The BreadCast

(Gn.4:1-15,25;   Ps.50:1,8,14,16-17,20-21;   Mk.8:11-13)   “Sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.”   Thus does the Lord encourage Cain not to hang his head at his failures in worship but to learn from his errors and be strong.  Here already in Scripture we see how redemption is possible, how God gives us power to conquer sin.  But Cain does not figh...

(Gn.3:9-24;   Ps.90:1-6,12-13;   Mk.8:1-10)   “You are dust, and to dust you shall return.”   Because of the fall we come face-to-face with this truth: our own mortality, our own humility, that we are but a creature made from the dust of the earth.  And this truth we must understand.  Because we have “eaten from the tree of which [God] had forbidden [us] to eat,” “thorns and thistles” the earth br...

(Gn.3:1-8;   Ps.32:1-2,5-7;   Mk.7:31-37)   “The eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked.”   How different this opening of the eyes of Adam and Eve is from the opening of the deaf man’s ears in our gospel; for our first parents’ eyes were opened unto blindness, but the deaf mute’s ears and tongue only to light. Why this difference?  Why such contrast in the freeing...

(Gn.2:18-25;   Ps.128:1-5;   Mk.7:24-30)   “A man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.”   And Jesus leaves His Father’s side and His mother’s care, and takes to wife His chosen people.  From His side indeed we are born, and become His holy family. To the “sons of the household” Jesus comes; among the Israelites He walks, calling them to His tabl...

(Gn.2:4-9,15-17;   Ps.104:1-2,27-30;   Mk.7:14-23)   “The Lord God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being.”   In addition, “out of the ground the Lord God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food.”  These would feed the body of the man.  But only spirit feeds the soul.  Body and soul....

(Gn.1:20-2:4;   Ps.8:2,4-9;   Mk.7:1-13)   “God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him.”   At God’s word “the water teem[s] with an abundance of living creatures… birds fly beneath the dome of the sky,” and “the earth bring[s] forth all kinds of living creatures,” too.  And “God saw how good it was.”  Then God conceived the crown of His creation and said, “Let us make man in...

(Gn.1:1-19;   Ps.104:1-2,5-6,10,12,24,31,35;   Mk.6:53-56)   “How manifold are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you have wrought them all.”   It is the Lord who “fixed the earth upon its foundation not to be moved forever,” and “with the ocean, as with a garment [He] covered it” – “the earth is full of His creatures.”  By the Word of His mouth all comes into being, and is sustained, sustained in the...

(Heb.13:15-17,20-21;   Ps.23:1-6;   Mk.6:30-34)   “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”   All things are cared for by the Lord; our work and our rest are in His hands.  Nothing need we fear.  No good desire goes unfulfilled – His sheep He loves. Brothers and sisters, “through Christ may [the God of peace] carry out in you all that is pleasing to Him.”  Let Him guide you “in right paths” for...

(Heb.13:1-8;   Ps.27:1,3,5,8-9;   Mk.6:14-29)   “I will never desert you, nor will I forsake you.”   A series of parallels we have today between our first reading and our gospel.  Paul instructs us in his letter to the Hebrews not to “neglect to show hospitality” to our “fellow Christians,” since we may be “entertain[ing] angels” thereby; but it is not angels Herod entertains at his birthday banqu...

(Heb.12:18-19,21-24;   Ps.48:2-4,9-11;   Mk.6:7-13)   “You have drawn near to MountZion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…”   “…to the assembly of the first-born enrolled in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.”  Alleluia!  “...

(Heb.12:4-7,11-15;   Ps.103:1-2,13-14,17-18;   Mk.6:1-6)   “Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines; He scourges every son He receives.”   Like His only Son we must be.  For without discipline where would we be?  Apart from the Lord’s chastising hand, into what state would we fall?  Without the cross, how could we find the kingdom? If the Lord did not scourge us, we would be blind as His countrymen in...

(Heb.12:1-4;   Ps.22:26-28,30-32;   Mk.5:21-43)   “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who inspires and perfects our faith.”   Like the woman in our gospel who saw Him in the crowd and with great confidence made her way toward Him but to reach out and “touch His clothing,” knowing in her heart that by this she “shall get well”; like the official of the synagogue who draws near and falls at His fe...

(Heb.11:32-40;   Ps.31:20-25;   Mk.5:1-20)   “They broke the jaws of lions, put out raging fires, escaped the devouring sword…”   In each of these descriptions of the powerful deeds of the men of old what is conquered is an instrument of death, and so what is indicated is the power of God – from whom these men derive their strength – to destroy death itself.  This is made more obvious in the fact...

