The BreadCast

O patron of moral theologians and servant of the poor, how blessed was your loving wisdom, your understanding of God and His love for us, made perfectly known in His only Son whom you loved so much with His Mother and the Church, and whom you call us all to love through your blessed words – pray the redeeming love of Jesus our Savior flow in all our veins, that we might unite our wills to the Fath...

(Lv.23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37; Ps.81:2-6,10-11; Mt.13:54-58) "Offer as an oblation to the Lord holocausts and cereal offerings, sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day." Our first reading and our psalm speak and sing of the honor due our God. The Lord outlines for Moses "the festivals of the Lord" which must be celebrated "at the proper time with a sacred assembly," and our psalmist ex...

(Ex.40:16-21,34-38; Ps.84:2-6,8,11; Mt.13:47-53) "The cloud covered the meeting tent, and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling." The Dwelling is the Tabernacle of God, the place in which the ark of the covenant holding the Ten Commandments was housed; and so it was God's dwelling-place. And when this cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set forth; and when the cloud stopped,...

(Ex.34:29-35; Ps.99:5-7,9; Mt.13:44-46) "The skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the Lord." His face shining like the pearl of great price, with whom he speaks, Moses comes down from the mountain carrying the Ten Commandments. Here is a great treasure in His hands, which he has given up all to find. But, of course, the greater treasure is the Word of God from which it takes...

(Ex.33:7-11,34:5-9,28; Ps.103:6-13; Mt.13:36-43) "The angels will hurl them into the fiery furnace where they will wail and grind their teeth." It is the justice of God which is our theme today. And though it is absolutely certain that the mercy of God far surpasses our merit and He does not "requite us according to our crimes," yet it is equally so – and Jesus could not make it more explicit than...

(Ex.32:15-24,30-34; Ps.106:1,19-23; Mt.13:31-35) "Eventually the whole mass of dough began to rise." The kingdom of God comes gradually, grows imperceptibly; from the smallest of seeds it becomes "the largest of plants," and "the birds of the sky come and build their nests in its branches." Indeed, this yeast is kneaded into our hearts, and by its grace we rise gradually unto the form heaven would...

(Gn.18:20-32; Ps.138:1-3,6-8; Col.2:12-14; Lk.11:1-13) "Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Prayer. Our wonderful gift from God. Our sharing in His will. The Lord ordains that Abraham should speak with Him, and so He stops and waits to hear the prayer of His favored one. And so in this mystical scene from our first reading, we are given a ho...

(Ex.24:3-8; Ps.50:1-2,5-6,14-15; Mt.13:24-30) "All that the Lord has said, we will heed and do." But will they? Who among them will remain faithful to the covenant they make with God? All the Israelites vow as one to follow "the words and ordinances of the Lord," yet only two men shall come from the desert and enter the Promised Land. Their children shall exhibit greater fidelity, but these, too,...

(Ex.19:1-2,9-11,16-20; Dn.3:52-56; Mt.13:10-17) "Blest are your eyes because they see and blest are your ears because they hear." Jesus tells us today, "Many a prophet and many a saint longed to see what you see but did not see it, to hear what you hear but did not hear it." How blessed are we, for the light of His face now shines upon us, for His teaching is now in our ears. With fear and trembli...

Ex.16:1-5,9-15; Ps.78:18-19,23-28; Mt.13:1-9) "I will now rain down bread from heaven for you." He gives us bread to eat; He gives us wine to drink. All our food comes from His hand. He provides for our every need. It is not by our own strength we are fed. It is not by our own strength we produce fruit to feed others. All our grain is from His hand and grows only with His blessing. The Israelites...

(Ex.14:5-18; Ex.15:1-6; Mt.12:38-42) "The Lord Himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still." But the scribes and the Pharisees cannot keep still, cannot hold faith firmly in their hearts, but are anxious for a sign. But it is "an evil and unfaithful age" that is "eager for a sign," and so no sign will bring it salvation. Jesus indeed will die and rise again, but it will be of no avail...

(Gn.18:1-10a; Ps.15:1-5; Col.1:24-28; Lk.10:38-42) "There is need of only one thing." Whether we teach or whether we serve, all must be done in the Name of the Lord. If it is not sitting at His feet that we do all things, if all is not a prayer offered in His Name, to His glory, it is all quite worthless. How "anxious and concerned about many things" we often are. How like Martha we often struggle...

(Ex.12:37-42; Ps.136:1,10-15,23-24; Mt.12:14-21) "All the Israelites must keep a vigil for the Lord throughout their generations." After four hundred and thirty years, as one man the Israelites left the land of Egypt. More than a million people all told were "rushed out of Egyptand had no opportunity even to prepare food for the journey." And so the exodus from sin we all must make is here prefigu...

