Hey everyone, welcome back to the Daily Gospel Exegesis
podcast. Thanks so much for listening and
I hope you're benefiting from it.
In this bonus episode, I want to go through some feedback that's
coming about the ministry. And whenever we do this, I
always want to make the point that this feedback shows how
much you can do when you respond to God's call to use your gifts
to serve the Kingdom of God. This is not a big ministry, this
is a small grassroots ministry, but you can see from some of the
feedback that's come in that this is exactly what a lot of
people are looking for and it's really helped them in their
journey on the Kingdom of God. And ultimately, it's all God's
work. So when you hear some of this
feedback, I really want to encourage you to think about is
there something similar you can do with your gifts where people
are just waiting for a particular thing to be to be
done or a particular void to be filled that's not currently
being filled in the Catholic media world?
And have a think about whether there is something like that
that you can offer. Also, I think this feedback
highlights that Bible study does really help for Catholics.
Often we think that Bible study is a Protestant or a non
denominational thing that Catholics don't do.
But there is something about doing an in depth, literal sense
Bible study that really helps people in their journey with God
and it brings them closer to Jesus.
So don't let anyone tell you that there's no point doing
Bible studies. It's purely academic.
I think this feedback should show you that that's not the
case. So today I wanted to share some
feedback that's come in over the last few months, particularly
going to focus on feedback that's come in from comments on
Apple Podcasts and reviews in places like that.
And by the way, this podcast at the time of recording actually
has a five star rating on Apple Podcasts, which is not easy to
achieve. That means the vast majority of
people who've left a review on Apple Podcasts have given it
five stars. Thank you so much to all of you
who've done that. It really does help in terms of
podcast growth and the way the algorithms work.
So let's have a look at some of these comments that have been
submitted via Apple Podcasts. There's one person here they've
commented blessing. It says between your literal
explanations and the show the chosen, my faith is the greatest
gift on my spiritual journey. I'm so grateful.
Thank you for that comment. And indeed, a lot of people who
listen to this podcast also really like the chosen because
the chosen tends to take a slower approach to study
particular scenes from Jesus life in depth.
And I do think The Chosen is a fairly helpful show,
particularly in although it does certainly make a lot of stuff
up, it actually helps with thinking about how the
geographical, historical, cultural, and religious context
looked at the time in the Gospels.
Someone else has left a review called excellent resource.
Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ, Saint
Jerome said. This podcast does an excellent
job at unpacking the context and literal meaning of the daily
gospel passages to show to grow in our knowledge of Jesus
Christ. Thank you so much for that
comment. This person says it's a lot in a
few minutes. I've come to love this little
podcast which is packed full of great insights, which brings the
gospel to life in a new way for me.
And in 15 to 30 minutes a day. I don't miss a day.
That one's from Pablo in the United States.
Thank you so much for that, Pablo.
I agree with you that it's amazing how much you can fit
into 20 or 30 minute podcast when when you have smaller
chunks of text to deal with, and I'm glad you're benefiting from
it. There's a comment here from Val
Liberty and they say this is an outstanding Bible study.
I listen to the podcast every day and it makes up part of my
routine. It is enriching and a lot of
content is brought to light making references to cultural
aspects one would not ordinarily know, not to mention references
to the catechism. We have a comment here called
Amazing Resource. These exegesis episodes are
incredibly helpful when working to understand Jesus teachings.
The explanations are given in clear, logical ways, and the
connections made to church documents, the Catechism, and
other scripture references are solid avenues in which to learn
about the Gospels. Thank you for putting together
these lessons. Thank you so much for that
comment, and I I'm glad you're benefiting from the linking to
the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
A lot of people don't realize that the Catechism is actually
peppered with references to scripture.
And you can actually go through and look at where specific Bible
references are referenced in the Catechism.
And the Catechism is an incredibly helpful summary
document on what the Catholic Church teaches.
