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 Luke 24: 13-35 - 'They recognised him at the breaking of the bread.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 1094 (in 'The Holy Spirit prepares for the reception of Christ') - It is on this harmony of the two Testaments that the Paschal catechesis of the Lord is built, and then, that of the Apostles and the Fathers of the Church. This catechesis unveils what lay hidden under the letter of the Old Testament: the mystery of Christ. It is called "typological" because it reveals the newness of Christ on the basis of the "figures" (types) which announce him in the deeds, words, and symbols of the first covenant. By this re-reading in the Spirit of Truth, starting from Christ, the figures are unveiled (abbreviated). - 1347 (in 'The Mass of All ages') - Is this not the same movement as the Paschal meal of the risen Jesus with his disciples? Walking with them he explained the Scriptures to them; sitting with them at table "he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them." - 643 (in 'The Appearances of the Risen One') - Given all these testimonies, Christ's Resurrection cannot be interpreted as something outside the physical order, and it is impossible not to acknowledge it as an historical fact. It is clear from the facts that the disciples' faith was drastically put to the test by their master's Passion and death on the cross, which he had foretold. The shock provoked by the Passion was so great that at least some of the disciples did not at once believe in the news of the Resurrection. Far from showing us a community seized by a mystical exaltation, the Gospels present us with disciples demoralized ("looking sad") and frightened. For they had not believed the holy women returning from the tomb and had regarded their words as an "idle tale". When Jesus reveals himself to the Eleven on Easter evening, "he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen." - 601 (in 'He Died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures') - Citing a confession of faith that he himself had "received", St. Paul professes that "Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures." In particular Jesus' redemptive death fulfils Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering Servant. Indeed Jesus himself explained the meaning of his life and death in the light of God's suffering Servant. After his Resurrection he gave this interpretation of the Scriptures to the disciples at Emmaus, and then to the apostles (abbreviated). - 572 (in 'Jesus Christ Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried') - The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of "all the Scriptures" that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover: "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" (abbreviated). - 641 (in 'The Appearances of the Risen One') - Thus the women were the first messengers of Christ's Resurrection for the apostles themselves. They were the next to whom Jesus appears: first Peter, then the Twelve. Peter had been called to strengthen the faith of his brothers, and so sees the Risen One before them; it is on the basis of his testimony that the community exclaims: "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" (abbreviated). - 1329 (in 'What is this sacrament called?') - 659 (in 'He Ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father') - 439 (in 'Christ') 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: 1-10 - 'He has risen from the dead and now he is going before you into Galilee.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 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. - 2174 (in 'the Day of the Resurrection: the new Creation') - Jesus rose from the dead "on the first day of the week." Because it is the "first day," the day of Christ's Resurrection recalls the first creation.      Because it is the "eighth day" following the sabbath, it symbolizes the new creation ushered in by Christ's Resurrection. For Christians it has become the first of all days, the first of all feasts, the Lord's Day (he kuriake hemera, dies dominica) Sunday:  "We all gather on the day of the sun, for it is the first day [after the Jewish sabbath, but also the first day] when God, separating matter from darkness, made the world; and on this same day Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead." - 641 (in 'The Empty Tomb') - Mary Magdalene and the holy women who came to finish anointing the body of Jesus, which had been buried in haste because the Sabbath began on the evening of Good Friday, were the first to encounter the Risen One. Thus the women were the first messengers of Christ's Resurrection for the apostles themselves (abbreviated). - 654 (in 'The Meaning and Saving Significance of the Resurrection') - Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation ingrace. It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ's brethren, as Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: "Go and tell my brethren." We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiation gains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was fully revealed in his Resurrection (abbreviated). Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

