The BreadCast

(2Cor.9:6-11;   Ps.112:1-4,9;   Mt.6:1-6,16-18)   “Keep your deeds of mercy secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”     In the ground, hidden and secret, the seed is planted.  From the womb of the earth it sprouts, and gives its yield.  We plant the seed; God provides the seed.  And it is through His power that anything which we plant grows and increases.  So it is with our generous acts, as well as our prayer and fasting. “Happy the man who fears the Lord… His generosity shall endure forever.”  For “He who supplies seed for the sower and bread for the eater will provide in abundance; He will multiply the seed you sow and increase your generous yield.”  Trusting in Him, we shall know His blessings; and greater blessings than these shall we know and shall others know, who praise God for the gifts He provides.  Wonderful it is to behold God’s ever-increasing generosity; more wonderful yet to participate in it.  It is a fountain welling up to eternal life, in which we are cleansed and made of light. But let us take to heart the warning of the Lord this day: “Be on guard against performing religious acts for others to see.”  The world does not see God, it cannot know God.  Thus God is termed “hidden” and “secret.”  And though we are to make God known to the world, we cannot do so unless we exist where He is.  In the recesses of our heart, in the quiet, we shall find Him.  In the center of our being we must place Him.  Closing the doors of our rooms, entering the stillness of our souls… kneeling there we shall find Him.  And He shall hear us, and He shall reward us with the blessing of answered prayer, of fruitful yield in His Name.  If we do not remain with Him there in secret – even in the midst of the city, even among the distractions of this world – all our actions will be in vain.  It does us no good to gain the whole world and lose our souls; and all our good deeds are empty show without Him who is goodness at their core. “He who sows bountifully will reap bountifully.”  Let us know the blessing of bearing fruit in God.  Let us give generously, knowing that for all the good we do, the Lord will provide yet more seed for us to sow, and we shall reap in abundance His heavenly blessings.  If we do all without fanfare, but quietly, humbly, secretly trusting all to His care – the blessing of His presence we shall keep with us, and we shall see our works and our prayers bear fruit in the kingdom of God.   May God bless all humble souls with His bounty. May He reveal Himself to their hearts.   ******* O LORD, let us give all we have, and give always from the heart, and we will be giving with you… and you will increase our yield. YHWH, let us cheerfully give to you all we have; all we have is from you and so it is but justice that we place all in your hands.  You will multiply our offering if in sincerity we sacrifice it to you. In secret let us keep our deeds of mercy; hidden in the depths of our soul, let them grow by your Spirit.  In the stillness you reside, and so, there we shall find you.  There you shall hear and bless our prayers.  O LORD, let our prayers rise up to you! Help us to trust in you, dear God, and in your generous love.  You wish to bless us with all that is good but cannot do so unless we believe in your goodness, unless we reflect your grace and mercy in our lives.  We are called to live with you and remain with you.  Let the light of faith dawn upon us this day. Then we shall fear nothing; then we shall live in awe of your presence, LORD.  Your glory dwelling in us and shining through us, we shall be greatly blessed.  Then we shall give freely to all!

