The BreadCast

(Is.38:1-8,21-22; Is.38:10-12,16-17; Mt.12:1-8) "Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord." "When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, came and said to him: 'Thus says the Lord: Put your house in order, for you are about to die.'" When the Jewish race was about to perish for lack of love, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to the Pharisees and declared, "I...

O Mother of contemplation who heard the Word of God and kept it, pondering its wonder in your heart, you who were so faithful to His call and remain ever in His presence – how shall we know our Lord if you do not pray for us, if you do not intercede for souls so blinded by the distractions and temptations of a fallen world? Our prayers are with you, dear Mother, who pray as one with our dear Lord,...

(Is.26:7-9,12,16-19; Ps.102:13-21; Mt.11:28-30) "The Lord looked down from His holy height, from heaven He beheld the earth, To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die." Yes, "we cried out in anguish under [His] chastising. As a woman about to give birth… we conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind." Empty were our works; dead in sin were we. But the Lord took...

O good doctor who taught the way to God by death to things outside the Cross, by resting with Christ in the tomb that we might pass from this world to the Father – pray our passions indeed be silenced that the fire of God will carry our soul to Him who is beyond the operations of our mind; pray our surrender to Him may be complete and the Holy Spirit lead us in loving flame to the kingdom. Where i...

(Is.10:5-7,13-16; Ps.94:5-10,14-15; Mt.11:25-27) "Shall He who instructs nations not chastise, He who teaches men knowledge?" Again we learn the basic teaching of the Lord: The exalted are humbled and the humbled exalted. In our first reading "the Lord of hosts" promises to "send among His fat ones leanness" – condemning Assyria for the pride it takes in its "own power"; and in our gospel Jesus "o...

O wise virgin so willing to leave your people behind to wed the only One who could win your heart, the Lord Jesus Christ, you were not swayed by punishment or persecution to renounce Him whom you loved but remained humble and diligent in your chastity and poverty and penance, sleeping on thorny mats for your Bridegroom and your persecutors – pray we too will be led into the desert, into the wilder...

(Is.7:1-9; Ps.48:2-9; Mt.11:20-24) "Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm!" "Take care you remain tranquil and do not fear; let not your courage fail." For "great is the Lord and wholly to be praised in the city of our God" and "renowned is He as a stronghold." But the faithless shall be as the rebellious nations which came against the Lord and His anointed: these "shall not stand" but "...

O you who were king and emperor yet set your sights on the reign of Heaven and the reform and upbuilding of the Church on earth, who dedicated yourself to the Lord of all and service of His apostles – pray our cares and responsibilities will not distract us from remembrance of our God and His mercy but that we shall indeed dedicate these and all our lives into the hands of our Savior, that He migh...

(Is.1:10-17; Ps.50:8-9,16-17,21,23; Mt.10:34-11:1) "Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean!" Elsewhere in Scripture we read, "The Lord chastises those whom He loves" (Heb.12:6), and this truth is made evident in our readings today. The Lord commands us through the prophecy of Isaiah, "Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good." Our psalm continues...

(Is.55:10-11; Ps.65:10-14,Lk.8:8; Rom.8:18-23; Mt.13:1-23) "The seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit." Comes the Word of God. To our eyes, to our ears. A seed sown within our hearts. May it find rich soil in which to grow, that we might know "the redemption of our bodies." "The rain and the snow come down and do not return there till they...

O monastic father who led the way into the desert where the Lord speaks to men's hearts, where He calls souls to perfect worship, putting Christ before all else and treating others as He Himself… O you who prayed most perfectly, you who knew God so intimately – pray that our distracted minds will somehow be conformed to listening for His voice and answering His call to serve Him with all our lives...

(Is.6:1-8; Ps.93:1-2,5; Mt.10:24-33) "'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts,' they cried one to the other. 'All the earth is filled with His glory.'" Hear the angels' song. It is their praise, which fills the heavens like fragrant incense, that our psalmist proclaims: "The Lord is king, in splendor robed; robed is the Lord and girt about with strength." Exalted is the majesty of the Father in hea...

(Hos.14:2-10; Ps.51:3-4,8-9,12-14,17; Mt.10:16-23) "O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise." Hosea instructs the Israelites, "Take with you words, and return to the Lord," and this David does in his psalm of sorrow. In "sincerity of heart" he begs the Lord's forgiveness for his sin and finds that the Lord creates "a clean heart" for him. "In [Him] the orphan finds compassion...

