The BreadCast

(Acts 4:13-21; Ps.118:1,14-21; Mk.16:9-15) "Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation." How faithfully Peter and John accomplish the Lord's command, and with what strength, so much so that our first reading tells us, "The priests and elders were amazed as they observed [their] self-assurance" – for these "were uneducated men of no standing." "How can this be?" they must ha...

(Acts 4:1-12; Ps.118:1-2,4,22-27; Jn.21:1-14) "Jesus is 'the stone rejected by you the builders which has become the cornerstone.'" What Peter has proclaimed to the people, he now proclaims even more boldly to their leaders: "There is no other name in the whole world given to men by which we are to be saved." Jesus, whom they crucified, is the Messiah. And the same quote Jesus offered the Pharisee...

(Acts 3:11-26; Ps.8:2,5-9; Lk.24:35-48) "In His name, penance for the remission of sins is to be preached to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." And so Peter begins the preaching at the temple: "When God raised up His servant, He sent Him to you first to bless you by turning you from your evil ways," he announces clearly to the Jews, those first to hear of the Savior, Jesus. And again he speaks...

(Acts 3:1-10; Ps.105:1-9; Lk.24:13-35) "The Lord is risen! It is true!" And how it is proven this day! The two disciples find their "hearts burning inside" as He "explain[s] the Scriptures" to them on the road to Emmaus, and then they come "to know Him in the breaking of bread." "The Eleven and the rest of the company" of disciples rejoice in Jerusalem because "He has appeared to Simon." And the c...

O good teacher of the poor boys in your care, minister of the Lord to those most in need, with what humble affection you carried out your work in educating souls in the Gospel of Christ and guiding others to do the same – pray that we, too, shall give ourselves in sacrificial silence to the call the Lord has placed upon our souls, and especially that teachers of the young and disadvantaged will fi...

(Acts 2:36-41; Ps.33:4-5,18-20,22; Jn.20:11-18) "Let the whole house of Israel know beyond any doubt that God has made both Lord and Messiah this Jesus whom you crucified." Brothers and sisters, we are all as Mary Magdalene who "stood weeping beside the tomb," and like the Jews who were "deeply shaken" by the words of Peter. Though it is to the Chosen people "that the promise was made," it extends...

(Acts 2:14,22-33; Ps.16:1-2,5,7-11; Mt.28:8-15) "You will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption." "It was impossible that death should keep its hold on Him." And so "the paths of life" we now walk; "joy in [His] presence" is ours – "in confidence" we abide forever. For God has "raised Him up again," this Jesus, our Lord. Let us be witne...

O great preacher who taught so well the love of God and the precepts of the Church, who worked with such zeal to repair the breach within the Church in a time of corruption – pray that now the Word may again go forth to the ends of the earth, that all might hear the voice of the Spirit speaking in their hearts and turn resolutely from their sins to the grace of the Lord; and pray, too, there will...

(Acts 10:34a,37-43; Ps.118:1-2,16-17,22-24; Col.3:1-4 or 1Cor.5:6b-8; Jn.20:1-9 or Lk.24:13-35) "Everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins through His name." "His mercy endures forever," brothers and sisters, and it is for us to "declare the works of the Lord": that Jesus was "raised on the third day," that He lives, that He still is "healing all those oppressed by the devil."...

O learned man whose wisdom remained not only in the mind but found practice in the Church of God, you who read and studied Scripture not just for its own sake but that the Word might be implemented amongst your flock – pray we too might live with the Word of God, that we too might share the light He would impart to every soul. Pray God's grace touch our innermost minds, that the understanding our...

(Gn.1:1-2:2; Ps.104:1-2,5-6,10,12-14,24,35 or Ps.33:4-7,12-13,20-22; Gn.22:1-18; Ps.16:5,8-11; Ex.14:15-15:1; Ex.15:1-6,17-18; Is.54:5-14; Ps.30:2,4-6,11-13; Is.55:1-11; Is.12:2-6; Bar.3:9-15,32-4:4; Ps.19:8-11; Ez.36:16-17a,18-28; Ps.42:3,5,43:3,4; Rom.6:3-11; Ps.118:1-2,16-17,22-23; Mt.28:1-10 or Mk.16:1-7 or Lk.24:1-12) "He is not here." The women come faithfully to the tomb early Easter mornin...

