1 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:06,800 Hi everyone, welcome back to the Daily Gospel Exegesis podcast. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,960 Thanks so much for your support. I hope you're benefiting from 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:12,840 this approach to Scripture where every day we're looking at the 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:14,320 Gospel reading from today's Mass. 5 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,760 This is, as far as I know, the only Catholic podcast that does 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,920 this, where every day we're trying to dive into the readings 7 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,720 from today's Mass and look at the literal sense of the text. 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:28,400 So this is a bonus episode today where we're going to do some 9 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,920 Q&A, responding to some questions that have come in from 10 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,360 the listeners. So hopefully you find this 11 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:36,640 useful. First question we want to look 12 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:41,400 at is from Mondani, and I've had to reword this a bit because I 13 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:43,600 wasn't 100% sure what he was asking. 14 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:48,920 In some of the sentences, he says we knew how important the 15 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,640 Easter Sunday was. Why do we Christians disregard 16 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,560 the Sabbath of Muslims and Jews? So we'll stop there at this 17 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,240 point because it is worth talking about the distinction 18 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:04,840 between the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday. 19 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:07,520 The best place to go for this actually, I think, is the 20 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:09,400 Catechism. The Catechism has a whole 21 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:12,920 section on the commandment you shall honor the Sabbath, and it 22 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,120 goes into quite a bit of detail about how Catholics understand 23 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:17,920 the Sabbath. Because it's not that the 24 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,400 Sabbath was annulled with the coming of Jesus. 25 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:24,320 That's not entirely true. The best way to think about it 26 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:26,880 is the Sabbath is fulfilled in Sunday. 27 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,200 So it's not the Christians ignore the Sabbath, but the 28 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,800 Sabbath has been transformed and there's a bit of nuance there. 29 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:36,240 It's worth looking at the catechism section on that 30 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,760 particular commandment. He then asks, is there a clear 31 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,200 passage from the Bible that the that the practice of 32 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,720 Christianity about Sabbath was Sunday? 33 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,440 Or is it the case that Jesus and all the apostles actually have a 34 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:53,480 daily Mass found in Acts? This is a good deep question 35 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,040 because although the book of Acts is very clear that they had 36 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,160 the Eucharistic Masses, it says that quite a few times. 37 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,400 The book of Acts might give you the impression that they did 38 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:07,000 that every day and that there was no particular special thing 39 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,880 about Sunday, because the book of Acts says several times they 40 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:13,920 gathered daily to break bread. But I think there is actually a 41 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:16,320 development even in the book of Acts to the point where they 42 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,960 started to see, although they did gather daily, they started 43 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,920 to see Sunday as special. So by the time we get to Acts 44 00:02:23,920 --> 00:02:27,080 chapter 20, it says upon the first day of the week when the 45 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,640 disciples came together to break bread, and then it goes on from 46 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:32,800 there. That is the first reference to 47 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,480 this idea that the first day of the week is when the disciples 48 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,640 came together to break bread. Now, that's not necessarily 49 00:02:39,640 --> 00:02:44,320 conclusive because it could just be saying that the event that 50 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:47,920 that passage is talking about happened on Sunday when they 51 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:52,800 were gathering to break bread. But we also do have some other 52 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,800 places where this idea of the Lord's Day is mentioned, 53 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,240 particularly the the apocalypse or the Book of Revelation. 54 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,920 John, early in that book says I was in the Spirit on the Lord's 55 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:08,560 Day. So that term, the Lord's Day, is 56 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,280 actually in Scripture, although it seems to have developed a 57 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:12,800 little later in the New Testament. 58 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,760 So it's probably reasonable to say that the special emphasis on 59 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:20,520 Sunday as the Lord's Day is indeed Apostolic, but it didn't 60 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,240 develop straight away in the book of Acts. 61 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,160 It actually took a little while to develop, but certainly by the 62 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:30,400 time of the close of the New Testament, there's absolutely 63 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:33,200 really clean emphasis on the Lord's Day as Sunday. 64 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,720 We have this confirmed in the Didikay, which is one of the 65 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,640 earliest Christian writings from the bishops that is not in the 66 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,680 New Testament. So the DDK says every Lord's 67 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:45,080 Day, gather yourselves together and break bread. 68 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:47,400 So, but by that point, it had become a commandment. 69 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:50,680 So hopefully that's helpful. And that was a really good 70 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:51,720 question. Mondani. 71 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:53,880 Next, we have a question about the Trinity. 