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The BreadCast


Daily Exposition of the Readings for Catholic Mass...

as well as Prayers to the Saints on the General Roman Calendar (for the U.S.).  

From the books Our Daily Bread and Prayers to the Saints by James H. Kurt - both with imprimatur.

May 31, 2018

(1Pt.4:7-13;   Ps.96:10-13;   Mk.11:11-26)

“The consummation of all is close at hand.

Therefore, do not be perturbed;

remain calm so that you will be able to pray.”

As at the time Jesus walks the earth the end of the Israelite nation is at hand – a consummation signified in “the fig tree withered to its roots” at His command, a consummation that will be fulfilled in the crucifixion of the Messiah but whose coming is already evident in the fact that the temple has been turned into “a den of thieves” – so at the time of Peter’s writing, that end is about to be realized in the destruction of the temple.  And more than this, the “trial by fire” occurring in the midst of the disciples refers greatly to the death of this world we face in becoming Christians, to the persecution faced by all His children and felt most genuinely at the hands of the Romans.

But as all around is cast into the sea at the command of the Lord, we should not fear.  This is the time to “put [our] trust in God,” to pray in faith, to put [our] gifts at the service of one another” and “let [our] love for one another be constant.”  Rather than be sad, we must “rejoice instead, insofar as [we] share Christ’s sufferings.”  For it should be our joy to see the temple cleansed, to have our hearts purified of all that is not holy – to witness the power of the hand of God at work.  “For He governs the peoples with equity” as “He comes to rule the earth,” so indeed “the heavens [should] be glad and the earth rejoice.”

“In all of you God is to be glorified through Jesus Christ.”  His “house is to be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”  We are His House now; we hold His promise – and we come to His glory as we share in the trials He has known.  If the end is close at hand, if the world is already dead, if the devil’s illusions are about to fade… what can this bring us but joy to know the Truth is about to be revealed and all His faithful ones are about to be gathered into His kingdom?  Remain steadfast in love and prayer, and “a multitude of sins” shall indeed be covered; and the new life which has sprung from the withered roots of the fig tree shall soon be fulfilled in your sight.

*******

O LORD, drive all evil from our midst  

that we might not wither to our roots.

YHWH, you come to rule the earth with justice, to cast out all evildoers that your House might indeed be a house of prayer.  And though such purgation bring suffering to our souls (for who is without sin?), uniting our trials to the sufferings of Christ and remaining true to His Word, we are indeed purged of all sin and made ready for the kingdom. 

O let us love this day!  Let us place ourselves at the service of one another, freely sharing the gifts we have by the grace of your Son.  It is in Him we find our home, in Him we know our salvation, and so let His chastisement be upon us for good, O LORD, as we seek to join Him in your eternal glory.

All the earth shall rejoice at the coming of Jesus; the heavens shall sing praise at such wonder.  For though the consummation of all be close at hand, O God, all who put their trust in you shall be remade in His image.  Alleluia!