(Is.52:13-53:12; Ps.31:2,6,12-13,15-17,25,Lk.23:46; Heb.4:14-16,5:7-9; Jn.18:1-19:42) "He shall be raised high and greatly exalted." Here is your king: "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews," Pilate has written upon His cross. Here He is lifted up, where "many were amazed at Him – so marred was His look beyond human semblance and His appearance beyond the sons of man." Yet "shall He startle ma...

O little one, holy and true, who wanted no more than to leave the world that you might draw closer to Christ but who was followed by the world and called to teach the world of the way of holiness in our blessed Lord – pray we shall follow His path of Passion and death, death to self and all animosity, all hatred, finding thereby His peace, peace in His Spirit and light. O that we might be sanctifi...

(Ex.12:1-8,11-14; Ps.116:12-13,15-18,1Cor.10:6; 1Cor.11:23-26; Jn.13:1-15) "This cup is the New Covenant in my blood." For this cup holds the Blood of our Lord. And, "Seeing the blood, I will pass over you," says the Lord. "When I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you." As the Israelites mark each of their houses with the blood of a lamb, so our bodies are marked by the...

(Is.50:4-9; Ps.69:8-10,21-22,31,33-34; Mt.26:14-25) "The Son of Man is departing, as Scripture says of Him." Of Him in Scripture we read, "Morning after morning He opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back." Even as death approaches, even as His betrayer goes forth (perhaps especially at this dark time), He sets His face "like flint" to confront those who oppose H...

(Is.49:1-6; Ps.71:1-6,15,17; Jn.13:21-33,36-38) "I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength!" The Lord is with His servant, with Israel, with Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God: "From my mother's womb you are my strength… O God, you have taught me from my youth." And to this "sharp-edged sword" the Lord had concealed "in the shadow of His arm,"...

(Is.42:1-7; Ps.27:1-3,13-14; Jn.12:1-11) "I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations." He has come "to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who dwell in darkness." "He establishes justice on the earth," and this justice is His bringing light to our darkness. But He could not release us from the dungeon...

(Is.50:4-7; Ps.22:2,8-9,17-20,23-24; Phil.2:6-11; Mt.26:14-27:66 or Mk.14:1-15:47 or Lk.22:14-23:56) "His blood be upon us and upon our children." "The whole people" cry out for the death of Jesus. "Let Him be crucified," they shout ever more loudly. The sins of us all demand the death of the Son. And though He would have us not bear such guilt – "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass fr...

(Ez.37:21-28; Jer.31:10-13; Jn.11:45-57) "My sanctuary shall be set up among them forever." Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise to "gather [His people] from all sides to bring them back to their land"; He is the "one prince for [us] all" by whom God makes complete the "everlasting covenant" with us: "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." It is He "who make[s] Israel holy," who m...

(Jer.20:10-13; Ps.18:2-7; Jn.10:31-42) "He has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked." As Jeremiah's persecutors surround him on every side but are "put to utter shame" when he calls out to the Lord, so as the Jews "again tried to arrest Him," Jesus again "eluded their grasp." And so when "the breakers of death surged around [us], the destroying floods overwhelmed [us]..." so w...

(Gn.17:3-9; Ps.105:4-9; Jn.8:51-59) "Before Abraham came to be, I AM." Abraham is a great man, the blessed patriarch, to whom God made the promise: "I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you." So Abraham becomes "the father of a host of nations," not just by lineage, but b...

O chosen one of the Lord, how well you answered His call, giving yourself entirely to the angel's word and so conceiving in your womb the salvation of the world – pray, O Spouse of the Holy Spirit, that His voice might inspire in us your same commitment to the Word of God and its working in our lives; pray the Son be conceived in us as well that we too might serve to bring His salvation forth into...

(Is.7:10-14,8:10; Ps.40:7-11; Heb.10:4-10; Lk.1:26-38) "Behold, I come to do your will." Today we celebrate the fact that the Word became flesh, that God became man through Mary and dwells among us to take away our sins. In this is fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah, "The Lord Himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name Him Emmanuel, which mean...

(Nm.21:4-9; Ps.102:2-3,16-21; Jn.8:21-30) "From heaven He beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die." As the Lord has said to the Pharisees: "You belong to what is below; I belong to what is above." And truly, how could we come to where He is unless He reached down to lead us there? The Israelites show just how much they are of this world below when th...

O missionary shepherd whose love for the truth was a love for Christ and a desire for your flock to know Him and the way to glorify God, you who gave yourself for the Truth that is Christ and for His Church on earth, through whom He teaches all men and brings them into His fold – may we, too, lay down our lives and work as hard as you have done in the name of Jesus, that all our lives and the live...