The BreadCast

(1Cor.12:31-13:13;   Ps.33:2-5,12,22;   Lk.7:31-35)   “We piped you a tune but you did not dance; we sang you a dirge but you did not wail.”   “Like children squatting in the city squares and calling to their playmates,” seeking to have them comply with their own selfish will, so are “the men of today” according to our Lord.  And so is their song not “a noisy gong”?  Do they not lack of love?  Could they be more “rude,” more impatient and unkind, than to declare of John the Baptizer, “He is mad!” and of the Son of Man, “Here is a glutton and a drunkard”?  Could they any more “rejoice in what is wrong,” utterly shutting out the truth? And why?  Why is it they do so lack of love?  Why are they so ungodly?  Is it not that they fail to realize and state with the Apostle Paul: “Our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect”?  Is it not because they trust in their own minds that they do not come to the wisdom of God? And what is “God’s wisdom”?  It is what Paul speaks of so well today: God is love, and without God we are worth nothing.  Yes, God is love.  Love is the heart of the Law even as God is the heart of the Law, and without the heart the body is useless.  But knowing God is love, hearing it repeated over and over, is not sufficient for our salvation.  Certainly, “of the kindness of the Lord the earth is full.”  The Lord ever pours forth His grace, His love upon all His creatures – but how do we come to have that love, how do we come to accept it?  Again, the key is in Paul’s statement, “My knowledge is imperfect now.”  It is in understanding that, even though “we put childish ways aside,” yet “we see indistinctly.”  It is in the realization that we are not God, that we need God and His love; in a word, it is in repentance.  Genuine repentance is the attitude that brings us to the love of God.  And the need for it is constant! I think there is a kind of divine equation to our relationship with the Lord: the more we recognize our misery, the more He shares His mercy; the more we acknowledge our lack of His wisdom and love, the more He fills our desire for them.  Marvelous is the justice of God! Brothers and sisters, “give thanks to the Lord on the harp; with the ten-stringed lyre chant His praises.”  It is ours to “speak with human tongues and angelic as well”; we must employ “the gift of prophecy,” “feed the poor,” and be ready to “hand over [our] body to be burned.”  But all we do must be driven by His will, must be founded in His love.  Our song must be set in His holy key and reflect His eternal harmony, or we have nothing to fill our emptiness.  ******* O LORD, let us accept your Word and your way; let us live in your love and praise you all the day. YHWH, if we have not love, what good are we, for then we are not of you?  If we are proud what can we be but condemned for our anger and judgment?  If we seek to control you, where can such foolishness lead us but to separation from you and your love; and so, what shall we do but die in emptiness? O LORD, what fools we are to trust in our own knowledge, in our own ways, when you lay the way to Heaven before us.  You send your Son to lead us home, and we tell Him He knows not of what He speaks; we seek even to instruct Him of the way He should better walk.  And so to what utter foolishness does our knowledge lead – what blindness is upon our souls! We must love as you love, as your Son has shown us, dearest LORD.  Patient and kind make us this day, humble before you that we might see how much we need you to find our way.  To your kingdom let us come, praising you for your glory, living in your unending love.

