The BreadCast

(Acts 2:1-11; Ps.104:1,24,29-31,34; Rom.8:8-17; Jn.14:15-16,23b-26) "Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." The Spirit of God is with those who keep His commandments; and His Commandment is to love. In such love all become sons of God, all are made one in His Name. (Spirit of Love, anoint us.) In our first reading t...

(Acts 7:55-60; Ps.97:1-2,6-7,9; Rv.22:12-14,16-17,20; Jn.17:20-26) "I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me." The Father gave Jesus His glory. It is Jesus' own glory He owns, for He had it "before the foundation of the world," but now the Father has given it to Him anew in His incarnation as the Son of Man; and in His death and resurrection He s...

(Zeph.3:14-18 or Rom.12:9-16; Is.12:2-6; Lk.1:39-56) "Sing praise to the Lord for His glorious achievement; let this be known throughout all the earth." How can we capture the joy of this day? For here is the sign of our promised salvation; here we find the first apostolic act in Mary's bringing the Word of God, so recently conceived in her womb, to Elizabeth, and to her son John the Baptist. "Sho...

(Acts 15:1-2,22-29; Ps.67:2-6,8; Rv.21:10-14,22-23; Jn.14:23-29) "The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." And so is "the holy city Jerusalem" protected; and so are its boundaries defined. And so we come to the apostles to find the true teaching of Christ. When "there arose no little dissensio...

(Acts 14:21-27; Ps.145:1,8-13; Rv.21:1-5a; Jn.13:31-33a,34-35) "Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race." This is the promise on which we set our hearts, this vision of John. This is the word which encourages us to look forward to the coming of our God in the fullness of His presence amongst us. How we long to be His bride in heaven! John indeed sees the "new Jerusalem, coming down out of he...

(Acts 9:31-42; Ps.116:12-17; Jn.6:60-69) "We have come to believe." Yes, Peter professes for the Twelve (except Judas, of course), "We are convinced that you are God's holy one." They have heard His words and seen His works, and despite the difficulty of this latest and most challenging of words – that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood – their faith is not shaken as is that of so many ot...

(Acts 13:14,43-52; Ps.100:1-3,5; Rv.7:9,14b-17; Jn.10:27-30) "The Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water." Joy is our promise in the Lord, brothers and sisters. Absolute, eternal, universal joy. And though we may suffer persecution now, "the time of great distress" upon us but provides the means, the water, by which all saints "have...

(Acts 5:27-32,40b-41; Ps.30:2,4-6,11-13; Rv.5:11-14; Jn.21:1-19) "You changed my mourning into dancing." Throughout our readings today we witness the glory the risen Lord effects by His sacrifice, the change of fate that comes by the Savior. In our first reading, though the apostles are brought before the Sanhedrin for persecution, they leave their presence rejoicing, happy to have "suffer[ed] dis...

(1Cor.15:1-8; Ps.19:2-5; Jn.14:6-14) "The man who has faith in me will do the works I do." What is the message the apostles preach "to the ends of the world"? What is "the glory of God" that "the heavens declare" and "the firmament proclaims"? It is none other than Jesus' words to Thomas: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me"; it is His answer to Ph...

(Acts 5:12-16; Ps.118:1-4,22-27; Rv.1:9-13,17-19; Jn.20:19-31) "When I caught sight of Him, I fell down at His feet as though dead." But Jesus "touched [John] with His right hand and said, 'Do not be afraid.'" Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" as he humbled himself at the sight of the risen Christ who had appeared before him, and so he was blessed with faith. The first believers "carried the...

(Dn.3:14-20,91-92,95; Dn.3:52-56; Jn.8:31-42) "The truth will set you free." Sin binds. Like the cords with which "the strongest men in [Nebuchadnezzar's] army bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego," sin fetters our souls and casts us "into the white-hot furnace." "Everyone who lives in sin is the slave of sin." But for those like these three faithful servants who "will not… worship the golden stat...

(Is.43:16-21; Ps.126:1-6; Phil.3:8-14; Jn.8:1-11) "Forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal." In times past the Lord opened "a way in the sea" for the Israelites to pass through, while Pharoah's army He "snuffed out and quenched like a wick." Afterward, He "brought back the captives of Zion" from the lands to which they had been sc...

(Ex.32:7-14; Ps.106:4,19-23; Jn.5:31-47) "If you believed Moses you would then believe me, for it was about me that he wrote." As Moses wrote, so Jesus speaks. As Moses wrote, so Jesus is. The eternal life to which the Scriptures testify is now in our midst. The Word has come to life; the Law is now fulfilled. The "form [we] have never seen" now stands before us. The "voice [we] have never heard"...

