The BreadCast

(1Pt.4:7-13;   Ps.96:10-13;   Mk.11:11-26) “The consummation of all is close at hand. Therefore, do not be perturbed; remain calm so that you will be able to pray.” As at the time Jesus walks the earth the end of the Israelite nation is at hand – a consummation signified in “the fig tree withered to its roots” at His command, a consummation that will be fulfilled in the crucifixion of the Messiah...

(1Pt.2:2-5,9-12;   Ps.100:2-5;   Mk.10:46-52)  “Be as eager for milk as newborn babies – pure milk of the Spirit to make you grow unto salvation.” Does not the “blind beggar Bartimaeus” show his eagerness for the milk of the Spirit, for the blood of Christ upon his soul, when he persistently calls out “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” despite those who “were scolding him to make him keep qui...

(1Pt.1:18-25;   Ps.147:12-15,19-20;   Mk.10:32-45)  “The Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve – to give His life in ransom for the many.” As Jesus and His apostles make their “way up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes,” He tells them that these elders of the people “will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles, who wi...

(1Pt.1:10-16;   Ps.98:1-4;   Mk.10:28-31)  “Set all your hope on the gift to be conferred on you when Jesus Christ appears.” “The Lord has made His salvation known: in the sight of the nations He has revealed His justice.”  That “which the prophets carefully searched out and examined” but was hidden from their eyes, that into which “angels long to search” is now indeed made known “by those who pre...

(1Pt.1:3-9;   Ps.111:1-2,5-6,9-10;   Mk.10:17-27) “Go and sell what you have and give to the poor; you will then have treasure in heaven.” “You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials,” for even if you are not a rich man with “many possessions” to give up, all that you have that is of the world must die before you will find “birth to an imperishable inheritance incapable of fadin...

(Acts 28:16-20,30-31;   Ps.11:4-5,7;   Jn.21:20-25)   “I wear these chains solely because I share the hope of Israel.”   The hope of Israel indeed wears chains.  The Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the nation, is fixed to a cross.  This is the call of all who follow Jesus – to die. But, Peter is prompted to ask as he walks with Jesus and the Lord explicates his dual call to serve as leader...

(Acts 25:13-21;   Ps.103:1-2,11-12,19-20;   Jn.21:15-19)   “When you are older you will stretch out your hands, and another will tie you fast and carry you off against your will.”   And so the Lord “indicate[s] the sort of death by which Peter was to glorify God.”  And by his laying down of his life, this leader of the apostles shall indeed feed the Lord’s sheep. After “they had eaten their meal,”...

(Acts 22:30,23:6-11;   Ps.16:1-2,5,7-11;   Jn.17:20-26)   “I set the Lord ever before me; with Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.”   Yes, “the Lord appeared at Paul’s side” at night, in prison, after his testimony and the near riot it caused in Jerusalem.  He comes to encourage him, to strengthen him for further trials; and through all Paul shall remain strong. “Keep me, O God, for in...

(Acts 20:28-38;   Ps.68:29-30,33-36;   Jn.17:11-19)   “O Father most holy, protect them with the name you have given me.”   In our gospel today Jesus prays to the Father, “who rides on the heights of the ancient heavens,” to “guard [His disciples] from the evil one.”  And the parallels continue between His and Paul’s parting words, as the Apostle warns his own disciples, “When I am gone, savage wo...

(Acts 20:17-27;   Ps.68:10-11,20-21,33;   Jn.17:1-11)   “Father, the hour has come! Give glory to your Son that your Son may give glory to you.”   A day of departures.  A day of final words and commendations.  Paul bids farewell to the leaders of Ephesus, declaring his faithfulness to them; and Jesus prays to the Father in the hearing of the disciples, calling the Lord’s blessing upon them. “The H...

(Acts 19:1-8;   Ps.68:2-7,33;   Jn.16:29-33)   “You will suffer in the world. But take courage!  I have overcome the world.”   “An hour is coming – has indeed already come – when you will be scattered and each will go his way, leaving me quite alone.”  Yet the Father is always with Jesus, even as He faces His imminent execution, and Jesus is with us by the power of the Spirit through all the trial...

(Acts 18:23-28;   Ps.47:2-3,8-10;   Jn.16:23-28)   “He went about establishing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.”   In our gospel today, Jesus again assures the disciples, “Whatever you ask the Father, He will give you in my name,” He tells them of the time when He will no longer speak to them “in veiled language,” but “shall tell [them] about the Father in plain speech.”  A most fasc...

(Acts 18:9-18;   Ps.47:2-8;   Jn.16:20-23)   “Go on speaking and do not be silenced, for I am with you.”   As Paul continues his missionary journey, his fears are calmed by the Lord, who assures him: “No one will attack you or harm you,” though he be in Corinth, whose infamous immorality is illustrated in the riotous behavior of the Jews in its court, and to which the court “paid no attention at a...

