Daily Gospel Exegesis

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Matthew 18: 15-20 - 'If your brother listens to you, you have won back your brother.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 2472 (in 'To Bear Witness to the Truth') - The duty of Christians to take part in the life of the Church impels them to act as witnesses of the Gospel and of the obligations that flow from it. This witness is a transmission of the faith in words and deeds. Witness is an act of justice that establishes the truth or makes it known.

- 553 (in 'The Keys of the Kingdom') - 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).

- 1444 (in 'Reconciliation with the Church') - In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ's solemn words to Simon 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 office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head."

- 1088 (is 'Present in the earthly liturgy') - He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised 'where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them" (abbreviated).

- 1373 (in 'The Presence of Christ by the power of his word and the Holy Spirit') - "Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us," is present in many ways to his Church: in his word, in his Church's prayer, "where two or three are gathered in my name," in the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned (abbreviated).

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Matthew 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14 - 'Anyone who welcomes in a little child in my name welcomes me.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 526 (in 'The Christmas Mystery') - To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become "children of God" we must be "born from above" or "born of God" (abbreviated).

- 2785 (in 'Our Father who art in Heaven') - Second, a humble and trusting heart that enables us "to turn and become like children": for it is to "little children" that the Father is revealed (abbreviated).

- 329 (in 'Who are the Angels') - With their whole beings the angels are servants and messengers of God. Because they "always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven" they are the "mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word" (abbreviated).

- 336 (in 'The Angels in the Life of the Church') - From the beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life." Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.

- 605 (in 'God takes the initiative of universal redeeming love') - At the end of the parable of the lost sheep Jesus recalled that God’s love excludes no one: “So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” He affirms that he came “to give his life as a ransom for many”; this last term is not restrictive, but contrasts the whole of humanity with the unique person of the redeemer who hands himself over to save us. The Church, following the apostles, teaches that Christ died for all men without exception: “There is not, never has been, and never will be a single human being for whom Christ did not suffer.”

- 2822 (in 'Thy Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven') - Our Father “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” He “is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish" (abbreviated)

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John 12: 24-26 - 'If a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it yields a rich harvest.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 2731 (in 'Facing Difficulties in Prayer') - Another difficulty, especially for those who sincerely want to pray, is dryness. Dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is separated from God, with no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even spiritual ones. This is the moment of sheer faith clinging faithfully to Jesus in his agony and in his tomb. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if dies, it bears much fruit." If dryness is due to the lack of roots, because the word has fallen on rocky soil, the battle requires conversion.

Got a Bible question? Send an email to [email protected], and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

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Matthew 14: 22-33 - '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!"

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Matthew 17: 14-20 - 'If your faith were the size of a mustard seed, the mountain would move.'

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Matthew 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.

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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.

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Matthew 15: 21-28 - 'The Canaanite woman debates with Jesus and saves her daughter.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 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.

- 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 (abbreviated).

- 2610 (in 'Jesus teaches us how to pray') - Jesus is as saddened by the "lack of faith" of his own neighbors and the "little faith" of his own disciples as he is struck with admiration at the great faith of the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman (abbreviated).

Got a Bible question? Send an email to [email protected], and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

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Matthew 15: 1-2, 10-14 - 'Any plant my Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.'

Got a Bible question? Send an email to [email protected], 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 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 [email protected], and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!