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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!

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In 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

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 9: 9-13 - 'It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 581 (in 'Jesus and the Law') - The Jewish people and their spiritual leaders viewed Jesus as a rabbi. He often argued within the framework of rabbinical interpretation of the Law. Yet Jesus could not help but offend the teachers of the Law, for he was not content to propose his interpretation alongside theirs but taught the people "as one who had authority, and not as their scribes" 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. Jesus did not abolish the Law but fulfilled it by giving its ultimate interpretation in a divine way: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old. . . But I say to you. . ."With this same divine authority, he disavowed certain human traditions of the Pharisees that were "making void the word of God"

- 589 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith in the one God and Saviour') - Jesus gave scandal above all when he identified his merciful conduct toward sinners with God's own attitude toward them. He went so far as to hint that by sharing the table of sinners he was admitting them to the messianic banquet (abbreviated).

- 2100 (in 'Sacrifice') - Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit...." The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbor. Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" (abbreviated).

Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

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Mark 12: 38-44 - 'The poor widow has put in more than all.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 678 (in 'To Judge the Living and the Dead') - Following in the steps of the prophets and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the judgement of the Last Day in his preaching. Then will the conduct of each one and the secrets of hearts be brought to light. Then will the culpable unbelief that counted the offer of God's grace as nothing be condemned. Our attitude to our neighbour will disclose acceptance or refusal of grace and divine love. On the Last Day Jesus will say: "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."

- 2444 (in 'Love for the Poor') - "The Church's love for the poor . . . is a part of her constant tradition." This love is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor. Love for the poor is even one of the motives for the duty of working so as to "be able to give to those in need" (abbreviated).

Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

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Mark 12: 35-37 - 'David himself calls him Lord.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 202 (in 'I Believe in One God') - Jesus himself affirms that God is "the one Lord" whom you must love "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." At the same time Jesus gives us to understand that he himself is "the Lord." To confess that Jesus is Lord is distinctive of Christian faith. This is not contrary to belief in the One God (abbreviated).

Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

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John 6: 51-58 - 'My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 2837 (in 'Give us this day our Daily Bread') - "Daily" (epiousios) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Taken in a temporal sense, this word is a pedagogical repetition of "this day," to confirm us in trust "without reservation." Taken in the qualitative sense, it signifies what is necessary for life, and more broadly every good thing sufficient for subsistence. Taken literally (epi-ousios: "super-essential"), it refers directly to the Bread of Life, the Body of Christ, the "medicine of immortality," without which we have no life within us.

- 1384 (in 'The Sacrament of the Eucharist') - The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the sacrament of the Eucharist: "Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."

- 1406 (in 'The Sacrament of the Eucharist') - Jesus said: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him"

- 1509 (in 'Heal the Sick') - "Heal the sick!" The Church has received this charge from the Lord and strives to carry it out by taking care of the sick as well as by accompanying them with her prayer of intercession. She believes in the life-giving presence of Christ, the physician of souls and bodies. This presence is particularly active through the sacraments, and in an altogether special way through the Eucharist, the bread that gives eternal life and that St. Paul suggests is connected with bodily health.

- 1524 (in 'Viaticum') - In addition to the Anointing of the Sick, the Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum. Communion in the body and blood of Christ, received at this moment of "passing over" to the Father, has a particular significance and importance. It is the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection, according to the words of the Lord: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." The sacrament of Christ once dead and now risen, the Eucharist is here the sacrament of passing over from death to life, from this world to the Father.

- 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).

- 1391 (in 'The Fruits of Holy Communion') - Holy Communion augments our union with Christ. The principal fruit of receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion is an intimate union with Christ Jesus. Indeed, the Lord said: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." Life in Christ has its foundation in the Eucharistic banquet: "As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me."

- 994 (in 'The Progressive revelation of the Resurrection')

- 728 (in 'Christ Jesus')

- 1355 (in 'The Movement of the Eucharistic Celebration')

Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

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Mark 12: 18-27 - 'The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob is the God of the living.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 993 (in 'The Progressive Nature of the Resurrection') - The Pharisees and many of the Lord's contemporaries hoped for the resurrection. Jesus teaches it firmly. To the Sadducees who deny it he answers, "Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God?" Faith in the resurrection rests on faith in God who "is not God of the dead, but of the living."

- 1619 (in 'Virginity for the Sake of the Kingdom') - Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is an unfolding of baptismal grace, a powerful sign of the supremacy of the bond with Christ and of the ardent expectation of his return, a sign which also recalls that marriage is a reality of this present age which is passing away.

Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

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Mark 12: 13-17 - 'Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.'

Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:

- 450 (in 'Lord') - From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ's lordship over the world and over history has implicitly recognized that man should not submit his personal freedom in an absolute manner to any earthly power, but only to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Caesar is not "the Lord". "The Church. . . believes that the key, the centre and the purpose of the whole of man's history is to be found in its Lord and Master."

- "The principle Jesus enunciates here forms part of the basis of Catholic teaching on the relationship of Church and state. Other New Testament writings elaborate on Jesus’ principle, affirming both our duty to respect civil authority (Rom 13:1–7; 1 Tim 2:1–6; Titus 3:1–2; 1 Pet 2:13–17) and our overriding allegiance to God wherever civil authority oversteps its bounds or imposes laws contrary to the moral law (Acts 5:29; Rev 13:1–18). The Catechism articulates this balanced understanding. “Those subject to authority should regard those in authority as representatives of God” (2238); “Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one’s country” (2240). However, “The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the directives of civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or the teachings of the Gospel” (2242)." - The Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture: Gospel of Mark - Mary Healy.

Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!