The BreadCast

(Ws.1:13-15,2:23-24; Ps.30:2,4-6,11-13; 2Cor.8:7,9,13-15; Mk.5:21-43) "God formed man to be imperishable; the image of His own nature He made him." "God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living." "By the envy of the devil death entered the world, and they who belong to his company experience it," but God has nothing to do with death: He is but Life, and would have us be with Him where He is. It is the Lord's will that all live, that all are rescued from death and destruction; and so Jesus "became poor, so that by His poverty [we] might become rich," and so He died that we might live… and so He comes healing us of our disease and raising us from the dead. David witnesses to His power in our psalm today – "You brought me up from the netherworld, you preserved me from among those going down into the pit" – and in our gospel Jesus heals the woman of her flow of blood and wakes Jairus' daughter from her sleep. "Little girl, I say to you, arise!" the Lord whispers to the child of twelve as He holds her by the hand, and "she [arises] immediately and walk[s] around." Despite the commotion and the ridicule of the crowd outside, the Lord enters her room and calls quite clearly to her heart… Do you hear Him? Do you hear Him speaking? Does He not call to all our hearts to rise from the dead, from the death of sin or complacency, or whatever disease has gripped our lives? What He speaks to the little girl He says to all: "Rise from your slumber, O sleeper!" It is not death to which we are called, but life. This Jesus clearly shows in His ministry upon the earth. And though this life can only be fully known having entered the gates of heaven, and though each day we are called to lay down our lives, to die as the Lord has shown us – though this indeed be a world of suffering for the Christian soul who always carries His cross, we know the Mighty One, the Creator of the universe, holds us each in His loving hand, and He will turn our "mourning into dancing" as He breathes life upon us again. "At nightfall weeping enters in, but with the dawn rejoicing," as we see that never really do we die, as we discover in His presence among us our eternal life… as we sense even now our blessed immortality. Remain with Him forever. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "To Eternal Life" from Thoroughfare, seventh album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, lay your hands upon us that death might flee and we be healed. YHWH, in you death has no place, no power at all. By a word from the mouth of your Son, the death we have brought upon ourselves is dispelled, and we are raised to life with you. It is for life you have made us; bring us back to your side. In this world we weep and mourn, O LORD; we cry out for the darkness that closes in. But what is this death that seems to take hold to those who have faith in you? Those who closely follow your Son shall be cured of their diseases, healed of every affliction – even from death they shall be raised, as if they were only sleeping. For He will speak to our hearts, and hearing His voice we shall arise. We shall live in peace forever. Jesus has laid down His life that we might be brought up from the nether world. Though death and sin and the envy of the devil threaten to take our posterity away, yet we shall sing praise to you, O LORD, for the salvation wrought in our midst.

O most blessed apostles of the Lord upon whom the Church is founded and the faith goes forth, in you we cannot be shaken and the Lord’s reign extends to the ends of the earth – pray we always take refuge in His House and in the teaching of His mouth. It is you who preserve the authenticity of the faith; through you we may be assured the Spirit of God is with us, leading us out of the dark prison of this world along the narrow path to Heaven. Pray the chains fall from our hands and we heed the angel’s command, remaining faithful to the end, pouring out our lives like a libation. Feed the poor sheep in your care.

O great teacher of the Catholic faith who served to set a foundation upon which she could grow in peace and in truth, in the Spirit of God, you who valiantly defended her against attacks of heresy and shed your blood in the battle – pray we shall find shepherds today to explicate the faith of the apostles as clearly and loyally as you have done, that none shall be led astray into false doctrine by whim and fancy, by pride and envy, but drink rather the pure milk of our Mother and of the one true God. To vision of the Father let us come by revelation of His only-begotten Son.

