The BreadCast

O crown of contemplation whom none excels in solitude, in knowing the presence of the Lord alone in a cell, apart from the world – a simple chapel pray we find in the chambers of our heart that we might chant His praises all the time in the quiet, in His sight. Let us ever work to discover His breathing in our souls, that one with Him and with our brothers ever we might remain. Obedience is all we need and He will lead us there; then no questions will persist as we dwell in perfect peace. Pray such grace upon all souls.

O apostle of mercy, the mercy of Christ poured freely upon all souls for the salvation of the whole world, especially the worst of sinners… you suffered with our divine Lord that souls might indeed be saved; with His Passion you were intimate, blessed with fellowship with Jesus and His Mother and vision of their presence – pray a measure of your penitential devotion, a drop of our Savior’s holy blood, might fall upon our hearts and make us fruitful as you in His cause; pray we shall be blessed with deeper awareness of our wretchedness, our misery, that we might know the infinite majesty of the Lord and immerse ourselves and all souls in His measureless mercy. Let all sins be atoned for in Him!

O image of Christ, simple, humble, and pure, indeed you bore the marks of Jesus in your own body and in your own soul; wed to lady poverty, you embraced loving chastity and boasted of nothing but the Lord alone – pray, dear brother, for all children of God, for all your wayward brothers distracted by the wealth of this world, that we may be so blessed by the Spirit to serve the Lord and our neighbor as completely as you have done. May our lives, too, be prayers rising as a fragrant offering unto the Lord our God as we reflect His image in this world. Pray our hearts be set upon Jesus that we might follow in His blood-soaked footsteps in joy.

O messengers of God sent to protect and guide we poor humans on our way to the heavenly kingdom, you whom He in His grace and wisdom has appointed to carry us home, lest we dash our foot against a stone – keep us ever in the way of the Lord; stay close to us, remaining always at our side, for we are but weak and sinful men so prone to be led astray. We entrust ourselves into your hands: bring us to look upon the Father’s face. For you behold Him always, you stand loyally in His light, and we, how shall we gaze upon Him without your hand to guide? Cover us with your wings, protect us from the heat of day and temptation’s sway till we stand with you in the Lord’s eternal reign.

O little flower of Jesus, with great innocence and humility you loved the Lord and prayed for His Church and especially His priests; in all the little things of your day you gave yourself to God’s service, and so your work reached to the ends of the earth – shower roses upon us from above, where you now sit with Jesus; teach us to walk your little way that we might join you with our Savior. Pray we too might find His love and live in His heart as deeply as you; pray all souls shall indeed be saved by the blood He shed for our sake. And pray that families will be blessed as your own with children who heed so well the call of the Lord.