(1Cor.6:1-11;   Ps.149:1-6,9;   Lk.6:12-19)  “You have been washed, consecrated, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” Yes, “power went out from Him which cured all.”  And as all were “healed of their diseases” and “those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured” by His touch, so we, too, are made whole in His sight; so we now become His holy children of light.  For “the unholy will not fall heir to the kingdom of God,” and His kingdom being the desire of our hearts, we come with “the whole crowd… trying to touch Him,” trying to reach His presence upon the mountain of God. And He calls His apostles; He selects the Twelve.  And the power to teach and to heal He bestows upon them and upon their descendants.  His wisdom and His grace He imparts upon those to whom His Father leads Him; and this same power rests upon all those baptized in His name into His Spirit.  And so, as these Twelve who are the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem sit in judgment of the twelve tribes of Israel, so it is that the redeemed of the Lord are, as Paul tells us, “to judge angels.”  Yes, “the believers will judge the world.”  This power which is the Lord’s alone He gives to all in the world to come, for all are to be infused with His wisdom, and His love. And so are we not therefore “up to deciding everyday affairs”?  “If the judgment of the world is to be [ours], are we to be thought unworthy of judging in minor matters?”  And not only in cases “between one member of the Church and another,” but in all the details of our lives.  If we are to judge with the wisdom and grace of God in heaven, we must here be able to see clearly the right from the wrong, or we have not His Spirit upon us – or we stand in opposition to His Truth and to His Church.  “Do not deceive yourselves: no fornicators, idolaters, or adulterers, no sodomites, thieves, misers, or drunkards, no slanderers or robbers will inherit God’s kingdom.”  If your conscience tells you otherwise and you do these things or fail to condemn these things, you are sadly misinformed; and rather than judge the nations with the Lord and His apostles, you shall be judged by them. Come only unto His Word, brothers and sisters; come only unto His Hand.  And you shall be cleansed of all evil and be made able to stand here in this world as in His kingdom.  And you shall sing His “praise in the assembly of the faithful” and with them “exult in glory” before your “maker” and “king.”  “This is the glory of all His faithful”; His holy song is sung by all the redeemed. ******* O LORD, your power is upon your apostles and all your holy people; for this grace let us praise your NAME. YHWH, who can judge but those who are like you, those who are holy, those washed clean in the blood of your Son with the power of your Spirit upon them?  No sinner can judge, for no sinner can see; he is blinded by his sin and immersed in selfishness, and so, how can he be just? O LORD, anoint us as you have the apostles, with your Spirit, with your blessing, with the blood of your Son.  Let healing graces pour forth from our souls as we walk the way He has shown.  Then all shall rejoice at His coming, all shall exult in your glory, as all are judged fairly in your sight. We are but poor creatures, LORD, and yet by your grace you make us as yourself, you call us to you… even to judge angels with you.  Certainly it is never we who judge but you; we can only give our wills over to you and allow you to work for our good.  For only you are good, and so only by you are we made good and able to do anything at all.  Let us be your faithful disciples even this day.

(2Thes.1:1-5,11-12;   Ps.96:1-5;   Mt.23:13-22)  “Which is more important, the offering or the altar which makes the offering sacred?” The Pharisees in their blindness taught: “If a man swears by the altar it means nothing, but if he swears by the gift on the altar he is obligated.”  Indeed, “How blind [they] are!”  For what do they do but exalt that which is secondary beyond that which is primary?  What do they do but invert logic? And what is the significance of their blindness?  Why does it bring them “an evil day”?  What the Pharisees essentially do in their thinking and their teaching is place the created ahead of the Creator, themselves before their God.  For we are the gift upon the altar and the Lord Jesus the altar that receives and consumes our offering.  It is He who makes us holy, and not we Him; it is we “who belong to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” and not vice-versa.  He is above; we are below.  The divine order of things must not be skewed.  Yes, “the Lord made the heavens” and we who dwell below the heavens, and we must bow down before Him and praise His name. “Awesome is He, beyond all gods.”  Above every created thing He stands, He towers, for all these things, including our souls, are in His almighty hands.  “All the gods of the nations are things of naught,” idols of so much dust and sand, devised alone by human hands and serving to inflate the pride of those who make them.  These we must leave aside.  Our false ideas we must abandon.  To Him alone must we come. “Tell His glory among the nations,” brothers and sisters, “for great is the Lord and highly to be praised.”  It is He who is “seated on [the] throne” of heaven, He alone who merits our songs of praise.  So let our song rise up to Him from our place upon His altar; let our offering be acceptable in His sight.  Let us pray “that our God may make [us] worthy of His call, and fulfill by His power every honest intention and work of faith,” that “the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in [us] and [we] in Him, in accord with the gracious gift of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  May He make us holy. ******* O LORD, let us sing of your salvation as we strive to put you before all things and grow constantly in your love. YHWH, you are seated on the throne of Heaven, far above all gods – you alone are worthy of our praise, for you alone are holy.  All things of this world let us leave behind to find your glory. LORD, bless our work and make us worthy of your call; in faith let us endure every persecution and trial and be fruitful in your sight, that we might be found in your kingdom.  There is nothing but you that we should desire – may you alone be praised by all the ends of the earth. How shall we lose our blindness, LORD, and come to see that you are all in all?  How shall we learn to put you first at all times, always remembering your holy NAME?  How might we be blessed to announce your salvation in all we think, say, and do? By you alone let us live our lives, O LORD and God, striving to do your will in all things by the grace of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  In Him we shall know you and find you; through His Cross we shall come to your kingdom.