(Jos.5:9a,10-12; Ps.34:2-7,9; 2Cor.5:17-21; Lk.15:1-3,11-32) "Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you." As the Israelites now realize their redemption from slavery in Egypt as they step into the Promised Land, so the prodigal son comes to his own redemption, his own release from slavery as a hired hand in a foreign land, as he returns to his father's house. Yes, as the Israelites "ate...

(Ex.3:1-8a,13-15; Ps.103:1-4,6-8,11; 1Cor.10:1-6,10-12; Lk.13:1-9) "The Lord secures justice and the rights of all the oppressed." Thus does the Lord God appear to Moses and call him to rescue the Israelites from the Egyptians. He has "witnessed the affliction of His people"; He has "heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers" and "know[s] well what they are suffering." And so, by th...

(Gn.15:5-12,17-18; Ps.27:1,7-9,13-14; Phil.3:17-4:1; Lk.9:28-36) "A cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud." As darkness thus covered the three apostles, so "a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep, terrifying darkness enveloped him." Both find themselves surrounded by darkness and filled with fear. In just this way the Lord brings His revelatio...

(Dt.26:4-10; Ps.91:1-2,10-15; Rom.10:8-13; Lk.4:1-13) "To His angels He has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways." Can there be any doubt that the Lord God will bear Jesus up through His temptations in the desert, that He "will deliver Him and glorify Him"? For if "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved," will the Father leave His Son "in distress"? If He...

(Sir.35:1-12; Ps.50:5-8,14,23; Mk.10:28-31) "The just man's sacrifice is most pleasing, nor will it ever be forgotten." Peter is moved today to voice his fear that all that he and his fellow apostles have offered, even their very lives, will not be enough to secure the kingdom of God. But Jesus reassures all who serve Him: "I give you my word, there is no one who has given up home, brothers or sis...

(Sir.17:19-27; Ps.32:1-2,5-7,11; Mk.10:17-27) "Jesus fixed His gaze on them and said, 'For man it is impossible but not for God.'" With these incisive words and particularly with this intent look, Jesus "encourages those who are losing hope." His disciples are "completely overwhelmed" at His statement: "It is easier for a camel to pass through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdo...

(Sir.27:4-7; Ps.92:2-3,13-16; 1Cor.15:54-58; Lk.6:39-45) "Be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord." Brothers and sisters, "in the Lord your labor is not in vain," for "the just one shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow." If you are "planted in the house of the Lord," "vigorous and sturdy" shall you ever be, "bear[ing] fruit even in old ag...

(Sir.17:1-15; Ps.103:13-18; Mk.10:13-16) "Let the children come to me and do not hinder them." O how the Lord "looks with favor upon [our] hearts, and shows [us] His glorious works"! And because "His majestic glory their eyes beheld, His glorious voice their ears heard," so the "people were bringing their little children to Jesus to have Him touch them," so they were offering their precious loved...

(Sir.6:5-17; Ps.119:12,16,18,27,34-35; Mk.10:1-12) "They are no longer two but one flesh." How much more clearly could the Lord speak of the unity found in marriage and so the respect due this sacrament? How better could He get His point across to you that marriage is indissoluble, that it is not to be played with, that you commit adultery as you consider divorcing your spouse? "At the beginning o...

(Sir.5:1-8; Ps.1:1-4,6,40:50; Mk.9:41-50) "Mercy and anger are alike with Him; upon the wicked alights His wrath." "The way of the wicked vanishes." It must vanish. It cannot but vanish, for there is no place for wickedness in the kingdom of God. And so, what is wicked must "be thrown into Gehenna": what is to "enter life" must be purified. Thus does the Lord command – Cut off your hand! Cut off y...

(Sir.4:11-19; Ps.119:165,168,171-172,174-175; Mk.9:38-40) "Those who serve her serve the Holy One; those who love her the Lord loves." Such is wisdom, she who "instructs her children and admonishes those who seek her," she under whose counsel we become the children of God. And I cannot help but think as I contemplate this personification of wisdom, how well and how appropriately she is embodied by...

(Sir.2:1-11; Ps.37:3-5,18-19,27-28,39-40; Mk.9:30-37) "My son, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials." Is Jesus not "teaching His disciples in this vein" when He speaks of His imminent death, a death they shall share, and calls them to "remain the least one of all and the servant of all," even as He is? Their arguing about importance reveals that they have not understood who...