And if you want to hear more about the Catechism, we do
actually have some bonus resources available to Patreon
supporters of the ministry where we go through the Catechism
verse by verse or paragraph by paragraph, much like we do with
the Bible in this show. You can get access to that to
the catechism as a bonus episode because I do think it's
important that we study the faith in a systematic way.
We have a comment here from when K and they've said this is the
best explanation of scripture. I have bought many books on
texts and commentaries, downloaded apps, and I've gone
through Bible in a year, but none of them compare to this
absolutely amazing explanation of scripture.
I'm very reliant on this podcast for my daily Bible study.
I only wish I could purchase a transcript of all the podcasts
to refer back to and highlight text.
I am disappointed when I can't find a particular episode that
covers chapters, particular chapters or verses that shows me
how much I depend on this podcast to assist in my
spiritual growth and relationship with God.
Please keep the ministry going and add to it.
I cannot go a day without it. Thank you for that amazing
comment, Wen K. I'm glad that you're finding
this particular format of Bible study even more helpful than
other commentaries you've bought.
And indeed, what we do in these episodes does rely on biblical
commentaries, but we're trying to put it out there in an
accessible format in podcast form.
So you mentioned you wish you could purchase a transcript of
the podcasts. Well, actually, most podcast
apps like Apple Podcasts and Spotify do now automatically
make their own transcripts of each episode.
So you can actually get access to that if you listen to this
podcast using one of those standard apps.
And you've also said I'm disappointed when I can't find
one that covers that chapter or verse you.
If you become a supporter of the ministry, you can get access to
all of the exegesis episodes for every single part of Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John. There are indeed some parts of
the gospels that are never read at Mass.
And if you just listen to the standard podcast, there will be
some chapters and verses you don't get to hear.
But those missing ones are covered on Patreon for Patreon
supporters. And you can also buy an entire
audio commentary package for each gospel where it goes
through verse by verse from start to finish as a single
audio package that is currently available as a sold product for
the Gospel of Mark. And it's available through the
Sound Wise website. So if you're interested in
getting a complete audio commentary from start to finish
for the Gospel of Mark, that is now available to you.
It's a long resource because it goes in depth for every single
verse of Mark, but it will make sure that you go start to finish
without missing anything. So if you're interested in
getting that sound wise complete audio commentary, have a look at
the show notes and there'll be a link there.
I've got a comment here from someone called Yay.
I also found this podcast through the Hello app.
I'm really enjoying the exegesis of the scriptures in John
especially. I'm not Catholic, so I
appreciate that he often distinguishes what the Catholic
teaching is on a particular scripture.
Very informative and interesting.
Thank you so much for that comment, particularly from a non
Catholic and those of you who are listening who are Catholic,
notice how interesting this is. This is a non Catholic who found
the podcast through the Hello App, which is a very Catholic
app, and they're appreciating the approach that this Catholic
podcast takes towards Bible study, particularly for the
Gospel of John. So it's amazing how non
Catholics are often using Catholic resources these days.
And tools like this can be evangelism tools that bring
people closer to the Catholic Church.
If non Catholics see that we're actually taking Bible study
seriously and we're putting good resources out there, it can
actually help them consider the Catholic faith.
And indeed, that's what we want because we believe the Catholic
Church is the fullness of the Christian faith.
I appreciated that you mentioned the exegesis in the Gospel of
John, because indeed, when we approach John, we do have to do
it a little differently. The Gospel of John is written in
a different way. The theology embedded in it is
different. The point that John wants his
readers to get out of specific, specific texts is often more
than one point, and we really have to think carefully about
the way he's writing and what we want to say in each exegesis
episode. And there's probably a lot more
you could say with John's gospel that we're not able to.
But I'm glad you're appreciating this approach.
We've got a comment here from Docile 2.
This is a great way to study the Gospels.
The focus of the podcast is uniquely on understanding and
not on a homily or sermon. The podcast provides excellent
background and literal meaning. It clears up so many questions
for me. I've highly recommended it to
friends and family. Thank you so much for that
comment docile too. And you're quite right that the
approach of this podcast is not a sermon.