(Ex.11:10-12:14; Ps.116:12-13,15-18; Mt.12:1-8) "The Son of Man is indeed the Lord of the sabbath." "There is something greater than the temple here," greater than the Passover and all the feasts of the Lord, greater than the Law… for Jesus and His mercy subsume all these by His holy sacrifice, by His very presence amongst us. And now on the new sabbath day, the words of the psalmist are fulfilled...

(Ex.3:11-20; Ps.105:1,5,8-9,24-27; Mt.11:28-30) "My yoke is easy and my burden light." I AM has come and led His people "up out of the misery of Egypt," up out of slavery. The heavy yoke of sin He breaks from our necks, and in its place we find His gentle presence. How this world can make us weary! How the Israelites suffered under the iron hand of the Pharaoh. But the Lord says to them, "I am con...

(Ex.3:1-6,9-12; Ps.103:1-4,6-8; Mt.11:25-27) "An angel of the Lord appeared to him in fire flaming out of a bush." The Lord appears to Moses. "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," reveals Himself on Horeb, the mountain of God. He comes to him who, as we are told elsewhere, is the humblest of men, calling him – much as He will later call Peter, James, and John from their nets to...

(Ex.2:1-15; Ps.69:3,14,30-31,33-34; Mt.11:20-24) "I drew him out of the water." Moses was drawn from "the watery depths" by Pharaoh's daughter and nursed by his own mother. Into the river all male Hebrew children were ordered cast, but by the providential hand of God, this "Moses" is saved. And it is through him his people shall be drawn out from amongst the Egyptians and the slavery put upon them...

(Ex.1:8-14,22; Ps.124:1-8; Mt.10:34-11:1) "The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread." The Israelites lived and worked side by side with the Egyptians for some four hundred years; they had virtually become members of the same household. But jealousy overcame a "new king" of Egypt, who determined "to oppress them with forced labor," hoping to break their will as well as thei...

(Dt.30:10-14; Ps.69:14,17,30-31,33-34,36-37 or 19:8-11; Col.1:15-20; Lk.10:25-37) "He lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him." This "Samaritan traveler… was moved with compassion" upon seeing the poor victim on the road. And so he "poured oil and wine over his wounds" and provided for his healing. Such is the love to which we are called. In our first reading, Moses...

(Gn.49:29-32,50:15-24; Ps.105:1-4,6-7,33; Mt.10:24-33) "Whoever acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven." Joseph does well in acknowledging God before his brothers, as, refusing to take revenge on them, he states of his suffering that "God meant it for good." He thus proves himself a servant of the Lord; realizing that "no pupil outranks his teacher, no slave his m...

(Gn.46:1-7,28-30; Ps.37:3-4,18-19,27-28,39-40; Mt.10:16-23) "Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation." We are as exiles in this world. Indeed, the Lord sends us forth "like sheep among wolves." In Egypt must we dwell for a time, until we are prepared for the coming of Christ. But here He meets us. Here He weeps over us and so enables us to face the death whic...

(Gn.44:18-21,23-29,45:1-5; Ps.105:5,16-21; Mt.10:7-15) "It was really for the sake of saving lives that God sent me here ahead of you." Remarkable words from the mouth of Joseph as the brothers who sold him into slavery in Egypt stand dumbfounded before him, fearing indeed for their own lives. And indeed Joseph may have been justified to command the ending of their lives to avenge his treatment at...

(Gn.41:55-57,42:5-7,17-24; Ps.33:2-3,10-11,18-19,22; Mt.10:1-7) "The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him." In our gospel, Jesus commissions the twelve apostles to go forth after "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" in order "to expel unclean spirits and cure sickness and disease of every kind" and bring His people into "the reign of God." In our first reading, we see that "famine had g...

(Gn.32:23-33; Ps.17:1-3,6-8,15; Mt.9:32-38) "You test my heart, searching it in the night." "You have contended with divine and human beings," the angel says of Jacob; and so he receives his new name, Israel: "he strives with God". Such striving with the Lord in this night which has set upon the earth is our lot in life. May we prevail upon Him as has Jacob. As he is about to reenter the Promised...

(Gn.28:10-22; Ps.91:1-4,14-15; Mt.9:18-26) "Know that I am with you; I will protect you wherever you go." What the Lord says here to Jacob, He says indeed to all of us: He will protect us on our journey; let us but take refuge in Him. Our dearest Jesus is the abode of God, and in Him our souls are safe. As Jacob sets forth alone from the land of Canaan, he fears that he shall not return to this pl...