July 6 - Sunday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time, Year C
The BreadCast
(Is.66:10-14c; Ps.66:1-7,16,20; Gal.6:14-18; Lk.10:1-12,17-20) “The Lord’s power shall be known to His servants.” Paul states: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus instructs: “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” The bottom line is that “the laborer deserves his payment.” The prosperity of Jerusalem shall flow “like a river” over those who work as laborers in the field of the Word of God: “peace and mercy” shall be to the “Israel of God.” All “who were...
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July 5 - Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria
The BreadCast
O child of the Apostle Paul, follower in his steps, preacher of the Word he proclaimed so completely with his very life, you who desired so to bear the fruit of love in patience, to share in the hardships of the apostles as well as in their glory, and led your fellow ordained zealously to desire the same – pray there shall be reform in this day among our priests and among the people of God, that all will so zealously follow the teaching and way of the Apostle, which is, of course, the way of Christ: to die, to lay down our lives, to suffer indignation and pray for our enemies, all the while...
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July 5 - Prayer to St. Elizabeth of Portugal
The BreadCast
O reconciler of warring sons, tranquility in the midst of great disturbance, though born of royal blood and married to a king, the Lord you preferred to all the riches of this world, and so His peace became your own – pray we, too, may keep our hearts set upon that which passes not away and the peace which passes understanding; pray our prayers be deep as your own and reflect the same tranquility, that those in our own families and those under our care, all those whom we meet and to whom we relate, may find the Lord’s peace dwelling in us with His divine charity and so be reconciled to Him...
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July 5 - Saturday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
The BreadCast
(Gn.27:1-5,15-29; Ps.135:1-6; Mt.9:14-17) “Pour new wine into new wineskins, and in that way both are preserved.” “Jacob.” The name means “the supplanter”. Here he supplants his twin brother, Esau, whose name means “red earth”. Though born second, Jacob receives the blessing of the firstborn. Of what significance is this supplanting, is this blessing of Jacob, who is to be “Israel”, and from whom the twelve tribes shall proceed? Far more than some sibling rivalry, it shows the coming of the New...
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July 4 - Friday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
The BreadCast
(Gn.23:1-4,19,24:1-8,62-67; Ps.106:1-5; Mt.9:9-13) “In his love for [Rebekah] Isaac found solace after the death of his mother Sarah.” And of this love Jacob shall be born; and from him shall come the twelve tribes of Israel, who shall people the earth as the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. Sarah had died and “Abraham had now reached a ripe old age.” Now conscious of his mortality, Abraham sets his sights firmly on his son and his coming progeny. Now with great resolve he sets to seek a wife for Isaac, telling his servant as he sends...
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July 3 - Prayer to St. Thomas
The BreadCast
O believing apostle who declared the divinity of Jesus, our Lord and our God, all doubt disappears in the light of your faith, for we see with you what is beyond all eyes – pray for an increase in our faltering faith, that we shall indeed believe though we do not see; let it be as if we ourselves have touched the nail marks in His hands and feet and placed our hands into His side. So firmly let our faith be founded that we shall reach out to all mankind and the truth of Christ as the Son of God will grow in all hearts until that Day we see the Lord with our own eyes.
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July 3 - St. Thomas
The BreadCast
(Eph.2:19-22; Ps.117:1-2,Mk.16:15; Jn.20:24-29) “Blest are they who have not seen and have believed.” The faith of Thomas. By his faith we find faith. In his desire to know beyond all doubt that the Lord has risen, all our doubt is taken away, and we declare with him, “My Lord and my God!” If Thomas had not doubted so much, we would not believe so much his clear proclamation of the divinity of Jesus. As it is, we no longer have room for doubt. Indeed, Thomas’ ardent need to touch the nail marks in the Lord’s hands and...
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July 2 - Wednesday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
The BreadCast
(Gn.21:5,8-20; Ps.34:7-8,10-13; Mt.8:28-34) “When the afflicted man called out, the Lord heard, and from all his distress He saved him.” Ishmael is the model of the afflicted man calling out to the Lord and being heard in all his distress. His very name means “he whom God hears” and indeed we see clearly today how, though “it is through Isaac that descendants shall bear [Abraham’s] name,” nonetheless, the Lord has pity on Ishmael and his plight – his rejection by the mother of the promised child and his wandering in a trackless waste – and...