Want to support the  ministry and get access to exclusive content? Go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy Note: At the Palm Sunday Mass, there are 2 different gospel readings - one 'Palm Sunday' gospel which is read as part of the entrance procession, and one 'Passion' gospel which is read at the normal gospel time. This episode will focus on the Palm Sunday gospel. Matthew 21: 1-11 - 'Blessings on he who comes in the name of the Lord!' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 559 (in 'Jesus' Messianic Entrance into Jerusalem') - How will Jerusalem welcome her Messiah? Although Jesus had always refused popular attempts to make him king, he chooses the time and prepares the details for his messianic entry into the city of "his father David". Acclaimed as son of David, as the one who brings salvation (Hosanna means "Save!" or "Give salvation!"), the "King of glory" enters his City "riding on an ass". Jesus conquers the Daughter of Zion, a figure of his Church, neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility that bears witness to the truth. and so the subjects of his kingdom on that day are children and God's poor, who acclaim him as had the angels when they announced him to the shepherds. Their acclamation, "Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord", is taken up by the Church in the Sanctus of the Eucharistic liturgy that introduces the memorial of the Lord's Passover. - 439 (in 'Christ') - Many Jews and even certain Gentiles who shared their hope recognized in Jesus the fundamental attributes of the messianic "Son of David", promised by God to Israel. Jesus accepted his rightful title of Messiah, though with some reserve because it was understood by some of his contemporaries in too human a sense, as essentially political. 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 get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy Luke 11: 1-45 - 'I am the resurrection and the life.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 994 (in 'The Progressive Revelation of the Resurrection') - But there is more. Jesus links faith in the resurrection to his own person: "I am the Resurrection and the life." It is Jesus himself who on the last day will raise up those who have believed in him, who have eaten his body and drunk his blood. Already now in this present life he gives a sign and pledge of this by restoring some of the dead to life, announcing thereby his own Resurrection, though it was to be of another order. He speaks of this unique event as the "sign of Jonah," The sign of the temple: he announces that he will be put to death but rise thereafter on the third day. - 1001 (in 'How do the dead rise?') - When? Definitively "at the last day," "at the end of the world." Indeed, the resurrection of the dead is closely associated with Christ's Parousia: For the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. - 472 (in 'How is the Son of God man?') - This human soul that the Son of God assumed is endowed with a true human knowledge. As such, this knowledge could not in itself be unlimited: it was exercised in the historical conditions of his existence in space and time. This is why the Son of God could, when he became man, "increase in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man", and would even have to inquire for himself about what one in the human condition can learn only from experience. This corresponded to the reality of his voluntary emptying of himself, taking "the form of a slave". - 627 (in 'You will not let your Holy One see corruption') - Both of these statements can be said of Christ: "He was cut off out of the land of the living", and "My flesh will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor let your Holy One see corruption." Jesus' Resurrection "on the third day" was the sign of this, also because bodily decay was held to begin on the fourth day after death (abbreviated). - 2604 (in 'Jesus Prays') - The second prayer, before the raising of Lazarus, is recorded by St. John. Thanksgiving precedes the event: "Father, I thank you for having heard me," which implies that the Father always hears his petitions. Jesus immediately adds: "I know that you always hear me," which implies that Jesus, on his part, constantly made such petitions. Jesus' prayer, characterized by thanksgiving, reveals to us how to ask: before the gift is given, Jesus commits himself to the One who in giving gives himself. the Giver is more precious than the gift; he is the "treasure"; in him abides his Son's heart; the gift is given "as well" (abbreviated). - 640 (in 'The Empty Tomb') - The disciple "whom Jesus loved" affirmed that when he entered the empty tomb and discovered "the linen cloths lying there", "he saw and believed". This suggests that he realized from the empty tomb's condition that the absence of Jesus' body could not have been of human doing and that Jesus had not simply returned to earthly life as had been the case with Lazarus (abbreviated). 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 get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy Luke 9: 1-41 - 'The blind man went off and washed himself, and came away with his sight restored.