72 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,240 And we actually do get quite a few questions about the Trinity 73 00:03:57,320 --> 00:03:59,960 on this podcast, which shows that it really is the central 74 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:02,840 mystery of the faith. It is one that a lot of people 75 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:04,280 struggle to get their heads around. 76 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,720 And indeed, there is an aspect of it that is a mystery. 77 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,600 But as I often do recommend in this podcast, have a look at the 78 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:13,000 Catechism of the Catholic Church. 79 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,680 The authors of the Catechism have drawn richly on tradition 80 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:21,720 and on Church teaching to make the Church's teachings clear and 81 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:23,240 detailed. And they actually have a really 82 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:25,520 good section in the Catechism towards the start of the 83 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:29,760 Catechism about the Trinity. So Celeste's question is, if we 84 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:35,040 believe in one God and only Jesus is Incarnate, and Jesus 85 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,840 says I am the father of one, how can be Jesus be seated at the 86 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:42,880 right hand of the Father? So I think Celeste's question is 87 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,040 there's sort of multiple elements to it. 88 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:50,960 Jesus is God Incarnate, so she's granting that, but then she's a 89 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:56,360 bit confused by how can Jesus say I am the father of one and 90 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:58,840 how can he also be seated at the right hand of the Father? 91 00:04:58,840 --> 00:05:01,200 Well, let's approach this from two different directions and 92 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:03,400 hopefully this answers the question that she's getting at 93 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:07,320 how can Jesus be Incarnate but also be seated at the right hand 94 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:09,840 of the Father? When we say Jesus is seated at 95 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:13,040 the right hand of the Father, we mean after his resurrection and 96 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,760 ascension, he's now seated at the right hand of the Father. 97 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:20,360 So after Jesus came to earth and was what, When the Son was 98 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,400 Incarnate as Jesus on earth, there was a sense in which he 99 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,880 was not seated at the right hand of the Father, although he still 100 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,200 had the beatific vision. He still had that perfect 101 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,040 communion with God the Father, but he wasn't really seated at 102 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:34,680 the right hand of the Father in that sense. 103 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,720 But after the ascension, he was seated at the right hand of the 104 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:40,240 Father. So I hope that sort of begins to 105 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:41,440 answer that part of the question. 106 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,960 And then how can it be that Jesus and the Father are one if 107 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,080 Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father? 108 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,560 So the question here seems to be how can Jesus and the Father be 109 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,640 united but be in different places? 110 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:56,840 That's sort of another element of this question. 111 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:03,400 When Jesus says the Father and I are 1, he doesn't mean we are 112 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:06,680 always in the same place at the same time or something like 113 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:07,880 that. It doesn't mean that they are 114 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:14,080 the same person, if you like. They are two persons of the same 115 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:18,000 being, which means they can actually be in different 116 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,600 locations even though they are united. 117 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:25,360 And so when Jesus says the Father and I are one, he's 118 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:27,160 saying that they are perfectly united. 119 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:29,120 They share the exact same substance. 120 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,560 They are the same being, but they can be, if we were to put a 121 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,840 physical description on it, they can be in different places. 122 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,000 So when Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, the the 123 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,320 second person of the Trinity is seated next to the first person 124 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:43,800 of the Trinity. So they're still perfectly 125 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,720 united, but they're distinct. Hopefully that gets or starts 126 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,320 together some of the mysteries of the Trinity. 127 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:52,400 Whenever we talk about the Trinity, it is really easy to 128 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,680 fall into heresy with some of the language that we use, and 129 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:57,520 I'll try to be careful in my answer there. 130 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,000 But once again, I would encourage you to look at the 131 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:01,520 Catechism of the Catholic Church. 132 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,720 Around paragraph 200 of the Catechism, it starts to talk 133 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:06,880 about it and it's really well worth reading. 134 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:10,720 I've got a question here from Vivian about Jesus teaching that 135 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:12,800 my father's house has many rooms. 136 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:14,840 And this is a really good question, actually. 137 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:16,800 And theologians have different opinions about this. 138 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:20,840 So Vivian says it is easy to understand that the Jerusalem 139 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:22,640 temple was the model for the imagery. 140 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:24,640 My father's house has many rooms. 141 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,720 And So what Vivian's talking about, there is a lot of 142 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,960 scholars think that when Jesus says my father's house has many 143 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:36,240 mansions or, or many rooms, more literally, it's conjuring up 144 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:38,360 imagery of the temple. The temple in Jerusalem 145 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,960 literally had lots of little rooms around the outside. 