The BreadCast

O caretaker of souls who sought so diligently and with wisdom and love to reform the Church and all her members, beginning with those in higher office, and so were persecuted by men who would not be healed of their disease – pray that all will be taught the true doctrine of the faith, from early childhood to adult vocation; may all know to what they are called as Christians in this world. And may that Word go forth to the ends of the earth, that the faith will be propagated in all lands and in all hearts and the Lord's holy discipline serve as treasured guide for all who would come to the kingdom of Heaven.

O shepherd of a faithful people, you shed your blood with your brothers as a holy offering unto the Lord after drawing many souls into His fold; beheaded for your success as Christ's evangelist, still you lead faithful souls to God – pray we shall be so ready to lay down our own lives for the propagation of the Word of God, and that on our journey we shall be protected from all the snares of the devil, that nothing shall prevent our standing at Jesus' side both in this world and the next.

(Gal.3:7-14; Ps.111:1-6; Lk.11:15-26) "All who believe are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." But those who do not believe cannot be called "sons of Abraham," in whom "all nations shall be blessed," for they have not the faith of the father of many nations. For those who do not proclaim the Lord's "renown for His wondrous deeds," but rather say of His "gracious and merciful" acts: "It is by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that He casts out devils," there is only a curse. They curse themselves and scatter their own salvation to the winds by the evil thoughts of their hearts. "The reign of God is upon" them, and they say it has come from hell. Have such as these faith? Have they even eyes in their head? Then how shall they be saved? How shall they be called Abraham's children? Rather, the devils will return to them "to find [their] house swept and tidied," prepared by the emptiness of their hypocrisy for these to take up eternal residence there. "He has given food to those who fear Him… He has made known to His people the power of His works." All those of faith see that this is the Messiah and "give thanks to the Lord with all [their] heart in the company and assembly of the just." All these are blessed. They live in a house guarded by "a strong man fully armed," and their "possessions go undisturbed." For the devil cannot break into the house of God, and he has no key to enter; but the Lord breaks down the doors of the evil one and all his weapons are removed from his hands. And so we are free… We are free because the Lord has redeemed us, and in His house we are protected from sin. Brothers and sisters, the Savior has been "hanged on a tree… that through Christ Jesus the blessing bestowed on Abraham might descend on the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, thereby making it possible for us to receive the promised Spirit through faith." This faith itself is redemptive. In this faith is the blood of Christ. It is this blood which fills our hearts and makes room there for the Holy Spirit to come in. There no devils can enter, for our doorposts have been anointed by Him. And so, what can such souls dwelling in this house of faith do but sing out with our psalmist, "Great are the works of the Lord, exquisite in all their delights"? What can we do but declare His "majesty and glory" as we see that "His justice endures forever" and His justice is founded in love? For by our faith He has made us whole; we who once grumbled against Him are now sons of Abraham. He has taken all our sin away, and it shall not return again. ******* O LORD, your power is only for good; let your Spirit be with us this day through faith, that we might be saved. YHWH, if we have not faith, we have nothing but emptiness, and thus make a place for the devils to dwell. But if we have faith in you, your Spirit fills us, and into your house we do come. Make us temples of your Holy Spirit! Your Son has died, O LORD, that we might have life, that we might be set free from the course sin has wrought upon our souls and enter into your kingdom as your blessed children. Why should we not believe in your love for us? Why do we doubt the salvation you provide through your Son? Let us rather rejoice in your glory, LORD, in your goodness to us. Let us sing your praise with all the strength of our souls, thanking you with all our hearts in the assembly of your holy ones, among your saints in Heaven. To such glory you do call us, away from the darkness of this place… Let us but have faith in you and we shall be as your sons.

