Wednesday of Week 1 of Lent - Luke 11: 29-32

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: 20-26 - 'Anyone who is angry with his brother will answer for it.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 2054 (in 'The Ten Commandments') - 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.- 2262 (in 'The Fifth Commandment') - 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.- 2302 (in 'Peace') - By recalling the commandment, "You shall not kill," our Lord asked for peace of heart and denounced murderous anger and hatred as immoral.- 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.- 1034 (in 'Hell') - Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost.- 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.- 2845 (in 'The Seven Petitions') - There is no limit or measure to this essentially divine forgiveness, whether one speaks of "sins" as in Luke (11:4), "debts" as in Matthew (6:12). We are always debtors: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another."- 1424 (in 'The Sacrament of Reconciliation') - It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the live of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God." He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go; first be reconciled to your brother."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/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 7: 7-12 - 'Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 2609 (in Jesus teaches us how to pray) - Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to "seek" and to "knock," since he himself is the door and the way.- 1789 (in 'Moral Conscience') - Some rules apply in every case: - One may never do evil so that good may result from it; - The Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them."- 1970 (in 'The New Law') - The Law of the Gospel requires us to make the decisive choice between "the two ways" and to put into practice the words of the Lord. It is summed up in the Golden Rule, "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; this is the law and the prophets."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/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pLuke 11: 29-32 - 'As Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be a sign.'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/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 6: 7-15 - 'How to pray.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 2759-2856 - Entire section of the Catechism which covers the Our Father.- 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.- 2668 (in 'Prayer to Jesus') - The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always. When the holy name is repeated often by a humbly attentive heart, the prayer is not lost by heaping up empty phrases, but holds fast to the word and "brings forth fruit with patience." This prayer is possible "at all times" because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus.- 443 (in 'The Only Son of God') - He distinguished his sonship from that of his disciples by never saying "our Father", except to command them: "You, then, pray like this: 'Our Father'", and he emphasized this distinction, saying "my Father and your Father" (abbreviated)- 2736 (in 'Filial Trust') - Are we asking God for "what is good for us"? Our Father knows what we need before we ask him, but he awaits our petition because the dignity of his children lies in their freedom. We must pray, then, with his Spirit of freedom, to be able truly to know what he wants.- 1969 (in 'The New Law') - The New Law practices the acts of religion: almsgiving, prayer and fasting, directing them to the "Father who sees in secret," in contrast with the desire to "be seen by men." Its prayer is the Our Father.- 268 (in 'The Almighty') - of all the divine attributes, only God's omnipotence is named in the Creed: to confess this power has great bearing on our lives. We believe that his might is universal, for God who created everything also rules everything and can do everything. God's power is loving, for he is our Father, and mysterious, for only faith can discern it when it "is made perfect in weakness".- 2632 (in 'Prayer of Petition') - Christian petition is centered on the desire and search for the Kingdom to come, in keeping with the teaching of Christ. There is a hierarchy in these petitions: we pray first for the Kingdom, then for what is necessary to welcome it and cooperate with its coming. .. By prayer every baptized person works for the coming of the Kingdom (abbreviated)- 2659 (in 'Today') - We learn to pray at certain moments by hearing the Word of the Lord and sharing in his Paschal mystery, but his Spirit is offered us at all times, in the events of each day, to make prayer spring up from us. Jesus' teaching about praying to our Father is in the same vein as his teaching about providence: time is in the Father's hands; it is in the present that we encounter him, not yesterday nor tomorrow, but today: "O that today you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts."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/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 25: 31-46 - 'I was naked and you clothed me; sick, and you visited me.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 544 (In 'The Kingdom of God is at hand') - Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom (abbreviated)- 1033-1034 (in 'I Believe in Life Everlasting') - Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren...Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire," and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"- 2447 (in 'Love for the Poor') - The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. the corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead.- 2831 (in 'Give us this day our daily bread') - But the presence of those who hunger because they lack bread opens up another profound meaning of this petition. the drama of hunger in the world calls Christians who pray sincerely to exercise responsibility toward their brethren, both in their personal behavior and in their solidarity with the human family. This petition of the Lord's Prayer cannot be isolated from the parables of the poor man Lazarus and of the Last Judgment.- 331 (in 'Christ with all his angels') - Christ is the centre of the angelic world. They are his angels: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him" (abbreviated)- 671 (in 'Until all things are subjected to him') - Though already present in his Church, Christ's reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled "with power and great glory" by the King's return to earth (abbreviated)- 678-679 (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."...By rejecting grace in this life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works, and can even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the Spirit of love (abbreviated)- 1038 (in 'The Last Judgement') - Then Christ will come "in his glory, and all the angels with him .... Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.... and they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (abbreviated)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/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850p⁠Matthew 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 [email protected], and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

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/1677296682850pLuke 5: 27-32 - 'Jesus comes not to call the virtuous, but sinners to repentance.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 588 (in 'Jesus and Israel's faith') - 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 [email protected], and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!

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 9: 14-15 - 'When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast.'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/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pLuke 9: 22-25 - 'Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 1435 (in 'The Many Forms of Penance in the Christian Life') - Conversion is accomplished in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of justice and right, by the admission of faults to one's brethren, fraternal correction, revision of life, examination of conscience, spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering, endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness. Taking up one's cross each day and following Jesus is the surest way of penance.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/logicalbiblestudy⁠⁠⁠⁠For complete verse-by-verse audio commentaries from Logical Bible Study, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mysoundwise.com/publishers/1677296682850pMatthew 6: 1-6, 16-18 - 'Your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.'Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:- 1430 (in 'Interior Penance') - Jesus' call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, "sackcloth and ashes," fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance.- 1969 (in 'The New Law') - The New Law practices the acts of religion: almsgiving, prayer and fasting, directing them to the "Father who sees in secret," in contrast with the desire to "be seen by men." Its prayer is the Our Father.- 1753 (in 'The Sources of Morality') - A good intention (for example, that of helping one's neighbor) does not make behavior that is intrinsically disordered, such as lying and calumny, good or just. the end does not justify the means. Thus the condemnation of an innocent person cannot be justified as a legitimate means of saving the nation. On the other hand, an added bad intention (such as vainglory) makes an act evil that, in and of itself, can be good (such as almsgiving).- 2447 (in 'Love for the Poor') - The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. the corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God.- 1063 (in 'Amen') - Our Lord often used the word "Amen," sometimes repeated, to emphasize the trustworthiness of his teaching, his authority founded on God's truth (abbreviated)- 1693 (in 'Life in Christ') - Christ Jesus always did what was pleasing to the Father, 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."- 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.- 2655 (in 'The Liturgy of the Church') - Even when it is lived out "in secret," prayer is always prayer of the Church; it is a communion with the Holy Trinity.- 2691 (in 'Places favourable for prayer') - For personal prayer, this can be a 'prayer corner' with the Sacred Scriptures and icons, in order to be there, in secret, before our Father.Got a Bible question? Send an email to [email protected], and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!