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 1151 (in 'Signs and Symbols') - In his preaching the Lord Jesus often makes use of the signs of creation to make known the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. He performs healings and illustrates his preaching with physical signs or symbolic gestures (abbreviated). - 1504 (in 'Christ the Physician') - Often Jesus asks the sick to believe. He makes use of signs to heal: spittle and the laying on of hands, mud and washing. - 2173 (in 'The Sabbath Day') - The Gospel reports many incidents when Jesus was accused of violating the sabbath law. But Jesus never fails to respect the holiness of this day. He gives this law its authentic and authoritative interpretation: "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath." With compassion, Christ declares the sabbath for doing good rather than harm, for saving life rather than killing. The sabbath is the day of the Lord of mercies and a day to honor God." The Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath." - 2827 (in 'Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven') - "If any one is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him." Such is the power of the Church's prayer in the name of her Lord, above all in the Eucharist (abbreviated). - 588 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the one God and Saviour') - Jesus scandalized the Pharisees by eating with tax collectors and sinners as familiarly as with themselves. Against those among them "who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others", Jesus affirmed: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." He went further by proclaiming before the Pharisees that, since sin is      universal, those who pretend not to need salvation are blind to themselves. 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 get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy John 4: 5-42 - 'A spring of water welling up to eternal life.' 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. Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom (abbreviated). - 694 (in 'Symbols of the Holy Spirit') - Water. the symbolism of water signifies the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism, since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of new birth: just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water, so the water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into the divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As "by one Spirit we were all baptized," so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit." Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified as its source and welling up in us to eternal life. - 586 (in' Jesus and the Temple') - Far from having been hostile to the Temple, where he gave the essential part of his teaching, Jesus was willing to pay the Temple-tax, associating with him Peter, whom he had just made the foundation of his future Church. He even identified himself with the Temple by presenting himself as God's definitive dwelling-place among men .Therefore his being put to bodily death presaged the destruction of the Temple, which would manifest the dawning of a new age in the history of salvation: "The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father." - 439 (in 'Christ') - Many Jews and even certain Gentiles who shared their hope recognized in Jesus the fundamental attributes of the messianic "Son of David", promised by God to Israel. Jesus accepted his rightful title of Messiah, though with some reserve because it was understood by some of his contemporaries in too human a sense, as essentially political. 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 get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy Matthew 17: 1-9 - 'His face shone like the sun.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 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!" - 444 (in 'The Only Son of God') - The Gospels report that at two solemn moments, the Baptism and the Transfiguration of Christ, the voice of the Father designates Jesus his "beloved Son". Jesus calls himself the "only Son of God", and by this title affirms his eternal pre-existence. 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 get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy Matthew 4: 1-11 - 'The temptation in the wilderness.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 394 (in 'The Fall of the Angels') - Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls "a murderer from the beginning", who would even try to divert Jesus from the mission received from his Father (abbreviated) - 2849 (in 'The Seven Petitions') - Such a battle and such a victory become possible only through prayer. It is by his prayer that Jesus vanquishes the tempter, both at the outset of his public mission and in the ultimate struggle of his Agony (abbreviated) - 2835 (in 'Give us this day our daily bread') - his petition, with the responsibility it involves, also applies to another hunger from which men are perishing: "Man does not live by bread alone, but . . . by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God," that is, by the Word he speaks and the Spirit he breathes forth (abbreviated) - 2083 (in 'The First Commandment') - It is written: "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." (abbreviated) - 333 (in 'Christ with all his angels') - From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. When God "brings the firstborn into the world, he says: 'Let all God's angels worship him.'" Their song of praise at the birth of Christ has not ceased resounding in the Church's praise: "Glory to God in the highest!" They protect Jesus in his infancy, serve him in the desert, strengthen him in his agony in the garden, when he could have been saved by them from the hands of his enemies as Israel had been (abbreviated) 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 get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy Matthew 5: 38-48 - 'Love your enemies.