(2Cor.8:1-9;   Ps.146:2,5-9;   Mt.5:43-48)   “Love your enemies, pray for your persecutors.”   Our psalm today begins with praise of God and the proclamation of the happiness of those “whose hope is in the Lord,” for it is He who “gives food to the hungry” and “raises up those that were bowed down.”  Freeing captives, giving sight to the blind, protecting strangers… such is our God and Father.  And in our gospel Jesus tells us, “You are sons of your heavenly Father,” and “you must be made perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  We must be His image, doing the things He does. Paul presents Jesus, the only Son of the Father, as our model in generosity.  In his gentle reminder he states: “For your sake He made Himself poor though He was rich, so that you might become rich by His poverty.”  He also presents to us the Macedonians, whose “overflowing joy and deep poverty have produced an abundant generosity.”  And Jesus makes clear that our generosity, our “sharing in the service” of God, must extend beyond our friends.  The Father makes no distinction – “His sun rises on the bad and the good, He rains on the just and the unjust” – and so we are challenged “to know the grace of God” completely by giving our love to all, even as Christ’s arms are open to everyone as He hangs on the cross. How is it that poverty produces such generosity?  And how can we share in both with our God?  The poverty of which the Apostle speaks and which Jesus exemplifies and calls us to follow is the emptying of self of all which is our own, and in the very act of emptying, of giving, is generosity itself.  Whether it be a man of riches handing over his money or a man of great love performing acts of kindness, he who has is divesting himself of that which he has to enrich another.  We remember that when the woman touched the hem of His garment, Jesus perceived power had gone forth from Him (Mk.5:30).  Here is that emptying of love to heal the other.  And on the cross, of course, Jesus emptied Himself completely… and so He died. Should we be afraid, brothers and sisters, of sharing so completely in Jesus’ love?  Do we think that if we give to others, we will have nothing remaining for ourselves?  Is Jesus hanging on the cross the end of the story?  No, brothers and sisters, we should not be afraid.  We must see, indeed, that the more we give, whether of money or of love, the more we are bound to receive.  Do you think that God does not see your generosity?  Do you not realize that He rewards those who are His children?  Do you think Christ still hangs on the cross?  Come to the holiness of God, brothers and sisters; there is no greater grace on earth.  Give of yourselves entirely, love even your enemies, and you shall know in ineffable wonder the surpassing love of God for all.  Such is our call and our joy. ******* O LORD, let us be perfect as you are perfect, loving as Jesus on the Cross – we will not know you otherwise. YHWH, how shall we be made perfect as you are perfect; how shall we love as Jesus on the Cross?  You alone are generous in giving.  You are only of love.  Help us to be unsparing as you who have given us your only Son. It is you who provide seed, you who provide bread.  We can produce no nourishment for our lives or the lives of others by our own hands.  All is yours, but you will give abundantly to those who seek to love as you.  All we need we will have, O LORD, and more, if we empty ourselves of all we own. O make us ready to give all over to you, to love as you do!  Let us not be afraid to share our very lives even with those who would kill us.  To them let us give more freely, for they need your love all the more.  You cannot but help love all those in need, LORD, to feed the hungry, to give sight to the blind, to set captives free… and we who hope in you, what else can we do but reflect your eternal glory?

(2Cor.6:1-10;   Ps.98:1-4;   Mt.5:38-42)   “When a person strikes you on the right cheek, turn and offer him the other.”   “Now is the acceptable time!  Now is the day of salvation!”  Alleluia!  And how do we know the salvation of the Lord except by the cross.  This is our joy.  These “difficulties, distresses, beatings, imprisonments, and riots”; the “hard work, sleepless nights, and fastings” – these crosses bring us immeasurable joy, for through them we share in the suffering of Christ and so also in His resurrection glory.  Thus the Lord can encourage us not to seek to avoid such suffering; thus He instructs us to be prepared to suffer over and above that which comes to us – for He knows that as we give of ourselves in this ready way, as we lay down our lives without hesitation, we shall find ourselves in the hand of God, we shall come quickly to join Him in heaven.  With Paul, we must “present ourselves as ministers of God, acting with patient endurance amid trials,” and His salvation will be made known in us.  And we will rejoice with Paul in all our sorrows.  And we will be able to exclaim with him, “We seem to have nothing, yet everything is ours!”  For the fullness of Christ will reside with us. Give.  Give, and do not count the cost.  How hard it is for us to freely give of our possessions, much less of our very lives.  