O great defender of the Mother of God and of the faith itself, courageously you declared that Jesus is God indeed, become Man in Mary His Mother; this you made plain for all to see, O shepherd of the people of God, that truth might reign and the Virgin might find her proper place among us – pray, O brave teacher, that we shall not be afraid to proclaim the truths inscribed by the Spirit upon the heart of the Church and in her inspired writings; and may indeed our Mother, the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of God, be recognized for her preeminence amongst the saints, that the Word of the Lord might be fulfilled and all generations call her blessed.

(2Kgs.22:8-13,23:1-3; Ps.119:33-37,40; Mt.7:15-20) "Lead me in the path of your commands, for in it I take delight." The people of Judah and Jerusalem have been unfaithful to God and to the covenant made with Him, and so the time of their exile draws near: soon this remaining tribe of Israel shall join the others in being cast from their promised land. But today we hear of a faithful king, Josiah, who makes a kind of final effort, a final sign of faithfulness among the people, as he seeks to restore what has been so sorely lost by the nation. King Josiah recognizes that Judah has sinned against God and so lost His blessing; and this truth is brought home to him in the clear light of "the book of the law," which has been uncovered in the temple of the Lord, dusted off of its many years of neglect, and read in his hearing. Hearing the commands of the Lord, the Word which gives life to its hearer, the king tears his garments in penitence for what has been lacking to the kingdom, and declares: "The anger of the Lord has been set furiously ablaze against us because our fathers did not obey the stipulations of this book, nor fulfill our written obligations." To his great credit he seeks now to fulfill these stipulations, making "a covenant before the Lord that they would follow Him and observe His ordinances, statutes, and decrees with their whole hearts and souls, thus reviving the terms of the covenant which were written in the book." The covenant made through Moses he looks to restore. "And all the people stood as participants in the covenant"; a measure of the blessing does return to God's chosen as they "turn away [their] eyes from what is vain" and find life in the ways of the Lord. Here is a final harvest of good fruit before the tree turns rotten and so must be uprooted from the Lord's sight. Brothers and sisters, it is adherence to the Word of God which gives all life; it is faithfulness to His call that is our bread of life. If we do not remain in Him and walk in "the way of His statutes," we are no better than the "false prophets" who are but "wolves on the prowl" and shall be burned in the fires of Gehenna. If we are faithless how shall our tree grow? And if no growth, then no God have we, and we shall but rot. In His light let us remain, seeking the nourishment of His Word and the Bread we break and offer at His altar. And we shall need fear no exile from the Promised Land, from the Temple that is our risen Christ… We shall be led ever in the way of Truth and grow each day unto Life. ****** O LORD, renew your Covenant within us, that we might bear good fruit in your presence. YHWH, if we but followed your Word and your way, heeding the commands you give us for the nourishment of our souls, then would we bear fruit unto eternal life; then would all be well with our lives. But in disobedience we turn from you to follow our own desires, and so cast from your sight we can only be. Forgive us, LORD, the sins upon our hands and upon our hearts; let your wrath not blaze against us – save us from the fire! Help us to renew this day our commitment to you and to your Word of truth, that your love might return to us and feed us well. O let us return to you! So blind we have been, so deaf to your Word, O holy LORD. And so, holiness has escaped us. Let us no longer be led astray by false notions conceived in the corruption of sin but repent entirely of our hypocrisy. Let us but serve you and not our selfishness, and you will bless us once again and we will remain standing strong in your Temple, as your chosen people in light. May your Word take root within our hearts and grow unto eternal life.

O greatest of men born of woman, before you were formed in the womb the Lord called you; while still in this cave you leapt for joy at His presence come to you… a sharp, two-edged sword He made you to hail the coming Messiah, the Light in our midst, the New Covenant born of the Old – how shall we humble ourselves as you have done; how shall our call be realized in flesh and blood as was your own? Pray, dear brother, that from darkness we be taken, from blindness and inability to speak we be rescued, that the Word among us we may know and raise our voices to proclaim His salvation to all.

