The BreadCast

(Sir.36:1,5-6,10-17; Ps.79:8-9,11,13; Mk.10:32-35) "Take pity on your holy city, Jerusalem, your dwelling place." The prayer of the wise man is good, but I see that the same answer the Lord gave James and John when they asked to sit "one at [His] right hand and the other at [His] left" in His glory, could be given to Sirach: "You do not know what you are asking." For neither knows the implication...

(Phil.1:1-11; Ps.111:1-6; Lk.14:1-6) "My prayer is that your love may more and more abound." Paul's prayer is addressed to the Philippians, who "have all continually helped promote the Gospel from the very first day" he came into their midst preaching. He overflows with love for them himself and finds them present "to a man" sharing in his "gracious lot," even as he "lie[s] in prison" far from the...

(Hb.1:12-2:4; Ps.9:8-13; Mt.17:14-20) "They trust in you who cherish your name, for you forsake not those who seek you, O Lord." "Why could we not expel it?" the disciples asked Jesus regarding the boy so severely possessed by a demon. "'Because you have so little trust,' He told them." Brothers and sisters, is it the Lord who "delays"? Is it He who fails to cast wickedness and misery from our mid...

(Jer.30:1-2,12-15,18-22; Ps.102:16-23,29; Mt.15:1-2,10-14) "Every planting not put down by my heavenly Father will be uprooted." Is it not these Pharisees of whom Jeremiah speaks when he prophesies, "Incurable is your wound, grievous your bruise"? Truly there is "no remedy for [their] running sore, no healing for [them]." Blind shall they ever be, for they do but harden their hearts when their sin...

(Is.55:1-3; Ps.145:8-9,15-18; Rm.8:35,37-39; Mt.14:13-21) "The eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season." And the song of David, and the prophecy of Isaiah, are fulfilled in Jesus and the heavenly banquet He sets before us this day. For the Lord "open[s] His hand and satisf[ies] the desire of every living thing"; "without paying and without cost" all come to Hi...

(Ex.14:21-15:1; Ex.15:1,8-10,12,17; Mt.12:46-50) "Thus the Lord saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians." The Lord fought for the Israelites, His people. Working great wonders, He brought them forth from the land of Egypt. Indeed, "the Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left." So great was His love for H...

O blessed wife and mother, extraordinary in ordinary devotion to your family and God, you who freely gave your life that your child might live, who put the fruit of your womb before your personal concern – in this age when so many mothers in freedom and seemingly without care are more inclined to destroy the life in their wombs than nourish it or sacrifice themselves for their children's sakes, pr...

(Nm.11:4-15; Ps.81:2,12-17; Mt.14:22-36) "How little faith you have!" It is the Lord's exclamation to His holy apostles, to the foundation of His Church – to His Rock. And certainly it applies to all of us as it does, too, to the Israelites in the desert. All need greater faith to come upon the new shore of paradise and find healing for all our ills. As the Israelites tramp through the desert, the...

(Is.49:14-15; Ps.62:2-3,6-9; 1Cor.4:1-5; Mt.6:24-34) "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides." Today's gospel is the Lord's beautiful exhortation not to be anxious about the things of this world: God takes care. "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear," Jesus instructs us. And how...

(Zec.12:10-11,13:1; Ps.63:2-6,8-9; Gal.3:26-29; Lk.9:18-24) “They shall look on Him whom they have pierced.” Jesus is the Christ of God. It is He who suffers, He who has been pierced for our sins, and He whose blood cleanses us as we look upon Him, as we cry out in tears for the pain we have caused Him and resolve to follow Him now in His way of the cross. What is the “fountain to purify from sin”...

(1Kgs.17:17-24; Ps.30:2,4-6,11-12; Gal.1:11-19; Lk.7:11-17) “O Lord, you brought me up from the netherworld.” “You preserved me from among those going down into the pit.” For I was dead, but now I live. These should be the words of us all, for the Lord indeed is our salvation – our life breath comes from Him, and He will preserve us from all death. No longer in sin, we rise to new life. The resurr...

(Is.43:18-19,21-22,24b-25; Ps.41:2-5,13-14; 2Cor.1:18-22; Mk.2:1-12 “It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.” What a wonderful promise the Lord makes to us today, and proves His word true in Jesus His Son. Yes, the Lord “has regard for the lowly and the poor,” and so He looks with pity on the paralytic lowered through the roof for healing. Jesus “hel...

(Dt.11:18,26-28,32; Ps.31:1-4,17,25; Rom.3:21-25,28; Mt.7:21-27) “Take these words of mine into your heart and soul.” Our first reading and gospel are virtually identical today. In one, Moses tells the Israelites: “I set before you here, this day, a blessing and a curse”; in the other, Jesus tells His disciples a parable of the same blessing and curse. Moses speaks of the “blessing for obeying the...

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"Let us destroy the tree in its vigor; let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be spoken no more."

"Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'" Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Cry Mercy" from Remove the Mask of Lies, second album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt.

"Take these words of mine into your heart and soul." Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Solid Rock, Unshakable Foundation" from The Innocent Heart, from the first album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt.

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