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July 1 - Prayer to Junipero Serra
The BreadCast
O missionary of the New World inspired to leave your classroom and go forth to win souls for Christ, despite continuous battles with cold and hunger and long journeys with an injured leg, praying throughout the...
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July 1 - Tuesday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Year I
The BreadCast
(Gn.19:15-29; Ps.26:2-3,9-12; Mt.8:23-27) “Even the winds and the sea obey Him.” “The Lord rained down sulphurous fire upon Sodom and Gomorrah,” and “without warning a violent storm came up on the lake, and the boat began to be swamped by the waves.” The Lord saved Lot from the destruction of Sodom, and Jesus calmed the winds and the sea, saving the disciples; but how little faith either showed in His power. Lot seems oblivious to the annihilation about to be wrought by God, hesitating to flee even at the urging of...
info_outline(Is.66:10-14c; Ps.66:1-7,16,20; Gal.6:14-18; Lk.10:1-12,17-20)
“The Lord’s power shall be known to His servants.”
Paul states: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus instructs: “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” The bottom line is that “the laborer deserves his payment.”
The prosperity of Jerusalem shall flow “like a river” over those who work as laborers in the field of the Word of God: “peace and mercy” shall be to the “Israel of God.” All “who were mourning over her,” all who have suffered the indignity of the cross in this exile of ours, shall indeed rejoice as they “suck fully of the milk of her comfort” in the heavenly kingdom which the Lord brings to us this day. Indeed, “let us rejoice in Him. He rules by His might forever.” And we share in His reign who serve Him now beneath the shadow of the cross.
Satan falls now “like lightning from the sky”; we “tread upon serpents and scorpions,” crushing them underfoot by the power the Lord gives us as we tread this earth in His Name. Sent forth with nothing, we have everything, for He is with us who provides from the throne of heaven. “As nurslings” we are carried in the arms of the New Jerusalem “and fondled in her lap.” “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you,” the Lord assures us; and indeed in the cross we bear, “the marks of Jesus” on our bodies, we find the open gate that leads to the house of peace: the wounds themselves are the doorway.
“The kingdom of God is at hand for you,” my brothers and sisters. I proclaim it in your hearing this day. “Peace” and the “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters.” Peace be to your house. You shall know His peace and find His healing as you accept His sweet cross upon your backs. “When you see this, your heart shall rejoice and your bodies flourish like the grass”; for in that day you shall be a “new creation.” You will say with Paul, “The world has been crucified to me, and I to the world,” and you will make your abode in heaven. That day is upon you now, brothers and sisters. Heed the Lord’s call to go forth as lambs in the midst of wolves, and you shall find His incomparable blessing of the peace which passes all understanding – you shall come into His kingdom.
“Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what He has done for me.” For me “He has changed the sea into dry land” and by the blood of His cross cleansed these feet to which the dust did once cling, that I might enter heaven. Walk now in His power, I beg you, children of the Lord. “The harvest is abundant.” Let us go forth laboring and eating of this Bread.
Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt.
Music: "Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder" from Listening to the Lamp, ninth album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt.
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O LORD, may your Spirit guide us
on the road to the Cross.
YHWH, how shall we be fit for your kingdom? How shall we give ourselves as we must to your will? Help us to leave all behind and never turn back to it. Help us to follow your Son even to the Cross. For if you do not help us, we shall falter on the way. Without your grace we shall not have the light and strength we need.
O LORD, our spirit is willing to follow you, but how weak is our flesh. How concerned we are about the things of this earth! And so your Son must be severe with us, for how else shall we break the yoke of slavery to sin? Without His sharp Word we would linger in complacency all our days.
O let the ties that bind us to this world be cut and we be free to walk with Jesus in utter service and love! May the fire of your Spirit be upon us to burn away all attachment to sin. Be our sole refuge, dear God, that no corruption we shall know but remain at your right hand forever.