The BreadCast

(1Cor.1:1-9; Ps.145:1-7; Mt.24:42-51) "He will strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." Brothers and sisters, "you lack no spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Lord provides all you need, generously and faithfully. You "have been consecrated in Christ Jesus and called to be a holy people" and so "have bee...

(2Thes.3:6-10,16-18; Ps.128:1-2,4-5; Mt.23:27-32) "You shall eat the fruit of your handiwork." "Anyone who would not work should not eat" was the rule laid down by Paul among the Thessalonians. A man must earn his bread. And as on earth, so in heaven. For who shall come to the fruits of the kingdom if they are not as Paul, who has labored "to the point of exhaustion" for the sake of the reign of G...

(2Thes.2:1-3,14-17; Ps.96:10-13; Mt.23:23-26) "He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with His constancy." "Brothers, stand firm." Be not "easily agitated or terrified" "on the question of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him." This should not preoccupy your thoughts because this is not in your mind to know or your hands to control. The day and the hour a...

(2Thes.1:1-5,11-12; Ps.96:1-5; Mt.23:13-22) "Which is more important, the offering or the altar which makes the offering sacred?" The Pharisees in their blindness taught: "If a man swears by the altar it means nothing, but if he swears by the gift on the altar he is obligated." Indeed, "How blind [they] are!" For what do they do but exalt that which is secondary beyond that which is primary? What...

(Jos.24:1-2a,15-17,18b; Ps.34:2-3,9,16-21; Eph.5:21-32; Jn.6:60-69) "Do you also want to leave?" How like the questions pertaining to the marriage vows is our Lord's inquiry of the Twelve, and Joshua's statement to the Israelites he has just brought out of the wilderness into the Promised Land. "If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve," Joshua says, "as for me...

(Rv.21:9-14; Ps.145:10-13,17-18; Jn.1:45-51) "Come, I will show you the woman who is the bride of the Lamb." Nathanael (who is Bartholomew) is taken by Philip (whose name means "love") to meet the bridegroom of his soul – and immediately he weds himself to the Lord, recognizing Him as the Son of God. As Bartholomew is without guile, so must all His Church be so sincere to find the glory that await...

(Ez.37:1-14; Ps.107:1-9; Mt.22:34-40) "I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel." The commentary in the missal I read states: "The lesson here is return from captivity, not life after death." And so the speaker proves once again the limited vision of so many of our scholars – indeed, how like the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the lawyers of Je...

(Ez.36:23-28; Ps.51:12-15,18-19,Ez.36:25; Mt.22:1-14) "Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me." The Lord desires to "prove the holiness of [His] great name," which has been "profaned among the nations" by the children of Israel. And so He determines to "gather [them] from all the foreign lands," to bring them back from their exile from His sight, and bless them a...

(Ez.34:1-11; Ps.23:1-6; Mt.20:1-16) "I myself will look after and tend my sheep." How grateful we should be that "the Lord is [our] shepherd," for with Him we want for nothing. Indeed, our "cup overflows" and "only goodness and kindness follow [us] all the days of [our] life"; for it is He who watches over our every step, and He is only goodness, He is only kindness – His mercy endures forever. Ho...

(Ez.28:1-10; Dt.32:26-28,30,35-36,39; Mt.19:23-30) "Only with difficulty will a rich man enter the kingdom of God." Yes, "close at hand is the day of their disaster, and their doom is rushing upon them!" – those like the prince of Tyre who are "haughty of heart, and say, 'A god am I! I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea!'" What condemnation they mount up for themselves, those who by the...

(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...