The BreadCast

O simple priest who became Shepherd of the universal Church and defended her with courage against the errors of the age, you did not waver before the powers that would dilute the purity of the teaching of our Mother but stood strong against the tide attempting to wash her away – are we not yet threatened by falsehood and sin being held up as good, and so do we not yet need your spirit and your prayers? Though the tide may be turning, returning to the solid rock of faith, yet certainly we need your help to see the Spirit of Truth regain and maintain His place in this House. Pray indeed all priests and people be simple and true as children before God.

O great light of the Church who by word and work inspired your brothers and so many others to a life of virtue, to peace and unity with one another and an abiding love for our Lord and His Mother – teach us this day, O blessed preacher, of the way in which Jesus calls us, of the life and love God offers if we but respond in kind in our weak and limited manner. To all souls in His holy Church and throughout the world you brought the Word of God, you imparted the light of His wisdom; please pray, dear father in the faith, that our lives may be conformed to the loving will of the Lord and we become children of His light and bearers of His Good News to the nations, till we stand with you in His surpassing glory.

O priest of Jesus and Mary so dedicated to the Hearts of our Lord and Lady and the formation of your fellow priests, how well you preached of our need to be one with Christ our Head; with what zeal you cared for the poorest among us – pray that priests and indeed all Christians will have hearts and souls beating and breathing as one with the Lord, in union with our Blessed Mother; may all serve and glorify the Father by using all their faculties as if they were His alone. O that we might indeed belong to the Son of God and be ruled by Him, His own eternal life coursing through our very veins, His breath upon our tongue!

O faithful king, loyal son of MotherChurch and just ruler of your people, in peace and piety, humbly and honorably you executed your duties, never showing favor to anyone but always respecting all and maintaining above all the faith and the Church which propagates that faith in Christ – where is true Christian profession today, where those in positions of power truly dedicated to right service of the Lord and His people? Do pray for us, dear king, that others shall follow in your footsteps as has your son so that all shall become faithful followers of our Lord in whatever position He grants them. Pray especially for leaders whose hearts are set on love of God and holy Church.

O glorious Virgin Mary, preserved from sin from the moment of your conception and now raised with your Son unto Heaven, blessed are you among women, most blessed of all God’s creatures; kept from all corruption, you His lowly servant now reign with Jesus in His kingdom – pray all generations will call you blessed that all may indeed share in your blessing and come by the grace of the Lord to stand at His side in the Father’s presence. Above the choirs of angels, where poor mortal man is called to take his place in union with the immortal Godhead, you precede us, O Immaculate Mother, by virtue of your eternal union with the only Son. Pray we shall truly follow you to perfection, conquering death by the Cross and entering the light of the Lord.

O soldier of the Immaculate Virgin and martyr for our Lord, well you spread the fame of the Mother of all graces, calling all souls to repentance that she might apply her Son’s blood to save the straying among us; and well you heeded our Savior’s call to lay down your life for others – pray this day we have such strength, such conviction and determination in serving our Lord and Lady, in publishing the Good News of salvation, that by our dedication we too may serve well upon this earth in the army of the faithful, also leading souls through the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that peoples and nations may be converted and so learn in turn to serve the surpassing glory of God.

O brothers united in faith and in offering the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of that faith, for the sake of God’s Church – pray nothing shall separate Christ’s brothers one from another, but that all members of His flock and all those who lead His flock will remain ever united in His blood under the See of Peter. O pray that His Body not be divided but that it be healed, made whole by His Cross. Into His arms may we all offer our lives and so join our Lord in His kingdom.

(Nm.13:1-2,25-14:1,26-29,34-35; Ps.106:4,6-7,13-14,21-23; Mt.15:21-28) "They forgot the God who had saved them." But He did not forget them. Though He curses them in our first reading for their lack of faith, and though they shall indeed all – except for Joshua and Caleb – die in the desert over forty years, their children shall enter and take the Promised Land from the five tribes which inhabit it; and despite their repeated faltering in following His word, He shall come to redeem them from their exile once again, and in a full way, in the Person of Jesus Christ. The Israelites grumbled against Moses and against God in the desert. Fearful at the report of the "giants" in the land they were called to seize as their own, they failed to remember the Giant who fought for them, "who had done great deeds in Egypt." "They waited not for His counsel," nor trusted in His protection, and so they dissembled at what their eyes saw and their ears heard, having not the heart of faith, remembering not the word of the Lord. The people of the land may have been giants, but the Lord towers over all the earth. We must always remember His surpassing power. And in our gospel we find one of the descendants of those who had made the Israelites so fearful to enter the Promised Land groveling at the feet of the Lord, this Son of David, indeed as a dog before its master. How fortunes have changed. Jesus says to this Canaanite woman, "My mission is only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." See God's love for His people. See how He has kept the word of His covenant not to forget them. See how He yet chooses them from among the nations, sending His Son in the flesh as one of them. And yet, shall they recognize the grace that walks amongst them? Will their hearts be open to accept Him now, or hardened to His call and blind to His presence will they remain? This question is asked of each one of us, brothers and sisters, for we are the spiritual descendants of the Israelite people. Will we remember Him and His Word amongst us? Do we recall all He has done for us? This Canaanite woman who begs crumbs from the Lord's table is greatly blessed. She has the faith required for the kingdom of heaven. Again in Scripture it is a Gentile, a foreigner, who exhibits the faith the "sons and daughters" should have. The Lord uses such as these to shame His chosen ones and show them how far His love does spread, how great His grace truly is – that it can capture even these giants in its net. And so, should it not capture the Jew? And so, should we not be taken in it as well? Now that His salvation has extended to the ends of the earth, shall His chosen be forgotten? Will they continue to forget their place in His land? I pray it shall not be so for you and I, brothers and sisters, but that we will always remember His Name. ******* O LORD, if only we had faith! we would never be afraid – we would certainly be saved. YHWH, why are we so forgetful of you and your power to save? Why are we who know you, who have seen your hand at work, who have been blessed by your abiding presence – why are we so blind to your unending love for our poor souls? Those who do not know you, who are so far away from you, come on their knees before your Son begging His grace and forgiveness, begging His blessed protection… and these receive answer to their prayers, even as those of your own household wither and die in the hardness of their hearts, in their lack of faith. Forgive us, LORD, our crimes against you; let us not die in this desert of sin. Send your Chosen One to help us, to save us from the condemnation we deserve for our wicked ways. We are as mere grasshoppers before you, O Giant! Have pity on your faithless sons and gather us into the land you have promised.

O strong and holy apostle, soldier for the Lord Jesus and defender of His Church, you gathered together an army to labor in mission fields, to educate the masses, to serve and die as loyal sons of the Christ and His Pope – teach us this day to follow in the way of Jesus, to meditate on His life and be fruitful in His works. Pray your own sons and all the children of MotherChurch not waver in the faith which sustains them on this earth but that in all truth steadfast Christ’s disciples shall stand and proclaim in strength the salvation that comes only through Jesus and the Vine He has planted, through whose teaching and sacraments His very Spirit and blood flow.

O you of golden words, of angelic tongue, of sermons refined seven times by the Spirit of God… O how you made present on earth the invisible Creator even as He was made for us in the womb of the Virgin, so tangible had His grace become through the preaching the Lord inspired in your soul – pray we shall indeed be vivified by the eternal grace of God, by the gift of His becoming Man, to become like Him, heavenly spirits in His reign. How could we comprehend such blessing; how could such surpassing joy these earthen vessels hold? Let us come close to Christ our Savior, close to Him as now you stand in His radiant glory.