It's actually an academic study. And there is definitely a
difference. I've often said the best way to
approach this podcast is to listen to this podcast first to
give you the literal academic sense of the scripture, which is
the foundation that we have to start with.
And then you'll be more prepared to hear the homily on that
particular section of text at Mass.
I've got a comment here from another non Catholic user.
I love these deep. Dives.
I'm not. Catholic, at least not yet, but
I am a Hello app user. I did the Bible in a year,
Catechism in a year, so I'm happy now to make exegesis a
daily routine. I don't know how people can say
Catholics aren't Christians when I participate in this daily
study. The Catechism in a year, Bible
in a year, Catholic radio. Thank you.
This is a really interesting comment.
Again, this is from a non Catholic and they're doing all
the getting involved in all these Catholic resources and
they themself are willing to say I don't know how non other
Christians can say Catholics are not Christian when you consider
all of these Bible resources that they're putting out.
I do hope this person eventually finds the Catholic faith and it
sounds like they're on the way to doing that.
Again, to those of you who are listening who think that they
don't have anything to offer in this space, never underestimate
the kind of people that are listening when you've got a, a
podcast out there in this arena, it might be exactly what people
are looking for and you can genuinely help people in their
journey of faith. There's another comment here
saying I'm so grateful to have found this content on Hello,
what a wonderful hidden gem. The deep dive is exactly what
I've been searching for. Thank you so much for sharing
your knowledge. So there it is again, someone
said this is exactly what they've been searching for and
they found it as a hidden gem. So indeed, this kind of Catholic
verse by verse Bible study is it's one-of-a-kind.
There are lots of good Catholic resources out there now which
study the study the Bible study, overviews of the Bible.
And even there's quite a lot of resources, particularly on
hallow, there's quite a lot of resources giving you reflections
on the daily gospel. But this is the only one where
every single day we take an academic approach to the Gospel
reading of today's Mass. And we do it every single day of
the year. We've got a comment here from
Amkin C. I'm so glad to have found this
podcast. The host does a wonderful
explanation of the gospel reading of the day.
I enjoy, as others have said, a deep dive into the readings.
Thank you so much for that comment.
We have another one here from Sienna Soul.
Such a gift. This podcast is amazingly both
thorough and concise. He does a brilliant job of
providing context for the daily gospel that adds so much to my
understanding of God's Word. Thank you.
There's another one here from C Riley 4.
What a wonderful podcast. Prior to finding it, there were
gospel readings I didn't understand.
I needed clarity. Having stumbled upon this
podcast, I'd never heard of the term exegesis.
And out of curiosity, I listened and I was immediately
transformed. I knew that listening to this to
this podcast, either here or through the Hello app, I would
receive daily clarification of the daily gospel reading.
And we've got a review here from someone in Australia.
And thank you to all of those who do listen and support the
podcast in Australia. It's certainly more popular in
the USA as a lot of Christian resources are, but it is a
Australian made resource. So this person says, I've been
listening to the podcast for a while now via the Hello app.
It has been so useful to me to grow in a bunch of different
ways. We have someone here from a
comment here from Stan. This is the best Exogesis
podcast available. The podcast is an indispensable
supplement to the daily Gospel reading.
The bonus episodes on Patreon fill in the gaps very well.
Thank you so much for that comment, Stan.
And indeed, the bonus episodes are there for those who want to
support the ministry financially to help you get into parts of
the Gospels that you won't hear as part of the regular podcast.
This comment is called Love this for my left sided brain.
I found this through the Hello app and love it.
It's not that I don't appreciate the sermons and other content,
but this really feeds and gives more to my more to my analytical
theological brain. And indeed, that's the purpose
of this podcast. We're trying to give you a kind
of an approach to Scripture that you don't often hear, but it's
the one that we're supposed to start with, which is looking at
the literal sense of Scripture. We've got a comment here from
Cath in the United States. I came up upon this podcast
during the 40 day Lenten challenge on Hello.
And now I do not miss a day of the podcast.