146 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:45,320 So maybe that's part of it. She says this imagery may well 147 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,200 refer to a state of intimate union with the Father instead of 148 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,520 a physical structure. So yes, that is one 149 00:07:50,520 --> 00:07:53,240 interpretation. When Jesus says my Father's 150 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,040 house has many rooms, it's thinking more of remaining 151 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,600 united to God. And it's a way of describing the 152 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,080 relationship with the Father rather than an actual physical 153 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,760 state of heaven. That's possible, but we'll go on 154 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:06,200 to look at the other part of the question. 155 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,080 What I cannot understand is what kind of preparation does the 156 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:13,640 risen Lord have to do? So remember, Jesus in this 157 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:17,720 section of John says to the apostles, my father's house has 158 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,400 many mansions. And then he goes on to say, I go 159 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,520 to prepare a place for you. And so the question Vivian has 160 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:25,960 is what? What does Jesus need to build in 161 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:27,840 heaven? Isn't heaven already the perfect 162 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,000 place? What is there to prepare is what 163 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,440 she says. It's a really good question. 164 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:37,080 And again, theologians have different opinions about what 165 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,600 state is Jesus talking about. The first thing to say here is 166 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:44,159 Jesus is drawing an analogy from wedding practices. 167 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:46,600 Remember in that culture, as we've talked about in this 168 00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:50,600 podcast, when a man and a woman were betrothed, then the next 169 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:54,400 step was before they were consummated the marriage, the 170 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:58,520 man would go and literally build an extension or some sort of 171 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:00,240 house for him and his wife to dwell in. 172 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:04,120 And that could take some time. So when Jesus says to his bride, 173 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:07,280 his apostles, I go to prepare a place for you, that's the 174 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:10,640 primary meaning his drawing. Whenever Jesus draws an analogy, 175 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:13,000 we need to be careful not to be too literal with it. 176 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:17,160 Maybe Jesus doesn't mean every aspect of this analogy to be 177 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,800 literally the case. Maybe we shouldn't see Jesus as 178 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:21,760 literally building a structure in heaven. 179 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,520 He's just drawing an analogy about this idea that he needs to 180 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:29,200 go away to prepare for our arrival in some way. 181 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:32,400 Having said that, what can we say then what? 182 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,560 What is what does it mean to say Jesus needs to go and prepare 183 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:40,240 room for us in heaven? I think there's the sort of 184 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:42,800 hints to this answer in the Gospel of John itself. 185 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,480 Remember, Jesus says in this gospel where I go, you cannot 186 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,120 come. So there's this idea that at 187 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:54,080 least not yet no one can go to heaven until Jesus has gone 188 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:56,000 there. So I think that's that's sort of 189 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,640 what's in mind here when it says I go to prepare a place for you. 190 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:03,040 That the theology being talked about here is before anyone can 191 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:07,560 really enter heaven, enter the fullness of heaven, Jesus as God 192 00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:09,840 Incarnate has to go there himself. 193 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:13,840 Jesus in his body has to be taken up to heaven as the first 194 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:16,440 glorified human to be able to go there. 195 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:19,760 That will then allow other glorified humans later to go 196 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,360 there. So I think the best way to think 197 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:24,880 about this is it's talking about the new heavens and new earth. 198 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,640 This final state where people will have redeemed bodies. 199 00:10:28,920 --> 00:10:33,600 That was not possible until God became Incarnate and in his 200 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,800 Incarnate body had a glorified body which then went to heaven. 201 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:41,960 That in a sense opened up the gates of heaven in the sense of 202 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:44,480 enabling the new heavens and new earth to be possible. 203 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:46,040 I think that's one way of reading it. 204 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:51,240 Other people read it even, as it's not possible for any soul 205 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:55,200 even to get into the presence of God in the full sense until 206 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,800 Jesus is sent to heaven. That's another possible 207 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,080 interpretation, but hopefully those give you some some things 208 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:05,600 to work with, She goes on. Jesus also told the apostles 209 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:07,600 that he has shown them everything, given them 210 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:09,480 everything, so that they can go to heaven. 