Are we ready to “give to the man who begs” from us?  Are we prepared to care for others’ needs?  Or do we hold tightly to our possessions, calling them our own?  And what of the possession of our pride and the protection of ourselves from injury?  What of our judgment of others?  Are we ready to give these up so completely?  Can we turn the other cheek to those who do us wrong, offering the pain to God and finding great comfort there, or do we need to strike back against the offending party, exacting the retribution due us according to the law?  Do we indeed live by the law, or have we transcended the law: do we now live by the Law of love?  Are we a new creation in Christ? It is not easy to lay down our lives in such a way as Christ calls us.  The world ever mocks the absurdity of this sacrifice.  But we who are in Jesus should know the absolute truth of Paul’s words and Jesus’ instruction.  If we are to be Christians, we must know the joy and freedom that come from suffering all with Him who is our salvation.  He is all that matters.  If we have Him, we have all things.  Come to this truth, brothers and sisters; leave behind the fears wrought by attachment to the things of this world.  This world is of sin, anyway.  As we lose our possessions for Him, He gives us all the more.  As the body dies, the spirit comes to life.  What the devil would take from us, let us give him, for he cannot touch the life that is Christ: our souls are in the hand of God.  And, as with Job, all will be restored to us, and more, in the day of the Lord.  So, “wielding the weapons of righteousness with right hand and left,” let us learn always to turn the other cheek to our persecutors. ******* O LORD, grant us the grace to endure all trials in patience and with love, that we may give witness to your salvation at work in us. YHWH, your salvation has come to us, and it comes in the form of a Cross; in the suffering and death of your Son we are set free to rejoice in you.  Though we seem to have nothing, though we be beaten and robbed, yet Jesus is with us, and with Him everything is ours.  O let us accept the salvation that He brings this day!  Let us be patient amid all trials and we will know your presence among us. Help us, dear LORD, to walk with your Son on the way of the Cross.  He is struck repeatedly; He is stripped and forced to carry the burden of our sin.  We beg you not to turn your back on us, though we have turned our backs on Him.  Help us to do what we are unable to do – to give witness to the truth and love of the Christ… to endure all as He has done. O to be disciples of Him who saves us!  O to know His holy innocence and unending life!  O to sing with joy to you, dear God, in the unbreakable Spirit of your Son.

(2Cor.5:14-21;   Ps.103:1-4,8-9,11-12;   Mt.5:33-37)  “The love of Christ impels us who have reached the conviction that since one died for all, all died.” How strong is Paul’s “yes” for the Lord.  With what ardor does he cry out: “The old order is passed away; now all is new!”  How purely he is led in the Spirit to call to our very souls, “In Christ’s name: be reconciled to God!”  He has no need to swear by earth or heaven of his conviction that Jesus died for our salvation.  He is indeed a new creation and can but speak of that which he knows to the depths of his soul; driven by the miracle of his own reconciliation to God, he desires naturally – by the supernatural grace at work within him – to draw others to “become the very holiness of God.” Paul sings out with our psalmist: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all my being bless His holy name.”  He cries out with David: “He pardons all your iniquities, He heals all your ills.”  This is the truth which impels him, which he cannot but preach – that our sins are forgiven in Christ the Lord and we need but to come to Him to be raised up to new life.  This is His ministry of reconciliation; this is the message entrusted to him… and he must appeal for God’s holy will to be accomplished in us. Let me join in his shout, let me state so unequivocally – let us all be convicted with Paul of the love God has for us, of the death He has died for us… of the new life we have in Him.  Yes, let us indeed shout it from the rooftops, let us cry it out for all to hear.  Many are on the path to destruction, many are dying in their transgressions; all are inclined to the condemnation the devil has wrought in our lives, and all must be encouraged, all must hear the exhortation to turn from their sins.  May we give our “yes” firmly to God and our “no” firmly to the devil, that others might know in our very lives of the holiness of God and the glory to which He calls us. “Merciful and gracious is the Lord”: this the world must know.  “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He put our transgressions from us”: this the sinful heart wallowing in the darkness of doubt must hear.  The blood of Christ must be shown to all.  Let us not hesitate to speak the great truth of God’s salvation through Christ the Son.  Let us not fail to live His new life every day of our lives. The Lord calls.  The sound of His voice is unmistakable.  All our sin is dead in Him; through Him we are raised to life.  