Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

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.

Oct 19, 2023

(Rm.4:1-8;   Ps.32:1-2,5,7,11;   Lk.12:1-7)

 

“Happy is the man to whom the Lord imputes not guilt,

in whose spirit there is no guile.”

 

All our sins shall be taken away by the Lord who watches over us and loves us, if we but believe.

We must lay bare our souls, brothers and sisters.  We cannot hide from the eternal, piercing light of God.  His hand is upon us at all times; His heart is open always for our entering in.  It cannot be otherwise with the Lord of the universe, in whose sight “even the hairs of [our] head are counted.”  And He who surrounds us desires but our love, desires but our faith, desires but that we come into His presence confessing our sins, and He will take them away.  And we shall not be “cast into Gehenna” but drawn into His kingdom.

His kingdom is coming.  Jesus sees it as He gazes out at the dense “crowd of thousands” gathering before Him.  He sees the kingdom coming as men’s hearts turn to Him.  And so He warns His disciples, who shall be the laborers to reap His harvest, “Be on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy,” for if they should take pride in their mission, if they should find in their deeds “grounds for boasting” and so forget the favor of God by which all are justified, they shall indeed tempt the fires of Gehenna.  “Everything you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight,” for the Lord hears “what you have whispered in locked rooms.”  So, keep your hearts set on Him and His goodness, and the truth of the Gospel will be proclaimed to the world, and you shall save your immortal soul.

Jesus knows, too, that the faith of His disciples and their declaration of His Word to the world will bring persecution.  He sees in this scene, too, the cross set before Him, and He knows those who follow Him shall share in it as well.  And so He reassures His children that the Father is with them, that He treasures them even as He treasures His Son, and so the powers of this age will hold no reign over them, and that they should “not be afraid of those who kill the body and can do no more.”

Yes, our soul is in His hands.  He has power to forgive and to protect, if we but come to Him as children, if we but come to Him in faith.

 

*******

O LORD, all is known to you –

let us confess our sins, and we will be saved.

YHWH, of what can we boast, we who cannot forgive our own sins?  Truly, we are in your hands, and so should fear you.

But in your kindness you readily forgive our transgressions; if we turn to you, our sins are wiped away.  And so, there is nothing we need fear, LORD, as long as our desire is for you.

Help us to confess our faults that you might remove all our guilt.  Inspire us to call upon your NAME, O LORD, and we shall rejoice in your blessings.  If we but have faith in you, your justice will be upon us.

There is nothing of consequence we can accomplish on our own, nothing but sin.  All the good that we do comes from you, and so, what cause have we to be proud?  Let us not be false in our love for you, LORD, but even in the deep recesses of our hearts proclaim your glory continually.  O may all men come to faith and be saved!