The BreadCast

O patient and loving soul who cared for both the physical and spiritual needs of the poor and the sick, who with a gentle word would rebuke sins and heal division and with a gentle touch bind the wounds and smooth the beds of the ill in your home and in hospital, who saw that remedies for the soul, the Bread of life and holy Confession, were available, too, through the hands of a priest – who cares as deeply and fully for the needs of souls this day? Increase their number; pray the Lord touch all souls with your same patient affection, with the love only He knows.

(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 matters not, for it is these alone that are blessed; these alone will make our flesh again "like the flesh of a little child." For a little child has come through these waters, has been baptized in this River, and it is His blood which baptizes us all and makes us clean as the flesh of God. "Bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling-place," our souls should sing with our psalmist as they seek "the running waters" of "the living God" that alone will satisfy all our needs. Oh to "behold the face of God," to "go in to the altar of God" in "gladness and joy"! How we should search for His grace and His presence! Like Naaman who came from a distant land upon the word of a servant girl, so should we obediently seek the grace that comes only from God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – the Word made flesh in Jesus Christ. He is our dwelling place, the Temple of God. "No prophet gains acceptance in his native place," Jesus proclaims to those of His hometown. And His prophecy is true. For though salvation is from the Jews and they are Jews who serve as its foundation stones, yet the Church shall be constituted greatly by those of other lands. The Jews who follow Him shall be greatly persecuted by their own, and the Word shall bear fruit to the ends of the world before the eyes of the Chosen shall be opened to the living water, the healing grace, in their midst. Come in faith, brothers and sisters, to this holy mountain where the Lord does dwell, to find the cleansing of your sins. Through none else does salvation come; in no one else is the Word made known. The flesh of God is Jesus alone. ******* O LORD, let us not turn away from your Word to our souls but be compassionate as you. YHWH, you are a compassionate God calling us to your mercy and love. Forgive us all our transgressions against you that we might know your favor. Though we have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, though we have rebelled against you and your command, refusing to listen to the Word of truth you utter in our midst, hear our cry for deliverance from the prison into which our sins have cast us. Save us in your love! O LORD, if we do not judge we shall not be judged. If we do not condemn we shall not be condemned. If we but forgive others their transgressions against us, you will forgive our transgressions against you. And we shall return to your pasture. Help us to give, O LORD, to give as you give, to give as your Son gives… to lay down our lives for the sake of others – to seek pardon for their sins. Jesus stands in the breach to reconcile us to you and one another; may we join Him in His mission of love.

O servant of love whom the angels knew to be of God for your blessed care of the poor and the sick and all the needy pilgrims who came to you in abundance that you might be the greater blest by what you did for the least of Christ's brothers, you who turned from the world to absolute service of the Lord and complete trust in His providence – please pray that our hearts may be enlarged and we find the grace to lay down our lives so freely for the needs of others, for their well-being, that as we welcome all who come to us we might ourselves be welcomed in our misery into the loving arms of Jesus.

(Ex.17:3-7; Ps.95:1-2,6-9; Rom.5:1-2,5-8; Jn.4:5-42) "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst." What is this "spring of water welling up to eternal life" but the Holy Spirit come upon us, the Truth of God in our midst through the blessed sacrifice of the Son for us "while we were still sinners." Brothers and sisters, "the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us," even as Jesus' words of spirit and truth are poured into the ears of the Samaritan woman. Do we know His grace? Do we hear His voice and leave our water jar at the old well as we go to tell others about the Christ? In our readings today is the juxtaposition of the physical and the spiritual, and the call to enter into the Spirit of God. In our first reading, the Israelites "in their thirst for water" while wandering in the desert cry out against God and Moses and long to return to their slavery in Egypt, that they might but be able to eat and drink. The Lord would teach them to depend on Him, to trust in the Spirit and His love, and He will provide for all their needs, as He does this day, but they are blinded to the Hand of God. "Though they had seen [His] works," they continually tested Him, unable to find rest in Him, and for their hardness of heart virtually none shall themselves enter the Promised Land. And the source of their lack of faith is ever their bellies. In our gospel twice we see the inability to understand the Spirit speaking because of the belly's grumbling. The Samaritan woman confuses the life-giving water of which Jesus speaks with the passing water she came to draw from Jacob's well: "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming to this well." And the disciples think someone else has brought the Lord something to eat when He says, "I have food to eat of which you do not know," at their urging Him to eat the food they have in hand. But as He speaks to the woman of the Holy Spirit, He speaks to them of our daily bread – "to do the will of the one who sent [us] and to finish His work." Indeed, as He awaits the return of the sinful woman with her Samaritan neighbors, He prepares them for the mission that must now go forth even to "foreigners." It is the Spirit of God He desires them to eat that they might be fortified for their call. And it is the Spirit found in the Body and Blood He has shed for our sakes of which we all must partake to slake our thirst and find the strength to do the work which leads us to the kingdom of God. His is a kingdom for all; and it lasts forever. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "The Spirit Rules the Body" from Breath, The Apple Rises, fifth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let us believe that your Son is the Savior of the world, and so have eternal life in Him. YHWH, give us to drink of the water of the Spirit. Let us listen to the voice of your Son and so be filled with your Word. It is you who feed us; it is you who satisfy our thirst. Let us not set our hearts on the food of this earth but seek only the streams of living water which come to us by the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ. Yes, let us listen to His voice and be converted to His way, and we shall be saved, and we shall worship you in truth. O what joy would be ours if we could but set aside the jar we use to carry the water of this world and run to tell others of the glory in our midst in your only Son! O what grace would course through our veins and be proclaimed by our tongues if the Spirit we welcomed into our hearts! Dear LORD, let us turn to you and not to our stomachs. Let your river in Heaven brim over and pour upon all your faithful children.

