The BreadCast

(Nm.12:1-13; Ps.51:3-7,12-13; Mt.14:22-36) "The presence of the Lord he beholds." Throughout the history of salvation, the Lord chooses one man to lead His people. In the Old Testament times, this was Moses; in the New Testament times, it is Peter. Though it is always the Lord Himself who guides and teaches, He ever puts His Spirit upon one particular man to act in His stead. Those who do not follow the Lord and the way He sets forth, who act in presumption against His will and His chosen, are cast from His presence, are stricken by His hand as is Miriam. "Throughout my house he bears my trust," the Lord says of Moses His servant, "the meekest man on the face of the earth." "Face to face I speak to him," the Lord assures us; and is it not so with Peter as well? It is Peter alone who steps forward to walk upon the storm-tossed sea to the Lord; it is Peter that Jesus will instruct to "feed [His] sheep." He is given the keys to the kingdom. He is the peg set firmly in place. And is it not dissension against the place given this first of the apostles that causes so much disturbance in the Church? Is it not the presumption of Aaron and Miriam, gifted in themselves but not as Moses, which remains with us today and creates the division which ails the people of God? We should cry out for mercy from the Lord for our sins against Him, for it is against Him we sin when we do not follow His appointed ones. We should beg with David, "Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me." I beg you to notice, my brothers and sisters, especially those separated from the Church and its hierarchy, to whom Aaron, the first of priests, makes his plea for forgiveness and healing. Hear his words: "Ah my lord!" he said to Moses, "please do not charge us with the sin that we have foolishly committed!" And Moses intercedes with the Lord, and Miriam finds healing. And yet do you deny that God gives man authority on earth to intercede with Him for the forgiveness of sins? And yet do you doubt that the Lord places His Spirit on a man and calls him to serve as Moses? All may be priests but not all are chosen to lead; the Lord's is a church of order and not presumption. One there is who beholds His presence, and through Him we know the Lord. May the Lord catch us and lead us into His boat, for we do falter in our faith and find great difficulty fighting the winds which beset the barque of Peter… O Lord, be with us! Hold not our sins against us! "A steadfast spirit renew within me," may we all cry, and so find forgiveness for our offenses against you, Lord, and against your holy ones. May we all enter your presence and serve you. ******* O LORD, only as a child will we enter Heaven, for only as a child can we stand in your presence. YHWH, make us humble and innocent as little children that you might lead us by your mighty hand into the land you promise all your lowly ones. How shall we behold your face if we are not obedient to you, if we do not seek your glory by humbly doing your will? Bless your people with your presence. Send us leaders, LORD, to guide us to your kingdom, to shepherd us to your holy mountain. Your power be upon those you send to stand in the place of your only Son, that all might find salvation. Help us to have faith in you, to know that as you have been with us until this day, so forever you will remain, destroying our enemies before us, setting us free from all sin. Let none of your children be lost, dear LORD, but come quickly to their heritage in you. O let us be brave and steadfast! remembering ever it is you who go before us.