This comment is called Why don't they teach this in school?
This is from Captain Chaos. If the Catholic Church wishes to
stop so many young people from lapsing, they need to take note
of this. This method of giving
perspective to the gospel verses and fleshing out Jesus meaning
in the context of the time brings wonderful and inspiring
meaning. Truly a wonderful listen every
day. I agree with you Captain Chaos,
that this is an approach to scripture that when people
listen to it, it actually helps them go deeper in the Catholic
faith. And yeah, indeed schools need to
take note of this approach. I think a lot of Catholic
schools are still catching up on how to do the literal sense
properly without doing a weird progressive liberal version of
it that denies the supernatural. Hopefully this podcast shows you
that there is a way of doing the literal sense of Scripture,
which is the way the Church wants us to do it, which is
academic and faithful to the teaching of the Church.
I've got a comment here from Family Girl.
She says this is staggeringly informative.
It's the best Bible tool I've ever encountered.
It is super easy to understand. It gives great context,
staggeringly informative, and is the best way to grow your faith
by increasing your understanding.
So thank you so much for that Family Girl.
It's quite, quite an honour for you to think that this is the
best Bible tool you've encountered because there are a
lot of really good ones out there.
We're trying to offer something unique here by offering an
exegesis in audio form. We've got a comment here from
the United States says excellent insight into the Gospels.
I've found these sessions extremely helpful in better
understanding the intent and message of the Gospels.
They are helping me increase my faith and really marvel at the
Word of God. Thank you.
We've got a comment here from East Bay the.
Show allows the listener. Different meanings in Scripture
that allows us to think out-of-the-box.
Thank you. And certainly what we're trying
to do in this podcast is where there's differences.
Of opinion amongst Catholic. Scholars about the literal
sense. We want to give you those
different interpretations, rather than what sometimes you
hear is you just hear one person's interpretation and you
leave with the impression that that's definitely the right
interpretation, or in fact that it's the only interpretation out
there. Where possible, where there is a
significant differences in schools of thought here amongst
conservative scholars, we want to.
Give those different ideas. To you, we have someone here who
said this is an outstanding Bible study.
I listen to the podcast every day and it makes a part of my
routine. It is enriching and a lot of
content is brought to light making references to cultural
aspects one would not ordinarily know, not to mention references
to the catechism. Thank you so much for that
wonderful feedback A. Comment here from Julia.
She sent in by e-mail. Your podcast is so wonderful and
deep and insightful and I thank you again.
And again, it must be very time consuming for your research.
So thank you for that comment, Julia.
And yeah, it does take a bit of time to do.
Research for each episode. But it's also a joy.
To be able to use my gifts in service of others to because a
lot of people won't pick up and read a commentary on scripture.
But they. Want to know the stuff that's in
a commentary of scripture, but they don't have time to pick up
a book or they don't feel that they'll have the skills to be
able to understand what the commentaries are saying and so.
The role. Of this podcast is.
To bring you that scholarship and show.
You what Catholic scholars are saying about the text to help
you understand it better, she says, I hope you are considering
the Old Testament next. Yeah, perhaps one day we might
get to the Old Testament. We'd love to do some other books
of the New Testament, too, and there are plans to do it.
So please keep this ministry in your prayers and keep supporting
the ministry if you can so we can do.
Future projects like that a comment.
Here from David on Patreon. I listen to this podcast on the
Hello app. It helps me meditate on the
scriptures by starting from the literal meanings and gives more
insight and understanding than just reading them.
This. Podcast has greatly blessed.
Me and has helped me in my faith and I started supporting it
because I wanted to bless others as well.
Thank you so much for that comment, David.
I'm glad this podcast is helping you and thank you.
For your support. In continuing this podcast.
It's a comment. Here from Mary, she sent in this
message via e-mail. Thank you for your excellent
exegesis. You're helping me achieve my
resolution of growing closer in friendship with Jesus, getting
to know Him in the Gospel through your excellent
explanation of where Jesus was and what is about to happen to
Him. I've been looking for a Bible.
