The BreadCast

(Ez.24:15-24; Dt.32:18-21; Mt.19:16-22) "Son of man, by a sudden blow I am taking away from you the delight of your eyes, but do not mourn or weep or shed any tears." A striking similarity there is between our first reading and our gospel: as Ezekial's wife dies, and so his most valuable treasure is taken from him by the Lord, so the rich young man is told by Jesus, "Go, sell your possessions, and...

(Prv.9:1-6; Ps.34:2-7; Eph.5:15-20; Jn.6:51-58) "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of His blood, you do not have life within you." Wisdom "has spread her table"; "she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine." And now she sends out "her maidens," calling "from the heights out over the city… 'Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed!'" Let th...

(Ez.18:1-10,13,30-32; Ps.51:12-15,18-19; Mt.19:13-15) "Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit." "A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me," David cries out in his psalm. Ezekial speaks of the same cleansing needed to find the life of God. And Jesus amongst the children reveals the purity to which...

(Ez.16:1-15,60,63 or Ez.16:59-63; Is.12:1-6; Mt.19:3-12) "I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you." Ezekial first "make[s] known to Jerusalem her abominations," telling the people, "You were thrown out on the ground as something loathsome, the day you were born." And though by the Lord's blessing they "grew and developed...

(Ez.9:1-7,10:18-22; Ps.113:1-6; Mt.18:15-20) "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst." And so the four living creatures, the cherubim gathered beneath the feet of the Lord, "rise from the earth" and move "straight forward," the breath of the Spirit animating every beat of their wings. And so the angels called forth by the voice of God protect or destroy the inhabitan...

(Ez.2:8-3:4; Ps.119:14,24,72,103,111,131; Mt.18:1-5,10,12-14) "How sweet to my palate are your promises, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" And is there a sweeter promise or a sweeter teaching than that which Jesus gives today in our gospel? In answer to the disciples' question, "'Who is of greatest importance in the kingdom of God?' He called a little child over and stood him in their midst and sai...

(Ez.1:2-5,24-28; Ps.148:1-2,11-14; Mt.17:22-27) "His majesty is above earth and heaven." Gleaming like gold or silver, shining forth like burning fire, splendorous as "the bow which appears in the clouds on a rainy day" – "such was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord" given the prophet Ezekial. And this is but His likeness; nothing could describe the glory of the One who has beneat...

(1Kgs.19:4-8; Ps.34:2-9; Eph.4:30-5:2; Jn.6:41-51) "Strengthened by that food he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb." As the forty days and forty nights Noah found himself protected from the rains by the Lord; as the forty years the Israelites were guided through the desert; as the forty days Jesus found strength in the Word of God while fasting in the wilderness… as...

(2Cor.9:6-10; Ps.112:1-2,5-9; Jn.12:24-26) "The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance." The servant of the Lord lays down his life in His name. Today we celebrate St. Lawrence, deacon, servant, and martyr, who gave his life and his death generously to God. His life must be that of every Christian; his witness is one we are called to follow. "The man who hates his life in this world preserve...

(Nah.2:1,3,3:1-3,6-7; Dt.32:35-36,39,41; Mt.16:24-28) "It is I who bring both death and life, I who inflict wounds and heal them." When the Lord comes indeed "He will repay each man according to his conduct." And the justice and judgment that are the Lord's alone are evident in His work amongst Israel and their enemies, spoken of in our first reading and psalm today. "The flame of the sword, the f...

(Jer.31:31-34; Ps.51:12-15,18-19; Mt.16:13-23) "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah." Do not the days come to pass, is not this promise made through Jeremiah fulfilled, when the Lord declares to Peter, "On this rock I will build my Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it"? Does Jesus not hereby wrest the covenant from the hands of the leade...

(Jer.31:1-7; Jer.31:10-13; Mt.15:21-28) "Shouting, they shall mount the heights of Zion, they shall come streaming to the Lord's blessings." In our first reading Jeremiah prophesies the restoration of "all the tribes of Israel" to the grace and "age-old love" of their Lord and God. The Lord promises His virgin daughter Israel: "Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing with the...

(Jer.30:1-2,12-15,18-22; Ps.102:16-23,29; Mt.14:22-36) "His assembly before me shall stand firm." The words of the prophet Jeremiah are fulfilled in the Apostle Peter and in the Church, for upon this Rock we have our firm foundation. "The Lord looked down from His holy height, from heaven He beheld the earth"; and when the time had come, He sent His only Son. And that Son, in all His wisdom, choos...

