.” It is just such as these that Amos prophesies against in our first reading; it is sinners such as Matthew whom he addresses when he declares, “Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land!”  For the apostle...

(Amos 2:6-10,13-16;   Ps.50:16-23;   Mt.8:18-22)  “Consider this, you who forget God, lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.” What we should realize from our readings today is that the Word of the Lord is severe.  Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, etc. – His chastising hand is upon us in the words He speaks to our sinful hearts.  He does not nod and smile as we walk our errant ways...

(2Kgs.22:8-13,23:1-3;   Ps.119:33-37,40;   Mt.7:15-20)  “Lead me in the path of your commands, for in it I take delight.” The people of Judah and Jerusalem have been unfaithful to God and to the covenant made with Him, and so the time of their exile draws near: soon this remaining tribe of Israel shall join the others in being cast from their promised land.  But today we hear of a faithful king, J...

(1Kgs.19:9,11-16;   Ps.27:7-9,13-14;   Mt.5:27-32)  “Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.” “Your presence, O Lord, I seek.  Hide not your face from me,” David sings in our psalm; and it is the presence of the Lord that is made known to Elijah in our first reading.  And that same presence stands most openly before us in the teaching of Jesus in our gospel. Elijah comes to the mountain of Go...

(Jas.5:13-20;   Ps.141:1-3,8;   Mk.10:13-16)  “Let my prayer come like incense before you; the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice.” “The fervent petition of a holy man is powerful indeed.”  For indeed Elijah “prayed earnestly” and “no rain fell on the land for three years and six months.”  Then “when he prayed again, the sky burst forth with rain.”  And now greater things are accom...

(Jas.5:9-12;   Ps.103:1-4,8-9,11-12;   Mk.10:1-12)  “Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness.” And we must be like Him. James makes clear that we must “not grumble against one another,” nor swear on earth, any oath at all,” but rather simply speak “in the name of the Lord”: “Let it be ‘yes’ if you mean yes or ‘no’ if you mean no.  In this way you will not incur c...

(Jas.5:1-6;   Ps.49:14-20,Mt.5:3;   Mk.9:41-50)  “You lived in wanton luxury on the earth; you fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.” “You rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries,” James warns all those who trust in their wealth.  For though they were “contented with their lot,” to find which they “condemned, even killed, the just man,” yet “like sheep they are herded into the net...