Study for decades so. Thank you for filling this void.
God bless you for. All the good you are doing
bringing God's Kingdom to earth, well, that's the goal.
Mary the goal of this podcast is.
To contribute even in a very small.
Way to the. Building up of God's Kingdom by
equipping people to. Understand their bibles better
and to help them understand what.
Jesus was on about and if this podcast helps you do that then
that is fantastic. Sharon also on Patreon.
Says thank you for. This podcast, I find myself
listening to it. Every day.
It's helping my faith grow so much and answered so many
questions I've had about Holy Scripture.
I'm so glad to have one place to go now for great exegesis.
Thanks again. So thank you so much for that
comment. And this is another one from
Courtney on Patreon. Just thought I'd send a note.
I started my conversion last fall and was confirmed last
Sunday. Or congratulations Courtney.
It's a massive thing to be converted to the Catholic faith
and to go through confirmation. God's graces are.
Abundant in that time your podcast was so extremely.
Helpful. I had asked others what?
The readings would mean at Mass and no one seemed to know and it
led to frustration on my part. It wasn't until I came across
your podcast on Hello that I really started to enjoy learning
about the gospel and. Started truly to believe fully.
Your explanations are so concise and thorough, and I sincerely
appreciate the work you do. Keep up the.
Good work. Well, thank you so much for
that, Courtney. And yeah, this is a resource
that's designed to help Catholics understand the Gospel
reading at Mass. And I think you're right that a
lot of Catholics will. Sit.
Through at Mass or sit through the Gospel reading and they
might get a couple of little insights from it, but they won't
really understand what's going on in the Gospel reading.
I think that's probably true of most Catholics in the pews on
Sundays, though not all of. Course.
And this podcast is designed to help Catholics with that, to
help them get a grasp of what is going on in the Gospel world and
what Jesus is on about. The last comment we'll look at
today is from Mary on, also on Patreon since first hearing you
on Hello. I've been praying.
In Thanksgiving for your. Clear call to share God's holy
Word. I grew up Byzantine Catholic and
then married a Roman Catholic. In recent years, I had to leave
a vibrant. Serious Bible study group.
Of more than 60 persons to accept a university position.
I literally felt torn from that group.
Your ministry has stood in the gap.
In my life, I've often been reminded of Saint Jerome who
said ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.
May God bless you. One hundredfold for your
consecration of time and commitment.
You have been akin to the face of Christ to me, and I'm sure to
hundreds of others. Thank you from my heart as we
share a love of Christ amid an unoftan Dark World.
Mary, thank you so much for that heartfelt comment.
I'm glad that this podcast is helping you and it's, as you
said here, it's stood in the gap of a serious Bible study that
you're no longer able to access. This podcast has helped you,
helped you kind of rekindle that way of studying Scripture.
I agree with you that I wish there were more.
Good local Catholic Bible. Studies.
They do seem to be happening in some places, but not in every
place, and often the ones that are offered at the parish or
diocesan level are quite basic. There might be an introduction
to the Bible or an introduction to the Gospels, but often
Catholics who want to go further in their faith don't know where
to go to find a regular ongoing resource.
This podcast is helping many people do that, and I'm so glad
it's helping you as well. Thank you to all those who have
listened to this bonus episode and those who listen.
Regularly to the podcast. Please know that your prayers
and your support really do make a difference and I hope.
That this feedback. That's come in encourages you to
think about the way you can use your gifts to as Mary said there
stand in the gap. What is it that people in the
Catholic Church, people in the. World need.
What do they need to hear from you?
What is a skill that you can offer?
And you'll be surprised. I say this all the time on the.
Podcast. You'll be surprised.
How God takes your the little thing you can offer, you can
offer and makes it a really big impact for the Kingdom because
there'll be so many people out there who are needing the thing
that you can offer. So I hope you found this bonus
episode helpful. We'll do more of these in the
future, as well as some Q&A bonus episodes.
And next time, we'll be back to the normal podcast episode.