The BreadCast

(1Cor.15:35-37,42-49; Ps.56:10-14; Lk.8:4-15) "Just as we resemble the man from earth, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven." It is not difficult to recognize our earthly bodies. They are with us always, and make themselves known in the "weakness" that befalls us. Adam's sin is upon us his children and reminds us always that we are human, of the earth. But as we know this body of t...

(Ex.32:7-11,13-14; Ps.51:3-4,12-13,17,19,Lk.15:18; 1Tm.1:12-17; Lk.15:1-32) "The Lord relented in the punishment He had threatened to inflict on His people." Redemption is ours, brothers and sisters. Though we are great sinners, the Lord has mercy on us when we turn to Him; for, as Moses interceded for the Israelites in the desert, so Christ Jesus intercedes for us now before the throne of His Fat...

(1Cor.10:14-22; Ps.116:12-13,17-18; Lk.6:43-49) "Is not the cup of blessing we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread we break a sharing in the body of Christ?" The Body and Blood of Christ we have upon our altar and in the Word of His teaching. It is these which set a firm foundation within ourselves, these by which we bear fruit in His Name – these by which we come to be as...

(Ez.43:1-7; Ps.85:9-14; Mt.23:1-12) "The temple was filled with the glory of the Lord." Certainly the vision of Ezekiel is fulfilled in the coming of Jesus and His founding the Church, the New Jerusalem, here amongst us. In this Temple He has "set the soles of [His] feet"; here He "dwell[s] among the Israelites forever." For though the temple in Jerusalem shall be restored, it shall again be destr...

(Ez.12:1-12; Ps.78:7,56-59,61-62; Mt.18:21-19:1) "As captives they shall go into exile." "The prince who is among them shall shoulder his burden and set out in darkness, going through a hole he has dug in the wall, and covering his face lest he be seen by anyone." O the woe of the "rebellious house"! How their sins eat away at their souls like hands digging holes in a wall; how they must hide thei...

(1Kgs.19:16b,19-21; Ps.16:1-2,5,7-11; Gal.5:1,13-18; Lk.9:51-62) "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God." We must follow Jesus. And the path He walks leads to the cross. Our gospel tells us, "When the days for Jesus' being taken up were fulfilled, He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem." Jesus knows what awaits Him in Jerusalem...

(Jas.2:14-24,26; Ps.112:1-6; Mk.8:34-9:1) "Faith without works is as dead as a body without breath." How dead indeed is a body without breath; how short a time we can go without breathing before dying. And so how much is our faith dependent on works to remain alive. Brothers and sisters, we are human, we have bodies – of the earth, of flesh and bone, we are. We are not angels. And having bodies we...

(Jas.2:1-9; Ps.34:2-7; Mk.8:27-33) "You are not judging by God's standards but by man's!" This is a most important statement Jesus makes; it really cuts to the heart of His teaching, and to His sacrifice for our sins. He has just finished asking His apostles, "Who do you say that I am?" and for perhaps the first time heard their belief that He is the Messiah. This is a critical moment. But there i...

(Jas.1:19-27; Ps.15:1-5; Mk.8:22-26) "Jesus laid hands on his eyes, and he saw perfectly." What is it to see perfectly but to be as "the man who peers into freedom's ideal law and abides by it"? For to see perfectly is to see as God sees, not looking upon the surface of things – that which is reflected in a mirror – but to see the light of God reflected off the souls of His children. And not merel...

(Jer.1:4-5,17-19; Ps.71:1-6,15,17; 1Cor.12:31-13:13; Lk.4:21-30) "I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord." When God calls Jeremiah to prophesy "against Judah's kings and princes, against its priests and people," He tells him to "gird [his] loins" and commands: "Be not crushed on their account." For though his people "will fight against" him, they shall "not prevail over" him. The Lord makes J...

(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."