(Nm.11:4-15; Ps.81:2,12-17; Mt.14:13-21) "Israel I would feed with the best of wheat." But the best of wheat they despise, and seek to satiate their appetite with meat. The blessed food from heaven, come from the hand of God, the Israelites soon grow tired of as they travel through the desert. Their stomachs cry out for earthly flesh. As our psalm tells us, the people "heard not" the voice of God but preferred "their own counsels," so He "gave them up to the hardness of their hearts." He will give them the meat they desire, and it will bring plague upon them for their lusts against God. Yet the Lord ever continues to call His people, and in the presence of Jesus that call is fulfilled. In our gospel we see Jesus taking it upon Himself to feed the hungry masses, caring for their needs, and though some will seek to follow Him just to feed their bellies, others will recognize in His feeding of the five thousand the blessing of God's providence and His loving care for His children; and their hearts will be open to partake of the spiritual food, the Body and Blood of Christ, which shall be offered forth at the table of the Lord after His death and resurrection. The sacrificial love of Jesus Christ will thus become their own as they unite with Him in flesh and blood, in word and deed – in partaking of the best of wheat. He is the food that sustains us. The fragments left us in the twelve baskets come down to us this day through His twelve apostles and the Church founded by them in His Name. The fragments we find upon our altar today as our priest prays the blessing over them. And we are fed. And we have life. And we are kept from grumbling against the Lord for all that is not ours in this world, and all the vain things our hearts would otherwise desire… and we endure any suffering that comes to us on our pilgrimage to His Promised Land by the grace of the food offered forth through His holy sacrifice. And we thus become like Him. If there were no food upon our table, if this sacrifice upon our altars were not the Body and Blood of Christ – if His presence were not real in this best of wheat, this holy manna – we would faint in the desert of this world and be consumed by our own lusts. But as it is the Lord provides the nourishment we need, and body and soul are kept alive even unto paradise. Eat His Body and drink His Blood, brothers and sisters, and you shall live in His paradise. ******* O LORD, let us not complain against your providence; may we never harden our hearts but come to your table and eat. YHWH, how can we complain against you and your providence? Do we not see the food you give us to eat and the blessing it is for our lives? Why do we so easily harden our hearts? And what does such rebelliousness do but cause us to be separated from you? What does it bring but our own death? To us you give even the flesh of your Son to eat, and yet we turn away from this finest of wheat. O LORD, what hope is there for souls as blind as we? Your Son takes pity on our plight. He looks on us with healing grace. No need of ours would He leave unmet; yet will we come to His table to eat? O LORD, in His hands let us find our home! Let us trust in His blessing of our lives. Let us not be a burden to Him or His apostles, but join them in carrying your Bread to the world.

(Ec.1:2,2:21-23; Ps.90:3-6,12-14,17,95:7-8; Col.3:1-5,9-11; Lk.12:13-21) "If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." Yes, "all things are vanity!" without God. All is empty, for "like the changing grass" our life "wilts and fades"; we are turned "back to dust," and so what becomes of the earthly desires we pursue? Where do "immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry" lead us but to the grave – and what do they do for us here but keep our hearts from what truly matters? See the difference between the man in our first reading who "labors under the sun" in "toil and anxiety of heart" and those in our psalm who "shout for joy and gladness" all their days, for the latter say to the Lord, "Prosper the work of our hands," putting all things into the care of Him who indeed holds all things in His loving embrace. One's heart is set on "what is on earth," and so he is blinded by the flesh into which he puts all his hopes. Like both the man in the crowd and the one in the parable of our gospel, his sights are set on his possessions and the feeding of his belly – both of which shall rot away. The other's heart, however, is set on "what is above." He is rich in "what matters to God" because he has died to the vain things of this earth, dying with Christ to their illusion and, so, rising with Christ to the life and glory of heaven. As one sinks into hell, the other rises to newness of life "in the image of [his] Creator." In what image is our own life made? What do we pursue with heart and soul as we tread this earth? Are we consumed by the mud at our feet, miring ourselves in selfishness and sin; or do we indeed rise above the greed which tempts our hearts to "eat, drink, be merry"? If we are truly raised with Christ as we proclaim as Christians, we would be seated at God's right hand with Him, knowing that He is our only refuge, our only God. But so many are distracted by the idolatrous images that surround us in this world. So many desire to be rich and famous, to satiate their appetites in gluttony and drunkenness, to do what pleases their flesh in sexual immorality. And what shall become of these but that the worm shall consume them and they will cry out with Qoheleth, "Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!" Brothers and sisters, with Jesus and with Paul I encourage you to find the treasure that is meaningful in life. Set aside the earthly passions that drown the soul, and seek what is alive with Christ. We have a great call in this world to bring the Lord's light and life forward, to make Him present in our own flesh, in all our work. With Him in our hearts, nothing is done in vain, for such "bountiful harvest" as this is stored up for heaven, which shall never pass away. Let us make His resurrection our own; even as we die to the empty desires of this earth, let us rise unto God as a holy sacrifice. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Addictions: What Do You Say?" from Cleansing Human Frailty, fourth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let our lives this day be in line with your will, united to the glory of your only Son. YHWH, let us not store up treasures for ourselves, but think rather of you and the salvation of others. All is indeed vanity if like Qoheleth we set our sights on what is on earth, if we are preoccupied by our possessions. For these shall rot with the lusts of the flesh and we shall die with them. But if we set our hearts on you and on the things that are above, where Christ is seated at your right hand, then we shall be blessed with life everlasting. Your Son calls us to glory with Him in Heaven. He warns us of the emptiness of this earth and the riches hereon. He would turn our eyes to you and away from all greed and selfishness. He alone can prosper the work of our hands, LORD, for without Him we pass like the changing grass and nothing comes of our days. O LORD, let us not labor in vain but with the wisdom that comes from above, that we might not come to great misfortune but to eternal life in your presence. Remake us in the image of your Son.

