

Daily Gospel Exegesis
Logical Bible Study
This is a short daily podcast, where we go through an exegesis of the gospel reading from the current day's Mass.
The Catholic Church teaches that in order to understand the Scriptures, we must start with the literal sense - in other words, how the original hearers of the text would have understood it.
That is our aim in this podcast - to help understand what the gospel writers (and more importantly, Jesus) were intending to communicate in today's reading, as well as providing links to the Catechism. Each episode is short and designed to be listened to before or after attending daily Mass.
The Catholic Church teaches that in order to understand the Scriptures, we must start with the literal sense - in other words, how the original hearers of the text would have understood it.
That is our aim in this podcast - to help understand what the gospel writers (and more importantly, Jesus) were intending to communicate in today's reading, as well as providing links to the Catechism. Each episode is short and designed to be listened to before or after attending daily Mass.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 7, 2025 • 34min
Friday of Week 18 in Ordinary Time - Matt 16: 24-28
To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudyFor complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 16: 24-28 - 'Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 736 (in 'The Holy Spirit - God's gift') - We live by the Spirit"; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we "walk by the Spirit" (abbreviated).- 226 (in 'The Implications of Faith in One God') - It means making good use of created things: faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him:My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you. My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.- 618 (in 'Our participation in Christ's Sacrifice') - He calls his disciples to "take up [their] cross and follow (him)", for "Christ also suffered for (us), leaving (us) an example so that (we) should follow in his steps." In fact Jesus desires to associate with his redeeming sacrifice those who were to be its first beneficiaries (abbreviated).- 2029 (in 'Grace and Justification') - "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."- 363 (in 'Body and Soul but Truly One') - In Sacred Scripture the term "soul" often refers to human life or the entire human person. But "soul" also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God's image: "soul" signifies the spiritual principle in man.- 1021 (in 'The Particular Judgement') - Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. the parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul -a destiny which can be different for some and for others.Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Aug 6, 2025 • 46min
Thursday of Week 18 in Ordinary Time - Matt 16: 13-23
To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudyFor complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 16: 13-23 - 'You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 552-553 (in 'The Keys to the Kingdom') - Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve; Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Our Lord then declared to him: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." Christ, the "living Stone",thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it. Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The "power of the keys" designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my sheep." The power to "bind and loose" connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom.- 869 (in 'The Church is Apostolic') - The Church is apostolic. She is built on a lasting foundation: "the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (Rev 21:14). She is indestructible (cf. Mt 16:18). She is upheld infallibly in the truth: Christ governs her through Peter and the other apostles, who are present in their successors, the Pope and the college of bishops.- 442 (in 'The Only Son of God') - Such is not the case for Simon Peter when he confesses Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of the living God", for Jesus responds solemnly: "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." Similarly Paul will write, regarding his conversion on the road to Damascus, "When he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. . . "And in the synagogues immediately [Paul] proclaimed Jesus, saying, 'He is the Son of God.'" From the beginning this acknowledgment of Christ's divine sonship will be the center of the apostolic faith, first professed by Peter as the Church's foundation.- 607 (in 'Christ's whole life is an offering to the Father') - The desire to embrace his Father's plan of redeeming love inspired Jesus' whole life, for his redemptive passion was the very reason for his Incarnation. and so he asked, "and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour" (abbreviated).Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Aug 5, 2025 • 31min
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Year C) - Luke 9: 28-36
To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudyFor complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pLuke 9: 28b-36 - 'Jesus was transfigured before them.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 2600 (in 'Jesus Prays') - The Gospel according to St. Luke emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of prayer in Christ's ministry. Jesus prays before the decisive moments of his mission: before his Father's witness to him during his baptism and Transfiguration, and before his own fulfillment of the Father's plan of love by his Passion (abbreviated).- 2583 (in Elijah, the prophets and conversion of heart') - Finally, taking the desert road that leads to the place where the living and true God reveals himself to his people, Elijah, like Moses before him, hides "in a cleft of the rock" until the mysterious presence of God has passed by. But only on the mountain of the Transfiguration will Moses and Elijah behold the unveiled face of him whom they sought; "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God [shines] in the face of Christ," crucified and risen (abbreviated).- 554 (in 'A Foretaste of the Kingdom: the Transfiguration) - From the day Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Master "began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. . . and be killed, and on the third day be raised." Peter scorns this prediction, nor do the others understand it any better than he. In this context the mysterious episode of Jesus' Transfiguration takes place on a high mountain, before three witnesses chosen by himself: Peter, James and John. Jesus' face and clothes become dazzling with light, and Moses and Elijah appear, speaking "of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem". A cloud covers him and a voice from heaven says: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!"