O righteous band of martyrs united by faith in Christ and His Church in a nation of religious oppression: children and grandparents, workers and teachers, lay and ordained, native and foreign-born… all as one you gave your lives, led by your convictions – pray the Word of the Lord come to a land so cold to conversion, to the love and worship of Jesus, all men's Savior. Pray the Holy Spirit fall li...

(Hos.11:1,3-4,8-9; Ps.80:2-4,15-16; Mt.10:7-15) "I am God and not man, the Holy One present among you." And He comes to us as do the disciples today, blessing each home as He enters. And "if the home is deserving, [His] blessing will descend upon it. If it is not, [His] blessing will return" to Him. Be careful to receive the blessing of the Lord, for if you reject Him, He will leave you, shaking t...

(Hos.10:1-3,7-8,12; Ps.105:2-7; Mt.10:1-7) "Jesus sent these men on mission as the Twelve." And in these men the Lord founds His Church, choosing "first Simon, now known as Peter," as the Rock upon whom the Building rests, and in like fashion all the twelve apostles, upon whom He places His Spirit. And so the foundation is set. And so none can separate themselves from these and their teaching, for...

(Hos.8:4-7,11-13; Ps.115:3-10; Mt.9:32-38) "Our God is in heaven; whatever He wills, He does. Their idols are silver and gold, the handiwork of men." In Israel, the people have turned from worship of the living God and "with their silver and gold they made idols for themselves, to their own destruction." As the golden "calf of Samaria" is "destined for the flames," so they "shall be like them, eve...

O perpetual virgin who defended your purity even with your life and so earned the crown of martyrdom at a tender age… O bride of Christ who prayed even for your murderer and so served to inspire his conversion – pray for us, too, dear child; pray the lust and violence so prevalent in this world of sin, and in our own hearts, be purged from our midst that we, too, might turn to Jesus and find the p...

(Hos.2:16-18,21-22; Ps.145:2-9; Mt.9:18-26) "When the crowd had been put out He entered and took her by the hand, and the little girl got up." How like Hosea's prophecy today is the Lord's raising of Jairus' daughter in our gospel. For the Lord speaks through His prophet, saying, "I will lead her into the desert and speak to her heart," and Jesus does this when He puts the crowd out of the house b...

O child of the Apostle Paul, follower in his steps, preacher of the Word he proclaimed so completely with his very life, you who desired so to bear the fruit of love in patience, to share in the hardships of the apostles as well as in their glory, and led your fellow ordained zealously to desire the same – pray there shall be reform in this day among our priests and among the people of God, that a...

O reconciler of warring sons, tranquility in the midst of great disturbance, though born of royal blood and married to a king, the Lord you preferred to all the riches of this world, and so His peace became your own – pray we, too, may keep our hearts set upon that which passes not away and the peace which passes understanding; pray our prayers be deep as your own and reflect the same tranquility,...

(Zec.9:9-10; Ps.145:1-2,8-11,13-14; Rom.8:9,11-13; Mt.11:25-30) "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." A remarkable confluence of Scripture today, extolling the "great kindness" of our King, who comes to us "meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass," and inviting us to take refuge in Him and in His blessed humility. Yes, upon a beast of burden,...

(Amos 9:11-15; Ps.85:9,11-14; Mt.9:14-17) "I will bring about the restoration of my people Israel." Of the city of David, the Lord promises, "I will wall up its breaches, raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old." Beautiful imagery is given indeed through the prophet Amos to illustrate the renewal of the land now fallen: "The juice of grapes shall drip down the mountains, and all t...

O believing apostle who declared the divinity of Jesus, our Lord and our God, all doubt disappears in the light of your faith, for we see with you what is beyond all eyes – pray for an increase in our faltering faith, that we shall indeed believe though we do not see; let it be as if we ourselves have touched the nail marks in His hands and feet and placed our hands into His side. So firmly let ou...

(Eph.2:19-22; Ps.117:1-2,Mk.16:15; Jn.20:24-29) "Blest are they who have not seen and have believed." The faith of Thomas. By his faith we find faith. In his desire to know beyond all doubt that the Lord has risen, all our doubt is taken away, and we declare with him, "My Lord and my God!" If Thomas had not doubted so much, we would not believe so much his clear proclamation of the divinity of Jes...