(Lv.25:1,8-17; Ps.67:2-5,7-8; Mt.14:1-12) "It is really the number of crops he sells you." The earth is the Lord's; it is not our own. And it is only by His grace that we share the fruits of the land. "The earth has yielded its fruits; God, our God, has blessed us," our psalm declares. These fruits may be bought and sold, but the land is God's own. "In this year of jubilee, then, every one of you shall return to his own property." "This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants." The jubilee year delineated in our first reading makes clear that we are God's and not our own or anyone else's. While we tread this earth, in the forty-nine years leading to the jubilee, land is bought and sold, even slaves are made and taken. But come the jubilee the trumpet is blown and all return whence they came: in this moment we go back to our homes and find the truth – that we are God's alone. All that is bought and sold is only temporary; these crops are consumed and pass away. The land from which they come is in God's hands and does not pass away. To it we must return. For He is our portion and cup. "May all the ends of the earth fear Him!" Indeed, we should fear Him who holds the earth and all its peoples in His creating hand. We should not presume upon God's mercy and "deal unfairly" as we buy and sell in this world with all that He provides. In our gospel Herod is gripped by fear because he knows he abuses the power given him; he is struck to the heart by John's preaching because his sin is exposed to the light. But instead of proclaiming liberty, instead of returning to the Lord, he hardens his heart against Truth, presumes license and not liberty, and has "John arrested, put in chains, and imprisoned." But, of course, the Word of God cannot be chained; and Herod is not entirely wrong when he claims John has been "raised from the dead" in the person of Jesus, for the same Spirit which worked in this most fruitful of men comes forth fully in the Son of God. Good reason has Herod to fear. And it must be noted that the beheading of John does not bring his end, but his beginning. It returns him to the land whence he has come. It is as his jubilee, his time to "return to his own property" – to enter the kingdom of God. For his body buried by his disciples is but as the crops bought and sold (and a more fair and abundant dealer in the fruits of this earth the world has not known); it is, of course, his eternal soul which finds liberty now in the land of the Lord. This world cannot hinder the fruits that are of the Lord. In faith let us remain in Him, producing an abundant yield in His Name, that the way of the Lord "be known upon earth," and that we may come to His salvation at the time of Jubilee. (We shall hear the trumpets resound through the halls of heaven.) ******* O LORD, there is a land to which you call us to return, and this heavenly homeland is all that matters. YHWH, the earth is yours and all that it holds, and you call us ever back to you. Let us not be possessive of the gifts you give us but remember that the yield of the land is in your hands. O LORD, you proclaim liberty to all the inhabitants of the land; you call all back to yourself, from whom we come and in whom we find our freedom. Your call to our hearts to glorify you we must heed, if we are to find your blessing. But if like Herod we harden our hearts against your truth, LORD, if like him we seek to chain your Word with our corrupted hands… if to death we put your call, what shall be left within us? Then in what fear we shall tremble! Your Prophet comes and walks amongst us; your power is upon Him for good. The trumpet resounds throughout the earth, calling all men to their ancestral homes. To you let us come with nothing but exultant joy at your presence.

