

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

Jun 9, 2025 • 24min
Gospel of Matthew Introduction
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/1677296682850pIn this bonus episode, we get ready to hear from the Gospel of Matthew in the coming weeks, by discussing the author, date, audience, purpose and themes of the book.Resources: The Gospel of Matthew (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture) - Curtis Mitch & Edward Sri Gospel & Kingdom - Graeme Goldsworthy Rapture: End-Times Error that leaves the Bible behind - David Currie

Jun 8, 2025 • 35min
Monday of Week 10 in Ordinary Time - Matt 5: 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 5: 1-12 -'How happy are the poor in spirit.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 1716-1717 ('The Beatitudes') - The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. the Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no longer merely to the possession of a territory, but to the Kingdom of heaven....The Beatitudes depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity. They express the vocation of the faithful associated with the glory of his Passion and Resurrection; they shed light on the actions and attitudes characteristic of the Christian life; they are the paradoxical promises that sustain hope in the midst of tribulations; they proclaim the blessings and rewards already secured, however dimly, for Christ's disciples; they have begun in the lives of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.- 581 (in 'Jesus and the Law') - In Jesus, the same Word of God that had resounded on Mount Sinai to give the written Law to Moses, made itself heard anew on the Mount of the Beatitudes (abbreviated).- 544 (in 'The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God') - The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the poor"; he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven." To them - the "little ones" the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned (abbreviated).- 2546 (in 'Poverty of Heart') - "Blessed are the poor in spirit." The Beatitudes reveal an order of happiness and grace, of beauty and peace. Jesus celebrates the joy of the poor, to whom the Kingdom already belongs: The Word speaks of voluntary humility as "poverty in spirit"; the Apostle gives an example of God's poverty when he says: "For your sakes he became poor."- 1720 (in 'Christian Beatitude') - The New Testament uses several expressions to characterize the beatitude to which God calls man: the vision of God: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"...There we shall rest and see, we shall see and love, we shall love and praise. Behold what will be at the end without end. For what other end do we have, if not to reach the kingdom which has no end? (abbreviated).- 2518 (in 'Purification of the Heart') - The sixth beatitude proclaims, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." "Pure in heart" refers to those who have attuned their intellects and wills to the demands of God's holiness, chiefly in three areas: charity; chastity or sexual rectitude; love of truth and orthodoxy of faith. There is a connection between purity of heart, of body, and of faith: The faithful must believe the articles of the Creed "so that by believing they may obey God, by obeying may live well, by living well may purify their hearts, and with pure hearts may understand what they believe.- 2330 (in 'The Fifth Commandment') - "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God"- 520 (in 'Our Communion in the mysteries of Jesus')Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Jun 8, 2025 • 43min
Memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church - John 19: 25-34
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/1677296682850pJohn 19: 25-34 - 'Behold your Son. Behold your Mother.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 544 (in 'The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God') - Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation (abbreviated).- 607 (in 'Christ's whole life is an offering to the Father') - From the cross, just before "It is finished", he said, "I thirst." (abbreviated).- 2561 (in 'What is Prayer?') - Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God (abbreviated).- 2605 (in 'Jesus Prays') - When the hour had come for him to fulfill the Father's plan of love, Jesus allows a glimpse of the boundless depth of his filial prayer, not only before he freely delivered himself up (“Abba . . . not my will, but yours."), but even in his last words on the Cross, where prayer and the gift of self are but one: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do", "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise", "Woman, behold your son" - "Behold your mother", "I thirst."; "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" "It is finished"; "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" until the "loud cry" as he expires, giving up his spirit.