211 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,840 Even on the part of the apostles, all the preparation 212 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:15,640 they need to do is to continue believing in Jesus and live his 213 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:18,840 teachings. So I think this is answered in 214 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,720 what we just said, which is, well, you're quite right that on 215 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:23,960 the apostles part, that's all they need to do. 216 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,960 But in order for anyone to get into heaven in the 1st place, 217 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:33,360 the first step is that Jesus has to do something when he goes to 218 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,080 heaven. And we just discussed what that 219 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:36,880 is. So I think your understanding of 220 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:38,920 this is quite right, Vivian, and you've asked a really good 221 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:41,360 question and hopefully what I've said has been helpful in 222 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,040 clarifying that. I've got a question here from 223 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:48,040 Matthew, and it's about that passage in Matthew's Gospel 224 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:52,000 where it says it is easier, where Jesus says it is easier 225 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,680 for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich 226 00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:58,920 man to enter the Kingdom of God. And this particular phrase, as 227 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,400 you know, has been the subject of a lot of controversy. 228 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:04,760 A lot of people have tried to get around this by saying that, 229 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:07,120 well, there's a few different explanations. 230 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:11,000 One of them is that when it says camel going through the eye of 231 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,640 the needle, that's actually a reference to a real gate in 232 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,240 Jerusalem, where camels would literally have to pass through 233 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:20,240 the gate by bending down and then coming out the other side. 234 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,040 And so someone who takes that interpretation would say, well, 235 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,640 Jesus is saying that it's possible because camels do this 236 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:31,960 all the time, but it's very hard and it takes work rather than 237 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:34,000 Jesus teaching that it's actually impossible. 238 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:36,920 Now, I think there's a lot of problems with this 239 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,640 interpretation and good scholarly commentaries will 240 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:42,360 point this out that that's not a good way of understanding it. 241 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:46,680 And the primary problem with that is that we have no record 242 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:48,920 that there ever was such a gate in Jerusalem. 243 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:50,440 That just seems like bad scholarship. 244 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,240 It seems like this is isogesis where people are trying to get 245 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:55,800 around some of Jesus hard teachings. 246 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:00,680 Now Matthew's question here relates to that Cyril of Eric 247 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:03,960 Alexandria claimed that camel was a Greek typo where the 248 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,360 biblical Greek camelos was written in place of the biblical 249 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,320 Greek camelos, which means rope or cable. 250 00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:13,880 And therefore the better translation would be it is 251 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:18,840 easier for an anchor cable to go through the eye of a needle than 252 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:20,720 a for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. 253 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:23,240 So on this view, it's actually about a cable and not about a 254 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:25,360 camel. But again, this is a minority 255 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,000 view. It's not really taken seriously 256 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:32,280 by contemporary scholars. This is certainly it's a view 257 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,840 that was endorsed by Cyril of Alexandria. 258 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:40,160 But I suspect that in this case Cyril may well have been maybe 259 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:44,160 motivated by the same thing where he didn't like what Jesus 260 00:13:44,160 --> 00:13:46,560 words were, so he tried to come up with another explanation of 261 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:50,360 how they have arrived in our text as some sort of scribal 262 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:51,600 error. And indeed, we do believe 263 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,480 scribal errors can happen, but we don't have good evidence that 264 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,000 it has happened here. And Matthew goes on to say, I 265 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,240 like this visual metaphor of having to unload a camel before 266 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,560 it can pass through the gate as a dovetail strongly with 267 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:08,640 breaking free of attachments. Almost a Buddhist view given the 268 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,400 school of thought, strong focus on detachment from material 269 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:15,440 things. Now that part is is actually a 270 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:17,440 good point. Jesus does talk about being free 271 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,360 of attachments. And you can sort of see how this 272 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:23,080 visual image of the camel having to be unloaded of everything 273 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:27,920 before it can go in does sort of fit a little bit. 274 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,400 But again, the key problem is camel passing through the eye of 275 00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:33,200 a needle. There's no evidence that this 276 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:35,320 needle is a reference to any particular gate. 277 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:37,840 At least that's what contemporary scholars are 278 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:42,160 saying. So Matthew goes on to say he 279 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:44,400 prefers that it was maybe a scribal error. 280 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:47,600 My preference is that we should take this as Jesus says it, 281 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,080 which is as we discussed in the episode, he's talking about one 282 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,960 of the biggest animals that people in that culture could 283 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:56,640 conceive of passing through one of the smallest objects that 284 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:58,160 people in that culture could conceive of. 285 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:00,760 That's how the metaphor works. If you try and take out those 286 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:02,240 elements, the metaphor doesn't work. 287 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:07,440 Jesus point is, it's impossible. It's now he's using hyperbole 288 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,160 here in his visual image, much like when he says you need to 289 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:12,680 take the plank out of your own eye. 290 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:15,680 And as we know it's not possible for someone's for