(Gal.3:1-5; Lk.1:69-75; Lk.11:5-13) "I can't get up to look after your needs." Does Jesus ever speak these words to us? Does He ever deny our petitions, failing to bring them to His heavenly Father? Do we ever find ourselves empty-handed when we come to Him "in the middle of the night"? Does He ever tire of serving us, of saving us from our sins? Then neither should we turn our back on our brother's needs; neither should we fail to hear his cry and give him food. Brothers and sisters, is it not "you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was displayed upon the cross?" Have you not seen for yourselves the miracle in which we have found "salvation from our enemies and from the hands of all our foes"? And so should you not "serve Him devoutly and through all [your] days be holy in His sight"? If we do this, if we wake in the night to answer the needs of those who call, if we make ourselves available always as does the Lord, then even as we rise from rest Jesus will be with us – in this very action we will know His salvation present in our hearts. For as we lay down our lives, as we die with Him in service of others, the light of His resurrection already becomes present to our eyes. Though the burden is made light by the Lord, this way is not easy – but we should not tire of imitating Him. Does Paul tire of teaching and preaching the faith, of correcting his wayward children who seem so foolishly to stray? Just as the heavenly Father would never give His son "a snake if he asks for a fish, or hand him a scorpion if he asks for an egg," so the Apostle, too, knows the needs of his flock and works constantly to feed them with the Word of God. Though it weary him no end, yet he ever pours himself out as a libation for their sakes. He is ready for heaven, ready to die and unite with God, yet he gets up in the night, yet he remains present to his children, to provide the food that is due them. And we must be the same as this Apostle. A great assurance the Lord gives us: "Whoever asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; whoever knocks, is admitted." If we "have faith in what [we] heard," we shall indeed find "that God lavishes the Spirit on [us] and works wonders in [our] midst." For He is faithful and forgets not His promise to us. Yes, "He has raised a horn of saving strength for us in the house of David His servant," and our Savior is ever present to answer all our needs. But who shall carry out His Word? Who shall know the cross of Christ and its redeeming grace in their own flesh? Who shall serve Him and be thus as His children? Those who rise to look after others' needs, they shall be bone of His bone. ******* O LORD, you give your Spirit to those who have faith in you, to those who call upon your NAME – hear our prayer this day. YHWH, give us this day the Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us to the salvation wrought by your Son, Jesus Christ. Leave us not alone on this plane, hungry and apart from you. Help us to pray, to knock upon your door with faith, knowing it is your good pleasure to answer our needs. Then we shall serve you devoutly all our days and be holy in your sight forever. If your Spirit is with us, LORD, there is nothing else we need, for then you, too, are with us with your only Son. And we will be founded firmly in your Church, safe from all our enemies and nourished by your Bread. We are not able to give good things or do good works on our own, dear LORD. We need your help and guidance; we need the Spirit that comes from you to bless us with your abundance. We shall wither quickly and die without your assistance – come to us this day with your Spirit that we might be your children.

O Mother of prayer and of this prayer in which we meditate on the life of our Lord and Savior through your blessed intercession, it is through you we gain victory in Christ; His life, death, and resurrection become fruitful in you, and united with you, and so with Jesus, we repel our enemies. O dear Lady, our saving Lord comes not to us except through you: He is born in you, He dies with you at His side, and He raises you to life but to draw us all unto Himself, that we might walk in light with Him even in this world – pray, yes, pray for us! you through whom all Christians come.

