The BreadCast

(Rm.1:1-7;   Ps.98:1-4;   Lk.11:29-32)   “You have a greater than Jonah here.”   Greater than any prophet is He.  Wiser than Solomon is the Lord who is the source of all wisdom.  For it is He of whom the prophets speak; it is His promised coming “the Holy Scriptures record.”  The fulfillment of prophets and kings is in our midst.  Our high priest is with us offering the sacrifice of Himself.  Let us thirst for Him as the Ninevites did for Jonah’s preaching and seek Him as the queen of the South for Solomon’s wisdom.  Let us listen to His servant and apostle Paul as he proclaims the Gospel of God and come to “obedient faith” with all the Gentiles “who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.”  Salvation is upon us as it is all nations. If Jonah’s preaching was great, the Lord’s is the greater.  If he converted thousands, Jesus turns millions to the love of God.  If Solomon was wise, our Lord is so much the wiser.  For though this great king spoke well of all things of the earth by the grace of God, the Christ comes now with the wisdom of the richness of heaven.  And so now we are all “called to holiness, grace and peace.”  It is these gifts which are imparted to us “from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  And by these blessings we become His children, greater indeed than any prophet or king of old. Yes, the fulfillment has come.  “The Lord has made His salvation known.”  “All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God.”  His Word is brought forth even now, even this day to our hearts in the preaching of the Gospel that is Christ Jesus – “His resurrection from the dead” signals the redemption of all mankind.  And so we celebrate.  And so we “sing to the Lord a new song” as we, too, participate in His death and resurrection with the beloved apostle Paul, even as we come to the table set before us by His grace and holiness. May that same “Spirit of holiness” which made Jesus “Son of God in power” now touch our souls and separate us from all that is unholy.  May we respond in kind with the Ninevites to Jonah’s preaching, that they might not condemn us on the last day for our lack of faith.  May the wisdom which comes to us now by the grace poured forth from His lips sink into our hearts and find a place in our lives.  For no greater than He shall we find; let us not be blind to this sign.   ******* O LORD, how blessed are we to hear the Gospel! – let us repent and reform our lives. YHWH, you have made your salvation known in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, your Son.  He indeed is our salvation, the very life of those who follow Him, who listen to His preaching and reform their lives – who join themselves to Him and to His Church.  May we not be condemned for our deafness to His call but set our hearts on the wisdom that comes to us through Him and through His apostles, that indeed we might be saved and rejoice in your presence on the day of judgment.  With Him let us be raised from the dead. May the Name of Jesus be proclaimed to the ends of the earth that His Gospel might be the source of salvation for all souls.  Let peoples come from the furthest corners of the world to hear that your promise has been fulfilled in your Son and the Spirit of holiness is now upon all who are obedient to His call.  For this grace let us sing your praise, O LORD!

(Jl.4:12-21;   Ps.97:1-2,5-6,11-12;   Lk.11:27-28)   “Near is the day of the Lord in the valley of decision.”   And so, “blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it.”  For though “sun and moon are darkened and the stars withhold their brightness,” though “mountains melt like wax before the Lord,” “light dawns for the just,” and for them “the mountains shall drip new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk.”  Yes, “the heavens and the earth quake, but the Lord is a refuge to His people.” Are we His people?  Are our hearts set upon Him?  Are we blest as our Mother with keeping the word of God, of putting it into practice, of giving our yes to all His words, and His commands?  Are these commands sweet as honey, are they the new wine we drink each day?  From Him do we find our daily bread?  Though we are in His Church and have the blessed breasts of this great Mother to nurse us, though we are here where the hills of the Lord “flow with [His] milk” – though we have at our hands the Body and Blood of the Lord and the true teaching, the Word of God, in our ears by His grace upon this House of God, do we truly appreciate these gifts He provides: do we eat and drink unto our salvation and keep His word as an ever flowing stream of life in our souls, at the heart of our beings?  “The channels of Judah shall flow with water,” as now they do.  Do we wash ourselves clean in that water that “issue[s] from the house of the Lord”?  Are we prepared for the day of decision? Let us rejoice in Him, brothers and sisters.  “Be glad in the Lord, you just, and give thanks to His holy name.”  With the psalmist let us raise our song and proclaim His justice to all the peoples.  For what should we have but joy as we take refuge in His promise, as we come to the table of the New Covenant each day and share even now in the life He offers forth through His holy sacrifice.  And let us pray to our Mother, Mary, that we shall be as she is, that we shall be so true to the Lord and serve as His handmaidens amongst the world.  May she keep us close to the nourishing food the Church holds for all her children; and may our decision be as firm as hers as we give our unfailing yes to the Lord and so know His grace and blessing.   ******* O LORD, if we but keep your Word, we shall be blessed on the Day Jesus comes. YHWH, you dwell on Zion, your holy mountain; may we dwell there with our Blessed Mother. The mountains melt like wax before you, O LORD.  The heavens and the earth quake, but you are a refuge to your people.  Truly blessed are all who make their home in you, who do your will in this world.  And so, as sun and moon are darkened, as this world you reduce to dust, may we be gathered into your arms, to the breast of our Mother. Let the heavens proclaim your justice, LORD; let all holy souls give thanks to your NAME.  For light dawns through the darkness for the upright of heart, and your children abide forever in your presence even as their enemies are destroyed. Blessed let us be, O Holy LORD, to follow where your Son does lead, for He leads us only unto you.  O may we hear and keep your Word!  Blessed Mother, pray for us.

(Jl.1:13-15,2:1-2;   Ps.9:2-3,6,8-9,16;   Lk.11:15-26)   “It is near, a day of darkness and of gloom, a day of clouds and somberness!”   And we must be prepared.  We must rend our hearts and not our garments.  We must “spend the night in sackcloth,” repentant of our sins.  We must “proclaim a fast” and “cry to the Lord,” “for near is the day of the Lord.”  The prophet Joel sounds this alarm several hundred years before Christ, and in truth it proclaims the coming of Christ.  For it is His coming that separates the wicked from the just; it is He who “judges the world with justice” – it is by Him the names of the wicked are “blotted out forever and ever” and those who “declare all [His] wondrous deeds” find their salvation. The day is coming and is already here, for the Lord declares in our gospel, “The man who is not with me is against me, and the man who does not gather with me scatters.”  He makes clear the works of Satan, which do not bring healing but only sickness and death, and the works of “the finger of God,” which overpower and “cast out devils.”  Here the judgment is come; here it begins.  In the end it shall be fulfilled and the great divide between evil and good will be set for all eternity, but here and in this time the Word of Truth goes forth, calling all souls to leave behind all sin. But, brothers and sisters, our fasting must be complete; our weeping, our repentance, must be genuine.  We must turn entirely from our sins and make place only for the Lord Jesus Christ to live in the houses of our souls.  If the Lord lives in us, there is no place for darkness.  If the Lord is within us, no devil can dwell there.  But if in hypocrisy we pretend a conversion, we expand the space for the devil’s dwelling in our homes.  For the two are indeed mutually exclusive: the Lord has nothing to do with the devil, and the devil nothing to do with the Lord.  And so if we hope to stand on the day when darkness covers the earth, “spreading over the mountains, like a people numerous and mighty”; if we hope to remain when the Lord returns with His myriad of angels to judge the earth and the thoughts of men’s hearts… we must enter His grace this day – we must now call upon His Name.  There is no other way, my brothers and sisters.  You must be with Him or against Him.  The choice between life and death is presented before you; for the day of darkness is nigh.  Choose His eternal light!   ******* O LORD, your Day is at hand – let us make room in our hearts only for you. YHWH, your throne is set up for judgment; near is your Day.  Soon you will come to destroy all the wicked, that in your presence the just might shine.  Your Son you have sent to redeem the world, to call every soul from its sin, but failing repentance what shall happen to us on the great and terrible Day of His return? Forever you are enthroned on high, O LORD, and who can approach your glory?  What hope have we of uniting with you, of looking upon your face, we who have been so sinful?  How shall we come into your House and there find eternal rest if we do not wholeheartedly accept the cleansing Word of your Son? If there is any pretense in us, we shall not stand with Him.  And so, O LORD, let us fast and pray for all devils to be cast from us that we might forever sing your praise.