(Acts 17:15,22-18:1;   Ps.148:1-2,11-14,Is.6:3;   Jn.16:12-15)   “It is He ‘who gives’ to all life and ‘breath’ and everything else.”   “His majesty is above earth and heaven,” brothers and sisters.  And so our psalmist today encourages all in the heavens and all on earth to “praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted.”  “From one stock He made every nation of mankind to dwell on t...

(Acts 16:22-34;   Ps.138:1-3,7-8;   Jn.16:5-11)  “Immediately all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains were pulled loose.” “Your right hand saves me,” David sings unto the Lord this day in our psalm.  Mighty indeed is His power, and so we should “worship at [His] holy temple, and give thanks to [His] name,” for He has “built up strength within [us]”; by the power of the Holy Spirit He has set...

(Acts 16:11-15;   Ps.149:1-6,9;   Jn.15:26-16:4)   “You must bear witness.”   The Spirit will come and call to your hearts to speak of the name of Jesus and His salvation.  As He prompts you, you must speak the truth in love, you must go as He calls – you must bear witness.  And sometimes the word you speak, and you yourself, will be accepted with the faith and great hospitality as known in Lydia...

(Acts 16:1-10;   Ps.100:1-3,5;   Jn.15:18-21)   “I chose you out of the world.”   What is the world but heartache and sin; from this the Lord would release us. Jesus tells His disciples: “You do not belong to the world,” and yet, as is most evident in the journeys of Paul, to all the world do the apostles go.  The Master tells them, “You [will] find that the world hates you”; even so, they preach...

(Acts 15:22-31;   Ps.57:8-12;   Jn.15:12-17)   “There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”   Do not Judas and Silas fulfill the Lord’s command to “love one another”; do not they lay down their lives for the Lord when they bring word “to the brothers of Gentile origin in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia” of the apostles’ decision regarding those who have “upset [them]...

(Acts 15:7-21;   Ps.96:1-3,10;   Jn.15:9-11)   “We are saved by the favor of the Lord Jesus.”   We are told of the Council of Jerusalem, convened to determine if the Gentiles need be subject to circumcision and the Mosaic Law, “After much discussion, Peter took the floor,” and that after he had finished speaking, “the whole assembly fell silent.”  What is there to say after the Rock of the Church...

(Acts 15:1-6;   Ps.122:1-5;   Jn.15:1-8)   “I am the vine, you are the branches.”   And within Him we must remain; nurtured by the Church He has planted we must always be.  We must have His blood flowing in our veins and His Word inspiring our souls.  There can be no separation from Him and from His teaching if we are to bear fruit abundantly, as is the Father’s desire. Paul and Barnabas bear frui...

(Acts 14:19-28;   Ps.145:10-13,21;   Jn.14:27-31)   “We must undergo many trials if we are to enter into the reign of God.”   “With this instruction” Paul and Barnabas “gave their disciples reassurances, and encouraged them to persevere in the faith.”  Their apostolic journey has been a witness that the road to the Lord is wrought with difficulties, but that it bears great fruit.  These apostles a...

(Acts 14:5-18;   Ps.115:1-4,15-16;   Jn.14:21-26)   “May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”   “Anyone who loves me will be true to my word, and my Father will love him; we will come to him and make our dwelling place with him.”  Thus are we blessed, by keeping the word of the Lord.  Thus we know His love, for thus we accept the love He offers by His instruction and by His pres...

(Acts 13:44-52;   Ps.98:1-4;   Jn.14:7-14)   “I have made you a light to the nations, a means of salvation to the ends of the earth.”   In the preaching of Paul today is fulfilled the words of our psalm, “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God.”  Rejected by the Jews to whom he comes, he “now turn[s] to the Gentiles,” and – fulfilling the words of our psalm which read, “Sing...

(Acts 13:26-33;   Ps.2:6-11;   Jn.14:1-6)   “You are my Son; this day I have begotten you.”   This same verse appearing in both our first reading and our psalm is spoken also by Jesus in our gospel when He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me,” for such is the Son begotten of the Father. How comforting are Jesus’ words in our gospel, and how e...

(Acts 13:13-35;   Ps.89:2-3,21-22,25,27;   Jn.13:16-20)   “He who accepts anyone I send accepts me, and in accepting me accepts Him who sent me.”   And who is this Jesus who sends apostles like Paul forth traveling from Syria to Cyprus to Asia Minor?  Who is He of whom Paul rises to speak in this distant synagogue?  Two quotes I offer for your consideration.  First is the Baptist’s declaration, “I...