O blessed martyrs who willingly and happily suffered a cruel death by the teeth of beasts and the point of a sword, all for love of Jesus – how can we match your faith; where shall we find the strength you displayed in ecstasy at tortures devised by the wicked of this earth, and can we call ourselves Christian otherwise? Pray for us, dear martyrs, that the Lord will bless us with such favor as you have known and we, too, will be enabled to stand in joy even in the face of the severest persecution, even at the time of our death… even then may Heaven be with us.

(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. We have all "sinned against God," brothers and sisters. We are all as the Prodigal Son who has "squandered his money on dissolute living." But oh the forgiveness of our God, who "with kindness and compassion" "redeems [our] life from destruction," who in "pardon[ing] all [our] iniquities" raises us from the death of sin to sit with Him in heaven. Does not the father in our parable say as much of the sinner? "This son of mine was dead and has come back to life." Is it not so that when we were still sinners Jesus died for us, to raise us with Himself to new life? "Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of His inheritance?" the prophet Micah asks in our first reading, wondering at the infinite grace of our Father. "As the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is His kindness toward those who fear Him," sings David in our psalm. And so, how joyous we should be, how our souls should "bless the Lord… and forget not all His benefits." For indeed, "not according to our sins does He deal with us, nor does He requite us according to our crimes." Rather, even though we deserve damnation, even though the most we could hope for is to be treated as one of His hired hands, yet does He remember His love for us. Beyond all human reason, He graces us with "the finest robe" and calls us in to "eat and celebrate" at the heavenly banquet, where there shall be "music and dancing" to the Name of our God, where all the gifts of the Spirit poured forth through the blood of Christ are ours as we become one with the Father, as we return to Him "in good health." Is there anything more remarkable? And let us not sin as the elder brother. Let us not begrudge God, the loving Father, His infinite generosity to all His sons. Let us not presume to stand in judgment against those the Lord deigns to forgive, but share His forgiveness and His grace toward all. Then truly the father's words to the elder son (which are a noticeably kind word to the Pharisees, whom this son represents) will be our own: "You are with me always, and everything I have is yours." Let us know the truth of this, God's will for all our souls, and accept the gracious forgiveness which brings us to it as we come "to [our] senses" and turn to Him with all our hearts this day. He is calling us home. ******* O LORD, show us your grace that you might rejoice in our return to you. YHWH, your kindness and compassion are without end, your forgiveness deeper than the ocean and higher than the sky, for you are beyond our ability to understand – your love is ever abiding. But we, O LORD, are so limited, in our comprehension and in our love. We think only of ourselves, whereas you reach out to us. Help us, dear LORD, to be more like you; help us to share in your kindness and mercy. Your goodness please make our own, that in your presence we might always remain. So dark is our sin, dear God, so far have we run from your face, so foolishly removed ourselves from your embrace, from your loving arms and secure protection…. Bring us back into your House, welcoming us as sons again; our guilt remove forever. And let us rejoice as others enter, for then we will be like you, who care more for our redemption than that honor be shown to you.