- 624 (in 'Jesus Christ was Buried') - "By the grace of God" Jesus tasted death "for every one". In his plan of salvation, God ordained that his Son should not only "die for our sins" but should also "taste death", experience the condition of death, the separation of his soul from his body, between the time he expired on the cross and the time he was raised from the dead. The state of the dead Christ is the mystery of the tomb and the descent into hell. It is the mystery of Holy Saturday, when Christ, lying in the tomb, reveals God's great sabbath rest after the fulfilment of man's salvation, which brings peace to the whole universe.- 730 (in 'Christ Jesus') - At last Jesus' hour arrives: he commends his spirit into the Father's hands at the very moment when by his death he conquers death, so that, "raised from the dead by the glory of the Father," he might immediately give the Holy Spirit by "breathing" on his disciples (abbreviated).- 726 (in 'Rejoice you who are full of grace')- 2618 (in 'The Prayer of the Virgin Mary')- 501 (in 'Mary ever-virgin')- 964 (in 'Wholly united with her Son')- 2677-2679 (in 'In Communion with the Holy Mother of God')- 641 (in 'The Appearances of the Risen One')- 478 (in 'The Heart of the Incarnate Word')- 694 (in 'Symbols of the Holy Spirit')- 1225 (in 'Christ's Baptism')Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Jun 7, 2025 • 19min
Pentecost - John 20: 19-23
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/1677296682850pJohn 20: 19-23 - 'As the Father sent me, so I am sending you: receive the Holy Spirit.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 645 (in 'The Condition of Christ's risen humanity') - By means of touch and the sharing of a meal, the risen Jesus establishes direct contact with his disciples. He invites them in this way to recognize that he is not a ghost and above all to verify that the risen body in which he appears to them is the same body that had been tortured and crucified, for it still bears the traces of his Passion. Yet at the same time this authentic, real body possesses the new properties of a glorious body: not limited by space and time but able to be present how and when he wills; for Christ's humanity can no longer be confined to earth, and belongs henceforth only to the Father's divine realm (abbreviated).- 1120 (in 'The Sacraments of the Church') - The ordained priesthood guarantees that it really is Christ who acts in the sacraments through the Holy Spirit for the Church. the saving mission entrusted by the Father to his incarnate Son was committed to the apostles and through them to their successors: they receive the Spirit of Jesus to act in his name and in his person (abbreviated).- 1441 (in 'Only God forgives sin') - Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven." Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name.- 858 (in 'The Apostles' Mission) - Jesus is the Father's Emissary. From the beginning of his ministry, he "called to him those whom he desired; .... and he appointed twelve, whom also he named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach." From then on, they would also be his "emissaries" (Greek apostoloi). In them, Christ continues his own mission: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." The apostles' ministry is the continuation of his mission; Jesus said to the Twelve: "he who receives you receives me."- 976 (in 'I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins') - The Apostle's Creed associates faith in the forgiveness of sins not only with faith in the Holy Spirit, but also with faith in the Church and in the communion of saints. It was when he gave the Holy Spirit to his apostles that the risen Christ conferred on them his own divine power to forgive sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."- 1287 (in 'Confirmation in the economy of salvation') - This fullness of the Spirit was not to remain uniquely the Messiah's, but was to be communicated to the whole messianic people. On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit, a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost (abbreviated).- 644 (in 'The Appearances of the Risen One')- 1461 (in 'The Minister of this Sacrament')- 1087 (in 'from the time of the church of the apostles')- 730 (in 'Christ Jesus')- 1485 (in 'The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation')- 788 (in 'The Church is communion with Jesus')Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Jun 6, 2025 • 24min
Saturday of Week 7 of Eastertide - John 21: 20-25
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/1677296682850pJohn 21: 20-25 - 'The disciple is the one who vouches for these things and we know that his testimony is true.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 878 (in 'Why the Ecclesial Ministry') - Finally, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry that it have a personal character. Although Christ's ministers act in communion with one another, they also always act in a personal way. Each one is called personally: "You, follow me" in order to be a personal witness within the common mission, to bear personal responsibility before him who gives the mission, acting "in his person" and for other persons: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ..."; "I absolve you...."- 515 (in 'Christ's whole life is a mystery') - The Gospels were written by men who were among the first to have the faith and wanted to share it with others. Having known in faith who Jesus is, they could see and make others see the traces of his mystery in all his earthly life.Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Jun 5, 2025 • 32min
