The BreadCast

O father of monks and all who would give themselves completely to the Lord, you who have been so obedient to the word of God, to His call to sell everything, to renounce all possessions and follow Him – how we need your prayers this day, when love for material things possesses our very bodies and souls, when prayer and penance seem things of the distant past. Make present to us the blessed call of the Lord, the renunciation of the world, that we too might find the riches of Heaven you knew so well. Pray we give up all for God.

(1Sm.9:1-4,17-19,10:1; Ps.21:2-7; Mk.2:13-17) "You are to govern the Lord's people Israel, and to save them from the grasp of their enemies round about." Tall and handsome, Saul gives every appearance of a king. And so God gives the people what they want in this "handsome young man" who "stood head and shoulders above the people." But with Saul the Lord shall indeed prove that it is not upon appearances He gazes. In the failure of Saul's reign will be revealed the emptiness of such outward attraction and our proclivity to desire what is appealing to the eye. For Saul shall not prove to be God's anointed; His Christ shall be quite another. It is not of Saul our psalm of David sings when it speaks of the blessings of the king. The "majesty and splendor [the Lord] conferred upon him" is as passing as his beauty. The "crown of pure gold" is to be placed upon the head of Jesus Christ alone; it is He the Father has made "a blessing forever." His glory will be reflected in David, the ruddy shepherd youth whose son he is called, but will be fulfilled only in the Person of Jesus. It is He in whom all kings rejoice, in whom all find "the joy of [God's] presence," in whom all discover victory. In our gospel, Jesus, the true king, comes, not with stately train, but "walking along the lakeshore." And crowds of people follow Him, people not of power and riches or reputation; rather, "many tax collectors and those known as sinners joined Him." This greatly disturbed the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees – it was not according to their vision of who He should be and what He should do. "Why does He eat with such as these?" they complain to His disciples. But He has a ready answer, one which cuts to the heart of us all and reveals the nature and purpose of this true king: "People who are healthy do not need a doctor; sick people do." And so the Savior comes into our midst, neither tall nor handsome nor desiring praise, to save us from our sin. We are all sick, brothers and sisters! Make no doubt; have no question about it. We need Him! It is this king and the "goodly blessings" that flow from Him that must be our heart's desire, for He alone will bring us into the joy of the kingdom; He alone will save us from the sin into which we have all fallen. Let us follow Him as Levi, leaving behind our sinful station in life, and He will govern us well. ******* O LORD, Jesus you have made King over us that we might be saved from sin and rejoice in your presence forever. YHWH, your Son, our King, has come to call us from our sin, to save men in need of healing. And who among us is not in need of Him? Pity the poor soul who thinks himself so. What are we in your sight, O LORD? However tall we might be, we are no more than ants. To you all men are sick and in need of a physician; you see how quickly our beauty fades. Oh if we could only see as you see! If we could only recognize your greatness among us in the humble stature of Jesus, the holy One. Make us ready to follow Him as Matthew from his post. Somehow open our eyes to see His gaze passing before us. Save us from the grasp of our enemies round about. Only you could govern us; only in you could we rejoice in victory. O LORD, let us join your Son in majesty and splendor – for us He is a blessing forever. In Him we find all we need. In Him we are all anointed kings.

