The BreadCast

(Is.7:10-14; Ps.24:1-7,10; Lk.1:26-38) "Blessed are you among women." "The virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and shall name Him Immanuel because 'God is with us.'" "The virgin's name was Mary." And she has given birth to the Savior. "Who may stand in His holy place?" King David sings in our psalm. "Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord?" Clearly Jesus is He. But as clear is that we are...

(Jgs.13:2-7,24-25; Ps.71:3-6,8,16-17; Lk.1:5-25) "From my mother's womb you are my strength." How the above line from our psalm is reflected both in Samson and in John, and how parallel are the lives of these two great men. Of John it is said, "He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb"; of Samson, "This boy is to be consecrated to God from the womb" and "The Spirit of the Lord...

(Jer.23:5-8; Ps.72:1,7,12-13,18-19; Mt.1:18-24) "He will save His people from their sins." Each of our readings today mentions the salvation of our Lord. The above quote is from our gospel; our psalm states, "The lives of the poor He shall save"; and in our first reading it says, "In His days Judah shall be saved." The very name "Jesus" – as given to Joseph by the angel of the Lord – means "God sa...

(Gn.49:2,8-10; Ps.72:3-4,7-8,17; Mt.1:1-17) "May He rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth." Since "the scepter shall never depart from Judah," the reign of Jesus, His descendant, His fulfillment, is without end – He is King forever. And so, "tribute is brought to Him, and He receives the peoples' homage," which is in itself their salvation. Who is this Lion of Judah, fu...

(Zep.3:1-2,9-13; Ps.34:2-3,6-7,17-19,23; Mt.21:28-32) "I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord." All have been "rebellious and polluted"; all have been as she who "hears no voice" and "accepts no correction." But the Lord now comes to "change and purify the lips of the peoples, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord...

(Nm.24:2-7,15-17; Ps.25:4-9; Mt.21:23-27) "A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel." And the light of that star is reflected in the eyes of Balaam, who, though a pagan, is gifted by God with the clear vision to see the beauty and wonder of "Israel encamped, tribe by tribe," "like gardens beside a stream," "like the cedars planted by the Lord." And as He is seen in the n...

O mystical doctor – help us by way of the Cross to find wisdom and knowledge of Christ and union with God; let us desire to enter the suffering of the Lord, that by this means we may draw closer to His glorious presence and there remain in joy. Let us fear not the dark night the soul must endure but bear it well, that we might be purged of all blindness; pray the Lord will shine upon us His holy l...

(Is.35:1-6,10; Ps.146:6-10,Is.35:4; Jas.5:7-10; Mt.11:2-11) "Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand." Hope. What hope have we. And so we should "be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord." Indeed, we must endure "the early and the late rains" – having been converted to the Lord we shall be purged of all sin on the last day – but, though "hardship" be...

O bride of our Lord Jesus Christ, in your virginity and in your dying you have given yourself entirely to the Lord of Heaven and earth. O how like Him you were in your purity and in your suffering! and so how close to Him you must be in Heaven – pray that a ray of His light might come to us who sit in darkness, we whose hearts are not as strong as your own. His heavenly light we wish to enter; by...

(Sir.48:1-4,9-11; Ps.80:2-4,15-16,18-19; Mt.17:10-13) "Like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as a flaming furnace." Elijah has come, to "restore everything." The word has fallen like fire from heaven to prepare a path for the Lord to tread. The Baptist has cried out as a voice in the wilderness for us to make our hearts ready for the coming of the Lord. But, sadly, "they d...

O Patroness of the Americas and Protectress of the Unborn, look upon our troubled state, where lust and greed abound, where thousands are killed in the womb every day, where the poor and the rich are separated by steel walls and thirsting souls die in the desert – help us, dear Mother, to discover life, to find your guidance in this land of opportunity and broken dreams, in these hearts that have...

(Zec. 2:14-17; Lk.1:46-55; Lk.1:29-47) "Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD! for He stirs forth from His holy dwelling." And His own stirring forth causes John the Baptist to stir forth, to "leap for joy" – thus is opened the mouth of the one who will proclaim His way. On this the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe we celebrate the Lord's stirring forth in astounding fashion in the Ameri...