May this Word go forth to the ends of the earth, and may we help carry it there. ******* O LORD, by Jesus’ grace let us be reconciled to you – let us say Yes to Him and No to the world. YHWH, let us be reconciled to you.  Let us be a new creation through Christ your Son and give our ‘yes’ ever to your will.  Sure of soul let us be, of the salvation you bring in Jesus and His messengers.  He has died for our sakes that we might be raised with Him.  O let our transgressions be far from us this day! What kindness you show to your wayward sons, O LORD.  None of us has been found worthy of your kingdom, but in Jesus all our sins you wash away that we might stand in your presence.  May all hear the call of the Apostle to our souls and be reconciled to you in Jesus’ Name.  May all know the grace and mercy you offer freely forth. Make us simple and make us sure; let us in all things do your will, giving our ‘yes’ to you and our ‘no’ firmly to the evil one.  Then to Heaven we will come, LORD, to dwell with you upon your throne – O let us enter the New Jerusalem as your sons and daughters impelled only by your love.

(2Cor.4:7-15;   Ps.116:10-11,15-18;   Mt.5:27-32)  “While we live we are constantly being delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh.” In our gospel we continue to see how the grace of Jesus supersedes the Law of Moses.  Yesterday we were told not only must we not murder, but that we must not even be angry with or speak ill of another.  Today Jesus tells us the commandment against adultery applies even to our eyes, to our thoughts, and that God allows no divorce…  And of what does Jesus speak but that which Paul tells us as well – that our bodies, our sinful flesh, must die in order for the glory of God contained therein to shine.  Jesus makes this graphically apparent when He speaks of gouging out our eye and cutting off our hand: the body must provide no hindrance to entering the reign of God, and so it must die; sin must indeed be rooted out of us.  “In earthen vessels” we are, weak and mortal, subject to the afflictions of time.  The trials of this world therefore do not escape us and indeed are necessary for us to overcome, to purify, our mortal flesh.  We must be chastised.  We must suffer.  But we do not suffer in vain.  “We are persecuted but never abandoned; we are struck down but never destroyed.”  The trials of this earth have no ultimate hold over us; in fact, they do not lead to death but to life.  Why?  Solely because it is “the dying of Jesus” we carry in our bodies; entirely because we unite our suffering to Christ’s, it becomes redemptive and not destructive.  “We have that Spirit of faith,” and that Spirit of faith is life to us even in our greatest afflictions; and that Spirit of faith turns the deaths we undergo to new life.  How?  By our overcoming of these deaths and thereby giving death to sin. A man is addicted to alcohol – this is a temptation and an affliction for him.  By the power of Christ and faith in His Name, he puts down the bottle.  Who can measure the grace at work in him?  Who can capture the life he now knows?  And we all have our addictions, be they anger or lust or greed or whatever, and they all must be overcome.  And as we overcome them, what freedom do we find.  For in this we thwart the devil’s plan to bring us to destruction by the weakness of the flesh.  He does not like to see our faith in Jesus spawning such resurrections.  And neither does the world like to see a man make progress in God.  So the afflictions will be doubled; the world and the devil will attack our weak human vessels all the more.  But “precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His faithful ones”; and the more we set aside the sins of the flesh, the more He will bless us – the greater He will preserve us from evil.  He that is in us is far greater than he that is in the world, brothers and sisters.  And the more the devil tempts us, the stronger only do we become, because the God of life holds even this purveyor of death in His all-powerful hand.  We must but have faith and we will find life; through all our afflictions we will rejoice. ******* O LORD, all must be sacrificed for the sake of the kingdom, and in the death of this mortal flesh we shall find life. YHWH, how sweet is the death of your faithful ones who unite themselves to the dying of your Son!  How blessed is the fruit of such sacrifice!  For not only is life revealed in the flesh of those who die for the sake of Jesus, but also in those to whom such witness speaks.  And so, indeed, let our bodies die, our earthen vessels be broken, that our spirits might live forever with you in Heaven. O LORD, despite the afflictions that come, though we are indeed delivered to death, yet we shall pay our vows in the presence of all your people; yet we shall remain faithful to our call to serve you by laying down our lives.  For we are not adulterers and we wish for no lover but you alone.  May we be wed to your Son in His sacrifice that we might be wed to Him in glory! All our bonds you loose, O LORD, when we are prepared to die, when we hold to nothing of this sinful life.  And so we shall not despair nor be destroyed even as we bleed for you and the love of our neighbor.

