The BreadCast

(Acts 3:1-10;   Ps.105:1-9;   Lk.24:13-35)   “The Lord is risen!  It is true!”   And how it is proven this day!  The two disciples find their “hearts burning inside” as He “explain[s] the Scriptures” to them on the road to Emmaus, and then they come “to know Him in the breaking of bread.”  “The Eleven and the rest of the company” of disciples rejoice in Jerusalem because “He has appeared to Simon....

(Acts 2:36-41;   Ps.33:4-5,18-20,22;   Jn.20:11-18)   “Let the whole house of Israel know beyond any doubt that God has made both Lord and Messiah this Jesus whom you crucified.”   Brothers and sisters, we are all as Mary Magdalene who “stood weeping beside the tomb,” and like the Jews who were “deeply shaken” by the words of Peter.  Though it is to the Chosen people “that the promise was made,” i...

(Acts 2:14,22-33;   Ps.16:1-2,5,7-11;   Mt.28:8-15)   “You will not abandon my soul to the netherworld, nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.”   “It was impossible that death should keep its hold on Him.”  And so “the paths of life” we now walk; “joy in [His] presence” is ours – “in confidence” we abide forever.  For God has “raised Him up again,” this Jesus, our Lord.  Let...

(Is.50:4-9;   Ps.69:8-10,21-22,31,33-34;   Mt.26:14-25)   “The Son of Man is departing, as Scripture says of Him.”   Of Him in Scripture we read, “Morning after morning He opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.”  Even as death approaches, even as His betrayer goes forth (perhaps especially at this dark time), He sets His face “like flint” to confront those who...

(Is.49:1-6;   Ps.71:1-6,15,17;   Jn.13:21-33,36-38)   “I am made glorious in the sight of the Lord, and my God is now my strength!”   The Lord is with His servant, with Israel, with Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God: “From my mother’s womb you are my strength…  O God, you have taught me from my youth.”  And to this “sharp-edged sword” the Lord had concealed “in the shadow of...

(Is.42:1-7;   Ps.27:1-3,13-14;   Jn.12:1-11)   “I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations.”   He has come “to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who dwell in darkness.”  “He establishes justice on the earth,” and this justice is His bringing light to our darkness.  But He could not release us from th...

(Ez.37:21-28;   Jer.31:10-13;   Jn.11:45-57)   “My sanctuary shall be set up among them forever.”   Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to “gather [His people] from all sides to bring them back to their land”; He is the “one prince for [us] all” by whom God makes complete the “everlasting covenant” with us: “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”  It is He “who make[s] Israel hol...

(Jer.20:10-13;   Ps.18:2-7;   Jn.10:31-42)   “He has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.”   As Jeremiah’s persecutors surround him on every side but are “put to utter shame” when he calls out to the Lord, so as the Jews “again tried to arrest Him,” Jesus again “eluded their grasp.”  And so when “the breakers of death surged around [us], the destroying floods overwhelmed [us]...

(Gn.17:3-9;   Ps.105:4-9;   Jn.8:51-59)   “Before Abraham came to be, I AM.”   Abraham is a great man, the blessed patriarch, to whom God made the promise: “I will maintain my covenant with you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting pact, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”  So Abraham becomes “the father of a host of nations,” not just by linea...

(Nm.21:4-9;   Ps.102:2-3,16-21;   Jn.8:21-30)   “From heaven He beheld the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.”   As the Lord has said to the Pharisees: “You belong to what is below; I belong to what is above.”  And truly, how could we come to where He is unless He reached down to lead us there? The Israelites show just how much they are of this world belo...

(Dn.13:1-9,15-17,19-30,33-62;   Ps.23:1-6;   Jn.8:1-11)   “Let the man among you who has no sin be the first to cast a stone at her.”   “Then the audience drifted away one by one, beginning with the elders.”  And no one was left to accuse her. In both our gospel and our first reading a woman is accused of adultery, one justly, the other unjustly.  Yet both are freed.  For under the old law the inn...

(Jer.11:18-20;   Ps.7:2-3,9-12;   Jn.7:40-53)   “Let us destroy the tree in its vigor; let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be spoken no more.”   With these words “they were hatching plots against” Jeremiah, and in the same way against Jesus.  And so, “like a trusting Lamb led to slaughter,” “like the lion’s prey, to be torn to pieces, with no one to rescue” are th...

(Ws.2:1,12-22;   Ps.34:17-21,23;   Jn.7:1-2,10,25-30)   “He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is His Father.”   And for such He shall be persecuted; for such He shall be killed.  For to the wicked “He is the censure of [their] thoughts; merely to see Him is a hardship” for those who stray from the Lord’s commands.  And so, in vain attempt to spare themselves the just judgment...