(Ez.18:1-10,13,30-32;   Ps.51:12-15,18-19;   Mt.19:13-15)  “Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me,” David cries out in his psalm.  Ezekial speaks of the same cleansing needed to find the life of God.  And Jesus amongst the children reveals the purity to which we are all called. “Turn and be converted from all your crimes, that they may be no cause of guilt for you,” the Lord exhorts us through his prophet today.  Through Ezekial it is revealed that we are judged “each one according to his ways” – the sinner according to his sin and the virtuous according to his “right and just” acts.  And the sinner “because he practiced all these abominations… shall surely die,” while the just “shall surely live.”  This is the Word of the Lord God. But the Word continues.  Ezekial also reveals that the Lord God “takes no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” that it is His desire that all should live.  And so he cries out, “Return and live!” for the Lord is a forgiving God and will indeed wash clean all who turn from their sin. “My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.”  Here is the truth of our Lord: He does not desire to cast us “out from [His] presence,” but wishes us to come as children before Him, to know His love, to discover the kingdom of God which belongs to “such as these”… for these are as He is – humble as Jesus, the Child of God.  Marvelously our sins He shall wash away, and we shall live!  We shall know “the joy of [His] salvation” as children in His sight. O Lord, we pray that “sinners shall return to you.”  We pray that none shall die.  We pray that you take our own lives and let them witness what it is to be a virtuous child of God.  In your hands may our hearts be: “a willing spirit sustain in me.”  Lay your hands upon our heads before you leave this place; let all our sin be cast away. ******* O LORD, make for us a new heart and a new spirit, that we might be as children in your kingdom. YHWH, make us pure and innocent as children before you that we might not be judged guilty of sin, that we might not be deserving of death.  Lay your hands upon our head, and make us clean. You judge every soul according to his deeds, LORD, but you are merciful to those who turn from their sin.  Indeed, you desire the death of no one and so long for our hearts to turn to you.  May we be truly contrite and humble; may we sincerely desire to return to you, and so reform our ways. To each man you give a soul, O LORD, a free will to decide his fate.  If he goes along the way you direct him, worshiping you alone and loving others as you do, he shall indeed be saved and live with you forever.  But if in pride he casts aside your words of instruction, worshiping gods that are not you and despising his neighbor… he cannot but die. O LORD, take away all our empty pride, and let us come to you as a child.

