Daily Gospel Exegesis

To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠ For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850p Mark 4: 26-34 - 'The kingdom of God is a mustard seed growing into the biggest shrub of all.' 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!

To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: ⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠ For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850p Matthew 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!

To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠ For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850p Mark 3: 20-35 - 'A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 548 (in 'The signs of the Kingdom of God') - The signs worked by Jesus attest that the Father has sent him. They invite belief in him. To those who turn to him in faith, he grants what they ask. So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father’s works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God. But his miracles can also be occasions for “offense”; they are not intended to satisfy people’s curiosity or desire for magic. Despite his evident miracles some people reject Jesus; he is even accused of acting by the power of demons. - 574 (in 'Jesus and Israel') - Because of certain of his acts— expelling demons, forgiving sins, healing on the sabbath day, his novel interpretation of the precepts of the Law regarding purity, and his familiarity with tax collectors and public sinners —some ill-intentioned persons suspected Jesus of demonic possession (abbreviated) - 539 (in 'Jesus' temptations') - The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfills Israel’s vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who had once provoked God during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God’s Servant, totally obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the devil’s conqueror: he “binds the strong man” to take back his plunder. Jesus’ victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial love for the Father. - 1864 (in 'The Different Kinds of Sins') - “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss. - Dominum Et Vivificantem, paragraph 46: ""Why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit unforgivable? How should this blasphemy be understood ? St. Thomas Aquinas replies that it is a question of a sin that is "unforgivable by its very nature, insofar as it excludes the elements through which the forgiveness of sin takes place." According to such an exegesis, "blasphemy" does not properly consist in offending against the Holy Spirit in words; it consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit, working through the power of the Cross... We know that the result of such a purification is the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, whoever rejects the Spirit and the Blood remains in "dead works," in sin. And the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit consists precisely in the radical refusal to accept this forgiveness, of which he is the intimate giver and which presupposes the genuine conversion which he brings about in the conscience. If Jesus says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven either in this life or in the next, it is because this "non-forgiveness" is linked, as to its cause, to "non-repentance," in other words to the radical refusal to be converted. .... Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, then, is the sin committed by the person who claims to have a "right" to persist in evil-in any sin at all-and who thus rejects Redemption.  One closes oneself up in sin, thus making impossible one's conversion, and consequently the remission of sins, which one considers not essential or not important for one's life...

The podcast delves into John 19: 31-37, focusing on the pierced side of Jesus. It explores the encounter of the Risen One by Mary Magdalene and the holy women. The significance of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, symbolizing love and salvation, is highlighted. The exploration of Old Testament prophecies and their fulfillment in the Gospel of John is discussed, along with symbolism like the Holy Spirit, baptism, and themes of love and redemption.