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 2443 (in 'Love for the Poor ') - God blesses those who come to the aid of the poor and rebukes those who turn away from them: "Give to him who begs from you, do not refuse him who would borrow from you" (abbreviated) - 1933 (in 'Social Justice') - This same duty extends to those who think or act differently from us. the teaching of Christ goes so far as to require the forgiveness of offenses. He extends the commandment of love, which is that of the New Law, to all enemies. Liberation in the spirit of the Gospel is incompatible with hatred of one's enemy as a person, but not with hatred of the evil that he does as an enemy. - 2842 (in 'The Seven Petitions') - You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect"; "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful"...It is impossible to keep the Lord's commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of our God. Only the Spirit by whom we live can make "ours" the same mind that was in Christ Jesus (abbreviated) - 2608 (in 'Jesus teaches us how to pray') - From the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of heart: reconciliation with one's brother before presenting an offering on the altar, love of enemies, and prayer for persecutors, prayer to the Father in secret, not heaping up empty phrases, prayerful forgiveness from the depths of the heart, purity of heart, and seeking the Kingdom before all else. This filial conversion is entirely directed to the Father. - 1825 (in 'Hope') - Christ died out of love for us, while we were still "enemies." The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself. - 1968 (in 'The New Law') - The Law of the Gospel fulfills the commandments of the Law. the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, far from abolishing or devaluing the moral prescriptions of the Old Law, releases their hidden potential and has new demands arise from them: it reveals their entire divine and human truth. It does not add new external precepts, but proceeds to reform the heart, the root of human acts, where man chooses between the pure and the impure,where faith, hope, and charity are formed and with them the other virtues. the Gospel thus brings the Law to its fullness through imitation of the perfection of the heavenly Father, through forgiveness of enemies and prayer for persecutors, in emulation of the divine generosity. - 2262 (in 'Respect for Human Life') - In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recalls the commandment, "You shall not kill,"and adds to it the proscription of anger, hatred, and vengeance. Going further, Christ asks his disciples to turn the other cheek, to love their enemies (abbreviated) - 1693 (in 'Life in Christ') - Christ Jesus always did what was pleasing to the Father,5 and always lived in perfect communion with him. Likewise Christ's disciples are invited to live in the sight of the Father "who sees in secret," in order to become "perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." - 2013 (in 'Christian Holiness') 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 get access to exclusive content, go to: http://patreon.com/logicalbiblestudy Matthew 7: 17-37 - 'You have learnt how it was said to our ancestors, but I say this to you.' Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs: - 577 (in 'Jesus and the Law') - At the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus issued a solemn warning in which he presented God’s law, given on Sinai during the first covenant, in light of the grace of the New Covenant: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets: I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law, until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven." - 592 (in 'Jesus and Israel's Faith') - Jesus did not abolish the Law of Sinai, but rather fulfilled it (cf. Mt5:17-19) with such perfection (cf. Jn8:46) that he revealed its ultimate meaning (cf.Mt5:33) and redeemed the transgressions against it (cf. Heb 9:15). - 1967 (in 'The Law of the Gospel') - The Law of the Gospel “fulfills,” refines, surpasses, and leads the Old Law to its perfection. In the Beatitudes, the New Law fulfills the divine promises by elevating and orienting them toward the “kingdom of heaven.” It is addressed to those open to accepting this new hope with faith—the poor, the humble, the afflicted, the pure of heart, those persecuted on account of Christ— and so marks out the surprising ways of the Kingdom. - 2054 (in 'Teacher, what must I do...') - Jesus acknowledged the Ten Commandments, but he also showed the power of the Spirit at work in their letter. He preached a “righteousness [which] exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees” as well as that of the Gentiles. He unfolded all the demands of the Commandments. “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill.’ . . . But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.” - 2262 (in 'Respect for Human Life') - In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord recalls the commandment, “You shall not kill,” and adds to it the proscription of anger, hatred, and vengeance. Going further, Christ asks his disciples to turn the other cheek, to love their enemies (abbreviated). Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!