The BreadCast

O blessed help of the poor, slave to widows and orphans and all those most outcast and in need, the least of Christ's brothers you indeed gave your life to serve, completely spending yourself in their assistance and leading your own brother priests to do the same… and so Christ Himself you waited upon day in and day out upon this earth – pray that we, too, shall be like Jesus, filled with compassion for the needs of our neighbors, sharing their poverty as we empty ourselves as the Lord has done. May all our prayers and desires lead to such charity for the plight of others, that we might fulfill with you our Savior's call to the Cross and come, therefore, to the riches of Heaven.

(Ez.18:25-28; Ps.25:4-9; Phil.2:1-11; Mt.21:28-32) "Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you." Why? How can it be that such sinners gain such privilege, such grace? Is it for their sins? Shall we all become as they? We should be like them, but not in sin – in repentance. For it is because they have "turned away from all [the] sins that [they] committed" that they are saved; it is because they are "tax collectors and prostitutes" no more. And so we are all called to turn away from the sin which each of us surely has. David sings beautifully of this in our psalm: "The sins of my youth and my frailty remember not," as he begs the Lord for His kindness. For all that we have done in our ignorance and our weakness we should seek the Lord's mercy, for He assures us throughout our readings that "He shows sinners the way" when they come humbly before Him. When the first son in Jesus' parable responds to his father's request for him to work in the vineyard, "I will not," what does this son do but sin against his father? – just as each of us sins against our heavenly Father when we turn from His will to blindly follow our own. But what did the son show when he "afterwards changed his mind and went" but his contrition and repentance at his insubordination, thus illustrating the manner in which our consciences should lead us from our own disobedience? And as Jesus makes clear, it was this son who "did his father's will" and so will be blessed by him. Our reading from Ezekiel makes this theme of turning from sin and finding blessing even clearer. It states in certain terms of the wicked man that "if he turns from the wickedness he has committed, and does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life." With such assurance, why should we delay our own conversion, which must be effected day to day? St. Paul presents the attitude we must have before others and God in order to find the Lord's grace. He states: "Humbly regard others as more important than yourselves," and then gives the clear example of the most humble of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, who "emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness." He so "humbled Himself" that He became "obedient even unto death, death on a cross." And so should we be proud? Should we harden ourselves in our sin, or rather turn and empty ourselves of all that is not of Him? The salvation repentance finds is indicated also in the fact that, because of Jesus' humility, "God exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every other name." So let us not hesitate to join the tax collectors and prostitutes among us who bend the knee before Him; let our "tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord," and we shall know His reward. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Where's My Brother?" from Cleansing Human Frailty, fourth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, turning away from all our sins and humbling ourselves before you, let us but do your holy will. YHWH, help us to turn from our sins and do your holy will. May we be obedient as your Son, who gave His life to save others. Let all souls repent of their wickedness and walk in His way, that all might find salvation in His Name. If we could but be humble before you, LORD; if we could but admit our failings, our selfishness and pride, our blindness to your call for our lives… then we would be blessed by you and become your faithful sons. Break our hardened hearts that we might love, that we might look upon you who are love itself. 96 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} O let us be empty, LORD, of all we would possess, of all that we would grasp with our own hands. Let us indeed be blessed to recognize our sinfulness and find your mercy and forgiveness. You but want for us to turn to you that you might embrace us as your own. May your compassion be known in our hearts this day.

O highly honored martyrs whose tomb drew many pilgrims and brought about many miracles, you laid down your lives as one in the Lord, taking up His bitter and saving cup of suffering all for your faith in Him and His Church, and so, precious in His sight was your death in His name – from beyond the grave pray for us this day, that the healing blood of Christ our Savior be poured upon our souls, that we too might be raised by His sacrifice, redeemed by the death He endured; for He has overcome the world, and you with Him in His blood. Pray that we who are so weak of faith may by the Lord's grace and your intercession bear witness to Jesus by our own deaths upon the Cross with Him.

