The BreadCast

O vigorous defender of the divinity of Christ, you who suffered exile for your work for the faith, you who had a true shepherd’s heart and cared so deeply for the priests and people the Lord placed in your hands – pray the shepherds of the Church today will strive with your same selfless zeal to bring the love of the Son of God and the blessed demands of His call to every soul in their care, that the faith might increase and be known in all its fullness even to the ends of the earth. Pray and weep, O steadfast apostle, for all the members of Christ’s holy flock, that we shall be protected from false and specious claims, from wolves in sheep’s clothing who would enter and steal the faith of this holy Catholic Church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ.

O patron of moral theologians and servant of the poor, how blessed was your loving wisdom, your understanding of God and His love for us, made perfectly known in His only Son whom you loved so much with His Mother and the Church, and whom you call us all to love through your blessed words – pray the redeeming love of Jesus our Savior flow in all our veins, that we might unite our wills to the Father’s as perfectly as His only Son and so be as encompassed by grace and love as only He could be. Pray indeed that we shall be saved, that we will come to the Lord on our knees and so find His presence filling us unto eternity.

(Ex.14:21-15:1; Ex.15:1,8-10,12,17; Mt.12:46-50) "Thus the Lord saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians." The Lord fought for the Israelites, His people. Working great wonders, He brought them forth from the land of Egypt. Indeed, "the Israelites marched into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left." So great was His love for His chosen ones that He saved them in this miraculous fashion, casting their enemies into the sea. Them "the earth swallowed," but His people crossed unharmed. Here is the prefigurement of the Lord's saving us from sin by His death and resurrection; through the waters of Baptism we now come to "the mountain of [the Lord's] inheritance," our enemies dying in that same water which saves us. In the dark of night, in the death of Christ, we enter the realm of the sea; at dawn we see our enemies lying dead on the shore. But it is no longer those who are related to the Lord by flesh and blood who are brought through the waters to His sanctuary. The chosen ones are no longer of a particular race. "Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is brother and sister and mother to me." It is a spiritual kingdom to which we are now called, and it is in the Spirit His children are now born. Shocking this word must have been to the ears of those so used to judging the blessings of the Lord by bloodline. Here is the beginning of Christ's teaching that any and all are called to the table of the Lord. How shocked even Peter was when directed to go to the Gentile people, when instructed to eat, as it were, of the unclean food (Acts 10:13-14). But the Lord makes all clean by His blood. His death and resurrection open the gates of heaven to all who would enter there. To anyone who would follow in His footsteps, the Lord leads on dry land to the promised glory. But do not think, as I so often hear, that there are no casualties in this new exodus. Do not hold so foolishly to the idea that the God of the Old Testament was harsh in His destruction of the Egyptian army but the God of the New effects no such punishment. See that the casualties in this battle suffer a fate worse than drowning in the sea: eternal condemnation awaits those who now harden their hearts against the word of Christ. The warfare is now spiritual rather than physical, and the judgment Jesus passes on the evil generation is now far worse than any before His time had come. As He Himself has said elsewhere, "It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea, than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin" (Lk.17:2). We are brothers and sisters of the Lord, my friends, and so He saves us from the day of judgment. As long as we do His will, His blessing shall be ours. Let us rejoice this day in the justice of God, that He cares for all those who love Him, even as He casts their enemies into the sea. ***** O LORD, let us live according to your will that we might be saved, that we might be one with Jesus in Heaven even as all our enemies perish. YHWH, your servant Moses did your will; through Him you revealed your glory to the people, and they triumphed over their enemies. May we serve you as has Moses and so become brother and sister and mother to Jesus, and so become as your children. May your Son extend His hands toward us and bless us with His sanctifying Word, that all sin may flee from our midst and we become as your chosen. Through the sea let us pass on dry ground, LORD, the water like a wall to our right and to our left. Through Baptism we are redeemed by the power of your hand; to Jesus let us be configured. Horse and chariot you cast into the sea – it is not by our own strength we are saved. It is by the grace and blessing that come from you, LORD, and by our joining ourselves to your will. In fear shall our enemies retreat from your glance, O LORD, for you fight for your lowly ones.

O Mother of contemplation who heard the Word of God and kept it, pondering its wonder in your heart, you who were so faithful to His call and remain ever in His presence – how shall we know our Lord if you do not pray for us, if you do not intercede for souls so blinded by the distractions and temptations of a fallen world? Our prayers are with you, dear Mother, who pray as one with our dear Lord, who are so one with Him in body and soul, who stand at His side this day in the kingdom of Heaven… There on His holy mountain help us to make our home.

O good doctor who taught the way to God by death to things outside the Cross, by resting with Christ in the tomb that we might pass from this world to the Father – pray our passions indeed be silenced that the fire of God will carry our soul to Him who is beyond the operations of our mind; pray our surrender to Him may be complete and the Holy Spirit lead us in loving flame to the kingdom. Where is the longing of our soul for God, and who will assist us on the journey? Speak to our hearts this day, good teacher, from your place in His radiant presence.

O you who were king and emperor yet set your sights on the reign of Heaven and the reform and upbuilding of the Church on earth, who dedicated yourself to the Lord of all and service of His apostles – pray our cares and responsibilities will not distract us from remembrance of our God and His mercy but that we shall indeed dedicate these and all our lives into the hands of our Savior, that He might dispose of them and us as He sees fit. Pray our kingdom not be of this earth but of Heaven and that we shall make our home at the foot of the throne of the Almighty.

O monastic father who led the way into the desert where the Lord speaks to men’s hearts, where He calls souls to perfect worship, putting Christ before all else and treating others as He Himself… O you who prayed most perfectly, you who knew God so intimately – pray that our distracted minds will somehow be conformed to listening for His voice and answering His call to serve Him with all our lives. Help us, dear brother, dear father in the faith, to find our dwelling place in the kingdom, to live so completely according to God’s Word, that with great fervor, with overflowing love, we may accomplish His will and join you in His presence.

O righteous band of martyrs united by faith in Christ and His Church in a nation of religious oppression: children and grandparents, workers and teachers, lay and ordained, native and foreign-born… all as one you gave your lives, led by your convictions – pray the Word of the Lord come to a land so cold to conversion, to the love and worship of Jesus, all men’s Savior. Pray the Holy Spirit fall like purging and redeeming fire upon every soul in the country where you so honorably died; pray His power spread and bring renewal upon the face of all the earth.

O perpetual virgin who defended your purity even with your life and so earned the crown of martyrdom at a tender age… O bride of Christ who prayed even for your murderer and so served to inspire his conversion – pray for us, too, dear child; pray the lust and violence so prevalent in this world of sin, and in our own hearts, be purged from our midst that we, too, might turn to Jesus and find the purity He offers. O pray innocence and chastity overtake this age and all souls stand in the light of Christ.

O child of the Apostle Paul, follower in his steps, preacher of the Word he proclaimed so completely with his very life, you who desired so to bear the fruit of love in patience, to share in the hardships of the apostles as well as in their glory, and led your fellow ordained zealously to desire the same – pray there shall be reform in this day among our priests and among the people of God, that all will so zealously follow the teaching and way of the Apostle, which is, of course, the way of Christ: to die, to lay down our lives, to suffer indignation and pray for our enemies, all the while calling souls to the Lord’s undying love, to His saving blood.