(Ez.1:2-5,24-28;   Ps.148:1-2,11-14;   Mt.17:22-27)  “His majesty is above earth and heaven.” Gleaming like gold or silver, shining forth like burning fire, splendorous as “the bow which appears in the clouds on a rainy day” – “such was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” given the prophet Ezekial.  And this is but His likeness; nothing could describe the glory of the One who has beneath His feet the four living creatures whose wings beat “like the roaring of mighty waters, like the voice of the Almighty.”  These eyes cannot see God. But His only Son we can see, for He whose greatness is as the Lord’s own has deigned to walk amongst us in human form.  Though His place is at the throne of the Almighty God, though His glory is itself exalted above earth and heaven, yet the Son of God becomes also the Son of Man.  And not only does He walk in our skin, but even dies for our sin.  How humble is our glorious God!  And though He Himself is the Temple of God, though it is by His hands only the temple on earth has been built, yet He does not presume exemption from paying tax to those who are but its caretakers.  For He subjects Himself entirely to our laws, as well as to our scourges.  (And notice that the coin Peter will find in the mouth of the fish is “twice the temple tax,” to pay simultaneously for himself and Jesus.  Thus is Peter equated with the Lord in the exemption of sonship, in authority over the temple – for it is he who shall be at the helm of the new Temple.) The disciples are “overwhelmed with grief” at hearing of their Lord’s coming crucifixion.  They have known the glory of God so wonderfully as wedding guests, as the best men of the bridegroom – as the blessed disciples of the Son – and now the thought of His dying is beyond their comprehension.  (So much so that they do not even hear that “He will be raised up on the third day.”)  They want to maintain the glory they have known, which is indeed heavenly.  But Jesus’ humbling of Himself is not complete, as neither is His glory.  Remain on this earth He cannot, but must return to the right hand of the Father.  And the only way to this fulfillment of glory is through the cross – only this will bring Him to resurrection, and bring us all from our sin. “Praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted.”  Let all that lives and that breathes praise our Savior, Jesus.  For it is He who brings us to the majesty of our Father. ******* O LORD, your Son is the Temple in which we worship; He is our heavenly King – may we offer our lives with Him this day. YHWH, your majesty is above earth and Heaven, far beyond our comprehension; Ezekiel’s vision gives us but a glimpse of your surpassing glory.  Our eyes could not look upon the perfect wonder of your presence. But to us you send your Son, LORD, for Him we may look upon.  And looking at Him on the Cross we see the Temple of Heaven open up for us; our vision is cleansed and we know thus the glory that is with Him, that He is your Son, and that it is He who leads us to your throne.  And so, your majesty becomes our own. Indeed, we cannot fathom this great gift you grant to your children, LORD; we cannot say how unworthy we are of your presence.  And yet, by His humility, by His uniting Himself to us, we become as the Temple your Son is – we find His Spirit upon us.  In your Church you make your home, making us as your sons.  Your praise resound from the ends of the earth; on the third day may we too be raised.

(Jer.31:31-34;   Ps.51:12-15,18-19;   Mt.16:13-23) “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” Do not the days come to pass, is not this promise made through Jeremiah fulfilled, when the Lord declares to Peter, “On this rock I will build my Church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it”?  Does Jesus not hereby wrest the covenant from the hands of the leaders of the Jews and thus make His people anew, here founding His New Covenant and His new Church upon Peter and the apostles?  Does not all that has been declared to the Chosen now come to pass in the Christ and in those who follow Him?  Are we not, as it were, true and complete Jews, basking in the light of the Messiah? And what is it this New Covenant is like?  The Lord says, “I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God and they shall be my people.”  Indeed, all shall “know the Lord.”  And how shall this come about?  Is this not the answer to David’s heartfelt prayer when drowning in the midst of sin: “A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me”?  Is it not by His cleansing us of all our transgressions that He shall “remember [our] sin no more”?  Is it not in this way our hearts are prepared to receive Him, and He comes to make His home with us?  Is this not why Jesus has come? “Your Holy Spirit take not from me,” David cries out, and his “heart contrite and humbled” the Lord responds to.  For upon Peter and His Church He places His Holy Spirit, never to be removed, and all who dwell within this House shall indeed never be “cast... from [His] presence.”  Later He shall breathe upon the apostles; later the Spirit shall fall mightily on them.  Now He is still teaching them to make “God’s standards” their own; now He is still making room for His love in their hearts.  But still, here is the declaration that His Church shall be, and shall grow unto eternity.  May we all take refuge within the blessed walls formed by the Lord’s hands, anointed by His Spirit.  May our hearts all be set upon Him.  And His power shall be in our hands; and we will be His own... and the New Covenant of love will be known. ******* O LORD, write your NAME upon our hearts, that we might be made holy like you. YHWH, write your NAME upon our hearts, that we shall never forget you.  Let us be blessed to remain in your Church, faithful ever to your New Covenant. Your promise fulfill among us, LORD, in our obedience to Peter and all your apostles.  I pray we shall learn to judge by your standards, and not according to our selfish concern. Reveal to us your Word and your Way, LORD, and let us follow Him to the end.  Though we must travel through Jerusalem, may our joining in your Son’s sacrifice but serve to make us holy in your sight.  Take not your Spirit from our hearts, LORD; never let us be separated from you.  But be pleased with our humility, and remember our sins no more. The joy of your salvation shall be ours, if we build our house upon your Rock.  O LORD, day to day may we be released from all bonds, washed ever in the blood of the Messiah.