(Nm.11:4-15; Ps.81:2,12-17; Mt.14:22-36) "How little faith you have!" It is the Lord's exclamation to His holy apostles, to the foundation of His Church – to His Rock. And certainly it applies to all of us as it does, too, to the Israelites in the desert. All need greater faith to come upon the new shore of paradise and find healing for all our ills. As the Israelites tramp through the desert, they grow tired of heavenly food and desire something earthen. Their faith in God is shaken by the lusts of their belly, and their outcry against the Lord grieves His servant Moses. He finds himself unable to carry this stiff-necked people "like a foster father carrying an infant." He breaks under the burden of "all the people" even as Peter – who shall have to carry the whole Church upon his shoulders – trembles at the wind upon the sea. Moses asks for death to find relief, and Peter cries as he begins to sink… and the Lord will "at once stretch out His hand" and catch them both, His ears ever open to the prayers of His holy ones. But greater faith will they both need to have to lead God's people forward. Peter will find it after Pentecost (though not before denying Him three times), and the stubbornness of the Israelites, "the hardness of their hearts," will keep Moses from the earthly Promised Land; only in the next world will he discover paradise. The faith we need to make it through the desert that is this world and come into the heavenly kingdom of our Lord and God is spoken by those trembling in the storm-tossed boat: "Undoubtedly you are the Son of God," and exhibited by the men of Gennesaret. For they "brought Him all the afflicted, with the plea that He let them do no more than touch the tassel of His cloak." Thus, the same faith the woman in the crowd with the open wound for years had shown Jesus on His way to raise the little child is shown here by these poor sinners, for "as many as touched it were fully restored to health." A word from His mouth. A drop of His blood. The touch of His hand. The hem of His garment. A crust of bread from His table… This is all we need. If we have faith, in a moment we will be restored to life; we will be redeemed from all our ills, from all our sins – from all the temptations of our bellies and this desert. The sea may rage and contend with the wind, but we will remain calm and patient in His presence: we will walk on water, we will find "honey from the rock," if we have but faith. It is not far away, and that the size of a mustard seed is all we need. Find relief from all your distress by calling upon the Savior. ******* O LORD, what little faith we have! – how quickly we forget you are our loving God. YHWH, how can we face the distress of this world, the wind and the waves that threaten to overcome us, the disobedience of those in our care? It is a weight too heavy for us to bear! How could Moses carry your people through the desert; how does Peter hold up your Church? Indeed, it is only by faith we have any strength at all – indeed, it is you who bear all our burdens. Under the weight of the Cross Jesus has sweated and died. All He has taken upon Himself. And we need but say: "Undoubtedly you are the Son of God!" to the One you have sent to save us, and all our burdens will be lifted from us, and we will be preserved from death. But what little faith we have, O LORD! and how much we need your help. But you are faithful when we call out to you, dear God. You desire to feed us with finest wheat. You would heal all our ills and bring us to the farther shore, if we but believed in your loving Son.

(Is.49:14-15; Ps.62:2-3,6-9; 1Cor.4:1-5; Mt.6:24-34) "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides." Today's gospel is the Lord's beautiful exhortation not to be anxious about the things of this world: God takes care. "Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear," Jesus instructs us. And how true it is that "the birds of the sky," who "do not sow or reap," are fed in abundance, and that there is nothing more splendidly clothed than the flowers of the field. And do we indeed think the Father will not care just so for our lives? Yet all we do is worry about these passing things, even as our soul calls us to peace. "Only in God is my soul at rest; from Him comes my salvation," David so poignantly and appropriately sings. And with this trust in his rock of refuge he knows he "shall not be disturbed at all." Similarly, St. Augustine has declared, from his own experience of pursuing worldly cares, that only in God do our souls find rest. Are these witnesses not enough to trust in the salvation that comes from God alone? Then hear of the undying love God holds for His creatures in the prophecy of Isaiah: to those who fret, "The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me," he asks the simple yet profound question, "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?" Yet greater than a mother's love is the Lord God's care for us, for "even should she forget" (as seems to happen all too often in this age of abortion), the Lord states with certainty and full assurance, "I will never forget you." And much like this inclination to anxiety about the cares of life, and coming from the same faithless source, is our proclivity to judge others. How many of us heed St. Paul's warning not to "make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes"? How many cannot trust that "He will bring to light what is hidden," that all things He sees – that we need not do His job for Him. "The one who judges me is the Lord," Paul states. Really, who else can do so? As by no other hand does our food come, so by no other tongue shall all be judged. "Trust in Him at all times, O my people! Pour out your hearts before Him." Try it, and you will see – He alone provides all things. Set your hearts on Him and He will take care. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Breathing for a Living" from Breath, the Apple Rises, fifth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let us take rest in your arms and not in the world's distress. YHWH, you alone provide for all our needs; in you alone our souls find rest. We cannot be at peace unless we give our lives in service of you, for serving the world we find only distress. What is the motive of our hearts? Whom do we truly serve? What is it we seek with our lives? Only you know our hearts, LORD. Only you can see where our desire lies. We cannot deceive you, and any attempt at deception, at pretending love for you above all, will only leave us in the same state of unrest as our openly seeking the things of this world. Let them all die, all our errant desires, all of our fears about the things of tomorrow. What indeed is food and drink and clothing? Where do they lead us in themselves? And what is not in your hands, O LORD? Then why do we not trust ourselves into them? There is no hope for us apart from you. Let the peace of which your Son speaks be with us always, dear God.