- 556 (in 'A Foretaste of the Kingdom: the Transfiguration) - On the threshold of the public life: the baptism; on the threshold of the Passover: the Transfiguration. Jesus' baptism proclaimed "the mystery of the first regeneration", namely, our Baptism; the Transfiguration "is the sacrament of the second regeneration": our own Resurrection. From now on we share in the Lord's Resurrection through the Spirit who acts in the sacraments of the Body of Christ. the Transfiguration gives us a foretaste of Christ's glorious coming, when he "will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body." But it also recalls that "it is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God":- 1151 (in 'Signs and Symbols') - He gives new meaning to the deeds and signs of the Old Covenant, above all to the Exodus and the Passover, for he himself is the meaning of all these signs (abbreviated).- 516 (in 'Characteristics common to Jesus' mysteries') - Christ's whole earthly life - his words and deeds, his silences and sufferings, indeed his manner of being and speaking - is Revelation of the Father. Jesus can say: "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father", and the Father can say: "This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" (abbreviated).- 697 (in 'Symbols of the Holy Spirit')Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Aug 4, 2025 • 24min
Tuesday of Week 18 in Ordinary Time - Matt 14: 22-36
To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudyFor complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 14: 22-36 - 'Jesus walks on the water.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 448 (in 'Lord') - Very often in the Gospels people address Jesus as "Lord". This title testifies to the respect and trust of those who approach him for help and healing. At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, "Lord" expresses the recognition of the divine mystery of Jesus. In the encounter with the risen Jesus, this title becomes adoration: "My Lord and my God!" It thus takes on a connotation of love and affection that remains proper to the Christian tradition: "It is the Lord!"Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Aug 3, 2025 • 17min
Monday of Week 18 in Ordinary Time - Matt 14: 13-21
To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudyFor complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 14: 13-21 - 'The feeding of the five thousand.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 1335 (in 'The Signs of Bread and Wine') - The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the blessing, breaks and distributes the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, prefigure the superabundance of this unique bread of his Eucharist (abbreviated).- 1329 (in 'What is this Sacrament called'?) - The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meal when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread, above all at the Last Supper (abbreviated).Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Aug 2, 2025 • 18min
18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) - Luke 12: 13-21
To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudyFor complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pLuke 12: 13-21 - 'Fool! This very night your soul will be demanded of you.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 549 (in 'The Signs of the Kingdom of God') - By freeing some individuals from the earthly evils of hunger, injustice, illness and death, Jesus performed messianic signs. Nevertheless he did not come to abolish all evils here below, but to free men from the gravest slavery, sin, which thwarts them in their vocation as God's sons and causes all forms of human bondage.Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Aug 1, 2025 • 19min
Saturday of Week 17 in Ordinary Time - Matt 14: 1-12
To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudyFor complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 14: 1-12 - 'The beheading of John the Baptist.'Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Jul 31, 2025 • 18min
Friday of Week 17 in Ordinary Time - Matt 13: 54-58
To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudyFor complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 13: 54-58 - 'A prophet is only despised in his own country.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 495 (in 'Mary's divine Motherhood') - Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus", Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord" (abbreviated).- 500 (in Mary 'Ever-Virgin') - Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, “brothers of Jesus,” are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls “the other Mary.” They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Jul 30, 2025 • 20min
Thursday of Week 17 in Ordinary Time - Matt 13: 47-53
To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudyFor complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 13: 47-53 - 'The fishermen collect the good fish and throw away those that are no use.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 1034 (in 'Hell') - Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire," and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"- 1117 (in 'The Sacraments of the Church') - As she has done for the canon of Sacred Scripture and for the doctrine of the faith, the Church, by the power of the Spirit who guides her "into all truth," has gradually recognized this treasure received from Christ and, as the faithful steward of God's mysteries, has determined its "dispensation." Thus the Church has discerned over the centuries that among liturgical celebrations there are seven that are, in the strict sense of the term, sacraments instituted by the Lord.Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Jul 29, 2025 • 13min
Wednesday of Week 17 in Ordinary Time - Matt 13: 44-46
To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudyFor complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 13: 44-46 - 'He sells everything he owns and buys the field.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 546 (in 'The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God') - Jesus' invitation to enter his kingdom comes in the form of parables, a characteristic feature of his teaching. Through his parables he invites people to the feast of the kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the kingdom, one must give everything. Words are not enough, deeds are required. The parables are like mirrors for man: will he be hard soil or good earth for the word? What use has he made of the talents he has received? Jesus and the presence of the kingdom in this world are secretly at the heart of the parables. One must enter the kingdom, that is, become a disciple of Christ, in order to "know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven". For those who stay "outside", everything remains enigmatic.Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!