(Ec.11:9-12:8; Ps.90:1,3-6,12-14,17; Lk.9:43-45) "The dust returns to the earth as it once was, and the life breath returns to God who gave it." "As a watch of the night" is our life, passing unnoticed while souls slumber. "You make an end of them in their sleep," Psalm 90 prophesies (as we hear the same verses of this same psalm for the second time in three days); indeed man lies unaware of his coming death, ignorant of the day which passes. For though in our youth we "follow the ways of [our] heart, the vision of [our] eyes," and seem to "ward off grief" at will, yet "the next morning [we] are like the changing grass"; so quickly does our flower fade. And so little of this do we see. In our gospel the Lord speaks again to His disciples of His imminent death, and so, really, the death we all must undergo; but though He makes a clear point that they should listen carefully, saying, "Pay close attention to what I tell you," yet they seem unable to hear His words. Our gospel tells us, "They failed… to understand this warning; its meaning was so concealed from them they did not grasp it at all." He repeats what He has said before in no uncertain terms, and yet they are deaf to His word; yet they are blind. How like us all the disciples are. When confronted with the coming of death how easily we shut our eyes. Though it draw upon us inevitably, how desperately we hold to the vanity of these passing things, unwilling to hear of the day when "the sun is darkened… and the strong men are bent… and the sound of the mill is low." "Man goes to his lasting home, and mourners go about the streets" – so Qoheleth paints the image of the time when "the clouds return after the rain." How compelling his verses are, and how ominous… and of this darkness we must hear. It is not wise to remain blind to the passing of this life, or with it we shall die when it ends. Though none of this should touch our souls, yet we must learn to let the body go. O Lord, "you return man back to dust, saying, 'Return, O children of men,'" yet you hold each of us in your loving hands. And so we cry unto you this day, "Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants!" For we wait with expectant hearts for Him who has risen from the dead to come to us again. Let your Spirit breathe upon us now and turn this dust into the image of your Son. May it be your Day which comes to us, even as we die. ******* O LORD, we conquer death through the death and resurrection of your Son – be with us as we wait for His return. YHWH, death comes inevitably to all. It draws near to us like the setting sun. We are mortal, the subjects of our own sin. And so to dust we return. But your Son has subjected Himself to this death of ours, LORD; He has undergone its torments. In our place He has stood, and been broken for our sakes. He who lives with you in eternity has been delivered into the hands of men and suffered the darkness upon their souls. And so, may we not be born again? O Jesus, you have overcome the darkness with your unending light; you have come to rescue us from falling into the well, that the clouds might not return again after the rain but that we might know new life with you in the morning after this world passes away, in the glory of your coming Day. Help us, O LORD, to overcome our fear, to conquer the bonds of this dark place and our own mortality. Let this not be our lasting home, but raise us to your presence that even this day we might rejoice in you.

(Ec.3:1-11; Ps.144:1-4; Lk.9:18-22) "He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts." Yes, "there is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens"; and there is a time for time to cease and the timeless to come to the fore – a time for the things above the heavens. And that fullness of time has come upon the earth, for the Son of Man has known His "time to be born"; and in man's discovering "the work which God has done," no time for vain toil is there anymore. The time has come to make Him our "refuge and [our] fortress," our blessed "rock" of truth. "One day when Jesus was praying in seclusion and His disciples were with Him," the time had come for Him to "put the question to them": "Who do you say that I am?" And now it was Peter's "time to speak," to declare the faith of the Church: "The Messiah of God." And though it was not then time "to tell this to anyone," for the Son of Man had yet to know His "time to die," soon the time would come for the Son to rise, and then there would be no more "time to be silent." That time has come upon us now, brothers and sisters. Now is only "a time to plant" and "a time to build" – a time to raise the kingdom of heaven here on earth, a time to labor to complete God's Church. For timelessness now has its time; life eternal overtakes us. And so we have only "time to love," having broken the wheel of sin by the sacrifice of Christ and so come out from under the shadow of hatred. No return to the vanity of the things of this world is there for us, for we must do all as if doing nothing. It is true: "Man is like a breath; his days, like a passing shadow," but it is also so that the Lord "take[s] thought of him." And in this earthen vessel He has placed the Spirit of life – and that Spirit is now known in full in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is "time to embrace" Him and know the "time of peace" He breathes eternally upon His creatures, letting all shadow pass away as we walk in His holy light and proclaim His holy name. ******* 96 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} O LORD, your timelessness let us know in our hearts, that we might overcome the world through your Son. YHWH, in the fullness of time you sent your Son to die at our hands that we might be raised up with Him. And now that He has died for our sins, a new time has come to your people – a time of salvation. All time pointed toward Him and all time flows from Him, and all time is in Him who is all that is. O LORD, let us make our home in Him and in His resurrection. You are timeless, O LORD and God, and so how can we poor creatures so bound to time, so subject to the dust of this earth, come to know you who are beyond the heavens? We could never have discovered your hand at work among us if you had not sent your only Son to redeem us and reveal to us your glory. And so, let us embrace this gift you offer that we might mourn and weep no more but rejoice ever in your presence, despite the Cross that comes. Let us be raised on the Cross with Him that we might be raised unto His eternal reign.