(2Cor.3:15-4:1,3-6;   Ps.85:9-14;   Mt.5:20-26)  “See the splendor of the gospel showing forth the glory of Christ.” Today the gospel is preached: Jesus, the image of God, has come among us, “glory dwelling in our land,” and removed the veil from our understanding so that now we “are being transformed from glory to glory into His very image by the Lord who is the Spirit.”  The words of life are spoken by the Lord; the Holy Spirit comes amongst us as light to illumine our minds and lead us beyond the bounds of the law to the kingdom of God itself.  And we must live in that light, we must make it our own, becoming children of the light of the Spirit of God, “that we in turn might make known the glory of God shining on the face of Christ.”  He has indeed come amongst us, salvation is at hand, and we must become perfect as the Father is perfect, as Jesus who is the pure reflection of the Father is perfect – we must allow the Spirit to remove any taint of darkness from our souls. Jesus tells us, “Unless your holiness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the kingdom of God.”  Here He means that the law may lead us out of Egypt, it may serve to release us from the bonds of this world of sin, but this guard we have while treading this earth is not enough to bring us into the promised land, into the heavenly kingdom to which we are called.  And as long as we concern ourselves only with fulfilling the minimal requirements of the law  (not to murder, not to commit adultery…), we will continue to suffer; we will remain unfulfilled.  Jesus calls us to greater than that: He calls us into His very light of perfection in the presence of the Father.  This call is implanted upon the soul of each one of us, and as long as we ignore it, as long as we veil our minds to the depth and the breadth of this call to perfection with Christ… as long as we say, “Well, I haven’t killed anyone,” and stop there… so long we will remain unsatisfied, so long will the fires burn – so long will we be in prison paying the last penny. Jesus is calling you now, brothers and sisters; Paul and all the true preachers of Holy Church are calling you now to remove the veil from your eyes, to come into the Lord’s light – to cease to make excuses for your sins, however small they may seem – to seek perfection in Christ… to find the kingdom of God.  The Spirit will aid you in your journey; He will be with you every step of your walk on the way of perfection, be assured of this.  The Lord does not call us to Himself and then leave us alone to struggle vainly.  He is with us through all our trials.  But we must come to Him and live in His light of purity, and shine that light for others to see.  ******* O LORD, your kingdom comes by the power of the Holy Spirit, who purges us of sin and makes us shine with His radiance. YHWH, your glory shines now in our midst in the face of Christ, and He calls us to that same glory by the Spirit that is within us.  Let your light shine in the darkness of this world; let us make known your glory by our words and actions. In the way of salvation we walk, insofar as we follow the commands of your Son and His love.  He calls us to dwell with you, O LORD, to reconcile with one another and be perfect as you are perfect – to find our holiness fulfilled.  We fall short as long as we limit ourselves to the principles of the law; your glory is far beyond the basics of the law, and it is to your glory and your love Jesus calls us. What a gift is ours in Christ!  Union with you, dear Father in Heaven!  Let us not be blinded by the god of the present age, by unbelieving minds, but let the veil be lifted from our faces to gaze upon the glory of your Son and so be transformed into that glory by the Spirit upon us.  Alleluia!