(Jer.30:1-2,12-15,18-22;   Ps.102:16-23,29;   Mt.14:22-36)  “His assembly before me shall stand firm.” The words of the prophet Jeremiah are fulfilled in the Apostle Peter and in the Church, for upon this Rock we have our firm foundation. “The Lord looked down from His holy height, from heaven He beheld the earth”; and when the time had come, He sent His only Son.  And that Son, in all His wisdom, chooses those who would follow Him, making certain thereby that indeed “the children of [His] servants shall abide, and their posterity shall continue in [the Father’s] presence,” thus fulfilling the word of the Lord: “You shall be my people, and I will be your God.” Yes, Jeremiah declares of the New Jerusalem, the “city [that] shall be rebuilt upon [the] hill”: “His leader shall be one of his own, and his rulers shall come from his kin.”  Jesus is of our kind, a man like each of the Lord’s children, and so is the apostle He chooses – and all who likewise follow.  All bishops and priests, all the descendants of Peter and the apostles in the ministry of the Word and the ministry of the flesh of Christ, all come from our midst and are our very brothers.  And the Church is ruled by them in the power of the Holy Spirit. In the beginning of our gospel today we find Jesus much as He was the night before choosing His apostles – “He went up on the mountain to pray, remaining there alone as evening drew on.”  John the Baptist has been killed and the time has come now for our Lord’s mission to increase, and so He prepares Himself for this next step in His ministry.  And so it becomes His primary concern to be sure that when the time comes for Him to die, His successor shall be readied.  And so the test and teaching He brings His Rock, Peter. “When I summon him, he shall approach me; how else should one take the deadly risk of approaching me? says the Lord.”  Again Jeremiah’s prophecy is fulfilled, for Peter does not come to Jesus on his own, but first states, “Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you across the water,” and waits for the Lord to exclaim: “Come!”  And what happens now, what miracle?  “Peter got out of the boat and began walking on the water, moving toward Jesus.”  Yes, our Rock walks miraculously with the Lord!  Then why does he begin to sink? you say.  It is the Lord’s will to teach our leader, and all of us, of our dependence on Him alone and our need to cry out, “Lord, save me!”  (Oh how sweet and instructive are the words Jesus whispers loudly into the apostle’s ears – “Why did you falter?”) O may the Lord ever bless His Church with the firmness of faith found only in Him!  May we ever stand in His presence, unshaken by the winds of the world and our own human weakness.  Yes, may we be His children. ******* O LORD, let us stand in assembly before you, healed of all our wounds. YHWH, make us your people that you may be our God.  Call us to you, for how shall we approach your majesty except at your invitation?  If we have not word from you, surely we shall sink in the sea, for our hearts are terribly afraid of the winds of this world and the prospect of your punishment.  But trusting in you, we may follow Peter walking on the water; we may become as your children by the grace of your Son. How great is your mercy toward us, dearest LORD, for you hear us as we cry out to you; from the darkness of this prison you release our souls.  Even in the night you come to us, well aware of the troubles we encounter in doing your will.  Great pity you have for us as you look down from your holy height, and to the heights of Mount Zion you would draw us, that we might join your Son in prayer and praise of your NAME.  By you alone shall we be glorified, and remain in your presence always.