(Lv.23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37; Ps.81:2-6,10-11; Mt.13:54-58) "Offer as an oblation to the Lord holocausts and cereal offerings, sacrifices and libations, as prescribed for each day." Our first reading and our psalm speak and sing of the honor due our God. The Lord outlines for Moses "the festivals of the Lord" which must be celebrated "at the proper time with a sacred assembly," and our psalmist exhorts us to "blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast" in honor of the one true God. We should worship no god but Him and "hold a sacred assembly and do no sort of work" on His sabbaths and on the days He sets aside for celebrating His Name. Due honor and praise must be given our God. But when Jesus comes into the midst of His people, due honor is withheld. Though they cannot deny His teaching, the wisdom and grace He imparts, yet they are blind to His presence before them. They do not know whence He comes. They cannot see that He is of God. And so because of their limited vision, their "lack of faith," He cannot touch them or heal them as He passes by. Here He stands in their synagogues, but the shout of joy does not go up from their midst because their hearts are shut tight to the divine presence of the Lord. The due praise they are moved to is thus denied, and they break the Law of God. It is sad when justice is not done to our God. We are the ones who would benefit most from offering due sacrifice and oblation – He has no need of our holocausts – yet we commit this kind of suicide by reserving the honor due Him, resisting thus truly entering His marvelous presence and becoming one with the One who created us and saved us. He invites us to the feast, to the glorious celebration, but we turn down His invitation to join Him at the table of His Body and His Blood. Each day it is prescribed for us to give our souls to Him; in every place the cup of salvation is raised unto the glory of God: here the festival of the Lord is fulfilled in our midst. But how many say they see but bread and wine, they hear but empty phrases. Their hearts are not set on His coming. We are Jesus' brothers and sisters; we are His mother. We are those who recognize His presence and give glory to His Name. The world cannot see Him; the world does not know Him. But we know Him. Let us "take up a melody, and sound the timbrel, the pleasant harp and the lyre," and with all the music our lives can produce give Him glory in our celebration… with all the work we do and all the rest we take each day in Him. Now is the acceptable time. Today is the day of salvation. Here the feast begins. Let us come into His presence singing for joy. ******* O LORD, let us believe in you and worship you, and we shall be blessed. YHWH, let us worship you as is due; let us give praise to your NAME and each day celebrate your glory in our midst. Every day a sacred assembly we may now hold, now that Jesus has walked among us, now that He is present to us upon your holy altar; and so, let us welcome Him into our house and sing praise for the blessing He is to this place. To the teaching of your Son let us listen, LORD; He has come in the flesh with your wisdom and power. Let us not question His origin but know He is from you, as He shows with all He says and does. Why do our corrupted souls condemn the Man who comes only to save? Why do we not see that God is here with us? Remove our weakness, LORD, the blindness of our human eyes, that we might with all our hearts keep your festival at the proper time, for the day of atonement is upon us.

(Ex.40:16-21,34-38; Ps.84:2-6,8,11; Mt.13:47-53) "The cloud covered the meeting tent, and the glory of the Lord filled the Dwelling." The Dwelling is the Tabernacle of God, the place in which the ark of the covenant holding the Ten Commandments was housed; and so it was God's dwelling-place. And when this cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set forth; and when the cloud stopped, so would they. In this we see clearly that the Israelites were led by God and by His Law. "In the daytime the cloud of the Lord was seen over the Dwelling; whereas at night, fire was seen in the cloud by the whole house of Israel in all stages of their journey." Our psalm extols the glory of God and His place of dwelling. It is for Him and to be in His house we yearn. "Happy they who dwell in your house!" the psalmist exclaims. So far surpassing is the glory of the Lord that "I had rather lie at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked." For "even the sparrow finds a home" at the altar of God, and so, how blessed shall we be in His presence. And in our gospel Jesus completes His parables on "the reign of God," the kingdom of heaven – the House in which we long to dwell eternally. And, of course, here before us stands the new ark of the covenant in the Person of Jesus. Here the new and fulfilling Law of love is housed, by which we are now led. The Spirit descended upon Him as a dove, thus anointing Him with God's glory, and it is this "cloud," this Spirit of Truth, which descends upon us now and by which we walk with God. The Old Covenant and Law are certainly not to be discarded, for "every scribe who is learned in the reign of God is like the head of the household who can bring from his storeroom both the new and the old"; but the Old is indeed subsumed by the New, for the Person of God – Word made flesh, God made man – far exceeds and truly completes the first dwelling, which was but made by human hands. Now the Law has found a new and lasting home. It is well we understand all that the Lord would teach us. It is necessary that that teaching be complete, or we shall fall short of what our "heart" and "flesh cry out for." "The living God" awaits us; His glory He would give us. Let us be covered by His cloud and be led forth in His Word of Truth to His eternal reign. From "strength to strength" let us go, until we dwell with Him forever, His Word written on our hearts. Amen. ******* O LORD, we pray we shall not be cast out but be gathered into your dwelling, and in your presence make our home. YHWH, in your Dwelling let us make our home, your cloud ever upon us; in the flesh of your Son we must live, led by the Holy Spirit. What is old and what is new help us understand, that we might be good stewards of your love and all souls may enter your kingdom. At the end of the age your angels shall separate what is good from what is evil, for the evil have no place with the good. Only what is good may come into your House; what is evil will be burned in the furnace. And so our souls cry out for you, dear God, that you might make a place for us in Heaven. To your threshold let us come, by the teaching of your only Son; His Spirit upon us to lead us to you, let us be obedient to His words. Let us do all you command, O LORD, for only then shall we be blessed. As your servant Moses let us be – in the new Moses let us make our home.