(2Cor.3:4-11;   Ps.99:5-9;   Mt.5:17-19)  “Not the smallest letter of the law, not the smallest part of a letter, shall be done away with until it all comes true.” Jesus comes to fulfill the law and the prophets.  The law watches over us while we are here in this world.  It guards us and puts to death the sin that is inherent in our earthly nature.   There is great glory in this blessed protection, as is witnessed in our psalm today – “Holy is the Lord, our God” – because it acquaints us with God’s justice and, as said, watches vigilantly over us to maintain our standing in the presence of God.  But the law does not bring us to the fullness of God’s love; it does not bring us into the heavenly kingdom and “the glory that endures.”  Moses brings the Israelites to the banks of the Jordan, but he does not cross over with them.  He looks out over the Promised Land from his place on the mountaintop, but does not enter therein.  It is Joshua who leads the people into the land promised through Moses (as even he does in today’s Office of Readings).  And so it is Jesus who brings us to the heavenly kingdom by His law of love. In speaking elsewhere of the glory of love (1Cor.13:8), Paul tells us that prophecy shall fail and tongues shall cease but love is eternal, favored well beyond any other gift.  Prophecies speak of earthly matters and the law is for our earthly nature, but love speaks of God and heaven.  We must be very careful to heed the words of Christ and realize that as long as we are in this world and subject to the sin that our flesh brings, the law has a prominent place in our lives and cannot be jettisoned prematurely – as many advocate by their lack of diligence to its precepts, presuming heaven before its time – yet we must always remember that it is the glory of heaven and not of earth to which Jesus calls us, and that there the law will be fulfilled; there we shall be made perfect in the light of God. The law is “destined to pass away” only insofar as it is fulfilled, and therefore it never really passes away but is subsumed by a greater law.  Let us continue to glory in the chastising hand of God and in the service of purification the law provides us.  Let us come by its means to the flesh of Christ, and by the grace of God enter fully into Him.  Jesus is our Promised Land, brothers and sisters; with the law as our guide, but above all with faith in our hearts, let us come into His holy, eternal, loving presence.  We have the manna of the Eucharist to share this day; tomorrow we shall feast in fullness on the Bread of Life that is Jesus Christ.   ******* O LORD, your commands must be fulfilled or they shall remain, along with our sin. YHWH, you are holy and your glory surpasses all that is of heaven and earth.  Though we are your creation and you are present to us, though you are with us even in the law you gave to Moses, and though we need your law to purge us of all evil, to put to death the deeds of the flesh… yet in such death we are not fulfilled.  We must come to join you in your glory; we must find life in you. And so, O holy LORD, your Son walks among us, not to destroy the law or contradict the prophets who call us from our wayward path, but to fulfill their voice by the very presence of the Word.  Now your holiness has taken flesh, and so at your mountain we can worship in Spirit and in truth.  Now we may enter your kingdom. It is in Jesus we are saved from the death the law brings; it is through Him we find the ministry of the Spirit and so the glory that passes not away.  This glory is your very presence speaking to us and shining upon us, dear LORD.  O let us call upon your NAME and dwell with you forever!