(1Sm.8:4-7,10-22; Ps.89:2,16-19; Mk.2:1-12) "We have never seen anything like this!" What the Lord can do, no one else is able to do – no king, no prophet, no priest. Though all may do in His name, nothing is done except through Him. He alone forgives sins; He alone heals. He alone fights our battles, for He alone rules over us. In asking Samuel to appoint a king over them, the Israelites reject the rule of God in their lives. If they but believed, the Lord would take care of all their concerns and they would keep all His blessings – their children, their animals, their land… as their own. But they do not trust in Him; rather, they fear the world, the surrounding nations, and seek to be like them, to fight as they do – to have one of their own to rule them. And thus they will lose what they have, for when we give all to God, He returns all we give with manifold blessing; but when we trust in man, giving ourselves to him, he swallows up our offerings. Our psalm expresses well the attitude we should have toward God. It should be "in the light of [His] countenance" we walk. It should be "at [His] name [we] rejoice all the day." We should say with our psalmist: "To the Lord belongs our shield, and to the Holy One of Israel, our king." And so it is Jesus who must be our King; He alone must rule our lives, for He alone truly belongs to God; He alone is the Son of God. The scribes were right to ask, "Who can forgive sins except God alone?" for God alone stood before them, forgiving the sins of His children. And it is now by His power, His presence, that our priests forgive men's sins in His name. "The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins," and He does not take that power from the face of the earth upon His return to the Father's side in heaven: He multiplies that power – as well as the power to teach, to, in this sense, rule our lives – in His holy Church and its appointed leaders. What He granted to the Israelites because of their stubbornness of heart, He now brings full circle by blessing us with the presence of Christ: our king, our prophet, and our priest. No longer is it blasphemy for one to stand in God's stead, for the Lord has visited His people. And should we not praise Him, therefore, for the wonders He accomplishes in our midst? Should we not shout for joy for His blessings? For now we have a king to rule us, a king greater than any other; now we need not fear the attacks of any nation. For even Satan He holds in His hands and casts him out at will; and so we are able to return to our land, to stand up and "go home." May "all give praise to God" for His goodness to us, turning our foolishness and sin to His grace and blessing before our very eyes. ******* O LORD, let us walk in the light of your countenance; you alone are our strength. YHWH, forgive us our sins, forgive our rejecting your rule over us. Forgive our seeking to be like other nations with one like ourselves as our king – O why do we not cherish your presence in our midst? But thank you for sending your Son to be our King, to be Lord over us, for by this grace you take our foolish desire and make it holy. By Him we are redeemed from our sin… By Him we are forgiven. Only you, O God, can forgive our sins, and this you do through your Son. For He shares your authority – He Himself is God. And this power to forgive sins you extend to men who stand this day in Jesus' stead. Though we be weak and sinful, in His Name all is accomplished according to your will. And in your Church men now also teach in the Name of Jesus, and so in your NAME as well. O LORD, let us hear your Word, let us know your healing, that all the day we might give praise to you.

(1Sm.4:1-11; Ps.44:10-11,14-15,24-25,27; Mk.1:40-45) "Our souls are bowed down to the dust; our bodies are pressed to the earth." The Israelites suffer "a disastrous defeat" at the hands of their worst enemy. Not only do they lose thirty thousand men, but the ark of God – "who is enthroned upon the cherubim" which protect it – the tabernacle which holds the manna and the tablets of the Ten Commandments. This most holy ark is taken into the camp of the Philistines. How can this be? The Israelites trusted in God's presence to save them, and they are beaten down. Our psalm addresses their plight directly: "You have cast us off and put us in disgrace, and you go not forth with our armies… those who hated us plundered us at will." And so the psalmist cries out with the defeated Israelites, "Why do you hide your face, forgetting our woe and our oppression?" The Israelites – like the thieves on the cross either side of Christ, like us all – deserved their crushing defeat. They, again, as us all, turned their faces from the Lord of hosts to worship false and empty gods. There should be no question as to why the chastising hand of God is upon any of us. But our psalm is about more than this defeat of Israel or even our own punishment for sin. Written as the voice of Jesus Himself, it reveals the suffering of the innocent Lamb of God in our stead: "You made us the reproach of our neighbors, the mockery and the scorn of those around us." Jesus endures the scourging and the crown of thorns and the crucifixion for no other reason than to save our souls from similar fate, and worse, from condemnation. The sinless dove dies for the sinful flesh, which keeps us all in prison and pushes our faces to the dust. Though the sons of the high priest die in battle and are no more, Jesus lives, and through His death in battle for our souls, all now live. In our gospel "a leper approach[es] Jesus with a request, kneeling down as he address[es] Him." Here we all are as sinners, symbolized by this outcast, coming earnestly to Jesus and humbling ourselves to the ground which, without God, is our place, is the dust from which we come and to which we return. Jesus is "moved with pity." Jesus "stretch[es] out His hand." Jesus "touch[es] him," and says: "Be cured." And the man is made whole. Yes, this leper must be each of us, brothers and sisters. Humbly, our faces to the ground, knowing our sin and being repentant of it, we must come to Him. And He will raise our souls from the dust and our bodies from the earth into which they have fallen. This is why He has come; let us come to Him. ******* O LORD, we come to you to beg your grace: make us no longer the laughingstock of the nations. YHWH, our bodies are pressed to the earth; we are bowed down to the dust. As the leper we come before you begging your healing touch. May your Son reach out to us that we might be saved from all evil. Disastrous defeat we suffer at the hands of the devil for we have sinned against you, O LORD our God. Our enemies overcome us for you do not fight with us, and so we are without a savior. Our courage fails for we are alone and have no help from you. What can we do on our own, dear God? Of what worth are our souls left to their own device? Where shall we find the strength to withstand the attack against us? Our oppressors bring us to woe, we are put to disgrace, for you have cast us off and we cannot enter battle alone. O LORD, if you will to do so, you can cure us! Turn with pity to your wayward sons. Hide not your face from us, but let us know the merciful gaze of Jesus.