(Mal.3:13-20;   Ps.1:1-4,6,40:5;   Lk.11:5-13)   “For you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.”   Both our psalm and first reading make clear the distinction between the blessed and the condemned: “The Lord watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes,” our psalmist declares.  The wicked are “like chaff which the wind drives away,” while the just are “like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade.”  Malachi proclaims the same.  Where the Lord is healing rays of warmth to the just, for the wicked He comes “blazing like an oven… leaving them neither root nor branch.”  For one, His fire is holy and life-giving; for the other, it destroys. And what is the sign that we “fear the Lord and trust in His name”?  Malachi speaks of “going about in penitential dress” and states, “They who fear the Lord spoke with one another, and the Lord listened attentively.”  Our psalmist tells us the just “delights in the law of the Lord, and meditates on His law day and night.”  We must be repentant of our sins and come humbly before Him.  We must recognize, as Jesus tells us, that we indeed are ones “with all [our] sins.”  This is first.  But most importantly we must trust in Him and turn to Him, and pray in His Name.  For “the heavenly Father give[s] the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”  He is not remiss in making them His own.  He wishes all to be blessed and come before Him whole.  But we must not fail to seek His will, to seek His way, to beg it of our God.  We cannot be remiss in asking and seeking and knocking, for this persistence proves our love of Him and of His way, and by it we will find Him. Brothers and sisters, there is nothing more important or more powerful than prayer.  It is our way of coming to Him and becoming one with Him.  It is at the heart of the distinction “between him who serves God, and him who does not serve Him.”  For all that we do will come to naught if not done in His presence, and it is only by prayer we enter the presence of His holy light.  First and always we must have faith, yes.  First and always we must believe.  But now and ever we must seek Him; forever we must ask His grace to come into our lives.  And He will hear.  He will “give [His] children good things.”  So neglect not to remain in the presence of God and your reward will be assured, and you will know the blessed light of His face.   ******* O LORD, give to us the Holy Spirit, that in all things we might follow along the way of your Son. YHWH, we ask for your grace and mercy, your compassion upon our souls, that we might not be burned up with the wicked on your holy Day but stand blessed in the light of your face.  Let us be healed of all sin and come to serve you with all our hearts, leaving behind all doubt of your glory and trusting in your goodness toward us.  For you have made us and we are your own if we but have faith in you and come humbly before you with our petitions. Yes, let us ask you for what we need, for all good things, those in accord with your will.  If our hearts are set on serving you and others, what will you not give us?  For then we will truly be your sons.  But, O LORD, if we should turn our sights upon the advancement of our own name, seeking to prosper by doing evil, the wind shall indeed drive us away, and we shall perish in unholy fire.

(Jon.4:1-11;   Ps.86:3-6,9-10,15;   Lk.11:1-4)   “Your kingdom come.”   “You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish.”  How beautifully Jonah speaks of God’s blessed compassion on His people.  And how poorly he is able to accept and live that grace.  The Lord’s forgiveness extends now to the ends of the earth; let us not be loathe to offer it unto all. In our first reading, Jonah is angry with God for His mercy in forgiving Ninevah, the pagan empire and enemy of Israel.  But the Lord teaches Jonah that He watches over these, too, not only Israel, signaling His universal call to salvation (which shall be fulfilled in the teaching of Christ).  By comparing the city of Ninevah to the plant “that grew up over Jonah’s head, giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort,” the Lord instructs us that not only does He care for all nations, but indeed that all nations have a holy call, a blessed purpose, in which God Himself takes pleasure and comfort.  He has raised all the nations and each is called as a member of His kingdom. This word should give us great understanding of the graciousness of our God, and great joy in knowing that we are called by Him: “You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.”  We can join with David in his prayer, knowing that God will “attend to the sound of [our] pleading” even as He does this blessed king of Israel; even as He listens to His chosen people, so He listens now to us, for the walls of division have been cast asunder and His love now extends to all. But we must not be as Jonah shows himself to be today.  We must “forgive all who do us wrong” or the Lord will not hear our prayer to “subject us not to the trial.”  