June 15 - Most Holy Trinity Sunday, Year C
The BreadCast
(Prv.8:22-31; Ps.8:2,4-9; Rm.5:1-5; Jn.16:12-15) “Everything that the Father has is mine.” From the beginning Jesus is with the Father, one with the Father, the pure reflection of His being which cannot be separated from the substance of the Father. Through Him all things were made, and indeed He is reflected in all things. And it is by the power of the Holy Spirit, who takes from what is the Father’s and Son’s, that anything that comes to be comes to be. And man is the crown of the creation of this Most Holy Triumvirate. ...
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June 14 - Saturday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
The BreadCast
(2Cor.5:14-21; Ps.103:1-4,8-9,11-12; Mt.5:33-37) “The love of Christ impels us who have reached the conviction that since one died for all, all died.” How strong is Paul’s “yes” for the Lord. With what ardor does he cry out: “The old order is passed away; now all is new!” How purely he is led in the Spirit to call to our very souls, “In Christ’s name: be reconciled to God!” He has no need to swear by earth or heaven of his conviction that Jesus died for our salvation. He is indeed a new creation and can but speak of...
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June 13 - Prayer to St. Anthony of Padua
The BreadCast
O gentle preacher of the Word, the fire of the Holy Spirit upon your soul for the conversion of heretics and the leading of all to God – hold us in your arms even as the infant Jesus who appeared to you along the way, and pray that the Word may be instilled in our hearts even as it was in your own, that we shall never go astray but always have the consolation of the Spirit of God and His love and innocence to lead us through this life till we find ourselves at home in the Father’s arms, where you dwell in peace with all His blessed saints. Pray for us, our teacher and brother, this...
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June 13 - Friday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
The BreadCast
(2Cor.4:7-15; Ps.116:10-11,15-18; Mt.5:27-32) “While we live we are constantly being delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh.” In our gospel we continue to see how the grace of Jesus supersedes the Law of Moses. Yesterday we were told not only must we not murder, but that we must not even be angry with or speak ill of another. Today Jesus tells us the commandment against adultery applies even to our eyes, to our thoughts, and that God allows no divorce… And of what does Jesus...
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June 12 - Thursday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
The BreadCast
(2Cor.3:15-4:1,3-6; Ps.85:9-14; Mt.5:20-26) “See the splendor of the gospel showing forth the glory of Christ.” Today the gospel is preached: Jesus, the image of God, has come among us, “glory dwelling in our land,” and removed the veil from our understanding so that now we “are being transformed from glory to glory into His very image by the Lord who is the Spirit.” The words of life are spoken by the Lord; the Holy Spirit comes amongst us as light to illumine our minds and lead us beyond the bounds of the law to the kingdom of God...
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June 11 - Prayer to St. Barnabas
The BreadCast
O son of encouragement and of consolation in the Holy Spirit, you who were filled with faith and lived that faith for the Lord, giving up all things to bring His Name forth to the ends of the earth, calling all souls and confirming them in the truth by the authority of the risen Son – whose footsteps go forth today as did yours upon the birth of the Church; what souls are so blessed to be set apart by the Spirit to perform His works in this dying world, to bring His light to those who sit in darkness? Pray the Lord shall indeed send out laborers into His vineyard and they shall with the same...
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June 11 - Wednesday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
The BreadCast
(2Cor.3:4-11; Ps.99:5-9; Mt.5:17-19) “Not the smallest letter of the law, not the smallest part of a letter, shall be done away with until it all comes true.” Jesus comes to fulfill the law and the prophets. The law watches over us while we are here in this world. It guards us and puts to death the sin that is inherent in our earthly nature. There is great glory in this blessed protection, as is witnessed in our psalm today – “Holy is the Lord, our God” – because it acquaints us with God’s justice and, as said, watches...
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June 10 - Tuesday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
The BreadCast
(2Cor.1:18-22; Ps.119:129-133,135; Mt.5:13-16) “God is the one who firmly establishes us.” “Light of the world” and “salt of the earth” – this is what we are by the power of God. It is by Him we are “set on a hill” to give “light to all in the house”; it is we who preserve the integrity of creation. It is a holy call and a demanding one, and we should not waver in our resolve to follow the Lord and fulfill His work and His will; for it is indeed His will that we show His goodness before the eyes of men, and so “He who anointed...