(Gal.2:1-2,7-14; Ps.117:1-2,Mk.16:15; Lk.11:1-4) "He who worked through Peter as His apostle among the Jews had been at work in me for the Gentiles." And that same Spirit, that same God, that same Lord and Creator is at work in all His holy apostles, and is the Father of all who call upon His Name. "Father, hallowed be your name." You are great and you are glorious, and you bless all your children, your children of light. From every nation you call us by the power of your Word. You send out apostles as you sent out Paul, to the ends of the earth. You gather all your children together at your one table to feast upon your Body and your Blood, and you speak to the heart of all creation. We your people you call to pray; your disciples you teach to call upon your Name. To the depths of our souls you breathe your Spirit, and so you make us your own. Like you we would be, O Lord! Like you, dear Jesus, in your devotion to our Father. Help us, O Lord; teach us to forgive, teach us to love. Teach us not to draw away from others, but to join with all who heed your call. Let us always be "straightforward about the truth of the Gospel," always breathe it and speak it with all our lives – with all our strength let us love and welcome all, especially the poor. And let us present ourselves to your "recognized pillars," to the leaders of your Church. Let us not go off on our own, with our own thoughts, pursuing our own goals, but let us be ever obedient unto those in whose hands you have placed your teaching ministry… let us lay down our lives "for their scrutiny" as has even the Apostle Paul. For none can work without your approval, without the blessing that comes in "the handclasp of fellowship" your Church extends. And so, in your Church, under its guidance, and in absolute love of all, what shall we then lack? "Praise the Lord, all you nations, glorify Him, all you peoples!" For the Lord comes to you now – He teaches you His sacred way to the Father of all. Heed but His Word; speak and do but His work. Love always Him and all His people and you shall know how wonderfully "the fidelity of the Lord endures forever"; His children you shall indeed become, and He shall work through you as He has Peter, as He has Paul… as He has His only Son. Say amen to His Spirit. Amen. ******* O LORD, you are our one Father and we are your one children in Jesus your Son – let your kingdom come. YHWH, make us your faithful and holy children, honoring always your blessed NAME and doing always your will. Let your kingdom come through us; let your Word go forth to the ends of the earth. Obedient to the authority of your Church let us ever be. Let us never turn from you, LORD, by veering from the path of the apostles. In union may your whole people stand, in the truth your Spirit speaks. Yes, let us be one in the true faith, LORD, in your will and in your way. Forgive us all our sins and give us the grace to forgive all who sin against us, that we might partake of your food together at the table you set for us. This world is a place of trial, we know, LORD, but you save us from all trial by your presence in our midst. Let us never be separated from you or one another but ever set our hearts on serving you by bringing your Word to all our brothers.

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.

(Gal.1:13-24; Ps.139:1-3,13-15,24; Lk.10:38-42) "The time came when He who set me apart before I was born and called me by His favor chose to reveal His Son to me." Paul speaks of his conversion to the faith today. But before he changed and became the Lord's great Apostle, he tells us, "I made progress in Jewish observance far beyond most of my contemporaries, in my excess of zeal to live out all the traditions of my ancestors," and that he "went to extremes in persecuting the church of God and tried to destroy it." Now, isn't Martha as Paul was? Is it not her own zeal for observance of Jewish tradition which makes her so anxious and blinded to truth? We hear that she "was busy with all the details of hospitality," a venerable Jewish custom and requirement of the law; but does not her own "excess of zeal" for this observance lead her even to persecute the Church of God, as it has with Paul? For is her sister not as the Lord's Church, as His holy Bride seated at His feet? And what does Martha intend to inflict upon her when she asks in her presumption, "Lord, are you not concerned that my sister has left me all alone to do the household tasks? Tell her to help me," but by such public humiliation to draw her from the blessings of Christ into her own anxiety? But as Paul has heard the call of the Lord, so now Mary does as well, and nothing shall remove such favor from her. And instead of the drawing of Mary from the Lord, it is the Lord who calls Martha from her chores to listen to the voice of God. Martha shall heed the Lord's call, we know, for it is she who shows such great faith at the tomb of her brother Lazarus, she who hears the Lord's most wonderful revelation: "I am the resurrection and the life." And so she, like Paul, like her sister, finds herself chosen by the Lord. And so must we all, brothers and sisters! So must we all. We all must know the call of Him who "formed [our] inmost being," by whom our "soul" and our "frame" were "made in secret, when [we were] fashioned in the depths of the earth," in our "mother's womb." We must all come to that place where He will speak to these very depths of our being – where only He probes – and know the "wonderful" call of the Lord, that as it was said of Paul, "He who was formerly persecuting us is now preaching the faith he tried to destroy," so it will be said of us that all doubt and fear we have left behind and the Lord's will is our only occupation. We must hear His voice and we must speak His NAME, or all we do will be in vain. "My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar," O Lord. And so I pray that all my rest will be taken in you and all my work you will bless. Bring us all to the quiet place within our souls, where you speak in silence, where your will is revealed to waiting hearts… let us be seated always before you. ******* O LORD, it is you who have formed us, and you formed us to love you; let us listen to your voice and do your holy will. YHWH, how shall we find ourselves at your feet, dearest LORD? How shall we become as Mary, our hearts set on you alone, knowing your presence deep in our soil as we listen to your holy words, as we marvel at your flesh before us? In your Son let us make our home, that your Word might be instilled in our soul. In silence let us sit, O LORD. And in peace let us rise and do your will. As we travel even to the ends of the earth, bringing your Word forth, let us remain ever seated at your feet. Oh never leave us! though much work we do for you. Be our blessed guide, LORD, at all times. Hold us in your arms as you knit us in our mother's womb, and we shall never be apart from you, and anxiety shall never distract us from your eternal presence. You who have made us, you who know all our thoughts and ways, please see that it is with you we remain, ever speaking your holy NAME.