(Zec.12:10-11,13:1; Ps.63:2-6,8-9; Gal.3:26-29; Lk.9:18-24) “They shall look on Him whom they have pierced.” Jesus is the Christ of God. It is He who suffers, He who has been pierced for our sins, and He whose blood cleanses us as we look upon Him, as we cry out in tears for the pain we have caused Him and resolve to follow Him now in His way of the cross. What is the “fountain to purify from sin” but the blood poured forth in His sacrifice, and what is it we thirst for but to drink in full the grace contained therein? And it is our great grace to suffer with Him, to take up our cross daily and share in His sacrifice, denying ourselves to find Him and His life. This is what makes us one, with Him and so with one another: this is the baptism that redeems us and makes us whole. Do we live out our baptismal vows? Do we follow Him in the way of the cross? Are we truly longing for the Lord, pining for Him, gazing upon Him – what is the banquet we seek to satisfy our souls? Are we one in His Spirit, loving Him above all others? Or do we set our souls on the empty pleasures of this life? These we must lose to find Him. Here in solitude the Lord tells the disciples quietly and sincerely, knowing the vanity and thirst for power the devil would plant in their souls – “The Son of Man must suffer greatly.” How He desires them to hear His teaching. How He longs to keep them from the evil one and see that their hearts are not fixed on this life. He knows only this will save them. He knows only repentance brings the life of God, and so He approaches them in the silence of God that His words might sink deeply into them. And they will listen. And they, too, will all die. They will understand the sacrifice that leads to life. And what of us? The Lord speaks to us, too, today. His words are here written down and proclaimed for our ears to treasure. Do we turn to this fountain of forgiveness, mourning for our sins “as one mourns for an only son”? And does our mourning lead us to lay down our lives? Nothing of this world will suffice. His Body and Blood alone are our food and drink here in this life. They make us one and make us strong, and by them He will uphold us, if our hearts are set on losing this life to find Him. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Blood in My Palate" from Loving Spirit, third album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, in the Cross let us find your cleansing fountain. YHWH, we look toward your sanctuary and what do we see but your Son pierced for our sins? And so we mourn, and so we cry… and it is in these tears we are washed clean – baptism in His blood purifies us of sin. And so, in the shadow of His wings we rejoice. For now, O LORD, our souls may cling to you; by the sacrifice of your Son we are made one with Him and with one another. And His call to take up our own cross, to share in His sacrifice, we receive with great joy; for He has shown us that it is this path that leads to salvation, that leads to eternal glory in your presence. O let us enter your sanctuary this day, LORD our God! Let us join ourselves to the offering Jesus makes for our sakes, eating His Body and drinking His Blood and doing your will as He has done. At the banquet of Heaven let our souls be satisfied!