(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 call "our brother, our own flesh," whom they "seized… dragged… outside the vineyard, and killed," has become the very foundation of the New Jerusalem. How parallel are our first reading and gospel today. Jacob, Israel, sends the son he loves best, he who is "the child of his old age," to the brothers who are tending their father's flock, to bring them food to nourish them in their labor. The Father in heaven sends Jesus, His beloved Son – who is Child of His old age both in His existing with Him before time and in His coming here at the end of the age to His brothers – to those whom He has entrusted the care of His vineyard, through whom He feeds all the people, with the greatest of nourishment to sustain them unto heaven itself. For their jealousy over the favor granted their brother, Israel's sons strip Joseph of his long and princely tunic and cast him into a cistern "which was empty and dry" as their souls. Out of the same jealousy and in the desire for His inheritance, the chief priests and Pharisees will soon arrest the Lord and see that He is stripped and nailed to a cross. And, brothers and sisters, the outcome of each story shall be the same. As his brothers must come on their knees to their brother to find grain to keep themselves from dying of famine on the parched earth once Joseph has taken his place as ruler of the king's possessions, so the elders of the people and all of us who bear responsibility for the death of Christ by our continual sins against Him shall have to come on our knees before Him who sits on the throne of heaven robed in glory, to find nourishment for our journey here in His sacred Body and Blood, and to find a place at table in the kingdom to come. There is much to be pondered in the rejection of Jesus, as is so with the betrayal of Joseph. It is not only the Pharisees – who answer so well the Lord's question regarding the fate of the tenant farmers, yet have not the faith to match the words God puts on their lips – who must look inside themselves and recognize their anger and jealousy and greed. The Lord invites each of his brothers to examine his conscience this day, in this time. In particular, are we showing ourselves to be the nation the Lord has given the kingdom of God? Do we "yield a rich harvest" for Him who was sold for thirty pieces of silver? Or have our souls gone bankrupt? May from us the Lord "obtain His share of the grapes." ******* O LORD, you are rejected, you are killed, that your inheritance you might share with us. YHWH, though we reject your Beloved Son, dragging Him out of the vineyard to kill Him, yet His blood becomes salvation for us, release from slavery to sin. As Joseph who was sold to the Ishmaelites became ruler in the land of Egypt, so has the One who has died on a cross become the cornerstone of your kingdom. And all who come to Him this day, under Him become a holy nation. There is a great famine upon this land, O LORD, and we would quickly die for lack of nourishment if to us you did not send your only Son to provide for all our needs. Let us show our gratefulness to you for such rich blessing by giving due honor to the One you have sent and producing abundant fruit in His Name. O LORD, let all jealous souls be gathered into your harvest, redeemed from the blood upon their hands by our Savior's sacrifice. Such marvels you would perform for us at no cost but the abandonment of our greed and envy.

(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 drives away." Never shall he know the "place of torment," for "the heat when it comes" shall do him no harm. This man "follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners," but rather "meditates on [God's] law day and night." His faith and his hope are the roots that stretch out to the living water of the living God who nourishes all by His Word and in His flesh. Brothers and sisters, we must never "trust in human beings" as do the Pharisees, or be as the rich man who "seeks his strength in flesh," "dressed in purple and linen and feast[ing] splendidly every day." This earth itself holds not our food. Notice that it is to the Pharisees Jesus addresses His parable in our gospel today. How closely the rich man parallels these leaders of the people. The bounty of God's wisdom is bestowed upon them, but they use it to feed their bellies rather than to shepherd those in need. They claim Abraham as their father and the Law of Moses as their guide, but they neither have the faith that makes Abraham the father of all, nor do they follow the instructions Moses conveys. Only in the flesh are they Abraham's sons; and though they see him from the hell to which they come, they cannot touch him, they cannot reach past him to the Father in heaven, who gives Abraham his blessing. Dwelling but in their "father's house" as the rich man who gorged himself on the pleasures of the flesh, they come not to the Father's House on high, for their roots penetrate not to the living water that is found in faith, and now Lazarus cannot even "dip the tip of his finger in water to refresh [their] tongue." Dead as the stone upon which the commandments were written do they become. Notice, too, brothers and sisters, the connection between thoughts and actions, between faith and works, between the word and the flesh in our first reading, and present throughout Scripture: "I, the Lord, alone probe the mind and test the heart, to reward everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds." Only the Lord, who is Himself the living water, knows if His Word of life dwells in a man, and that faithful spirit is reflected directly in the just man's deeds – for by these the Lord judges. And Jesus is the just man; He is the Word made flesh in whom the Spirit dwells, in whom all find life. He is the undying tree, one with the Father, whom all must imitate. His words are living water; His flesh is food we eat: He alone is perfect in word and deed, for in Him spirit and flesh meet. Let our hearts be set on Him, and we, too, shall be blessed; and we shall know that He is risen from the dead. ******* O LORD, let us be saved from torment by walking in the way of your risen Son. YHWH, let us not be wayward souls, separating ourselves from you and the nourishment you offer; for we shall but wilt and fade if we put our trust in the passing things of this earth – we shall but die if we fat our bellies and become bereft of your Spirit. Jesus let us follow, LORD, for upon your will alone He set Himself. Your Word let us meditate upon both night and day that we shall remain in your presence always and walk ever in your ways. You reward the faithful soul with the blessings of your House but can only cast the wicked man far from your table of grace. Let us not be rich in the things of this world nor turn our sights to what is evil. Upon your love let us set our sights, that our hearts might be purged of all insolence, of all sin against your goodness. And let us reach out a helping hand to those in need of your water, that all might have life this day in the Holy Spirit.