To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠ For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850p Mark 14: 12-16, 22-26 - This is my body; this is my blood.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 1328 (in 'What is this Sacrament Called?') - The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called: Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. the Greek words eucharistein and eulogein recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim - especially during a meal - God's works: creation, redemption, and sanctification. - 1339 (in 'The Institution of the Eucharist') - Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood: Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the passover meal for us, that we may eat it...." They went ... and prepared the passover. and when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. and he said to them, "I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.".... and he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." and likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood." - 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. The sign of water turned into wine at Cana already announces the Hour of Jesus' glorification. It makes manifest the fulfillment of the wedding feast in the Father's kingdom, where the faithful will drink the new wine that has become the Blood of Christ. - 1403 (in 'Pledge of the Glory to Come') - At the Last Supper the Lord himself directed his disciples' attention toward the fulfillment of the Passover in the kingdom of God: "I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." Whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist she remembers this promise and turns her gaze "to him who is to come." In her prayer she calls for his coming: "Marana tha!" "Come, Lord Jesus!" "May your grace come and this world pass away!" Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠ For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850p Matthew 28: 16-20 - 'Go and make disciples of all nations.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 849 (in 'Mission - a requirement of the Church's catholicity') - The missionary mandate. "Having been divinely sent to the nations that she might be 'the universal sacrament of salvation,' the Church, in obedience to the command of her founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives to preach the Gospel to all men": "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, until the close of the age." - 1257 (in 'The Necessity of Baptism') - The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation. He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them. Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament (abbreviated). - 232 (in 'in the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit') - Christians are baptized "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son and the Spirit: "I do." "The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity." - 831 (in 'What does Catholic Mean?') - Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race: All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People, therefore, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God's will may be fulfilled: he made human nature one in the beginning and has decreed that all his children who were scattered should be finally gathered together as one.... the character of universality which adorns the People of God is a gift from the Lord himself whereby the Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods, under Christ the Head in the unity of his Spirit. - 2743 (in 'Persevering in Love') - It is always possible to pray: the time of the Christian is that of the risen Christ who is with us always, no matter what tempests may arise. Our time is in the hands of God (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). - 644 (in 'The Appearances of the Risen One') - 2 (in 'Prologue') - 767 (in 'The Church - revealed by the Holy Spirit') - 189 (in 'The Creeds') - 543 (in 'The Proclamation of the Kingdom of God') - 691 (in 'The Proper name of the Holy Spirit') - 2156 (in 'The Christian Name') - 80 (in 'One Common Source') - 788 (in 'The Church is communion with Jesus') - 860 (in 'The Apostles Mission') Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠ For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850p John 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') Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠ For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850p Mark 16: 15-20 - 'Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 659 (in 'He Ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father') - "So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God." Christ's body was glorified at the moment of his Resurrection, as proved by the new and supernatural properties it subsequently and permanently enjoys. But during the forty days when he eats and drinks familiarly with his disciples and teaches them about the kingdom, his glory remains veiled under the appearance of ordinary humanity. Jesus' final apparition ends with the irreversible entry of his humanity into divine glory, symbolized by the cloud and by heaven, where he is seated from that time forward at God's right hand (abbreviated). - 2 (in 'The Life of Man - to know and love God') - So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." Strengthened by this mission, the apostles "went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it." - 156 (in 'Faith and Understanding') - What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe "because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived". So "that the submission of our faith might nevertheless be in accordance with reason, God willed that external proofs of his Revelation should be joined to the internal helps of the Holy Spirit." Thus the miracles of Christ and the saints, prophecies, the Church's growth and holiness, and her fruitfulness and stability "are the most certain signs of divine Revelation, adapted to the intelligence of all"; they are "motives of credibility" (motiva credibilitatis), which show that the assent of faith is "by no means a blind impulse of the mind." - 670 (in 'Christ already reigns through the Church') - Since the Ascension God's plan has entered into its fulfilment. We are already at "the last hour". "Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect." Christ's kingdom already manifests its presence through the miraculous signs that attend its proclamation by the Church. - 977 (in' One Baptism for the Forgiveness of Sins') - 1223 (in 'Christ's Baptism') - 888 (in 'The Teaching Office') - 161 (in 'The Necessity of Faith') - 183 (in 'Faith') - 1253 (in 'Faith and Baptism') - 1257 (in 'The Necessity of Baptism')  - 1507 (in 'Heal the sick') - 434 (in 'Jesus') - 1673 (in 'Various forms of sacramentals') - 699 (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!