Friday of Week 7 of Eastertide - John 21: 15-19
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/1677296682850pJohn 21: 15-19 - 'Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 553 (in 'The Keys of the Kingdom') - 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 judgements, 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 (abbreviated).- 881 (in 'The Episcopal College and its head, the Pope') - The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head." This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.- 1429 (in 'The Conversion of the Baptised') - St. Peter's conversion after he had denied his master three times bears witness to this. Jesus' look of infinite mercy drew tears of repentance from Peter and, after the Lord's resurrection, a threefold affirmation of love for him. The second conversion also has a communitarian dimension, as is clear in the Lord's call to a whole Church: "Repent!"- 1551 (in 'In the person of Christ, the head') - This priesthood is ministerial. "That office . . . which the Lord committed to the pastors of his people, is in the strict sense of the term a service." It is entirely related to Christ and to men. It depends entirely on Christ and on his unique priesthood; it has been instituted for the good of men and the communion of the Church. the sacrament of Holy Orders communicates a "sacred power" which is none other than that of Christ. the exercise of this authority must therefore be measured against the model of Christ, who by love made himself the least and the servant of all. "The Lord said clearly that concern for his flock was proof of love for him."Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Jun 4, 2025 • 24min
Thursday of Week 7 of Eastertide - John 17: 20-26
Delve into Jesus' heartfelt prayer for unity among believers, highlighting its deep connection to the Holy Trinity. Explore the importance of this mystical unity in the Christian community, as well as the ecclesial ministry's role in fostering fraternal bonds. The discussion also touches on ecumenism and the Holy Spirit's influence in promoting church unity, revealing how divine glory flows from Christ to his followers. Prepare for thought-provoking insights that enrich your understanding of faith and community!

Jun 3, 2025 • 21min
Wednesday of Week 7 of Eastertide - John 17: 11b-19
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/1677296682850pJohn 17: 11b-19 - 'Father, keep those you have given me true to your name.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 2747 (in 'The Prayer of the Hour of Jesus') - Christian Tradition rightly calls this prayer the "priestly" prayer of Jesus. It is the prayer of our high priest, inseparable from his sacrifice, from his passing over (Passover) to the Father to whom he is wholly "consecrated."- 2750 (in 'The Prayer of the Hour of Jesus') - By entering into the holy name of the Lord Jesus we can accept, from within, the prayer he teaches us: "Our Father!" His priestly prayer fulfills, from within, the great petitions of the Lord's Prayer: concern for the Father's name; passionate zeal for his kingdom (Glory); The accomplishment of the will of the Father, of his plan of salvation; and deliverance from evil.- 2815 (in 'Hallowed be thy name') - his petition embodies all the others. Like the six petitions that follow, it is fulfilled by the prayer of Christ. Prayer to our Father is our prayer, if it is prayed in the name of Jesus. In his priestly prayer, Jesus asks: "Holy Father, protect in your name those whom you have given me" (abbreviated).- 2849 (in 'and lead us not into temptation') - In this petition to our heavenly Father, Christ unites us to his battle and his agony. He urges us to vigilance of the heart in communion with his own. Vigilance is "custody of the heart," and Jesus prayed for us to the Father: "Keep them in your name" (abbreviated).- 2850 (in 'But deliver us from evil') - The last petition to our Father is also included in Jesus' prayer: "I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one." It touches each of us personally, but it is always "we" who pray, in communion with the whole Church, for the deliverance of the whole human family (abbreviated).- 2812 (in 'Hallowed be thy name') - Finally, in Jesus the name of the Holy God is revealed and given to us, in the flesh, as Savior, revealed by what he is, by his word, and by his sacrifice. This is the heart of his priestly prayer: "Holy Father . . . for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth." Because he "sanctifies" his own name, Jesus reveals to us the name of the Father. At the end of Christ's Passover, the Father gives him the name that is above all names: "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."