(1Sm.3:1-10,19-20; Ps.40:2-5,7-10; Mk.1:29-39) "To do your will, O Lord, is my delight." O how Samuel shows the "ears open to obedience" we all must have. For when called, even from sleep, he immediately and repeatedly rises and presents himself for service to the Lord. Even from his youth he is with the Lord and in His will. Such readiness to serve is also revealed in Peter's mother-in-law, who, when touched by Jesus, "immediately began to wait on them." She, too, rises quickly from bed (and sickness) to do the work of the Lord. And certainly Jesus Himself is our greatest example of readiness to do God's will, for He and the Father are indeed one and all He does is according to the Father's word. After healing the "whole town" of their afflictions, working to exhaustion to arouse those imprisoned by the darkness of demons and bringing them into the light of God for service of the good, He rises "early the next morning" and goes "off to a lonely place in the desert," where "He was absorbed in prayer." When the disciples find Him, He is prepared to move on to the next town and the same exhausting work in service of the will of God, saying of the need to "proclaim the good news": "That is what I have come to do." It is said of Samuel: he "grew up, and the Lord was with him, not permitting any word of his to be without effect." And so, well does this great prophet presage the coming of Christ – He who fulfills the will of the Father – and the faith of all those who follow Him. For all those who wait for the Lord, He stoops toward. To all those who say, "Behold, I come," He Himself comes, He Himself strengthens… His greatness He makes known through His children. So it is written in the scroll and upon our hearts: so is the will of God accomplished in our lives. Only Him do we serve, brothers and sisters. His voice alone we must hear and heed. "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening," must ever be our attitude toward the Creator of heaven and earth and the Savior of our souls. The Spirit's lead we must follow readily. And He will be with us to bless and give us the strength we need to work in Him beyond exhaustion, beyond sickness… beyond death. Life will be ours. ******* O LORD, let your Good News be proclaimed that all might hear and be healed and ready to answer your call. YHWH, to do your will is our delight, is our holy call in this world. Let us be so blessed to hear your voice and accomplish the work you set before us. Let nothing we say be without effect; let us never act apart from you. Somehow let us find you so present to us as you were to Samuel – somehow let us follow in the footsteps of your Son. In the temple let us dwell, in your holy resting place. Before the ark of the Covenant let us keep watch – never let your light be extinguished from our hearts and minds. Ready let us be to answer your call and show ourselves your servants. O LORD, let us do your will. Why should we be afflicted when your Son is near to cast all demons from our souls, to heal us of every illness. To His door let us come, O LORD, and He will reach out His hand to save us. Give light to these eyes blinded by age and the falsehood of this evil world. In obedience let us stand before you.

O shepherd and doctor of God's holy Church, is this not what you would declare with all your breath to the ends of the earth: "Jesus is the Son of God and God Himself"? Would you not proclaim the true light of Scripture and the Word, the Light, become flesh in our midst? Know, O saint of the Lord, that your words reach our ears and our hearts even to this day, and this day we proclaim you holy and your words true – continue to speak to us; please intercede for us, that the Truth you declared so fearlessly will be taken up again by those in His stead today.