(Ex.34:29-35; Ps.99:5-7,9; Mt.13:44-46) "The skin of his face had become radiant while he conversed with the Lord." His face shining like the pearl of great price, with whom he speaks, Moses comes down from the mountain carrying the Ten Commandments. Here is a great treasure in His hands, which he has given up all to find. But, of course, the greater treasure is the Word of God from which it takes its meaning and of which Moses converses with the Lord; and the greatest treasure is certainly God Himself, who makes us shine as stars in the night that is this world. "Holy is the Lord, our God." And so, of course, the greatest treasure we can find here on earth, hidden in this ground from which our bodies are formed, is our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the very image of God, God Himself, the WORD made flesh in our presence. And thus as the Israelites had the Ten Commandments as the heart of their covenant, so we have a surpassing covenant founded in the Body and Blood of our Lord, in which His presence truly abides. Still we have His words of Truth, still they illumine our faces. But now they are spoken by the incarnate mouth of God; now the veil has been removed from the face of the One who inspires all souls, and our hearts burn with the pure light of His wisdom – and now we have that flesh and blood which make the words so real at our fingertips and upon our lips… and so, one we become with His holiness. Radiant is the splendor of God. He alone is worthy of our praise. It is He alone we should strive to possess in this life. He is buried here in our hearts; He is waiting deep within our souls for us to uncover our faces, to uncover our minds from the veil which conceals His light. Indeed, He is waiting for us to shine as the pearl of great price, to give light to the world as He does, that all might come to converse with Him with unveiled faces. But we must give up all else to find such grace: this pearl must remain unmixed with baser matter. As Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights, neither eating nor drinking, so we must come to Him so utterly, leaving all of this world behind, to find the riches which await us in the heavenly kingdom. Jesus is the way to that kingdom. In his Word, His Body and His Blood, we find the pearl of great price. And so shall our faces shine radiantly white as we converse with the Lord in His presence for all eternity. Praise Him, brothers and sisters, for His grace at work in your life. ******* O LORD, holy are you, and holy are those who seek your face. YHWH, holy are you, and we are called to be holy as you are holy, to have our faces shine as radiantly as Moses' – to come into your presence. O let us converse with you, dear LORD! For now we have Jesus who speaks with us, who tells us clearly of the glory of your kingdom and how we are called to give up all to enter there. How the pearl of great price is made evident in His flesh! To Him let us come and we shall be one with you, and we shall be holy. Before us on the altar shines the pearl of great price, the Body of Christ given to us that we might see and know your holiness, O LORD, that we might become as His Body in the world. Let us worship Him in the Sacrament, here on your holy mountain. In the field that is your Church we find hidden in this Bread all we need for the salvation of our souls, for discovering holiness in your presence, LORD.