(Jer.28:1-17; Ps.119:29,43,68,79-80,95,102; Mt.14:13-21) "Take not the word of truth from my mouth, for in your ordinances is my hope." The word of truth is what Jeremiah speaks in the face of the lies of Hananiah. The false prophet declares in the name of God: "I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from off the neck of the nations," even as he "took the yoke from upon the neck...

(Ex.16:2-4,12-15; Ps.78:3-4,23-25,54; Eph.4:17,20-24; Jn.6:24-35) "Do not work for food that perishes but for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." Their bellies rumbling in the desert, "the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron," calling out for food to satiate their hunger. How they long to be beside their "flesh pots" in Egypt, where they...

(2Kgs.4:42-44; Ps.145:10-11,15-18; Eph.4:1-6; Jn.6:1-15) "They shall eat and there shall be some left over." O Lord, "the eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season; you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing." You are He who is "just in all His ways and holy in all His works," and eating the food you offer, we become holy as well. Brothers a...

(Jer.7:1-11; Ps.84:2-6,8,11; Mt.13:24-30) "Reform your ways and your deeds, so that I may remain with you in this place." We hear again today of the failure of "the temple of the Lord" and its sacrifices to bring the Israelites to the eternal presence of God. For though the Lord "sowed good seed in His field," though He made His temple a house of prayer, it has become "a den of thieves" in the eye...

(Jer.1:1,4-10; Ps.71:1-6,15,17; Mt.13:1-9) "O God, you have taught me from my youth, and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds." So does the seed grow, and bear fruit in the sight of the Lord. Our psalmist declares, "On you I depend from birth; from my mother's womb you are my strength." Indeed we are planted in our mother's womb and we grow by the grace of the Lord. And as our bodies gr...

(Jer.23:1-6; Ps.23:1-6; Eph.2:13-18; Mk.6:30-34) "I myself will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands to which I have driven them and bring them back to their meadow." "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures He gives me repose." How true to Isaiah's prophecy are King David's words; and how true is Jesus as the "righteous shoot to David" who "shall reign and gove...

(Amos 7:12-15; Ps.85:8-14; Eph.1:3-14; Mk.6:7-13) "Justice shall walk before Him, and prepare the way of His steps." And so when the disciples are sent out, the Lord "instruct[s] them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick." The walking stick signifies that the carrier is on an itinerant mission, and the walking stick serves to support the traveler along his way. The walking stick is...

(Ez.2:2-5; Ps.123:1-4; 2Cor.12:7-10; Mk.6:1-6) "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." And so Ezekial, though he is being sent to those "who have rebelled against [God]," to those who are "hard of face" and "obstinate of heart," yet must declare, "Thus says the Lord," yet must call to their rebellious hearts "whether they heed or resist." Likely they will resist hi...

(Amos 8:4-6,9-12; Ps.119:2,10,20,30,40,131,Mt.4:46; Mt.9:9-13) "Many tax collectors and those known as sinners came to join Jesus and His disciples at dinner." It is just such as these that Amos prophesies against in our first reading; it is sinners such as Matthew whom he addresses when he declares, "Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land!" For the apostle the...

(Amos 2:6-10,13-16; Ps.50:16-23; Mt.8:18-22) "Consider this, you who forget God, lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you." What we should realize from our readings today is that the Word of the Lord is severe. Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, etc. – His chastising hand is upon us in the words He speaks to our sinful hearts. He does not nod and smile as we walk our errant ways, but c...

(Ws.1:13-15,2:23-24; Ps.30:2,4-6,11-13; 2Cor.8:7,9,13-15; Mk.5:21-43) "God formed man to be imperishable; the image of His own nature He made him." "God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living." "By the envy of the devil death entered the world, and they who belong to his company experience it," but God has nothing to do with death: He is but Life, and would have u...

(2Kgs.22:8-13,23:1-3; Ps.119:33-37,40; Mt.7:15-20) "Lead me in the path of your commands, for in it I take delight." The people of Judah and Jerusalem have been unfaithful to God and to the covenant made with Him, and so the time of their exile draws near: soon this remaining tribe of Israel shall join the others in being cast from their promised land. But today we hear of a faithful king, Josiah,...