If we harbor anger, it will mean our death; and the Lord will send “a burning east wind” and a sun to beat down upon us, too, to draw us from the hardness of our hearts and the condemnation we breathe in our souls.  Our vision must be that of God, who sees that sinners “cannot distinguish their right hand from their left,” or as Jesus says from the cross, “They know not what they do.”  And so we, too, must forgive. Let us join in prayer today, brothers and sisters, that the Lord’s kingdom may come to earth.  Let us rejoice that His reign extends to all.  For it is the Lord’s desire to “forgive us our sins,” and it is His will that all find refuge in the shade of His presence.  And so we partake of “our daily bread” here in His Word and in His Sacrament; and so we live the kingdom of God.   ******* O LORD, let our prayer rise up to you, the Most High, who are merciful and kind and forgiving toward all and hear us when we cry out to you. YHWH, you are abounding in kindness toward all, a gracious and merciful God desiring to show clemency to sinners, to lead them from the death upon their souls to a holy life in you.  For this what can we do but praise you?  What can we do but say: let thy will be done! But how often we keep your mercy from others, dear God; how often we expect it for ourselves yet refuse to share it with those who seek it from us.  This is not your will.  In this your kingdom does not come.  For where forgiveness is withheld, your love does not exist; and where your love does not exist, you are not present. Let us not die in desolation, O LORD, beneath a scorching wind and a burning sun.  Open our hearts to share your compassion and we shall find relief from all the trials we bring upon ourselves by our lack of pity, by our condemnation of others.

(Jon.3:1-10;   Ps.130:1-4,7-8;   Lk.10:38-42)   “He repented of the evil that He had threatened to do them; He did not carry it out.”   Ninevah is spared.  Because “they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth,” because they repented of their sin and called “loudly to God,” He did not punish them for their iniquity but forgave them and withheld “His blazing wrath.”  And so this pagan city finds God’s mercy through the preaching of Jonah.  We are all called to repent.  We are all called to turn to the Lord and seek His forgiveness and grace to overcome and be spared of punishment for our falling short of His glory.  Our psalm declares, “Let Israel wait for the Lord, for with the Lord is kindness and with Him is plenteous redemption.”  And so to find His mercy we must have faith and we must be patient.  We must be as Mary in our gospel today, seated at His feet, listening to His words.  We cannot remove ourselves from this place and hope to find salvation for our souls any more than the Ninevites could have taken a break from their sitting in sackcloth and ashes to have a snack and yet hoped to find the forgiveness they so desperately needed.  Our fast must be total, our obedience complete.  Do you think Mary had a mind to rise as she listened to her Lord?  Do you think she was distracted by anything?  Certainly not.  And we in our prayer and in our work and in our lives must find the commitment she embodies if we hope to know the grace of God truly working in our hearts. Indeed, the Lord “will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.”  Indeed, He hears the voice of all who cry to Him “out of the depths” of their sin.  He will come and wash us clean; He will come and make us new.  If we choose “the better portion,” we “shall not be deprived of it” and its reward.  But it must be our whole hearts that turn to the Lord, that are set on His word… that heed His preaching as it comes with its grace to our ears. If we are short of prophets today, listen more closely, brothers and sisters.  If it is difficult to find the Word preached with the power and blessing of Jonah, open your Bibles and turn to your hearts.  Sit still before Him in silence and He will fill your soul with His light.  And fail not to come into His presence where the people gather for Mass.  The Word shall indeed fill you; His Bread shall indeed nourish you.  And your soul shall be saved according to your commitment to Christ.    ******* O LORD, let our hearts be set on you and your presence; may our ears be open to hear your voice. YHWH, let us turn to you with all our heart that we might find forgiveness of our sins and peace in your presence.  If in sackcloth and ashes we cry out to you in repentance, you will look kindly upon our souls; if in silence we sit at your feet, what shall we not be taught?  All is ours if we make ourselves your own. O LORD, all nations you call to yourself.  There is no one for whom you do not care, whom you would not save in your mercy.  And so you send your prophets forth even to the ends of the earth, and so your Word goes out to all places and times – and so all who listen to your voice find redemption for their souls and enter your holy Temple. Your ears listen for our voice calling out to you; your heart longs for us to set aside all things and worship you.  O LORD, let your gracious will be done in all our lives that none shall perish in separation from you.