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June 9 - Prayer to St. Ephrem
The BreadCast
O harp of the Holy Spirit whose song rose up to Jesus and in honor of the Virgin Mary, whose heart was set on Heaven and the eternal light therein, and who served so well to defend the faith when from contemplation you came – pray we too shall have a song dedicated wholly to the Lord welling up in hearts set on His presence, on the kingdom that passes not away; and pray, too, the teaching of the Church shall always be true, shall always be rooted in the Spirit, expressive of the love of God. What is this world as it passes away, and who are we apart from God and His House? O how we long for...
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June 9 - Monday of the 10th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
The BreadCast
(2Cor.1:1-7; Ps.34:2-9; Mt.5:1-12) “Blessed are those persecuted for holiness’ sake; the reign of God is theirs.” Here is the core teaching of our faith. Here are the beatitudes, the call to sweet humility which flows like blessed honey from the lips of our Savior. And that teaching is that the humbled shall be exalted, that those who mourn and sorrow for the lack of love we find in this tainted world and who strive to bring that love to the hard heart of man shall be blessed, are blessed, for they share in the sufferings of Christ, who wept...
info_outline(Acts 20:28-38; Ps.68:29-30,33-36; Jn.17:11-19)
“O Father most holy,
protect them with the name you have given me.”
In our gospel today Jesus prays to the Father, “who rides on the heights of the ancient heavens,” to “guard [His disciples] from the evil one.” And the parallels continue between His and Paul’s parting words, as the Apostle warns his own disciples, “When I am gone, savage wolves will come among you who will not spare the flock,” and therefore exhorts them to “be on guard.”
It is the Lord’s earnest desire of the Father that we His disciples “be consecrated in truth.” If truth be with us, if the Holy Spirit He promises to send be ours, the “careful watch” Jesus has kept “as long as [He] was with [us]” will continue. In fact, Paul’s instruction to the elders of Ephesus to “shepherd the Church of God, which He has acquired at the price of His own blood” – blood the Lord is about to shed in our gospel – will be realized, and His apostles will become themselves those who care for the safety of the people of God. “I consecrate myself for their sakes now,” Jesus says, offering Himself, His blood, as sacrifice for the Church; and Paul commends his disciples to this same Lord, “to that gracious word of His which can enlarge [them], and give [them] a share among all who are consecrated to Him.” In His name all are saved.
“Awesome in His sanctuary is God, the God of Israel; He gives power and strength to His people.” David sings mightily of the majesty of God, whose “voice resounds, the voice of power,” and calling all to “confess the power of God!” indicates how we share in that great power. In declaring of the Father, with Jesus and with Scripture, “Your word is truth,” that truth in essence becomes our own; we are thereby consecrated to it. And so Paul can exhort those he has placed in positions of power: “Keep watch over yourselves, and over the whole flock the Holy Spirit has given you to guard,” for he knows as long as (like Paul) they do not “set [their] hearts on anyone’s silver or gold,” as long as they work tirelessly to “help the weak,” to serve the Church, they shall indeed be sharing in the power and authority of God.
Brothers and sisters, we “do not belong to the world” but to God and to His truth. His Spirit is with us to guide us and protect us here on our journey through death to life. As we humble ourselves in prayer before Him, He hears and answers all our needs. Remain in Him this day.
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O LORD, shepherd your flock in the truth;
keep all falsehood from us.
YHWH, let us be consecrated in your Word, in your Word of truth, that we might share in your might and power, that we might be protected by your Name. As your Son sends His apostles forth, so these apostles send others forth, all sharing in the power that comes from you by the Spirit upon your Church. May we all be one with your Son as He is one with you, and so may we all do your will despite the persecutions of this world.
We do not belong to the world, O LORD, but to the One who has left this world to come to you in your kingdom. Help us to follow where He leads by your power from on high. Your Spirit fall upon us this day to give us strength to accomplish the work you set before us. From your sanctuary come to us and with us here remain, that we shall never turn from you along this narrow way. From generation to generation let your Word go forth till all your children are consecrated in your truth.