(Heb.11:1-2,8-19;   Lk.1:68-75;   Mk.4:35-41)   “Why are you so terrified? Why are you lacking in faith?”   “Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see,” our brother Paul would have us know, and realize.  We all hope for something; there is ever something we all long to see.  The eyes are set in the front of the human head and always he is l...

(Heb.10:32-39;   Ps.37:3-6,23-24,39-40;   Mk.4:26-34)   “You need patience to do God’s will and receive what He has promised.”   Brothers and sisters, “we are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and live.”  Whatever “great contest[s] of suffering” may be before us or behind us or upon us even now, we do not “surrender [our] confidence” in the Lord but stand str...

(Heb.10:19-25;   Ps.24:1-6;   Mk.4:21-25)   “Since we have a great high priest who is over the house of God, let us draw near in utter sincerity and absolute confidence.”   Let us shine our light without fear, for it is the light of the Lord and cannot be removed.  “Let us hold unswervingly to our profession which gives us hope, for He who made the promise deserves our trust.”  Do you think He wil...

(Heb.10:11-18;   Ps.110:1-4;   Mk.4:1-20)   “I will put my laws in their hearts and I will write them on their minds.”   He will plant His seed firmly upon “good soil,” and it shall yield fruit abundantly.  Let us be open to receive His word each day. Today we hear Jesus’ well-known parable of seed sown in four places: “on the path,” “on rocky ground,” “among thorns,” and “on good soil”; and the L...

(Heb.10:1-10;   Ps.40:2,4,7-11;   Mk.3:31-35) “I have come to do your will, O God.” But what is this will of God?  How do we know it?  How shall we live it?  The will of God is known through the obedience of the Son, in His sacrifice for our sins; and all who seek to do the will of God must follow in His way, offering themselves freely, innocently, to the Lord for the sake of the Body of Christ. “...

(Heb.9:15,24-28;   Ps.98:1-6;   Mk.3:22-30)   “His death has taken place for deliverance from transgressions.”   By his death Jesus has disarmed the devil; the Lord has destroyed Satan’s power by His holy sacrifice.  Because of Jesus’ innocent blood, “Satan has suffered mutiny in his ranks and is torn by dissension,” for none of his adversarial accusations can stand before such pure love.  “He can...

(Heb.8:6-13;   Ps.85:8,10-14;   Mk.3:13-19)   “I will be their God and they shall be my people.”   “Near indeed is His salvation to those who fear Him, glory dwelling in our land”; for absolute oneness do we find with our Lord and God through the ministry of His only Son.  For the Lord has said of His new covenant, “All shall know me, from least to greatest,” promising: “I will place my laws in th...

(Heb.7:25-8:6;   Ps.40:7-10,17;   Mk.3:7-12)   “Jesus is always able to save those who approach God through Him, since He forever lives to make intercession for them.”   Oh how the people approach Him today, seeking healing, seeking grace: “a great crowd followed Him from Galilee, and an equally great multitude came to Him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and the neighborhood of Tyre an...

(Heb.7:1-3,15-17;   Ps.110:1-4;   Mk.3:1-6)   “Without father, mother, or ancestry, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.”   We hear today more specifically about “Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God,” whose name means “king of justice” and also “king of peace,” who is therefore so like our King Jesus; it is in his line th...

(Heb.6:10-20;   Ps.111:1-2,4-5,9-10;   Mk.2:23-28)   “I will indeed bless you, and multiply you.”   God promised to bless Abraham, to make his descendants numerous as the stars; and “He swore by Himself,” “by oath,” to carry out His promise, thus giving an unshakable, “unchangeable” “firmness to [the] promise.”  God does not go back on His word.  And so, “after patient waiting, Abraham obtained wh...

(Heb.5:1-10;   Ps.110:1-4;   Mk.2:18-22)   “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”    Without beginning or end is the holy priesthood of our Lord; high above all sacrifices reigns His own. “Taken from among men” is Jesus our high priest “and made [our] representative before God.”  Like others He is in this respect; yet the “gifts and sacrifices” He offers are infinitely...

(Heb.4:12-16;   Ps.19:8-10,15,Jn.6:63;   Mk.2:13-17)   “Nothing is concealed from Him.”   In God’s eyes all men are sinners; this is what His penetrating vision cannot help but see.  Yet it is just such sinners as we He has come to call, to call away from our sin.  The Pharisees cannot bear this sword of truth to pierce their soul, and so they take up the sword of anger against those who are being...