- 2466 (in 'Living in the Truth') - he disciple of Jesus continues in his word so as to know "the truth [that] will make you free" and that sanctifies (abbreviated).- 611 (in 'At the Last Supper Jesus anticipated the free offering of his life') - The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the memorial of his sacrifice. Jesus includes the apostles in his own offering and bids them perpetuate it. By doing so, the Lord institutes his apostles as priests of the New Covenant: "For their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth."- 858 (in 'The Apostles' Mission')- 611 (in 'At the Last Supper Jesus anticipated the free offering of his life')- 2747 (in 'The Prayer of the Hour of Jesus')- 2815 (in 'Hallowed be thy name')- 2850 (in 'But deliver us from evil')- 2466 (in 'Living in the Truth')Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Jun 2, 2025 • 28min
Tuesday of Week 7 of Eastertide - John 17: 1-11a
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/1677296682850pJohn 17: 1-11a - 'Father, it is time for you to glorify me.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 2746-2749 (in 'The Prayer of the Hour of Jesus') - When "his hour" came, Jesus prayed to the Father. His prayer, the longest transmitted by the Gospel, embraces the whole economy of creation and salvation, as well as his death and Resurrection. the prayer of the Hour of Jesus always remains his own, just as his Passover "once for all" remains ever present in the liturgy of his Church. Christian Tradition rightly calls this prayer the "priestly" prayer of Jesus. It is the prayer of our high priest, inseparable from his sacrifice, from his passing over (Passover) to the Father to whom he is wholly "consecrated." In this Paschal and sacrificial prayer, everything is recapitulated in Christ: God and the world; the Word and the flesh; eternal life and time; the love that hands itself over and the sin that betrays it; the disciples present and those who will believe in him by their word; humiliation and glory. It is the prayer of unity. Jesus fulfilled the work of the Father completely; his prayer, like his sacrifice, extends until the end of time. the prayer of this hour fills the end-times and carries them toward their consummation. Jesus, the Son to whom the Father has given all things, has given himself wholly back to the Father, yet expresses himself with a sovereign freedom by virtue of the power the Father has given him over all flesh. the Son, who made himself Servant, is Lord, the Pantocrator. Our high priest who prays for us is also the one who prays in us and the God who hears our prayer.- 684 (in 'I Believe in the Holy Spirit') - Through his grace, the Holy Spirit is the first to awaken faith in us and to communicate to us the new life, which is to "know the Father and the one whom he has sent, Jesus Christ" (abbreviated).- 1721 (in 'Christian Beatitude') - God put us in the world to know, to love, and to serve him, and so to come to paradise. Beatitude makes us "partakers of the divine nature" and of eternal life. With beatitude, man enters into the glory of Christ and into the joy of the Trinitarian life.- 1069 (in 'What does the word 'liturgy' mean?') - Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church (abbreviated).- 2812 (in 'Hallowed be thy name') - Finally, in Jesus the name of the Holy God is revealed and given to us, in the flesh, as Savior, revealed by what he is, by his word, and by his sacrifice. This is the heart of his priestly prayer: "Holy Father . . . for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth." Because he "sanctifies" his own name, Jesus reveals to us the name of the Father. At the end of Christ's Passover, the Father gives him the name that is above all names: "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."- 2765 (in 'the Lord's Prayer') - The traditional expression "the Lord's Prayer" - oratio Dominica - means that the prayer to our Father is taught and given to us by the Lord Jesus. the prayer that comes to us from Jesus is truly unique: it is "of the Lord." On the one hand, in the words of this prayer the only Son gives us the words the Father gave him:1 he is the master of our prayer. On the other, as Word incarnate, he knows in his human heart the needs of his human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us: he is the model of our prayer.Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Jun 1, 2025 • 14min
Monday of Week 7 of Eastertide - John 16: 29-33
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/1677296682850pJohn 16: 29-33 - 'Be brave, for I have conquered the world.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 1808 (in 'The Cardinal Virtues') - Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. "The Lord is my strength and my song." "In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!