(Jer.28:1-17;   Ps.119:29,43,68,79-80,95,102;   Mt.14:13-21)  “Take not the word of truth from my mouth, for in your ordinances is my hope.” The word of truth is what Jeremiah speaks in the face of the lies of Hananiah. The false prophet declares in the name of God: “I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from off the neck of the nations,” even as he “took the yoke from upon the neck of Jeremiah” – which he wore to symbolize the exile to which Judah was fated – and broke it “in the presence of all the people.” A dramatic action and a prophecy all would gladly consume. But a lie. To Hananiah, Jeremiah prophesies the truth: “By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke!” as well as the false prophet’s own death, which comes in but a few months. And yes, it is seventy years the exile shall last, and not two. And is it not the word of truth by which the Lord feeds the five thousand today? Using human logic the disciples suggest to Jesus that He “dismiss the crowds so that they may go to the villages and buy some food for themselves.” But it is with the word of truth Jesus states: “Give them something to eat yourselves.” How? they respond. “We have nothing here... but five loaves and a couple of fish.” How does the Lord multiply these loaves and fish? How can He feed five thousand with barely enough food for fifty? It is not possible except by the word of truth, which can move mountains. Is it not His looking up to heaven and blessing and breaking the food that causes it to be multiplied in the sight (and eating) of all? Does not the Father give the Son all for which He asks? Is His prayer not true? Brothers and sisters, if the ordinances of the Lord are our hope, what can we not do? What food can we not multiply? What ailing hearts can we not heal? For trusting in Him and in His Word all is ours for the asking. But making our own words and our own desires our way in this world, what can we come to but death? What shall we find but an iron yoke upon our necks? Yes, the yoke of the Lord is light, for it is formed by the word of God, and in its truth we are buoyed up unto heaven. And all our words are justified. And we are fed with the bread of life.  ******* O LORD, your Word is fulfilled in our midst, and so your Son feeds us with His Body and Blood. YHWH, take all falsehood from our hearts and from our lives; on your Word alone let us depend. For as we go according to our own thoughts, so we are lost, so we are without answer to the difficulties of life and fooling ourselves with the responses we devise. But trusting in you, what cannot be done; what do we lack? For you feed us by your own hand if we but remain obedient to your command and come to your Son. In your Word is our hope, dear God – let it be spoken clearly to our ears and let us cling to its truth. Let us not fear whatever darkness may come to us in this land of exile, but let us know that your yoke is light and it frees us from the yoke of sin and all oppression. Heal our troubled souls, dearest LORD, by the compassionate touch of Jesus. Let us know we are not alone but that you care ever for your poor flock even in this deserted place. You hand be upon us to bless us, and your Word be spoken to the ends of the earth.

(Jer.7:1-11;   Ps.84:2-6,8,11;   Mt.13:24-30)  “Reform your ways and your deeds, so that I may remain with you in this place.” We hear again today of the failure of “the temple of the Lord” and its sacrifices to bring the Israelites to the eternal presence of God.  For though the Lord “sowed good seed in His field,” though He made His temple a house of prayer, it has become “a den of thieves” in the eyes of His chosen.  And the Lord “see[s] what is being done.”  And because they “steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, [and] burn incense to Baal,” the Israelites break the covenant upon which the temple is founded, and it can but fall to ruin.  The Lord spells out what they must do to preserve the integrity of His temple: “If each of you deals justly with his neighbor; if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place, or follow strange gods to your own harm…” but though He repeatedly warns them of what it takes to maintain His presence in their midst, yet they repeatedly turn from His blessings and the words the prophets offer.  Unable to “thoroughly reform [their] ways and [their] deeds,” they cannot but lose the temple. But, again, there is hope.  For what has not been preserved on earth shall be made permanent in heaven.  Though “an enemy came and sowed weeds through His wheat,” and though in this world they are not rooted out from our midst – though our worship fall short of the Lord’s eternal glory, yet Jesus comes to perfect God’s will in us, drawing us to the Temple not made by human hands… and with Him the weeds are no more.  