(Jon.1:1-2:1,11;   Jon.2:2-5,7-8;   Lk.10:25-37)   “A Samaritan who was journeying along came on him and was moved to pity at the sight.”   First let me note that the book of Jonah is not a parable, not an imaginary story, as popular scholarship would have us believe.  How do I know this?  I have faith, yes, which those who would explain away any miracle of God so sorely lack; but I know it, too, by Scripture itself.  For elsewhere the Lord compares Himself to Jonah, and states explicitly that the people of Ninevah – who had the faith to repent at the preaching of Jonah – will rise on the day of judgment and condemn those of Jesus’ time, and us, for our failure to repent at the words of the Son of God.  It is not possible that imaginary people could condemn others’ souls (the very idea is absurd, of course, but such are our minds in this “enlightened” age), and this comparison would suggest that Jesus Himself is but imaginary, which seems not against the belief of the vain prophets of our day. In today’s gospel we have a parable: The Good Samaritan.  It begins as the universal story all parables are – “There was a man…” (“a man,” any man, every man), and its express purpose is to impart a lesson.  And the lesson today is God’s universal love.  The dreaded “Samaritan” represents nothing but faithlessness and sin to the Jewish mind, but Jesus demonstrates that it is sinners He calls – and that those thought of as sinners indeed often show the greatest faith.  We see this not only in our gospel, but also in our reading from Jonah, for notice how quickly the pagan mariners turned to their gods, who are no-gods, to seek deliverance from the “breakers” and “billows” which pass over them.  Indeed, it is they who arouse Jonah, who has fallen asleep in the despair of his separation from the will of God, to pray to his Lord.  And what horror overwhelms them when they hear how he has disobeyed the Lord’s command – “How could you do such a thing!”  Who has the faith here?  Who convicts whom of sin? Though Jonah is clearly different from Jesus in this his sin, he is like Him in a crucial way – he sacrifices his life for those in danger of death.  Notice his words: “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, that it may quiet down for you.”  And so it does when he is finally cast forth (after remarkable, faith-filled prayer by these pagans); and so also these men “offered sacrifice and made vows” to the Lord, coming it seems to faith in God following Jonah’s laying down of his life.  And, of course, as Jesus will spend three days in the belly of the earth, so Jonah spends three days in the belly of the whale; and as the Lord will rise on the third day, so Jonah is “spewed upon the shore.” Brothers and sisters, the Lord heard Jonah’s prayer from “the midst of the netherworld,” “from the belly of the fish.”  Do not doubt and test the Lord as the lawyer who seeks “to justify himself” in his pride.  In your moments of darkness, come to the Lord as the humble servant He calls you to be, and He shall assuage your doubts, He shall be moved with pity looking upon you, and teach you of the love and compassion only He knows.   ******* O LORD, how shall we be saved from the pit into which we cast ourselves if we do not have compassion for the plight of others? YHWH, we have fallen into the pit, beaten and left for dead by robbers, by the demons, for our sin.  The breakers and billows pass over us and we are doomed to drown in the dark of the deep. But you are merciful, LORD, truly compassionate to all in need.  And so you look upon our troubled state and send us help when we cry out to you – our prayer, even from the midst of the nether world, reaches your holy Temple, and you have pity on our poor souls.  For this let us ever praise you! And to what do you call us but to be compassionate as you, to love you and to show that love by loving our neighbor as ourselves.  For we are all one in you and so if we are in you we will see that helping others we indeed help ourselves, and please you greatly by our love, by such awareness of our oneness in you.  May all our being worship you, O LORD!  Let us live your will of love and compassion.