(1Sm.1:9-20; 1Sm.2:1,4-8; Mk.1:21-28) "May the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him." For He holds all authority. "He gives orders to unclean spirits and they obey." "The Lord puts to death and gives life; He casts down to the nether world; He raises up again." All He wills, He does – nothing is beyond His reach and power. And His desire is to answer your prayer. If you are faithful as is Hannah, if you come before Him in such sincerity and truth, then what you ask shall be yours; for He Himself is sincerity and truth and goodness, and when you join yourself to Him, you join yourself to His authority… and find the answer to your prayer by His presence in your heart. And so your heart shall exult with Hannah's. And so you shall see how "He raises the needy from the dust; from the ash heap He lifts up the poor." Indeed the prayer of the poor touches His heart and He "seat[s] them with nobles and make[s] a glorious throne their heritage." To heaven do they come, for heaven is their love. How evident is the Lord's will and favor to those lowly ones who seek Him in the birth of Samuel – whose very name means "asked of the Lord" – to the barren wife Hannah. None could be poorer in blessing than she; ridiculed by the world is she for the Lord's lack of favor toward her. But as bitter as the fruit she must taste, she does not rebel against her God, but comes to Him in all humility and with a heart full of prayer and eyes filled with tears. And He loves His child. And one of the greatest men of the Old Testament becomes her son. And her song in praise of the Lord foreshadows Mary's own. "Jesus entered the synagogue on the sabbath and began to teach." He comes to us now with His Word, His authority. Where Hannah sought Him, He now comes to us, offering freely the wisdom and power and grace which are His alone. And there is nothing which stands in the way of that Word. There is nothing to prevent its coming to our hearts and healing our souls of all injury, if we but listen, if we but seek His presence in our lives – if we but promise to give all to Him, He will give all we ask to us. ******* O LORD, you have granted what we have asked of you in Jesus your Son. YHWH, the needy you lift up from the dust; the barren wife bears seven sons and the poor man you seat with nobles. For you hear the prayer of those who cry to you, who believe in you despite their misery and come with a sincere heart – you cannot resist our tears. You have all authority and that authority you wield to heal those in need and teach us your way of holiness. And so our hearts exult in you, O LORD. You give us victory over all our enemies. Sin you cast far from our souls; all unclean spirits vanish at your Word. The holy One you have sent to us, and He is our LORD and Savior. And so we are rich in Jesus, your Son. And so a glorious throne you make our heritage. Though a moment before we may have been in the throes of evil, though so long we may have dwelt in sorrow, you give us new life and raise us to your side. In Jesus let us make our home.

(1Sm.1:1-8; Ps.116:12-19; Mk.1:14-20) "Hannah was childless." And so she would "weep and refuse to eat," for it was "a constant reproach to her that the Lord had left her barren." But He will not leave her barren long. Her husband's love for her despite her condition and her own prayers will soon be answered: she will give birth to the great prophet and priest, Samuel, who will anoint kings in Israel. And her song of joy, which will foreshadow our Blessed Mother's own Magnificat, is here foreshadowed in our psalm in praise of the Lord's favor to His servants: "To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the Lord," as is her faithfulness in fulfilling her vow to offer her son entirely to God: "My vows to the Lord I will pay in the presence of all His people." All who have looked upon her shame and sorrow shall marvel at the blessing the Lord's "handmaid" will receive as He looses her bonds of emptiness and makes her fruitful in His eyes. And in our gospel the Lord awakens the empty womb of the earth, stirring it to life. "The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the Good News!" He proclaims to a people in darkness. And children He brings forth from this barren country, the disciples He calls unto Himself, to be the first to share in His life. And they come forth, these pillars of the Church; they leave behind the world, all the world, to follow Him. Immediately, "on the spot," they "became His followers." "Along the Sea of Galilee," beside this simple body of water, the waves of grace call forth from the darkness the light that shall illumine all men. "How shall [we] make a return to the Lord for all the good He has done for [us]?" How shall we poor sinners, barren of good works, unfruitful in His sight, thank Him for hearing our grieving cries? Simply, we must bear fruit in His name. We are no longer childless. ******* O LORD, call us to yourself that we might be childless no more. YHWH, let us enter the temple singing your praise, for though we sit here in darkness weeping for our barrenness before you, you shall hear our prayer, you shall answer our weeping and make us fruitful in your sight. For now the Word goes forth to the ends of the earth, the Good News your Son brings to us through His blessed apostles, and our lives will be reformed and we made ready to enter your presence. Look upon us, LORD our God, as here we toil in vain for the bread which cannot satisfy our souls. For you alone do we long, and long have we been waiting in tears for you to come to us and call us to your side. Hearing the sound of your Son's voice, what can we do but rejoice? For He is our light in this darkness. And so, let us offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving; let us leave all behind now to follow your Son, for He leads us to fruitful labor in your holy NAME. O LORD, let us die to the things of this world that we might live in glory forever.