(1Kgs.17:17-24; Ps.30:2,4-6,11-12; Gal.1:11-19; Lk.7:11-17) “O Lord, you brought me up from the netherworld.” “You preserved me from among those going down into the pit.” For I was dead, but now I live. These should be the words of us all, for the Lord indeed is our salvation – our life breath comes from Him, and He will preserve us from all death. No longer in sin, we rise to new life. The resurrecting power of God is clearly evident in our readings today. We see both Jesus and Elijah raising the dead. And perhaps the rising of Paul from the blind pit into which he’d fallen, which led him even to persecute and attempt to destroy the Church, is the most remarkable resurrection. What we should take from today’s readings is the sure knowledge that God is life and that life has no origin other than Him. Paul proclaims the Word he preaches comes only from God through the revelation of Jesus Christ – emphasizing that no man taught him the Word which burns in his soul (a Word which gives life to all who hear it) – and in both the gospel and the first reading those who witness the raising of the dead attribute rightly its source to the Lord. In one they proclaim, “God has visited His people,” and in the other the widow of Sidon states of Elijah: “The word of the Lord comes truly from your mouth.” This is the character of the Word, this is the quality of God – He gives life. And so we know Him. And we indeed are all as the widows in today’s readings; we are all bereft of our only sons, of the light of our eyes and our very life. We mourn for the loss of our souls which is imminent because of our sin. And we, too, weep. Who shall save us? Who shall speak a word to us to revive us, to return our life’s breath, to restore our souls? Jesus comes to us. He visits our city, He comes to our door. His Word approaches our hearts and calls to us to arise – He breathes upon us the breath of new life. His apostles go forth from the foundation set in Peter, and this true Gospel is that which shall save the world, which shall bring it from its mourning to joy. But do we mourn the loss of our souls? Do we bewail that which is taken from us by sin? Do we see the death upon us? We must come as widows calling upon the Lord to find His Word at work in our hearts, bringing us to life. And we must share that Word with others. Once raised from the dead, we must proclaim what the Word has done for us. We must recognize His power at work in the world. May the Word go forth to the ends of the earth, speaking of the saving power of God. May it raise all from death. Written, read and chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Be Well" from Cleansing Human Frailty, fourth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, let the life breath return to your children; by your grace let us rise from the dead to praise you. YHWH, your Son looks with pity upon our poor condition, He sees that we are bereft of our only Child, of the light of our eyes – He sees our souls descend to the nether world and desires only to raise them from such darkness to the eternal light of your presence… and He prays for us… and He calls to us… and we rise and are held in our Mother’s arms. To the Church Jesus entrusts our souls; our very lives are in the hands of our Mother on earth. Dearest God, let us never be separated from the life-giving Breath you give us through your apostles, through the magisterium, through the teaching of your Son which they guard so assiduously. In your House let us remain all the days of our life. What hope have we if you call attention to our guilt, to the sin upon our souls? But in your compassion you preserve us from certain death, and for this we praise you. Thank you, LORD, for visiting your people and changing our mourning into dancing before you.

(Is.43:18-19,21-22,24b-25; Ps.41:2-5,13-14; 2Cor.1:18-22; Mk.2:1-12 “It is I, I, who wipe out, for my own sake, your offenses; your sins I remember no more.” What a wonderful promise the Lord makes to us today, and proves His word true in Jesus His Son. Yes, the Lord “has regard for the lowly and the poor,” and so He looks with pity on the paralytic lowered through the roof for healing. Jesus “help[s] him on his sickbed” and “take[s] away all his ailment,” both spiritual and physical, first granting him forgiveness of sins, then calling him to “rise, pick up [his] mat, and go home.” And so indeed his sins are gone, remembered no more, and so he is made whole… and so the home to which he returns is more than the one with walls and a roof – he returns to his eternal home in the arms of the Lord. How the Lord indeed reveals that He is “doing something new!” For do not all the people exclaim, “We have never seen anything like this” at the healing of the paralytic? And is it not right that they should glorify God in such a manner? What could be more remarkable than the teaching and healing and forgiving presence of Jesus in our midst? How could God fulfill His promises in a greater way? It could not be. “God is faithful,” indeed, and “the Son of God, Jesus Christ” is He who is the Father’s “yes” to all His promises. What can we do but rejoice in such grace? “O Lord, have pity on me; heal me, though I have sinned against you.” “In the desert [you] make a way, in the wasteland, rivers”; to the desert and wasteland of my sinful soul bring your cleansing waters. As you took pity on the paralytic, as you called him to rise from the unyielding pull of his mat, so call me to lift myself up from the mire of sin into which I have fallen. Let your promise be fulfilled in me: wipe out my offenses and remember my sins no more, that I might walk resolutely to my home in heaven and there “stand before you forever.” I give you my “yes” of faith this day. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "I Used To Be So Weak" from Cleansing Human Frailty, fourth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, you now work something new in our sight – our very salvation; forgive us all our sins. YHWH, what wonders you work in our midst through the Person of Jesus, for He comes to us as a stream in the desert, forgiving us all our sin and restoring us to health in your sight. Here indeed is something new, your very presence among us. O LORD, let us not fail to call upon you, let us not fail to come to you with all our ills, that you might readily heal us because of our faith. We shall be raised from our sickbeds if we but believe in the power upon your Son. Yes, the Spirit is with Him, and shall be with us if we but give ourselves over to you. Let us not remain dead in our sin, O LORD, doubting your goodness and your grace; let us put our faith in the One you have sent, and we will be blessed, and we will come to the home you prepare for us through the ministry of your only Son… and we will praise you forever.