The BreadCast

(Ezra 9:5-9;   Tb.13:1-4,6-8;   Lk.9:1-6)  “Turn back, you sinners! do the right before Him: perhaps He may look with favor upon you, and show you mercy.” As the Word of the Lord comes to our villages and enters our houses, we must treasure it and heed its warning to turn from our sins.  If we harden our hearts against its grace and mercy, if we fail to recognize our sin in the blessed light it br...

(Ezra 6:7-8,12,14-20;   Ps.122:1-5;   Lk.8:19-21)   “The elders of the Jews continued to make progress in the building, supported by the message of the prophets.”   And so, returning from exile and with the permission and indeed the financial support of the Gentile king, Darius, the Jews completed the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem.  And so, the prophecy of the return to the Lord from their...

(Ezra 1:1-6;   Ps.126:1-6;   Lk.8:16-18)   “Those that sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.”   The Israelites toiled in tears for four hundred years under the yoke of the Egyptians, then rejoiced to finally enter the Promised Land (after wandering forty years in the desert).  For seventy years Judah had been exiled to Babylon, but rejoiced when, remarkably, the king of Persia called them to return t...

(1Tm.6:13-16;   Ps.100:2-5;   Lk.8:4-15)   “Keep God’s command without blame or reproach until our Lord Jesus shall appear.”   The Lord’s “kindness endures forever, and His faithfulness, to all generations,” and we must endure with Him, ever showing forth His kindness and faithfulness to the world, until we come to dwell with Him eternally “in inapproachable light.” When God brings His appearance...

(1Tm.6:2-12;   Ps.49:6-10,17-20,Mt.5:3;   Lk.8:1-3)   “Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation, and a trap.”   Today we hear Paul’s famous words: “The love of money is the root of all evil.”  They are oft-quoted, but how well are they understood and practiced in the avoidance of excessive possessions and inflated bank accounts.  Paul tells us, verifiably so, that men “have come to gr...

(1Tm.4:12-16;   Ps.111:2,7-10;   Lk.7:36-50)   “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; prudent are all who live by it.”   If “the works of His hands are faithful and just,” as His children living in His Word and as His image, we must “be a continuing example of love, faith, and purity.”  If we do not attend to this duty, “so that everyone may see [our] progress,” how shall we “bring to salva...

(1Tm.3:14-16;   Ps.111:1-6;   Lk.7:31-35)  “God’s wisdom is vindicated by all who accept it.” “The Church of the living God” is the “pillar and bulwark of truth,” as Paul tells us.  And it is those who live the faith, “professing it” with all their beings, who prove its truth.  “Wonderful, indeed, is the mystery of our faith”; no greater grace or wisdom could we hope to attain. “He was manifested...

(1Tm.3:1-13;   Ps.101:1-3,5-6;   Lk.7:11-17)   “He who walks in the way of integrity shall be in my service.”   “God has visited His people.”  What the people said when Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead should be said of us all as we pass through this world.  That same love that moved Jesus to pity upon seeing the tears of this poor mother should move us all.  To all we should say, “Do no...

(1Tm.2:1-8;   Ps.28:2,6-9;   Lk.7:1-10)   “Offer prayers with blameless hands held aloft.”   We must pray.  We must petition the Lord for the good of the world, that the good of our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ, might be known to all.  If we do not intercede, if we do not seek the healing of a people sick with sin, who shall do so?  The Lord desires “all men to be saved and come to know the truth....

(1Tm.1:15-17;   Ps.113:1-7;   Lk.6:43-49) “Any man who desires to come to me will hear my words and put them into practice.” Our psalm today declares that God is “enthroned on high” – “High above all the nations is the Lord; above the heavens is His glory.”  And why is the Lord so glorious, so worthy of our praise…?  Because “He raises the lowly from the dust; from the dunghill He lifts up the poo...

(1Tm.1:1-2,12-14;   Ps.16:1-2,5,7-8,11;   Lk.6:39-42)   “Remove the plank from your own eye first; then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”   The answer to Jesus’ question to His disciples: “Can a blind man act as guide to a blind man?” is obvious.  No.  It must be a man of sight, of vision, who leads those who are blind, who are without understanding.  Paul h...

(Col.3:12-17;   Ps.150:1-6;   Lk.6:27-38) “Whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.” “Sing gratefully to God from your hearts in psalms, hymns, and inspired songs.”  Such is our speech and action when dedicated to God.  Our lives indeed become a symphony of His grace when we “let the word of Christ, rich as it is, dwell in [us].”  The “blast of the trum...

(Col.3:1-11;   Ps.145:2-3,9-13;   Lk.6:20-26)   “Set your heart on what pertains to higher realms where Christ is seated at God’s right hand.”   Is this not the central message of the Lord’s beatitudes: “Be intent on things above rather than on things of earth.”  For how could we be blest in poverty, hunger, and weeping if our hearts are set on this earth?  And how could riches and fullness and la...

