The BreadCast

(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...

(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 com...

(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, s...

(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 teachi...

(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...

(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 ho...

(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...

(Amos 7:10-17;   Ps.19:8-11;   Mt.9:1-8)  “The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Amos says of himself in our first reading: “The Lord took me from following the flock, and said to me, Go, prophesy to my people, Israel.”  And so he can say, “Now hear the word of the Lord!”  And so he can speak for God.  And so he can reveal the Lord’s will to the people, calling them to return to...

(Amos 5:14-15,21-24;   Ps.50:7-13,16-17,23;   Mt.8:28-34)  “Hear, my people, and I will speak; Israel, I will testify against you.” The chastising continues in our readings today.  Against the people’s vain sacrifices and “noisy songs,” both Amos and our psalmist speak in the Lord’s name.  In need of healing as the two men “possessed by demons” do we find ourselves in the sight of God. “Why do you...

(Amos 3:1-8,4:11-12;   Ps.5:4-9;   Mt.8:23-27) “The lion roars – who will not be afraid! The Lord God speaks – who will not prophesy!” Yes, the Lord prophesies against Israel today like a lion rending and roaring: “You alone have I favored, more than all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your crimes.”  He brings upon His chosen “such upheaval as when God overthrew Sodo...

(Lam.2:2,10-14,18-19;   Ps.74:1-7,19-21;   Mt.8:5-17)  “It was our infirmities He bore, our sufferings He endured.” And oh how deep are those sufferings; “great as the sea is [our] downfall.”  And graphically are they seen in the destruction of Jerusalem; sharply they pierce the flesh of the Son. Yes, the Lord “has torn down in His anger the fortresses of daughter Judah…  On the ground in silence...

(2Kgs.25:1-12;   Ps.137:1-6;   Mt.8:1-4)  “Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, led into exile the last of the people remaining in the city.” And so the exile is complete.  Not a soul remains in the holy city.  And their captors “burned the house of the Lord, the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem.”  Not a stone is left standing one upon another.  Not even the government appoin...

(2Kgs.24:8-17;   Ps.79:1-5,8,9;   Mt.7:21-29)  “The rains fell, the torrents came, the winds blew and lashed against his house. It collapsed under all this and was completely ruined.” Yes, “the officials of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem, and the city came under siege,” and “Jehoiachin, king of Judah, together with his mother, his ministers, officers, and functionaries, surren...

(2Kgs.19:9-11,14-21,31-36;   Ps.48:2-4,9-11;   Mt.7:6,12-14) “I will shield and save this city for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.” Brothers and sisters, “renowned is He as a stronghold,” the Lord our God.  And faithfully does He watch over His chosen one. Our psalmist proclaims, “Great is the Lord and wholly to be praised in the city of our God.”  He extols the glory of Mount Z...

(2Kgs.17:5-8,13-15,18;   Ps.60:3-5,7,12-13;   Mt.7:1-5) “In His great anger against Israel, the Lord put them away out of His sight.” Jesus instructs His disciples today, “If you want to avoid judgment, stop passing judgment.”  In other words, “Judge not and you shall not be judged.”  Here is the prerequisite not only for avoiding judgment and condemnation at the hand of God, but also for assistin...

(2Chr.24:17-25;   Ps.89:4-5,29-34;   Mt.6:24-34) “Because you have abandoned the Lord, He has abandoned you.” How quickly Joash the king of Judah, who so recently had restored true worship in the temple at Jerusalem, “transgress[es] the Lord’s commands.”  After Jehoiada the priest died, the people “forsook the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and began to serve the sacred poles and th...

(2Kgs.11:1-4,9-18,20;   Ps.132:11-14,17-18;   Mt.6:19-23) “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your body will be filled with light; if your eye is bad, your body will be in darkness.” And “how deep the darkness” is upon Athaliah.  For her eye is evil, her “light is darkness,” as so desperately she seeks to “lay up for [herself] an earthly treasure” by unjust and murderous means. ...

(Sir.48:1-14;   Ps.97:1-7,12;   Mt.6:7-15) “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Our psalm sings of the greatness of our God; in our first reading we hear of how this greatness was revealed in the prophets Elijah and Elisha; and in the Lord’s Prayer we call for this greatness to be present in our midst. “Fire goes before Him and consumes His foes round about,” our psa...

(2Kgs.2:1,6-14;   Ps.31:20-21,24-25;   Mt.6:1-6,16-18) “As they walked on conversing, a flaming chariot and flaming horses came between them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” Jesus instructs us in our gospel, “Whenever you pray, go to your room, close your door, and pray to your Father in private.”  This prescription the holy prophet Elijah fulfills in our first reading when he miracu...

(1Kgs.21:17-29;   Ps.51:3-6,11,16;   Mt.5:43-48)  “Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin cleanse me.” We have hope, brothers and sisters; we have hope that the very depths of our sin and depravity against the Lord shall be forgiven, and we shall be made new, washed in His blood.  For the Lord “sends His rain on the just and the unjust,” and this He proves today in our readings. The Lord f...

(1Kgs.21:1-16;   Ps.5:2-3,5-7;   Mt.5:38-42)  “I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.” How divergent are the paths of Jezebel and Jesus.  This Queen of Israel, wife of Ahab, holds the philosophy that if someone won’t give you what you ask for, take it by force; whereas the Lord says if someone wishes to take something from you, give it and more. Here are the way of the world...

(1Kgs.19:19-21;   Ps.16:1-2,5,7-10;   Mt.5:33-37)  “I will follow you.” Elisha gives His yes to Elijah, and so to God.  He “kiss[es] [his] father and mother good-bye” and weds himself to the prophet who has thrown “his cloak over him.”  And he shall not turn back, shall not fall short of giving his entire self to the service of God, and so shall be greatly blessed.  All he leaves behind.  His very...

(1Kgs.18:41-46;   Ps.65:2,10-13;   Mt.5:20-26)  “You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it.”  “There is the sound of a heavy rain.”  The Lord is speaking.  The Lord is teaching.  Jesus is revealing the strait path of holiness that leads to the Father, and His words and His Person come like a fruitful rain upon a drought-stricken land. O Lord, “thus have you prepared th...

(1Kgs.18:20-39;   Ps.16:1-2,4-5,8,11;   Mt.5:17-19)  “If the Lord is God, follow Him; if Baal, follow him.” Today “the only surviving prophet of the Lord” comes to reveal to the people that “the Lord is God!”  Elijah seeks to open the Israelites’ eyes to the presence of God, to bring them “back to their senses.”  And how evident it becomes that “they multiply their sorrows who court other gods,” a...

(1Kgs.17:7-16;   Ps.4:2-5,7-8;   Mt.5:13-16)  “The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” Again today we see in our readings that the Lord provides for His children’s needs, that indeed He is with us until the end of the age – yes, “the Lord does wonders for His faithful one.” As “the brook where Elijah was hiding ran dr...