January 7 - Prayer to St. Raymond of Penafort
The BreadCast
O redeemer of captive slaves, those enslaved to sin and those enslaved by the clutches of the world – preach to us this day the freedom found under the Cross of Christ and in the repentance of heart blessed by the grace upon the Church. Teach us well the path to Heaven, which is wrought not in comfort and peace but in struggle against sin, in the laying down of our lives before our persecutors. Ransom us from wayward thoughts and actions, and from the snares of the adversary who waits for our misstep. In Christ alone may we find our rest.
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January 7 - Wednesday after Epiphany
The BreadCast
(1Jn.4:11-18; Ps.72:1-2,10,12-13; Mk.6:45-52) “If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is brought to perfection in us.” Jesus has just fed the five thousand men with the five loaves and two fish. He has performed a great miracle before the eyes of His disciples and through their hands. Yet “their minds were completely closed to the meaning of the events,” and when He comes walking toward them on the water in the middle of the night as their boat is tossed about by a storm, they are “terrified.” They are afraid...
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January 6 - Prayer to St. Andre Bessette
The BreadCast
O friend of the lowly, humble child of St. Joseph, servant of the poor and counsel to the afflicted through whom the Lord worked miracles… how He blessed your ignorance with His wisdom, your weakness with His strength; unattached to this passing world, you drew souls to the world to come – pray we be as poor and lowly as the dust you swept each day, as the Child Jesus in the manger at Bethlehem. Pray we, too, have ears to hear and answer the needs of others and that good St. Joseph will hold us in his arms and carry us with you unto Heaven.
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January 6 - Tuesday after Epiphany
The BreadCast
(1Jn.4:7-10, Ps.72:1-4,7-8,11; Mk.6:34-44) “Justice shall flower in His days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more.” Our psalm (of Solomon, the king of peace and wisdom) relates the infinite justice of God, He who “defend[s] the afflicted among the people” and “save[s] the children of the poor.” Such is the judgment of our God, who “rule[s] from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth”: His perfect justice He showers upon all. And how is this justice effected? It is already evident from what we have...
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January 5 - Prayer to St. John Neumann
The BreadCast
O shepherd who walked in the humble stead of your flock, who worked so diligently among those in your care, speaking to their hearts; you who gathered into schools the little ones, who saw to the education of the children… and all this in a foreign land – pray for the country in which you ministered, that its lambs once again be raised in the faith and its strangers be once again shepherded by one as anxious as you for their well-being. Here let us find the grace of Christ to redeem the lowly and the lost.
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January 5 - Monday after Epiphany
The BreadCast
(1Jn.3:22-4:6; Ps.2:7-8,10-11; Mt.4:12-17,23-25) “Every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God.” And for every spirit that acknowledges Him, He answers all prayers: “Whatever we ask we shall receive at God’s hands.” “Ask of me and I will give you the nations for an inheritance…” And so, when “they carried to [Jesus] all those afflicted with various diseases and racked with pain,” He heard this prayer made in faith, made in the belief that He could do this, and as Matthew so simply and...
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January 4 - Prayer to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
The BreadCast
O mother through marriage and religious Mother, who indeed became mother of many, many sisters whom you led in the faith and many children whom you taught in your schools – in your wisdom teach many still the path of Christ, the way of charity He has trod, that renewed will those be who call you Mother, and instructed well those in their classrooms throughout the land. What should we teach our children, dear Mother? Have we not forgotten the lesson of Christ? Pray for us, I beg, this day, that the way and the truth we shall follow.
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January 4 - Epiphany of the Lord
The BreadCast
(Is.60:1-6; Ps.72:1-2,7-8,10-13; Eph.3:2-3a,5-6; Mt.2:1-12) “They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary His Mother.” And so our prophecy of Isaiah and our psalm of David come to pass: “Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you… the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you.” And “the kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All...
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January 3 - before Epiphany
The BreadCast
(1Jn.2:29-3:6; Ps.98:1,3-6; Jn.1:29-34) “Look there! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” “This is God’s chosen One.” This is He upon whom “the Spirit descend[s]” – who takes away our sins and makes us pure by His own baptism “with the Holy Spirit.” He who walks with Him walks in holiness, for “everyone who acts in holiness has been begotten by Him” – we have become “children of God” because we have now the grace of the only Son. Listen to the manner in which the Baptist “sing[s] joyfully before the...
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January 2 - Prayer to Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen
The BreadCast
O bishops and doctors, O brothers so united in Christ, united in your desire to find His wisdom and live His virtue, for you what mattered but to be like Christ? All you would have given up to find His way; nothing of this world did you wish but to leave it behind. One in heart and mind, one in word and work and in the food of which you partook… how blessed it is when men live as brothers, when nothing they desire but the other’s good – teach us this way of union in the love of God.
info_outline(1Jn.4:7-10, Ps.72:1-4,7-8,11; Mk.6:34-44)
“Justice shall flower in His days, and profound peace,
till the moon be no more.”
Our psalm (of Solomon, the king of peace and wisdom) relates the infinite justice of God, He who “defend[s] the afflicted among the people” and “save[s] the children of the poor.” Such is the judgment of our God, who “rule[s] from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth”: His perfect justice He showers upon all.
And how is this justice effected? It is already evident from what we have said, from what our psalmist has sung of His Name, and our letter from John leaves no question – “God is love.” His ultimate justice and love have been “revealed in our midst in this way: He sent His only Son to the world that we might have life through Him.” In sending Jesus “as an offering for our sins,” His perfect love and perfect justice meet and kiss and become one. He bleeds for us, and so our sins are forgiven.
And what clearer proof that we all “have life through Him” is shown in our gospel, in which Jesus feeds the masses. First He teaches them with the Word “at great length.” Having pity on them, He feeds their souls with Truth. But His pity does not end there – His concern extends to the physical as well as the spiritual… for He knows all our weakness, and He feeds the peoples’ bodies as well as their souls.
What a beautiful picture this is: the people “neatly arranged like flower beds,” Jesus raising the bread to heaven and pronouncing the blessing, the disciples distributing it, and Jesus Himself dividing the fish among them. All eat and all are satisfied. Here is a picture of the Lord’s justice and love. And this scene we enact each day at Mass, listening to His Word, His teaching, and then eating the bread of life He distributes among us. May the Lord be praised!
And what have we to do to receive this bread of life but heed the words John offers and “love one another.” For “love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God.” And this knowledge we find in our love is that His justice is true and endures forever in the perfect peace His presence brings. Let us have faith forever.
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O LORD, you sent your Son
to shepherd all afflicted and fainting souls;
may we be nourished by His love.
YHWH, you send your Son to rule over us with His love, to feed us with His own Body and Blood. May justice flower in His day and all the ends of the earth be blessed with His peace. And let us love as He has loved; let us lay down our lives for one another.
O LORD, upon your holy mountain let us take our rest, our souls arranged like flower beds, our hearts yielding to your Word. May your rule be made complete even in this deserted place where men are as sheep without a shepherd. To this place let your Son come and make it as your eternal home. Give us something to eat this day, LORD, by the hand of Jesus and His apostles, or we shall faint for weariness, or we shall starve to death.
It is only your love which sustains us, LORD, only our being joined to you. May we eat our fill of your goodness, and never be apart from your reign.