O bishop of Rome who guided the bark of Peter through difficult waters, who kept her on the course set for her by the Lord even as she grew in this world from a Church of the blood of martyrs to one entering the light of day, of acceptance by the city of man… you who sought so diligently to preserve the memory of the martyrs lest it should pass away, and the Cross of Christ with it – pray that tod...

(Is.41:13-20; Ps.145:1,8-13; Mt.11:11-15) "I will make you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and double-edged." A "worm" and a "maggot" are we. We are "the afflicted and the needy [who] seek water in vain, [our] tongues… parched with thirst." But holding our right hand, the Lord speaks to us: "Fear not, I will help you." "I will open up rivers on the bare heights… I will turn the desert into a marsh...

(Is.40:25-31; Ps.103:1-4,8,10; Mt.11:28-30) "My yoke is easy and my burden light." How we do become "weary and find life burdensome." How we can "faint and grow weary," "stagger and fall" from the burden of sin and our inherent weakness. But oh how "He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak He makes vigor abound." For indeed He is the creator of the universe – "by His great might and the str...

O humble child of the Lord whom our Lady blessed with her presence, to whom she gave roses in winter – pray for us who are not humble as you, whose obedience is cold and grown so weak, that she might come to us, too, that she might speak a word to our hearts and we might as children listen and do as she directs, she who directs us only to Jesus, only to His love. Pray this continent be once again...

(Is.40:1-11; Ps.96:1-3,10-13,Is.40:10; Mt.18:12-14) "Like a shepherd He feeds His flock; in His arms He gathers His lambs." His is the voice which "speak[s] tenderly to Jerusalem." It is He who "give[s] comfort to [His] people." For "it is no part of [the] heavenly Father's plan that a single one of these little ones shall ever come to grief." Like a shepherd He leads us. With great concern He wat...

O pure Mother, you are she who is full of grace; it is you who have found the Lord's favor. Preserved from all sin from the womb, overflowing with all His blessings, you are the hope of our race, the one created soul most like to God – pray for us this day, dear Mother, that we might be kept from the snares of the world, from the enticements of the devil. O help us be pure as you, obedient to the...

(Gn.3:9-15,20; Ps.98:1-4; Eph.1:3-6,11-12; Lk.1:26-38) "He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before Him." And she is the sign of such preservation from evil. "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." And so the Virgin Mother is greeted by the power of the Most High. So she is called – "full of grace" is her title. She whom all generations will c...

O good bishop and wise doctor of the Church – pray for us, that the water that is Christ might pour upon our souls, especially His chosen apostles, your fellow bishops, and fill all with wisdom from on high, leading us away from all lies to the truth that is Jesus. Pray our hearts shall be filled to overflowing with this Word, that the Gospel might be preached by lips anointed with the Body and Bl...

(Is.40:1-5,9-11; Ps.85:9-14; 2Pt.3:8-14; Mk.1:1-8) "Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way." And so, "John the Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." And so comes "the voice of one crying out in the desert," in the desert that is our fallen lives: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths." Turn...

O bishop of Myra, shepherd of the Lord's sheep who has with a generous heart cared so well for His little ones… all became as your children, for you loved your flock with the love of Christ Himself; their needs were your own – pray our hearts will be like yours, that just so generously we will give to those in need, provide for those in our care. I pray you will see us now as your children here an...

(Is.30:19-21,23-26; Ps.147:1-6,Is.30:18; Mt.9:35-10:1,6-8) "On the day the Lord binds up the wounds of His people, He will heal the bruises left by His blows." "Cure the sick, raise the dead, heal the leprous, expel demons." With these words Jesus sends His disciples forth proclaiming, "The reign of God is at hand!" The prophecy of Isaiah has been fulfilled. The Savior has come. The Teacher is at...

(Is.29:17-24; Ps.27:1,4,13-14; Mt.9:27-31) "The eyes of the blind shall see." O "that I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord and contemplate His temple." That out of "gloom and darkness" I might be taken, and come "to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." That I could feel His hands touch my eyes, that I might have the faith to believe they shall be open to His glory… Brothers...

O blessed teacher of the faith – may the nourishing waters of our Mother, of the true teaching of our Church, flow upon all souls, calling them to the Lord from whom they emanate; like the waters trickling from the temple in Ezekiel's vision, may they grow and increase as they travel to the ends of the earth, making all whole, pure in the light of God. Pray that the Mother of Heaven, through whom...