The BreadCast

O mystical doctor – help us by way of the Cross to find wisdom and knowledge of Christ and union with God; let us desire to enter the suffering of the Lord, that by this means we may draw closer to His glorious presence and there remain in joy. Let us fear not the dark night the soul must endure but bear it well, that we might be purged of all blindness; pray the Lord will shine upon us His holy light and we might soon look upon His face with you. May the Lord's Cross overshadow all and anoint every soul with the peace that surpasses understanding, with His undying love.

(Is.35:1-6,10; Ps.146:6-10,Is.35:4; Jas.5:7-10; Mt.11:2-11) "Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand." Hope. What hope have we. And so we should "be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord." Indeed, we must endure "the early and the late rains" – having been converted to the Lord we shall be purged of all sin on the last day – but, though "hardship" be with us now, our hope should be firm in Him who comes, in Him who "is standing before the gates" even now. Jesus is the fulfillment of the vision given Isaiah and the salvation sung of by our psalmist. By Him, "the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them." Should not He who has power over all maladies, and even death, bring us hope in the kingdom to come? Should not our seeing these wonders wrought by Jesus instill great faith in our hearts? Should we not even rejoice now in our suffering, knowing well that "sorrow and mourning will flee away" when He comes, that the very suffering we experience now will then be no more? Patience. Indeed, patience brings us hope, enables us to endure all, even joyfully. And does Jesus not seek to encourage greater hope, greater faith in our hearts by His words about John the Baptist? "What did you go out to the desert to see?" He asks the crowds, addressing their longing for truth, their desire for hope, and confirms that the prophet they sought was indeed greater than all "among those born of women." But He does not stop there. How much farther He leads them: "The least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Remarkable. What hope have we, to be greater than the Baptist. For the Baptist is himself a man, who himself suffers and struggles, inquiring if Jesus is "the one who is to come," and must himself be assured by the Lord. But in heaven no question will remain. This desert in which we seek the Lord will come to full bloom "with abundant flowers." Keep the faith in joy, brothers and sisters. We have every reason for hope; we have firm witness of His grace, at work in us even now. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music:"Hold On, Here We Go" from Bearing the Birth Pangs, tenth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, come with your Word to heal our souls that we might enter your kingdom. YHWH, the coming of your Son is close at hand, when all your children will dance and sing for joy. Though He has come once to open our eyes, to clear our ears, yet in some measure we remain blind and deaf, waiting for the day when your kingdom shall be fulfilled in our midst. And so, we thank you for the release from sin Jesus has wrought, and we wait in hope for His return. Give us the patience we so desperately need. John was the greatest of men, the greatest of prophets, who prepared the way for your only Son, O LORD. To this parched earth, this desert wasteland, he proclaimed a baptism of repentance that brought healing to our souls. Yet all he has done is but a shadow when compared to the glory of the eternal kingdom to which the Christ does carry us. Strengthen our hands, dear LORD; make firm our weak knees. Let all sorrow and mourning flee from us as we humbly await Jesus' return and our becoming one with you.

O bride of our Lord Jesus Christ, in your virginity and in your dying you have given yourself entirely to the Lord of Heaven and earth. O how like Him you were in your purity and in your suffering! and so how close to Him you must be in Heaven – pray that a ray of His light might come to us who sit in darkness, we whose hearts are not as strong as your own. His heavenly light we wish to enter; by your prayers may we see His glory.

(Sir.48:1-4,9-11; Ps.80:2-4,15-16,18-19; Mt.17:10-13) "Like a fire there appeared the prophet Elijah whose words were as a flaming furnace." Elijah has come, to "restore everything." The word has fallen like fire from heaven to prepare a path for the Lord to tread. The Baptist has cried out as a voice in the wilderness for us to make our hearts ready for the coming of the Lord. But, sadly, "they did not recognize him and they did as they pleased with him." They rejected the voice crying to them and attempted to cover over the way the word had cleared before them. He who came "to turn back the hearts of fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob," was himself turned back; and they cast him into prison and beheaded the great prophet. Yet the way remains open to us. He whom the prophet hailed has come into our midst, and His presence cannot be taken away – even to the end of the age (which is upon us). And we must join with our psalmist today in calling upon Him to "come to save us," to "look down from heaven, and see," to "take care of this vine" planted by His right hand. "Give us new life, and we will call upon your name," must be our prayer, especially in this Advent season, for we must awaken and enliven the path to God the Baptist has served to blaze in our hearts. We must know now Him whom he has hailed. And, yes, with this Elijah and with the Son of Man, we too will suffer at the hands of those who would silence the Word, who would extinguish the fire set upon the earth. But the fire is eternal and its light and power cannot be dimmed, much less extinguished. It will purify those who seek the face of God and destroy those who turn from Him. It cannot be otherwise. Now that the Lord has come, His angels wait in expectation to purge the world. Once more only the prophet Elijah will appear and the flaming furnace his words prepare will be fulfilled in God's eternity by the return of the Son of Man. In absolute glory the Lord will reign. ******* O LORD, Elijah has come and the way of the Cross has been prepared; your Son is now present to save us. YHWH, rouse your power and come to save us; purge us in the fire your Son has set upon the face of the earth. The Baptist has come in the spirit of Elijah – the way of the Savior is now prepared in our midst. But we must walk this way of fire; we must be sanctified by the Holy Spirit, if we are to walk in the way of your Son. If our hearts are to be turned to you, LORD, we must have faith in the One to come. And this path is one of persecution; it is one that reduces us to straits. For nothing unholy can enter your presence, and so we must be prepared along the narrow way. O LORD, make us strong in following you this day! The Son of Man is now among us, He who has suffered and died for our sake. May the fire of the Spirit He sends, LORD, make us ready to share in His death, and so His glory.

O Patroness of the Americas and Protectress of the Unborn, look upon our troubled state, where lust and greed abound, where thousands are killed in the womb every day, where the poor and the rich are separated by steel walls and thirsting souls die in the desert – help us, dear Mother, to discover life, to find your guidance in this land of opportunity and broken dreams, in these hearts that have grown so cold that more are sacrificed on unholy altars than when you first came to turn our hearts to the Lord! Pray for us, Our Lady, or we shall surely die in a soulless pride.