O patron of the impoverished who though son of a king counted yourself among the poor in spirit, you whose love abundantly flowed to all in need, who sought the purity of our Blessed Mother, who thirsted for our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, who devoted yourself to prayer and constant works of charity – teach us this day to be pure and set our hearts on serving the poor that we too might come to share the kingdom with all God's children, all those who empty themselves of the things of this world to find the grace of Heaven.

(Jer.18:18-20; Ps.31:5-6,14-17; Mt.20:17-28) "Can you drink of the cup I am to drink of?" Do you know what He asks, brothers and sisters? And do you know where it leads? In our gospel today, Jesus is very deliberate in His instruction to His apostles. As He starts out "to go up to Jerusalem," where the chief priests and scribes "will condemn Him to death" and the Romans crucify Him, He takes "the Twelve aside on the road" to speak clearly to them of the fate which awaits Him. (So objective are His words that He refers to Himself in the third person.) Of course, the apostles are yet far from understanding His message, as shown by their soon dissembling into jealous indignation regarding the question of the power and importance of each. And the Lord must teach them again that He has come "to give His own life as a ransom for many"; He "has come, not to be served by others, but to serve," and that those who "aspire to [the] greatness" that is His must necessarily "serve the needs of all." We know that Peter is the first among equals "for whom it has been reserved by [the] Father," as the Lord has indicated earlier, and not James or John – though both of these shall have prominent place in drinking of the cup of Christ: James as the first apostle martyred and John, the beloved, whose martyrdom shall be white, coming in the endurance of a long life – but all of us who seek to follow Jesus indeed share in the selfsame cross, and so shall receive of the selfsame blessings of Him who is raised up "on the third day." All are called to drink of the cup of suffering and service in Jesus' stead. We must be clear on this essential point of faith. And does not Jeremiah's persecution at the hands of the citizens of Jerusalem show that the cross of Christ extends even to the time before He had come in the flesh? Do not the words spoken against the prophet: "Let us destroy him by his own tongue; let us carefully note his every word," echo exactly the plottings of the Pharisees against Jesus, whom they repeatedly sought to entrap? And all this though He does "speak in their behalf, to turn away [the Father's] wrath from them." And David in our psalm chants the same refrain: "They consult together against me, plotting to take my life." Brothers and sisters, as it was for David and Jeremiah and Jesus, following in the ways of the Lord will bring us persecution. You may well ask, Must good be repaid with evil? but the Lord will answer, "Let it be for now." For "from the clutches of [our] enemies and [our] persecutors" He rescues those who trust in Him. Take heart that the humbled shall be exalted as you drink deeply of His cup. ******* O LORD, though good be repaid with evil, we shall rise on the third day if we remain united to the sacrifice of your Son. YHWH, though persecutions come, as they must, we trust ourselves into your hands knowing that your protection is with us, knowing that as your Son was raised on the third day, our suffering shall soon come to an end and we stand with you in your kingdom. Give us faith and strength in your abiding presence, despite the whisperings of the crowd. The people plotted to take the life of your prophets and your Son. A pit is dug for all your faithful, LORD. But that pit is shallow as this passing world; only your eternity remains. And so, let us not fear as we drink the cup Jesus offers us, the cup He Himself drank upon the Cross; for as we lay down our lives in this world, sharing in the sacrifice of Christ, so we shall be blessed to know the glory to which you call all your faithful servants. Our trust is in you, O LORD, for you are our God. Save us from the snares of the devil.