(Col.2:6-15;   Ps.145:1-2,8-11;   Lk.6:12-19)   “Coming down from the mountain with them, He stopped at a level stretch where there were many of His disciples.”   In our gospel, the Lord has gone “to the mountain to pray, spending the night in communion with God.”  Then at daybreak He chose His twelve apostles.  On His way back down the mountain He comes upon those who have been waiting for Him, a...

(Col.1:21-23;   Ps.54:3-4,6,8;   Lk.6:1-5)   “Hold fast to faith, be firmly grounded and steadfast in it.”   “The Son of Man is Lord,” Lord of the universe, Lord “even of the sabbath.”  He is the Word through whom all things have come and it is He who has “achieved reconciliation” for all with God, the Father.  We must be presented to God “holy, free of reproach and blame.”  We must bow before His...

(Col.1:15-20;   Ps.100:1-5;   Lk.5:33-39)   “New wine should be poured into fresh skins.”   “The blood of His cross” is poured forth for us; it becomes the new wine we drink this day, that which makes us new men by its grace.  The scribes and Pharisees refuse this new wine, saying, “I find the old wine better,” so they cannot see “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creatures,” st...

(Col.1:9-14;   Ps.98:2-6;   Lk.5:1-11)   “You will multiply good works of every sort and grow in the knowledge of God.”   As Simon Peter and the others “caught such a great number of fish that their nets were at the breaking point,” so shall it be with any Christian who devotes himself to the work and the will of God.  But as the apostles “brought their boats to land, left everything, and became H...

(Col.1:1-8;   Ps.52:10-11;   Lk.4:38-44)   “And He continued to preach in the synagogues of Judea.”   The Word goes forth, bringing healing to the hearts of the faithful.  The Word goes forth, ever growing among the people.  As “the message of truth, the Gospel… has come to [the Colossians], has borne fruit, and has continued to grow,” so “it has everywhere in the world.”  As Jesus has set out “in...

(1Thes.5:1-6,9-11;   Ps.27:1,4,13-14;   Lk.4:31-37)   “Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.”   The Word of the Lord has all “authority and power.”  The Word of the Lord casts out demons.  The Word of the Lord brings light to the soul who seeks Him.  In Him we have no fear. He comes, brothers and sisters; yes, He comes…  As He entered the synagogue in Galilee and...

(1Thes.4:13-18;   Ps.96:1,3-5,11-13;   Lk.4:16-30)   “He comes to rule the earth.”   He is coming, and has come.  He set us free from the prison of sin when first He came, and will set us free from death when He comes again and “we shall be with the Lord unceasingly.” In our gospel we read of His first coming “to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives…”  Fulfilling the wor...

(1Thes.4:9-12;   Ps.98:1,7-9;   Mt.25:14-30)   “Those who have, will get more until they grow rich, while those who have not, will lose even the little they have.”   Again, brothers and sisters, we must always grow in the gifts and graces of the Lord, never looking down upon what He gives us as too little (or too much), but ever putting such talents to use that they might produce an abundant yield...

(1Thes.4:1-8;   Ps.97:1-2,5-6,10-12;   Mt.25:1-13)   “God has not called us to immorality but to holiness.”   And so, “keep your eyes open” and “make still greater progress” in the path that leads to His kingdom.  Your lights shining brightly as you await His return, be ready to enter His marriage feast. “It is God’s will that you grow in holiness,” Paul instructs us in our first reading.  “Conduc...

(1Thes.3:7-13;   Ps.90:3-4,12-14,17;   Mt.24:42-51)   “Stay awake, therefore! You cannot know the day your Lord is coming.”   And what is it to stay awake, to be ready, but to do as Paul exhorts the Thessalonians in our first reading: to continue to grow in holiness until that day we meet with the Lord.  This is our essential call. Here we are, having been converted to the Lord, having found faith...

1Thes.2:9-13;   Ps.139:1,7-12;   Mt.23:27-32)   “Make your lives worthy of the God who calls you to His kingship and glory.”   God is our Father, and those who preach “God’s good tidings” love us “as a father does his children,” for their message is “not as the word of men” but truly “the word of God at work within [those] who believe.”  Come to the Lord’s table.  Eat of His Body, drink of His Blo...

(1Thes.2:1-8;   Ps.139:1-6;   Mt.23:23-26)   “First cleanse the inside of the cup so that its outside may be clean.”   The Lord rails against the Pharisees again today, calling them from false practice to genuine faith; and in Paul we again see the paragon of true ministry in the Lord’s Name. In our gospel the Lord calls the Pharisees “frauds,” for they have the appearance of holiness in clothing...