a plank to be 291 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:18,000 in someone's eye. So it's kind of like a really 292 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:21,000 graphic over exaggerated image. It's the same thing happening 293 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,040 here. But the point Jesus wants to 294 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:28,400 make is something like this is incredibly hard and and the 295 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,040 point he makes is that it's impossible without God's help. 296 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:35,040 In fact, he goes on to say that so I think it fits much better 297 00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,480 and contemporary scores would say if it's much better to 298 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,280 interpret it that way rather than trying to say it has 299 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,400 something to do with a camel bending down to get through a 300 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:44,560 gate. But I have received a few 301 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:47,640 questions about that very thing. So you can see it is a view 302 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:51,320 that's out there that people are trying to come up with alternate 303 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:55,320 explanations for because they don't love this idea of a rich 304 00:15:55,320 --> 00:16:00,000 man being finding it difficult to get into the Kingdom of God 305 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,720 because we are, you know, 21st century Western society. 306 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:04,520 We do have a lot of rich people around. 307 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,640 But I hope that that comment was helpful and it sort of covers, 308 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:12,200 it's a response to lots of questions that have come in. 309 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,800 But I would encourage you to do a bit more research on that if 310 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:18,480 you're interested in this issue of whether there was a camel's 311 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:20,880 gate or not. Most scholars are saying that 312 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,520 there really wasn't. So we have a bit of a different 313 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:29,320 question now from Ethne. She says an issue was raised on 314 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,120 Catholic radio that I was listening to. 315 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,200 Is it ever permissible to tell a lie? 316 00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,160 And if so, does the Bible support this? 317 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,880 For example, telling the Gestapo that you are not hiding Jews in 318 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,800 your home when you are? This was narrated in Corrie 10 319 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:49,480 brooms The Hiding Place and some Catholic, and she mentions 320 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:51,080 someone here. Someone on Catholic media 321 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,360 suggested that it was never permissible, but I think the Old 322 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,080 Testament might support the odd distortion of truth. 323 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:00,720 Now, what you're saying here is true. 324 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:03,840 There is a discussion amongst Catholic theologians, 325 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,599 particularly moral theologians, about whether it's ever OK to 326 00:17:06,599 --> 00:17:09,599 tell a lie. This isn't a strictly biblical 327 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:12,640 question, so I have no particular expertise on this. 328 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:18,160 A lot of people in church history, I believe Augustine was 329 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:22,359 very strong on saying you can never tell any sort of lie even 330 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:24,480 it's just if it's to save the life of others. 331 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,880 I think some contemporary Thomas scholars still believe that it's 332 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:32,440 never OK to tell a lie. It's an ongoing discussion. 333 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:34,680 Because you are quite right that in the Old Testament there's a 334 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:39,520 few places where God seems to do some deception himself. 335 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,120 And then there's certainly places where he approves of 336 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:46,320 deception done by other people. So it's not, yeah, it's not a 337 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:49,400 clear issue. The best place to go, as I say, 338 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:50,960 with most issues, is the Catechism. 339 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:55,560 The Catechism in its part three section of moral theology has 340 00:17:56,120 --> 00:17:58,520 some interesting teaching there about lying. 341 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:02,360 It does say you must always uphold the truth, and it has 342 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:04,680 quite a long section about the importance of telling the truth 343 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:06,480 and people have a right to truth. 344 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,760 So with all that said, that so far would seem to imply that in 345 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:13,320 that famous case where someone knocks on the door and says are 346 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,360 you hiding Jews in the house, then based on that you would 347 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:19,240 have to tell the truth. However, the Catechism does add 348 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:21,280 a bit of nuance here. The Catechism doesn't settle the 349 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,680 question, but it does seem to imply that there are times when 350 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,080 you don't have to do that. So I'm going to read here from 351 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,280 paragraph 2489 from the Catechism. 352 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,360 Charity and respect for the truth should dictate the 353 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:35,600 response to every request for information or communication. 354 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,800 The good and safety of others, respect for privacy and the 355 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,480 common good are sufficient reasons for being silent about 356 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:48,160 what ought not be known or for making use of discreet language. 357 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,720 The duty to avoid scandal often commands strict discretion. 358 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:56,040 No one is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not 359 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:59,600 have the right to know it. So in that paragraph, the 360 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:03,240 Catechism doesn't say you can ever lie, but what it does say 361 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:06,040 is that you in some situations where someone is asking for the 362 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,680 truth, you can either remain silent or you can use discreet 363 00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,840 language. And that that means that you can 364 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:15,360 answer the question without without revealing the full 365 00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:17,760 truth. So that is the compromise 366 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:19,320 position that the Catechism has taken. 