(Is. 49:8-15;   Ps.145:8-9,13-14,17-18;   Jn.5:17-30)   “Just as the Father possesses life in Himself, so He has granted it to the Son to have life in Himself.”   Here the great mystery of the unity of Father and Son is revealed, and so also our salvation. God is life.  The Father is the great I AM, He who will be what He will be and do what He will do – He who holds the world and all its wonders...

(Ez.47:1-9,12;   Ps.46:2-3,5-6,8-9;   Jn.5:1-3,5-16)   “There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God, the holy dwelling of the Most High.”   Brothers and sisters, Jesus is our living water. In our first reading, Ezekial speaks of his heavenly vision of the river of God which runs from His holy temple.  The water, which increases as it flows further from its source, eventually “empties i...

(Is.65:17-21;   Ps.30:2,4-6,11-13;   Jn.4:43-54)   “You changed my mourning into dancing.”   Here in the midst of Lent we find the purpose of all our suffering, the hope to which we all are called.  “At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing.”  And thus does this time of penance and fasting lead to the abundance found in Easter joy.  For what is darkness but the world in which...

(Hos.6:1-6;   Ps.51:3-4,18-21,Hos.6:6;   Lk.18:9-14)   “As certain as the dawn is His coming, and His judgment shines forth like the light of day!”   It is night.  There is darkness.  In this world of sin we are afflicted on account of our guilt, for our failures to love God.  And so David cries out in our psalm, “Have mercy, O God, in your goodness”; and so the tax collector in our gospel “beat[s...

(Hos.14:2-10;   Ps.81:6-11,14,17;   Mk.12:28-34)   “Hear, O Israel!  The Lord our God is Lord alone!”   “There is no other than He,” and so what should we do but “love the Lord [our] God with all [our] heart, with all [our] soul, with all [our] mind, and with all [our] strength”?  What promise the Lord makes to us if only we would return to Him and love Him: “If only my people would hear me, and I...

(Jer.7:23-28;   Ps.95:1-2,6-9;   Lk.11:14-23)   “They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.”   The Lord calls His people to “listen to [His] voice,” to “walk in all [His] ways,” that they “may prosper.”  But with whom is there obedience?  How many harden their hearts against Him! Of the people of Jeremiah’s time the Lord says, “Faithfulness has...

(Dt.4:1,5-9;   Ps.147:12-13,15-16,19-20;   Mt.5:17-19)   “What great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law?”   “He has proclaimed His word to Jacob, His statutes and ordinances to Israel.”  The Lord in His grace “sends forth His command to the earth; swiftly runs His word!”  And as the snow and the rain come down to nourish the land, to bring life to the earth, so His...

(Dn.3:25,34-43;   Ps.25:4-9;   Mt.18:21-35)   “With contrite heart and humble spirit let us be received.”   The Lord “guides the humble to justice, He teaches the humble His way,” and so it is the prayer of these He receives; upon them He showers His mercy.  For His mercy is His justice and it is known by those who humbly share the same. Azariah makes his prayer for mercy for his people Israel who...

(2Kgs.5:1-15;   Ps.42:2-3,43:3-4;   Lk.4:24-30)   “There is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.”   “There is a prophet in Israel,” brothers and sisters, and this prophet is God.  Jesus Christ has come, salvation from the Jews.  Do you recognize Him?  Will you accept Him? It is only in “the waters of Israel” that we are made clean.  As wonderful as may be the waters of our native land, it ma...

(Mic.7:14-15,18-20;   Ps.103:1-4,8-12;   Lk.15:1-3,11-32)   “While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him and was deeply moved.”   “He ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.”  Amen.  Such is the forgiveness of the Lord, that even while we are far from Him, yet while we are sinners, He sees our hearts turn to Him and welcomes us into His embrace. W...

(Gn.37:3-4,12-13,17-28;   Ps.105:5,16-21;   Mt.21:33-43,45-46) “They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.” “The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone of the structure.”  Hear what Scripture says.  As he who was “sold as a slave” by his brothers became “lord of [the king’s] house and ruler of all his possessions,” so He whom the elders of the people could...

(Jer.17:5-10;   Ps.1:1-4,6,40:5;   Lk.16:19-31)   “He is like a tree planted beside the waters, that stretches out its roots to the stream.”   “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord.”  For he shall be like the tree “that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade.”  He shall never be “like a barren bush in the desert” or “like chaff which the wind drive...