(Jb.38:1,8-11; Ps.107:23-26,28-31; 2Cor.5:14-17; Mk.4:35-41) "Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?" Need you ask? If you must, I will tell you: this is He who "shut within the doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb"; He who "set limits for it and fastened the bars of its door" – He who speaks to Job: "Here shall your proud waves be stilled!" This is the Lord, the great I AM! When the Lord "raised up a storm wind" against those "trading on the deep waters… which tossed its waves on high… their hearts melted away in their plight." But "they cried to the Lord in their distress [and] from their straits He rescued them." Is not He who "hushed the storm to a gentle breeze, and the billows of the sea were stilled," the same God who in our gospel when the disciples cry out, "We are perishing," because "a violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat" – is this not the same God who "rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Quiet! Be still!'" by whose hand "the wind ceased and there was great calm"? The power is the same and the God is the same. Jesus is Lord! And is it not this same God, this same Christ, who stills the waves of your own pride when its waters begin to fill your boat with sin, when it seems you shall sink into the deep and never return? Do you not know your sin? Do you not know His power? Is it not the Lord's great power and the peace we find by its great grace of which Paul, too, speaks when he says, "The old things have passed away; behold, new things have come"? Is it not the same salvation he refers to when he declares, "Whoever is in Christ is a new creation"? Brothers and sisters, "Let us cross to the other side." Let us allow the Lord to bring us "to [our] desired haven." Through the tribulation of this life let us pass, impelled by "the love of Christ," knowing He holds power over all the proud waves of the sinful sea in His redeeming Hand. Let Him but speak a word to our impenitent hearts to break the waves we raise up and make us whole. "Do you not yet have faith?" Then indeed be dead in Christ and live "no longer for [yourselves] but for Him who for [our] sake died and was raised." This is the Lord our God. Silence your tongue before Him. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "The World Is a Work of Art (Made by the Hand of God)" (final section), from The Whole Whale, eighth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, in you we find our peace, for you created us, and for our sake your Son died and was raised. YHWH, what need we fear if we are already dead in your Christ? How could the proud waves of this world be a threat to him who has already reached his desired haven, who has already come to the opposite shore? The power of wind and sea mean nothing to the One who commands these and all other things, and it is He who is with us now. O LORD, increase our faith in the salvation that is ours through the death and resurrection of your Son. Flesh now has no hold of Him, and so it should no longer trouble those who are reborn in Him. His life should be our own, and this life is unconquerable. O let us trust entirely in His love! Though the waves do rise above our heads and threaten our boat with sinking, the Spirit of your Son is present to us to command the sea to be still. And so we shall sail peacefully into your kingdom, if we but remember His presence, if we but call on your NAME.

O kings of martyrdom who indeed laid down your very lives rather than heed the dictates of an evil emperor, whose loyalty to the Lord and the Church He established stands unparalleled, your defense of the faith and conscience written in the blood you shed – pray that the mediocrity, the utter inability to stand for truth in this relativist age, will be defeated by souls founded firmly in the Spirit of Christ and in the Cross He offers forth for our salvation. Pray for leaders of Church and State to embrace your singular devotion.

O lover of poverty who gave up great wealth to find her abiding within the walls of your heart, a heart which turned thus to God’s people and the shepherding of them with great care – pray that we too may hear and come to realize in our lives the call of our Lord to give up all things for the sake of the kingdom, to be attached to nothing but service of the poor, service of God Himself in the humble of this earth; pray that like you we may have the heart of a shepherd, of a laborer in Jesus’ vineyard, united in the Spirit with all God’s children with whom we share His Heaven.

O patron of youth whose innocence was unsurpassed, whose desire to give yourself to the Lord in poverty and purity led you to relinquish your wealth in this world at a tender age that you might embrace Jesus fully – pray for the youth of our day and the child in each of our souls, that all might turn away from the temptations which surround and threaten to enter and enslave; let all turn toward the love of the Lord and His heavenly call, a call to a kingdom that surpasses everything of this earth and brings the joy known only in breathing and speaking His holy Name.