(2Cor.1:18-22;   Ps.119:129-133,135;   Mt.5:13-16)  “God is the one who firmly establishes us.” “Light of the world” and “salt of the earth” – this is what we are by the power of God.  It is by Him we are “set on a hill” to give “light to all in the house”; it is we who preserve the integrity of creation.  It is a holy call and a demanding one, and we should not waver in our resolve to follow the Lord and fulfill His work and His will; for it is indeed His will that we show His goodness before the eyes of men, and so “He who anointed us and sealed us” will always strengthen us for our task – by Him who holds the entire world in His palm, our own work will be made light. But heed the words of our readings: we must always give our “yes” to God.  Having put our hand to the plow, we cannot turn back.  In fact, we should say with the psalmist, “I gasp with open mouth in my yearning for your commands”; so great should be our love for God and for His life-giving words that ever do we thirst more greatly for the love and the light He brings us through our walking in them.  His discipline is redeeming and freeing; and as we drink in its light, as we find ourselves becoming one with Him and with His Son who has shown us clearly and completely the way of perfection, we become the light He is.  And we cannot but shine that same light to others, directing them to Him who establishes all holy souls in His blessed kingdom. What joy should be ours as we find ourselves becoming one with God as His children of light.  What absolute exhilaration is evident in Paul’s preaching to the Corinthians, as well as in our psalm.  The source of such excitement is his firmness in faith; the Spirit is speaking in his heart and he is not afraid.  Indeed, he takes his very life, his daily bread, in proclaiming it. Have we such faith in our hearts, or have we somehow gone flat?  Can we proclaim our unwavering trust in the Lord, or is our light still shaded by doubts and fears?  If our love for God is true and our love for one another is real, we shall be firmly established – our light shall go forth. Let us pray to Him that from the light of His words we shall not be distracted.  The light of His presence is all that matters.  Shine forth His light to the world.  ******* O LORD, may the Spirit of Truth be with us to guide us by His holy light. YHWH, your promises have been fulfilled in Jesus and in Him you firmly establish our place before you, the Holy Spirit in our hearts.  You call us to be salt and light to this world, to be the disciples of your Son.  Help us to be steadfast in that call, that the light of the Spirit might go out to the ends of the earth. We are anointed with the Christ and have His life within us.  He it is who walks before us, making our footsteps firm.  We must follow in His way and give our ‘yes’ entirely to you.  O LORD, let us not waver in our weakness but ever keep your commands and so radiate your goodness to all men.  Make our witness sure and true; let us ever remain in the light of your presence. O LORD, let all praise be given to you from hearts filled with your glory.  With open mouth let us ever yearn for your Word.  In wonder let us stand before you, worshiping ever in your kingdom as your holy children.  Let your countenance shine on your servants; transform us into your light.

(2Cor.1:1-7;   Ps.34:2-9;   Mt.5:1-12)  “Blessed are those persecuted for holiness’ sake; the reign of God is theirs.” Here is the core teaching of our faith.  Here are the beatitudes, the call to sweet humility which flows like blessed honey from the lips of our Savior.  And that teaching is that the humbled shall be exalted, that those who mourn and sorrow for the lack of love we find in this tainted world and who strive to bring that love to the hard heart of man shall be blessed, are blessed, for they share in the sufferings of Christ, who wept for the sins of His people, who, looking out upon them from the cross cried: “My God, why have you forsaken me?”  Why has this world made in the image of Christ turned so against Him, and when shall it return to the love of God?  And we who cry with Christ, even for our enemies, even for the most despicable criminal, we shall know the joy He finds – like the repentant thief, we shall be this day with Him in paradise. “Just as you share in the sufferings, so you will share in the consolation,” St. Paul so concisely states.  One can hear him brimming with joy as he speaks of the comfort we find in the Lord in all our afflictions, and the grace of sharing that consolation with others.  This is our great possession.  This is the kingdom of God within us: to see through all trouble and affliction, to conquer it in Jesus’ Name – to find such strength even while here on earth to overcome all evil and come to heaven.  “Blest are you when they insult you and persecute you…  Be glad and rejoice.”  How marvelously the Lord exhorts us to come to the glory of heaven, to overcome the dark with light.  For light it is where we dwell, and this light is unconquerable. Let us make room for Him in our hearts, brothers and sisters; let us give place to Him in our lives.  Let us even in the simplest ways show heaven’s glory here on earth.  If we are lowly and we are true, our light cannot help but shine.  And for those who seek it our lamps will shine, and we shall illumine one another.  Let sweet humility be your treasure and the Lord’s peace your goal in life.  The angel of the Lord is around us to save us.  Nothing of this earth shall touch us.  Let us lay down our lives to destroy death’s bonds. ******* O LORD, it is the cross of suffering with Christ that brings us great joy. YHWH, blessed are we when persecuted because of our love for you, because of our desire to be as your Son, for enduring all the sufferings this world brings we find great joy in your presence.  You console the afflicted who call out to you, for you are the refuge of all who suffer for your sake. O LORD, let us be holy as you are holy; let us be made whole in your Son.  If we must sorrow and mourn to be conformed to your Son, to be purged of all sin and join Him in your kingdom, let it be so.  Let us take our strength in you; in you we find refuge.  Reward in Heaven is all we desire – to you let us come by way of the Cross of your only Son. Bless you, LORD, for the goodness you show to us, for the joy you bring us in our suffering for you.  You deliver us from every danger, and so we stand firm in hope, consoled by the promise in the words of Jesus.  Let us remain ever blessed as we set our hearts on serving you.