(Is.42:1-4,6-7; Ps.29:1-4,9-11; Acts 10:34-38; Mt.3:13-17) "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power." And so He anoints us all in the baptism our Savior has wrought. As Jesus humbled Himself to be baptized by John, so must we bow our heads before Him and receive holy baptism at His hands. As He has laid down His life for us, so must we lay down our lives for one another. As "He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil," so God is with us to do the same. "The Spirit of God descend[ed] like a dove and [came] upon Him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'" So Matthew recounts the Baptism of our Lord. And how similar is the beginning of our reading from Isaiah: "Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am well pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit." The chosen one of the ages now walks amongst us, the Spirit of God upon Him. His justice now extends to the ends of the earth, calling all into His blessed confines. None who come to Him does He reject. The "eyes of the blind" He opens, the prisoners He brings "from confinement" in the sin and darkness of the dungeon that is this world to the heavenly light of His presence walking among us in sacred flesh. "In every nation whoever fears Him and acts uprightly is acceptable to Him," for He loves all. And so should we not sing out in praise of the glory of the Lord to which we are all called as did David at the completion of the tabernacle of God? For here stands the true Tabernacle, here stands its fulfillment… before us is God who calls us not only to look upon but to enter into His doors and dwell within Him in His heart, in His bosom – one with His sacred flesh and blood. The law is now written on our hearts, not only pages of a book; now the Spirit speaks to those who remain close to Him. Now we hear the "mighty" and "majestic" "voice of the Lord… over the waters": "the God of glory thunders." "In His temple all say, 'Glory!'" And should we not "give to the Lord the glory due His Name"? Does not our cup overflow as Peter's to declare the salvation that comes at the hand of our God? Jesus has come. The Spirit is with us. Go now in the Spirit and power of God. Written, read & chanted by James Kurt; produced by Carie Fortney. Music by Carie Fortney; used by permission. ******* O LORD, may your Son, our King, bring your merciful justice to all who dwell in darkness. YHWH, your mighty voice is over the waters, declaring the glory of your Son to a people in darkness. Your Spirit is upon Jesus to open our eyes to your glory here now in our midst – and what should we do but praise you? He comes humbly to us, bearing our sins and bringing peace to our troubled souls. And so, now the flood cannot overwhelm us; now we are released from the prison in which we had been trapped for so long. Now, O LORD, your will is accomplished and all are called into your holy light. O let us be baptized with Him and so become as your beloved sons! Let us, too, hear your voice speaking your blessing over us. Fulfill all righteousness among us this day, let your work be accomplished among men – let us be known as your children. O LORD, let us be acceptable to you! Glory to you, O God of all glory! May we be pleasing to you as is your Son. Let your surpassing justice be done.

(1Jn.5:14-21; Ps.149:1-6,9; Jn.3:22-30) "The Son of God has come and has given us discernment to recognize the One who is true." John's disciples had difficulty recognizing "the One who is true." They saw everyone "flocking to Him" and away from their master, so they came to their master questioning. But John was forthright: "I am not the Messiah," he said, "I am sent before Him." And now that He has come, the Baptist's joy is complete. Brothers and sisters, "we know that we belong to God, while the whole world is under the evil one." "We are in the One who is true." Jesus has brought us to such knowledge. And this knowledge, this reality of the eternal life of God, should make us rejoice with our psalmist. It should make our lives ones of thanksgiving in which we "praise His name in the festive dance" and "with timbrel and harp." For, yes, "the Lord loves His people" and we are His faithful who "exult in glory." Let us "be glad in [our] maker." The world is under sin, and there is deadly sin which destroys the soul lurking in the world. The devil is real as well, and will not simply go away. And though only God can cast him away ultimately, we can pray against much of his work in this world, "petition[ing] God," interceding for our brothers who falter in sin that is not deadly… and finding their release through the grace of God. With this "confidence in God: that He hears us whenever we ask for anything according to His will," we have a great gift and a great strength in this dark world – we can bring light to it, the light of the only Son. But we must always be as "the body" He adorns "with victory." We must have the same attitude as the Lord's "best man," and say with the Baptist, "He must increase while I must decrease." We must find our joy in Him and not in our works or in our pride. He is all and He is true, and He leads us to the kingdom in His baptism in water and the Spirit. Brothers and sisters, we must see the grace we have in our midst. Jesus is ours. ******* O LORD, let us remain in you and rejoice at the coming of your Son. YHWH, in Baptism we are begotten by you and protected from all sin and selfishness. Let what you have begun in us become complete – let all sin be taken from us that we might rejoice forever in your presence. O LORD, let our joy be complete. Now that your Son has come and drawn us into His flesh and blood, now that He has cleansed us from our sins and made us whole again, let us decrease as He increases within us, until He is all in all in us… until we exult in the glory of your kingdom. O LORD, let all your children praise your holy NAME and sing of the grace upon all the lowly ones of God. O true God, let us be your own, born again in your Son, in the Spirit upon Him. And we shall be ready even to die with Him that we might find new life in Him with all our brothers and sisters. Save us from sin, dear LORD, and let us live in your glory.