(Bar.4:5-12,27-29;   Ps.69:33-37;   Lk.10:17-24)   “He who has brought disaster upon you will, in saving you, bring you back enduring joy.”   That enduring joy which comes to us after this time of trial is our theme today.  Not only does Baruch come to it in his exhortation for the people to “fear not” anymore but to turn to God and be glad, but it is David’s song as well: “You who seek God, may your hearts be merry!” he exclaims as he assures us that “God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah,” which were once “left desolate” “for the sins of [her] children.”  Yes, as Baruch encourages Israel, “Fear not, my children; call out to God!” so David confirms that “the Lord hears the poor.”  And from all their sins He shall save them. And does not our gospel tell us the same.  In it we are told that “Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit” and gave the Father “grateful praise,” saying, “What you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children.”  To His children, to the humble, to the poor, He reveals Himself.  And what can those who are blessed so, to see “what many prophets and kings wished to see” – what can we do but rejoice in His Spirit?  For He has given us “power to tread on snakes and scorpions and all the forces of the enemy, and nothing shall ever injure” us.  For sin no longer holds sway in our lives as it once did when we turned in the hardness of our hearts from the face of God and so were “handed over” to our foes.  Though once we “forsook the Eternal God,” we now return to Him; and so the “mourning and lament” suffered because of our sin now become joy in His eternal presence. “Nevertheless, do not rejoice so much in the fact that the devils are subject to you as that your names are inscribed in heaven.”  We should rejoice not so much in the gift as in the giver, not so much in the power we have as in Him who gives the power.  For great and wonderful as the overcoming of evil in this life certainly is, its entire purpose is to bring us into communion with the Lord in the New Jerusalem, in His heavenly kingdom.  “Those who love His name shall inhabit it,” so let us join with Jesus in the Holy Spirit to praise the Name of the Father and the great blessing of life He imparts to us.  And we shall find redemption from the punishment of our sins and rejoice as children in His presence forever.  Amen.    ******* O LORD, the Son has made you known, and we may see Him, and we may hear Him – let us turn from our sins! YHWH, great mourning has come upon us because of our sins, but great hope we have in you who desire our salvation.  Great joy is ours as we turn now from our sins and seek you ten times the more.  You are ours as we come before you on our knees, and the joy you bring us will last forever. O God, you are eternal, dwelling in unending light.  And as that light comes to our eyes, what can we do but rejoice with your Son that your poor ones you bring to glory?  In Heaven our names are written by your loving hand, in the blood of your merciful Son; all He has He has given to us, revealing even your presence, dear Father. What power has Satan over your faithful ones, those whom you bless with your power and love?  The Spirit has set us free from all bonds that we might walk with you, eternal LORD.

(Bar.1:15-22;   Ps.79:1-5,8-9;   Lk.10:13-16)   “We have been disobedient to the Lord, our God, and only too ready to disregard His voice.”   Woe is upon us for our sin.  We “have sinned in the Lord’s sight and disobeyed Him,” and so “the evils and the curse which the Lord enjoined upon Moses… cling to us even today.”  And if we do not recognize our sin, as Baruch does so beautifully in our first reading today, if we do not admit our failure to “heed the voice of the Lord,” realizing and repenting of our going “after the devices of our own heart” rather than following in His holy way – if we do not accuse ourselves of “evil in the sight of the Lord,” He will accuse us on the day of the judgment, as He does with Chorazin and Bethsaida in our gospel… and the woe upon us then shall be interminable, as we are “hurled down to the realm of death” with the cursed Capernaum.  But if we turn to Him, if we cry out to Him as does Baruch, as does our psalm this day, declaring the evil and destruction that has come upon us for our sin, that same “reproach of our neighbors” which has “laid Jerusalem in ruins” will be removed from us – the Lord will “remember not against us the iniquities of the past,” and we shall preserve our souls on the day of judgment. “They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem”: great is the suffering which has come upon the Lord’s wayward children.  It seems at times the Lord will be angry forever for the sins committed by the perverse heart of man.  But we know that His “compassion [will] quickly come to us,” that His anger lasts but a moment, it is only for a time, and that He shall indeed “deliver us and pardon our sins.”  This has He done in Jesus, in His sacrifice, and word of it now is preached to the nations.  