The BreadCast

(Is.5:1-7; Ps.80:9,12-16,19-20,Is.5:7; Phil.4:6-9; Mt.21:33-43) "The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit." "Let me now sing of my friend, my friend's song concerning his vineyard. My friend had a vineyard on a fertile hillside; he spaded it, cleared it of stones, and planted the choicest vines; within it he built a watchtower, and hewed out...

(Zec.8:20-23; Ps.87:1-7,Zec.8:23; Lk.9:51-56) "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." God is with us, brothers and sisters. And though all upon earth turn their faces from Him now, though in ignorance they reject Him and our preaching of His Word – there shall come a day when all nations find their home in Him. In that day the Lord shall reign. As Jesus sets His face toward J...

(Zec.8:1-8; Ps.102:16-23,29; Lk.9:46-50) "The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in her streets." "Even if this should seem impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people, shall it in those days be impossible in my eyes also, says the Lord of hosts." Sometimes we lose sight of the kingdom of heaven. Sometimes our faith fails because of the difficult circumstances in which we fi...

(Ez.18:25-28; Ps.25:4-9; Phil.2:1-11; Mt.21:28-32) "Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you." Why? How can it be that such sinners gain such privilege, such grace? Is it for their sins? Shall we all become as they? We should be like them, but not in sin – in repentance. For it is because they have "turned away from all [the] sins that [they] committed" that they a...

(Is.55:6-9; Ps.145:2-3,8-9,17-18; Phil.1:20-24,27; Mt.20:1-16) "You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just." Our readings today reveal that the Lord is near, merciful, and just, and that these three qualities are one in God. For the Lord's justice is shown in His mercy, and His mercy in His nearness to us. And so we should "praise [His] name forever." Isaiah conveys to us that t...

(Sir.27:30-28:9; Ps.103:1-4,8-12; Rom.14:7-9; Mt.18:21-35) "Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?" How like the Lord's own wisdom is that of Sirach; how like His teaching. For have we not heard the Master say, "Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven," in His instruction to His disciples on how to pray? And does He...

(Col.1:24-2:3; Ps.62:6-7,9; Lk.6:6-11) "We admonish all men and teach them in the full measure of wisdom, hoping to make every man complete in Christ." It is Paul's desire to see the nations "enriched with full assurance by their knowledge of the mystery of God – namely Christ – in whom every treasure of wisdom and knowledge is hidden." It is his desire for us all to be filled with this wisdom tha...

(Ez.33:7-9; Ps.95:1-2,6-9; Rom.13:8-10; Mt.18:15-20) "O wicked one, you shall surely die." The Lord declares to the prophet Ezekiel: "You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel." He is to "speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way," that the sinner might not "die for his guilt" and that the prophet himself might not be "responsible for his death" by his silence. As the...

(Jer.20:7-9; Ps.63:2-6,8-9; Rom.12:1-2; Mt.16:21-27) "Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship." Paul says the same as Jesus when the Lord calls us to "take up [our] cross," to lose our lives for His sake. And as Paul instructs the Romans: "Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind," so Jesus teaches Peter,...

(Is.22:19-23; Ps.138:1-3,6,8; Rom.11:33-36; Mt.16:13-20) "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Thus the Lord grants principal authority in His Church to His rock, Peter. Thus He prophesies what He has promised: the power and teaching given those who sit on Moses' seat shal...

(Is.56:1,6-7; Ps.67:2-3,5-6,8; Rom.11:13-15,29-32; Mt.15:21-28) "God delivered all to disobedience, that He might have mercy upon all." (In love let me speak, O Lord.) Brothers and sisters, the Lord has said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." Yet our scholars and leaders make it a den of unbelief. Like the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day, they are deaf and blind to...

(1Kgs.19:9a,11-13a; Ps.85:8-14; Rm.9:1-5; Mt.14:22-33) "When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance to the cave." For the Lord was in the "tiny whispering sound." God speaks in silence. His Word sinks deeply into our souls, piercing the spirit within us, and so what can we be but afraid? His still, small voice brings us into His awesome presence. Brother...

(Nm.13:1-2,25-14:1,26-29,34-35; Ps.106:4,6-7,13-14,21-23; Mt.15:21-28) "They forgot the God who had saved them." But He did not forget them. Though He curses them in our first reading for their lack of faith, and though they shall indeed all – except for Joshua and Caleb – die in the desert over forty years, their children shall enter and take the Promised Land from the five tribes which inhabit i...