(Ex.33:7-11,34:5-9,28; Ps.103:6-13; Mt.13:36-43) "The angels will hurl them into the fiery furnace where they will wail and grind their teeth." It is the justice of God which is our theme today. And though it is absolutely certain that the mercy of God far surpasses our merit and He does not "requite us according to our crimes," yet it is equally so – and Jesus could not make it more explicit than He does in His explanation in our gospel today – that God's will is not for "declaring the guilty guiltless," and that "the followers of the evil one" shall be punished. It is this invariable necessity of God's justice I highlight today because of its general ignorance in this age. "Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness," David declares in our psalm. "The Lord has compassion on those who fear Him." Yes, "surpassing is His kindness toward those who fear Him." But what if we should not fear Him? What if we should not give Him the love and honor and respect which is rightfully His? It cannot but be that we pervert His kindness and compassion and, by our own will, turn it into the flaming punishment it thus becomes. This is the justice of God: it reaches down "for a thousand generations"; it covers the earth with its forgiveness. But turning from it we inevitably cast ourselves into hell, for there is no place to hide our hardened hearts from His merciful love. Thus our refusal to accept His surpassing kindness is that which provides the kindling for the everlasting flames. And if we deny the existence of hell, we deny the presence of God's love, and our own free will in choosing it or not. In our first reading there is quite a jump, better than a chapter, in the scene. In the first half Moses is in the tent of meeting where he would serve as judge for the people; in the second half he is on Mount Sinai, where God has led him to receive the Ten Commandments (a second time). The Lord has also promised to reveal His back to Moses – no one can see His face and live – and it is this scene that is spoken of in our gospel. Moses speaks the Lord's silent NAME, "YHWH", and God comes in power, crying to him of His infinite mercy and absolute justice. As the Lord passes by in this way, Moses is overwhelmed and begs God to remain with him and the people, recognizing that they will not be able to take a step without Him. And in His great kindness, but not without appropriate punishment, the Lord will remain with Moses and the Israelites through their desert journey. "The saints will shine like the sun in their Father's kingdom." The angels shall gather the good seed unto their just reward. And there shall be great rejoicing as the mercy of God thus comes to fulfillment. But none of this can be until "all who draw others to apostasy and all evildoers" are cast out from His presence. Just as the faithless were not permitted to enter the Promised Land but died in the desert, so only those whose hearts burn with the love of God will shine in His kingdom. For the rest only the fires of torment await. ******* O LORD, the weeds must be burned that those whom your Son has redeemed might shine brightly before you. YHWH, to Moses you spoke face to face, proclaiming your NAME to him, and he bowed down in your wondrous presence as your power passed before him. Your merciful ways you made known to him, your mercy and your justice, for you put away the sins of those who fear you, but the wicked shall know punishment. We are indeed stiff-necked, O LORD, and deserving of your fiery wrath. But help us now to turn to you that we might be preserved from destruction at the end of the age. Your good seed let us be, sown by Jesus and His love. By His sacrifice He prepares the ground for a bountiful harvest. O LORD, let us shine like the sun in your kingdom on the Day of your Son's return. And so, now let our ears be open to hear of your mercy; upon our hearts inscribe your NAME that we might remember your love.

(Ex.32:15-24,30-34; Ps.106:1,19-23; Mt.13:31-35) "Eventually the whole mass of dough began to rise." The kingdom of God comes gradually, grows imperceptibly; from the smallest of seeds it becomes "the largest of plants," and "the birds of the sky come and build their nests in its branches." Indeed, this yeast is kneaded into our hearts, and by its grace we rise gradually unto the form heaven would make us – and so the glory of God becomes ours, and with others we share His grace within us. See that it is the people's impatience which has led them into sin: "Make us a god to be our leader," they say to Aaron, "as for the man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what happened to him." Moses is gone to the mountain forty days to receive the commands of God upon the tablets of stone, but this time is too long for the Israelites to wait, and so when he returns with the "tablets that were made by God, having inscriptions on them that were engraved by God Himself," he finds that they have "exchanged their glory," present so really, so physically, in the Law he carries in his hands, "for the image of a grass-eating bullock." They could not wait. The God they sought in vain image was coming to them in truth with His Law written in stone, but they did not perceive His approach; and so, taking matters into their own hands, they crafted their condemnation. For now it is but chastisement that awaits them; this, too, comes gradually, and is unavoidable. As the Lord says to Moses, "When it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin." "So grave a sin" the Israelites commit. It is only because "Moses, His chosen, withstood Him in the breach, to turn back His destructive wrath," that the people were not struck out of the book the Lord has written. Indeed, though they shall all die in their sin in the desert, their generation shall maintain the promise. But it shall not be until Christ Jesus stands in the breach for all, that we who are so prone to evil shall be saved entirely. Only He makes the absolute atonement for the sin of the people, which Moses prefigures in our first reading today. And now that the Son has come, now the seed is planted in our hearts, now the yeast begins to rise in our souls – now the kingdom of God is nigh. From the desert we are thus led, the angel of God going before us. We have but to listen to the word He speaks to us in His blessed parables and apply its truth to our lives, and thus staying the path set before us we will come in time to the kingdom that awaits us. We shall yet see the Lord descend from on high, not carrying tablets in His arms, but carrying us and our salvation in full bloom. And on that holy day we shall eat of the bread He has caused to rise in our hearts and in our lives. ******* O LORD, may your kingdom grow ever in our midst, and may we patiently await its coming. YHWH, your Son comes to stand in the breach, to reveal to us your holy kingdom. For it now we must but wait, and allow your will to be accomplished. We have sinned gravely against you, LORD. Our hearts have all turned from your glory to the idols of this age. We have been blinded by the gold the world so persistently offers. Give us patience to wait on your goodness, LORD. Give us the wisdom we need to know the coming of your reign. For it rises in our midst this day, if we but have eyes to see what your Son reveals. From the mountaintop let your Word come down, O LORD, to instruct us in your ways. For without your Law to guide us here, quickly we become depraved. O punish us not in your rage, dear God; strike us not out of your Book. Let our hearts embrace the words of your Son.