To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠ For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850p John 15: 9-17 -'You are my friends if you do what I command you.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 1823-1824 (in 'Charity') - Jesus makes charity the new commandment. By loving his own "to the end," he makes manifest the Father's love which he receives. By loving one another, the disciples imitate the love of Jesus which they themselves receive. Whence Jesus says: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love." and again: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law, charity keeps the commandments of God and his Christ: "Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love." - 1970 (in 'The New Law') - The entire Law of the Gospel is contained in the "new commandment" of Jesus, to love one another as he has loved us (abbreviated). - 609 (in 'Jesus freely embraced the Father's redeeming love') - By embracing in his human heart the Father's love for men, Jesus "loved them to the end", for "greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." In suffering and death his humanity became the free and perfect instrument of his divine love which desires the salvation of men. Indeed, out of love for his Father and for men, whom the Father wants to save, Jesus freely accepted his Passion and death: "No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." Hence the sovereign freedom of God's Son as he went out to his death. - 1972 (in 'The New Law') - The New Law is called a law of love because it makes us act out of the love infused by the Holy Spirit, rather than from fear; a law of grace, because it confers the strength of grace to act, by means of faith and the sacraments; a law of freedom, because it sets us free from the ritual and juridical observances of the Old Law, inclines us to act spontaneously by the prompting of charity and, finally, lets us pass from the condition of a servant who "does not know what his master is doing" to that of a friend of Christ - "For all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" - or even to the status of son and heir. - 2347 (in 'The Integrality of the gift of self') - The virtue of chastity blossoms in friendship. It shows the disciple how to follow and imitate him who has chosen us as his friends, who has given himself totally to us and allows us to participate in his divine estate. Chastity is a promise of immortality. Chastity is expressed notably in friendship with one's neighbor. Whether it develops between persons of the same or opposite sex, friendship represents a great good for all. It leads to spiritual communion. - 459 (in 'Why did the Word become Flesh') - Jesus is the model for the Beatitudes and the norm of the new law: "Love one another as I have loved you." This love implies an effective offering of oneself, after his example (abbreviated). - 737 (in 'The Holy Spirit and the Church') - He makes present the mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order to reconcile them, to bring them into communion with God, that they may "bear much fruit" (abbreviated). - 2074 (in 'The Decalogue and the Natural Law') - 2745 (in 'Persevering in Love') - 2615 (in 'Jesus teaches us how to pray')  Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

To support the ministry and access exclusive content, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠ For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850p John 15: 1-8 - 'I am the vine, you are the branches.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 1108 (in 'The Communion of the Holy Spirit') - In every liturgical action the Holy Spirit is sent in order to bring us into communion with Christ and so to form his Body. the Holy Spirit is like the sap of the Father's vine which bears fruit on its branches. The most intimate cooperation of the Holy Spirit and the Church is achieved in the liturgy. the Spirit who is the Spirit of communion, abides indefectibly in the Church. For this reason the Church is the great sacrament of divine communion which gathers God's scattered children together. Communion with the Holy Trinity and fraternal communion are inseparably the fruit of the Spirit in the liturgy. - 755 (in 'Symbols of the Church') - The Church is a cultivated field, the tillage of God. On that land the ancient olive tree grows whose holy roots were the prophets and in which the reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles has been brought about and will be brought about again. That land, like a choice vineyard, has been planted by the heavenly cultivator. Yet the true vine is Christ who gives life and fruitfulness to the branches, that is, to us, who through the Church remain in Christ, without whom we can do nothing. - 1988 (in 'Justification') - Through the power of the Holy Spirit we take part in Christ's Passion by dying to sin, and in his Resurrection by being born to a new life; we are members of his Body which is the Church, branches grafted onto the vine which is himself: (God) gave himself to us through his Spirit. By the participation of the Spirit, we become communicants in the divine nature.... For this reason, those in whom the Spirit dwells are divinized. - 787 (in 'The Church is communion with Jesus') - Jesus spoke of a still more intimate communion between him and those who would follow him: "Abide in me, and I in you.... I am the vine, you are the branches." and he proclaimed a mysterious and real communion between his own body and ours: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (abbreviated). - 308 (in 'Providence and Secondary Causes') - The truth that God is at work in all the actions of his creatures is inseparable from faith in God the Creator. God is the first cause who operates in and through secondary causes: "For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Far from diminishing the creature's dignity, this truth enhances it. Drawn from nothingness by God's power, wisdom and goodness, it can do nothing if it is cut off from its origin, for "without a Creator the creature vanishes." Still less can a creature attain its ultimate end without the help of God's grace. - 864 (in 'The Apostolate') - "Christ, sent by the Father, is the source of the Church's whole apostolate"; thus the fruitfulness of apostolate for ordained ministers as well as for lay people clearly depends on their vital union with Christ (abbreviated). - 1694 (in 'Life in Christ') - 2074 (in 'The Decalogue and the Natural Law') - 2732 (in 'Facing Temptations in Prayer') - 517 (in 'Characteristics common to Jesus' mysteries') - 737 (in 'The Holy Spirit and the Church') - 859 (in 'The Apostle's Mission') Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!