(Jer.28:1-17; Ps.119:29,43,68,79-80,95,102; Mt.14:22-36) "Let those turn to me who fear you and acknowledge your decrees." Hananiah does not fear the Lord; he cares nothing for His decrees. And so he prophesies that the Lord will bring "the vessels of the house of the Lord and all the exiles back from Babylon" within two years, though the Lord has not said this. And he refuses to turn to Jeremiah...

(Ex.20:1-17; Ps.19:8-11,Jn.6:69; Mt.13:18-23) "What was sown on good soil is the man who hears the message and takes it in." "The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul… The command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eye… More precious than gold" and "sweeter also than syrup or honey from the comb" is the word of God. How beautifully our psalm speaks of the words of everlasting life w...

(Gn.22:1-19; Ps.115:1-6,8-9; Mt.9:1-8) "God put Abraham to the test." And so is his faith in the living God made known. And so we see to what faith and obedience we are called. All that we hold back from the Lord, all that is due our God – and our neighbor – we must give without hesitation at the voice of His command. In Leviticus 5, a ram is prescribed as the sacrifice for those who have withheld...

(Gn.17:1,9-10,15-22; Ps.128:1-5; Mt.8:1-4) "Can Sarah give birth at ninety?" Abraham laughs to himself as he asks the question; and indeed many scoff at the idea today, or simply choose to reason the possibility away. And can a leper be made clean in an instant, just by a touch of Jesus' hand and the words "Be cured"? Is the arm of God, who created the universe, somehow shortened to such miracles?...

(Gn.13:2,5-18; Ps.15:1-5; Mt.7:6,12-14;) "How narrow is the gate that leads to life, how rough the road, and how few there are who find it!" In our first reading today, the way Abram walks with God is contrasted with the path Lot chooses for himself. Though the road seems wide and clear, this gate leads to damnation, and indeed, as our gospel states, is one which is chosen by the traveler himself;...

(Tb.12:1,5-15,20; Tb.13:1-2,6; Mk.12:38-44) "Almsgiving saves one from death." We must give alms, yes; and the greatest of alms is the gift of ourselves to God. In our gospel we hear of perhaps the most famous example of almsgiving: the poor widow who gave her two copper coins to the temple treasury; and in our first reading we complete the Book of Tobit, he who is himself a great biblical model o...

(Tb.11:5-15; Ps.146:2,7-10; Mk.12:35-37) "The Lord gives sight to the blind." Now in His teaching Jesus truly begins to open the eyes of the people. We have witnessed this week His fielding their questions regarding theology and the law, but He now takes a step further, revealing to them and to us the Truth itself – that He Himself is the Son of God. "The majority of the crowd heard this with deli...

(Tb.6:11,7:1,9-14,8:4-7; Ps.128:1-5; Mk.12:28-34) "Love the Lord your God" and "Love your neighbor as yourself." On these two great commandments rest all the Law and the Prophets. By them we shall be "not far from the reign of God." In them the Lord leads us into His bridal chamber, where we shall be made one with Him in glory forever. Here on earth we dimly mirror the love of the Lord for His Chu...

(Tb.3:1-11,16-17; Ps.25:1-9; Mk.12:18-27) "He is the God of the living, not of the dead." Rich readings. First of all, we see the striking similarity between the story woven by the Sadducees to thwart the wisdom of the Lord and the situation in which Sarah finds herself. In both cases, seven – the number representing fullness – husbands have died. In one the wife has also died; in the other, she w...

(Tb.2:9-14; Ps.112:1-2,7-9; Mk.12:13-17) "The heart of the just man is secure, trusting in the Lord." Today in our reading and gospel we find just men put to trial and testing. Our Lord is steadfast before the devious inquiry of the Pharisees and Herodians, answering them with a wisdom greater than Solomon's; for what can Jesus, who is Himself the Word made flesh, do but take refuge in the Father...

(Tb.1:1-2,2:1-9; Ps.112:1-6; Mk.12:1-12) "The stone rejected by the builders has become the keystone of the structure." First, Tobit is not a parable; it is not a "story". A parable begins, as does Jesus' own in our gospel, with a statement such as, "A man planted a vineyard…" It is always "a man", a generic man, never a particular man in a particular place at a particular time, as is the case wit...

(Sir.51:12-20; Ps.19:8-11; Mk.11:27-33) "When I was young and innocent, I sought wisdom. She came to me in her beauty, and until the end I will cultivate her." Oh how Sirach speaks of his love, of the wisdom that is the light of his life! He is "resolutely devoted to her" and does "never weary of extolling her." To his teacher he gives "grateful praise," for he treasures her sweetness above all th...