Yes, because of our sin we lose His blessing; but by His grace our worship is made whole in His sight. “My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord.  My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”  In the heart of Jesus I would dwell; in His flesh we find the Temple.  And His Temple we become as we eat His Body and drink His Blood.  As we follow this Word made flesh, we are redeemed and our home with God blessed permanently.  And so in truth and with His love welling up in our souls, we cry with our psalmist: “I had rather live at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked”; and so, “happy” indeed we are.  Praise the Lord for His eternal goodness, for in Him “even the sparrow finds a home.” ******* O LORD, the weeds are bundled for burning, for sin cannot stand in your sight; only the pure of heart enter your House. YHWH, be with us in this place; gather us as wheat into your barn.  Make our bodies the temple of your Spirit, that we shall be pleasing to you and so with you remain. There are weeds among your wheat, LORD, and there are sins that prick our hearts and move to separate us from you and your love, and your presence with us.  O let us reform our ways and our deeds! that our lives may find your blessing and we dwell forever in your holy Temple. Our heart and our flesh cry out to you, O living God, that we might live in your sight, that we might be as your own precious children united in heart and flesh with you.  Even in this land let us be with you; let this land become as Heaven by your Body and Blood among us, by our joining ourselves in joy with you… by the reform of our lives according to your Word.

(Jer.1:1,4-10;   Ps.71:1-6,15,17;   Mt.13:1-9) “O God, you have taught me from my youth, and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.” So does the seed grow, and bear fruit in the sight of the Lord. Our psalmist declares, “On you I depend from birth; from my mother’s womb you are my strength.”  Indeed we are planted in our mother’s womb and we grow by the grace of the Lord.  And as our bodies grow so gradually from the womb of our mother, so our spirits, too, grow from the womb of our Mother, the Church, in whose womb the Lord plants us and nurtures us with His water, the Holy Spirit.  For it is the Lord who prepares the ground for our planting.  As He declares to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you.”  So even before we are planted as seed the Lord holds us in His Hand, and that Hand of love shall never leave us. And what does the Lord expect of the seed He plants and nurtures but that it sprout and bear much fruit?  What does He do but call us forth to proclaim His Word with our lives: “To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak” – what He requires of Jeremiah He requires of us all.  As “the Lord extended His hand and touched [the prophet’s] mouth, saying, ‘See I place my words within your mouth!’” so He reaches out to us all, planting His Word within our hearts and expecting it to grow and blossom forth.  Into the light our works must come to reveal His heavenly presence. “The crowd stood along the shore” as rows of plants in an ordered garden, and Jesus watered them with His teaching.  And in whom would His Word take root?  Who would grow unencumbered in His light?  Who would bear fruit unto the kingdom of God?  “Let everyone heed what he hears!”  Make the Lord your “rock of refuge” and He will “rescue [you] from the hand of the wicked” and nurture you with His Bread and the Word of Life.  And your “mouth shall declare [His] justice, day by day [His] salvation” as you come gradually and invariably – you know not now – to the kingdom our Savior prepares with His Blood. ******* O LORD, let the seed we sow with you bear fruit by your blessing. YHWH, from the womb you call us; from our conception you bless us with your Word to nourish us and help us grow in your sight, that upon maturity we might praise your NAME and share your Word with all.  Help us indeed to grow each day in you and do your will with all our lives. O LORD, may we bear fruit a hundredfold!  May we be planted in good soil, in the womb of your Church, that fruitful indeed we might be.  Touch our mouth with your hand that our tongue may be purified to speak of your glory and so serve to plant seeds of life in souls with ears to hear your voice.  Let us not wither and die in our sin or be choked by the cares of this world; keep the clutches of Satan far from us, and we will be your own children, declaring your salvation until your Son returns. O LORD, we depend on you for our very lives, for the breath in our nostrils and the love in our hearts.  Shine your light on us this day and let our fruit be pleasing to you.