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!

(Gal.1:6-12; Ps.111:1-2,5,7-10; Lk.10:25-37) "Teacher, what must I do to inherit everlasting life?" Do you really want to know? Do really seek to hear of the Gospel of Christ? Do you really desire the Word of God, which is "reliable forever and ever, wrought in truth and equity" and which "came by revelation from Jesus Christ?" If so, listen to what He speaks to you today; do not go on "so soon deserting Him who called you in accord with His design in Christ" – be not as the priest and the Levite who, coming upon the man "stripped" and "beat[en]," "saw him but continued on." For He shows Himself to you this day. He lies before you like "the man who fell in with the robbers," and He calls you to love. You know what to do, brothers and sisters, just as the lawyer knew so well the Shema, the great command to love God and neighbor. The answer to the question of "who treated the man with compassion" is obvious. We see the love of God, we know the love of God, and we know that we are called to practice the love of God. "Then go and do the same," Jesus says. "Go and do the same." Here is the Gospel in short, in this short phrase: love others as I have loved you. Lay down your life; die to yourself and live for God and others if you wish to inherit eternal life. Such inheritance comes only after such death, and love is all that will bring you there. "If anyone preaches a Gospel other than the one you received, let a curse be upon Him!" This exclamation by Paul is also one of love. For to love does not mean "to win man's approval," "to please" or "ingratiate" oneself to others that all might speak well of us who have spoken well of them – to love means to speak the truth, for only by such truth is love preserved. There is no Gospel but the Gospel of love spoken by the mouth of the Lord, one which calls us not to an easy compliance with the world, a nod of the head and a sidestep around the wounded bodies before us… it is that which calls us to lay down our lives along this road of ours. This is what is from God, shown most clearly by the death of His Son. Brothers and sisters, "holy and awesome is His name" and His call. "His praise endures forever" in our mouths for "He has ratified His covenant forever"; and the love of Jesus is all we need to know. Can you do all the Samaritan has done for the stranger? Then everlasting life is indeed close to your heart. Follow in His way. ******* O LORD, your Word, your Gospel, is that we should love, that we should love you and others – let us hold to your Word and so live in your truth. YHWH, praise you, our LORD and our God! Help us to follow your Word and your way. For you are great and worthy of praise, and we must be as you. Your love is unbounded, O LORD; it reaches to the ends of the earth and to every soul. All you would care for in your love, and you call us to do the same. Let us be your hands and your voice, LORD, in this dangerous place. Let us have hearts for healing and spirits for speaking your truth, that all souls might indeed be saved by your holy Gospel. If in silence we stand as souls go astray, or if we avoid the needy man in our way, what, O LORD, shall be our fate – shall not a curse be upon us? And so, let your love and your truth be fulfilled in us that we might preach without fear and serve without hesitation, that we might accomplish your will. Let us love you first of all, and all souls as you love them.