If we accept it, we save our souls from destruction, from eternal damnation; if we reject the word of the Gospel, we reject Jesus, and we reject Him who holds the world in His creating hand – and so what hope of life have we, who have cast Life aside so wantonly… and so “burn like fire” forever only can the wrath of the Lord, our God. Let us reject sin while there is time.  As His Word is still in our hearing, let us come to it and bare our souls before its truth “in sackcloth and ashes.”  The condition of this world of sin does not change, and it mounts up its punishment for judgment day.  Let us come out of the world, humbly professing our sin, and listen now to the voice that leads us to forgiveness and grace, to exaltation “to the skies,” standing at His side forever.    ******* O LORD, let us not reject you! but come rather on our knees seeking forgiveness. YHWH, the gravity of our sin overwhelms us: our blood is poured out like water, our corpses given as food to the beasts of the earth.  How shall we make amends for our wicked deeds if even the presence of your Son and His sacrifice do not move us to repentance?  O save us from being hurled down to the realm of death!  Let us not reject the Word come from Jesus. O LORD, let us heed your voice.  Though we have been disobedient, though the evils that fall upon us are but just punishment for turning our hearts from you, help us, please, to avoid the grave, to be preserved from the fire that is coming upon the earth.  Remember not our iniquities; let them be of the past.  Let your compassion come quickly to us to raise us from our lowly state.  In sackcloth and ashes let us bow humbly before you that we might find pardon for your NAME’s sake.

(Neh.8:1-12;   Ps.19:8-11;   Lk.10:1-12)  “They understood the words that had been expounded to them.” What a blessed day we hear of in our first reading.  And what a blessed reception the Word of God finds in the hearing of the people!  For “the whole people gathered as one man” and “listened attentively to the book of the law” of Moses as “Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the occasion” and “read out of the book from daybreak until midday.”  And we know that all the people indeed understood the wonder of what was read to their humble, obedient hearts, “for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the law.”  They wept for the truth of these words, and for the fact that they as a people were so long without their instruction.  The truth of God’s Word brought repentance to their hearts, as it should to all. But ultimately the Word of God caused them, as all, “to celebrate with great joy.”  Certainly this is its ultimate goal.  For as David sings so well of in our psalm today: “The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple.”  And the rightness of this wisdom brings “rejoicing [to] the heart.”  For as rich as the food and sweet the drinks the people were encouraged to consume that day as celebration of the glory of God, none could compare with the commands of the Lord, which “are more precious than gold, than a heap of purest gold; sweeter also than syrup or honey from the comb.”  This bread of life is that which sustains us. And it is this bread of peace and life the Lord sends the disciples to bring to the cities before Him in our gospel today.  He tells them that as they declare peace to any house or town along the way, “If there is a peaceable man there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will come back to you.”  And woe to those who do not welcome the reign of God these disciples bring in Jesus’ name.  Indeed, we hear that “the fate of Sodom will be less severe than that of such a town.”  If the Israelites were so open and welcoming to the Word of God read in their midst from the book of the law by Ezra the scribe, how much more welcoming should these people who have the emissaries of Christ Himself, sent to “cure the sick,” be to receive the reign of God at hand.  And how much more should we be open to receive His Word, who now know of the Lord’s resurrection to glory and have the Holy Spirit in our midst by the authority given to His Church on earth.  Brothers and sisters, we must hear and understand as well as they of Nehemiah’s time, else what hope have we for celebration in Christ’s glory?  May His sweet words be in our ears and in our mouths, and so may we bleed with Him unto glory. ******* O LORD, your Word brings the sweetest tears of blessed repentance.  YHWH, how sweet your Word should be to our ears, to our hearts – O how we should welcome it!  Though it bring knowledge of our sin, that knowledge is sweet, for that knowledge brings us to repentance and refreshes our souls.  Though we weep, though we cry for our transgressions, how sweet are our tears!  For it is these tears, this turning from our sins, that brings us into your presence, that brings your reign into our midst. O how we should welcome your Word, LORD!  Once it came only through words in a book; once it had to be read aloud and interpreted for our simple hearts to understand.  But now it comes in flesh and blood in your only Son and in the apostles He sends out to proclaim your glory among men. Indeed, your reign, O God, is at hand.  Your grace has come to us as a Man.  And so let us rejoice this day, for it is thus made most holy.