(Gn.18:20-32; Ps.138:1-3,6-8; Col.2:12-14; Lk.11:1-13) "Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Prayer. Our wonderful gift from God. Our sharing in His will. The Lord ordains that Abraham should speak with Him, and so He stops and waits to hear the prayer of His favored one. And so in this mystical scene from our first reading, we are given a holy model for our own petitions of the Lord. Indeed, first we see that the Lord waits upon us to approach Him – His ears are ever open to our pleas. (As we read elsewhere, He knows what we need before we ask.) Second, Abraham prefaces his prayer with acknowledgment of the justice of God, thus revealing the confidence we must have that the Lord will answer any righteous request. Third, Abraham shows the manner in which we must come before our God. Though we must be persistent, thus manifesting our genuine concern for the prayer we offer, we must realize to whom we speak and come before Him in deep humility: "See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes!" says Abraham, and it is with words such as these that he precedes each of his persistent requests. And because of his faith and humility, his prayer is answered and Lot is spared from the destruction of Sodom. And, of course, our greatest model of prayer is found in our gospel. When Jesus finishes praying, the disciples beg Him to teach them to pray. First He shares with them the Lord's Prayer, wherein we give ourselves to the providential hand of God and reflect His grace and forgiveness. He then relates a parable on the necessity and blessings of perseverance in prayer – we must never be discouraged in our prayer. Finally, the words which drip like honey from His mouth: "Ask and you will receive…" and His blessed assurance that the Father will "give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." The Lord loves us and wishes to share all of Himself with us. We must but come as children before Him and we will know the kindness of which David sings, and we will sing with him: "I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth." Indeed, "the lowly He sees"; His "right hand saves" them. Forsaking not the work of His hands, He rather justifies them, giving them life even by the recognition of their voices before Him. Thus we are "raised with Him through faith in the power of God." "Having forgiven us all our transgressions" through the cross of Christ, the Father now brings the humble to life through the Spirit of His Son. It is in His hearing our prayer that this grace is best known, for therein our spirits become one with His own. O Lord, hear and answer us as we call upon you each day in all faith and humility. Make us your own sons and daughters in the Spirit of Christ. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Prayer: He Asks/I Am Not MY Body" (1st part) from Breath, the Apple Rises, fifth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, give us the Holy Spirit that the salvation wrought by Jesus might be fulfilled in us, and we might forever praise your NAME. YHWH, we call upon your NAME; answer our prayer and send your Spirit upon us to save us and bring us into your kingdom. Your Son would forgive us all our sins – let us be joined to Him. It is you, O LORD, who listen for our prayers, wishing always to share your grace with your children. By your own hand you would feed us with your Spirit if we would but turn to you in faith. Let us not grow weary of calling upon your NAME, but by our persistence may we find our good desires fulfilled in your kindness. O LORD, let your people not perish in their sins but find your compassion at work in their lives. Forgive all who turn to you and are baptized into the sacrifice of Jesus. Your promise be fulfilled in our midst by the blood of His Cross. O Heavenly Father, help us to remember your NAME and the grace that is ours when we seek your face.