(Acts 9:31-42;   Ps.116:12-17;   Jn.6:60-69) “We have come to believe.”        Yes, Peter professes for the Twelve (except Judas, of course), “We are convinced that you are God’s holy one.”  They have heard His words and seen His works, and despite the difficulty of this latest and most challenging of words – that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood – their faith is not shaken as is that of so many others, as is the faith of so many even today regarding the same teaching.  Peter declares, “You have the words of eternal life,” and he knows by Jesus’ words all things are possible, for “it is the spirit that gives life” to the flesh.  And so Peter and the apostles can sing with our psalmist, “The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord,” and by this invocation – “This is my body…  This is my blood” – the Lord’s words are proven true: His presence is with us, and of Him we eat.        And in our first reading, faith comes, too, through the blessed healing of two disciples.  We are told that through the healing of one, “All the inhabitants of Lydda and Sharon, upon seeing him, were converted to the Lord”; and upon the raising of the other, “Many came to believe in the Lord.”  Truly here is evidence that the Church “was being built up and was making steady progress in the fear of the Lord.”  Whereas in our gospel we see a pruning of the faithful to discover those who truly believe, here we see those so refined, today in the person of Peter, serving to increase the numbers of those who believe.        “You have loosed my bonds.”  What appropriate words from our psalmist today for those cured by Jesus through Peter’s intercession to sing in praise of God.  For one is released from paralysis and the other from the very bonds of death.  But how much more appropriate these words are for the others to sing, those who are set free from a lack of faith – those who come to believe in Jesus.  For here truly is the greatest freedom, the greatest healing there is, to be able to declare with the whole of His faithful: “To you I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.”  O that all might come to life in the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ!        As Jesus did, so do the apostles.  As he healed, so do they.  As Jesus told the paralytic to take up his mat and go home (Mt.9:6), so Peter says, “Get up and make your bed.”  As Jesus said, “‘Talitha, koum’, which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise!’” (Mk.5:41), so Peter says, “Tabitha, stand up.”  And as surely as these are raised by the words spoken in Jesus’ name, so when the apostles speak the Lord’s words of spirit and life – “This is my body… This is my blood” – over the gifts of bread and wine, so truly do they become His flesh and blood.  I pray all shall come to believe. ******* O LORD, let us live and act as if we believe in your Son; let us do the things He has done. YHWH, you have loosed our bonds and raised us from death by the sacrifice of your Son, and in His Name all are now saved from their sins and consecrated to you.  Help us to believe the words He speaks, to be of the Spirit and life and not the flesh.  O let us come to you! O LORD, let our faith not be shaken by the demands of your Son, by the challenge He offers us to believe and so come to life in His Name.  Let your Church flourish and grow in fear of you and the consolation of the Spirit.  Yes, let all be converted to love of you and serve to do your will in this world, till all come to dwell eternally in your kingdom. This day we take up the cup of salvation and declare your praise, O LORD.  This day let us fulfill our vows to you, that in your sight our death might be blessed and we be raised to life with you.