367 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:21,440 And that is the position that we should take as Catholics. 368 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:24,160 So when you hear Catholic commentators say it's never OK 369 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,040 to tell a lie, the Catechism would seem to back that up. 370 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,040 However, there is another part of that story which is you're 371 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:32,680 not always obligated to tell the full truth either. 372 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,040 So it's a very interesting question in moral theology. 373 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,160 I hope that helps you, Ethne. We've got a question here from 374 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:42,720 Vivian and this is a question about hell and it's a really 375 00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:45,840 good question because it's not one that a lot of people know. 376 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,080 Can I seek your clarification on the below statement? 377 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,040 She asks. The teaching of the Catholic 378 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,600 Church is that everybody will have an will have a body in the 379 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:59,000 afterlife, even those in hell will have a body. 380 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,040 So that is something that was mentioned in a previous episode, 381 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:04,240 she says. I got a bit confused when I 382 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,720 heard this. I recall from several talks 383 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:09,840 about the end times that upon death, the soul separates from 384 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:13,600 the body and undergoes particular the soul undergoes 385 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:16,720 particular judgement. At the second coming, Last 386 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,200 Judgement, the body of the just, including the souls in 387 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,640 purgatory, will be resurrected and reunited with the soul in 388 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:24,560 heaven. So everything she said so far is 389 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,320 spot on. But for those souls who at the 390 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,520 particular judgement was sentenced to eternal punishment, 391 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,840 they won't be part of those whose bodies will be resurrected 392 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:36,440 and reunited with their souls in hell. 393 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:41,040 This is my understanding. How can souls in hell have 394 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,240 bodies then? So Vivian, actually the church, 395 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:46,880 although it doesn't say a lot about this in the Catechism. 396 00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,320 Yeah, the church's teaching is that everybody will have a body 397 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:52,920 of sorts in the afterlife. And one of the key texts this is 398 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,880 based on is John chapter 5, verse 29. 399 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,080 Do not be amazed at this. This is Jesus speaking for the 400 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,840 hour is coming, when all those who are in their graves will 401 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,440 hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the 402 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,360 resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the 403 00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:12,400 resurrection of judgement. So do you notice that phrase 404 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:13,440 there? There's going to be a 405 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,880 resurrection of life and a resurrection of judgement, which 406 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:20,120 means that those who are already in separated from God, their 407 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:21,840 souls are separated from God in hell. 408 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,320 In the general final judgement, they will also be resurrected 409 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,440 into a body and then condemned to hell in their body. 410 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,080 It's also backed up by Daniel 12 verse 2. 411 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,520 Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to 412 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,920 everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt. 413 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:46,080 And Acts 2415. I have the same hope in God that 414 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:48,440 they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of 415 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:50,720 both the righteous and the wicked. 416 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:52,720 So there it is. It's quite clear in Scripture 417 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:55,360 that there will be a resurrection of the wicked, and 418 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:59,440 theologians have discussed what it might look like for someone 419 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,240 in hell to have a body and how exactly that suffering and hell 420 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:04,480 will look like, given that people will have bodies. 421 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:06,280 So that is actually part of church teaching. 422 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:08,400 It's not often the way we describe things. 423 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:12,000 Often we describe it as though only those in the final new 424 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,840 heavens and new earth will have a body of a sort that will have 425 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:19,160 a glorified body, but also those in the final how will also 426 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,400 suffer in their body. And there's reasons why they 427 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:23,760 suffer in their body too, that theologians have developed. 428 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,920 I hope that helps answer your really good question, Vivian. 429 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:31,160 So got a question here from Raymond asking about the middle 430 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:32,480 coming. And this is actually a common 431 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:34,920 question that we get in this podcast. 432 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,360 We do cover the Olivet Discourse and other similar prophecies of 433 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,840 Jesus where he talks about the destruction of the temple in AD 434 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:43,960 70. And in this podcast, we've 435 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:48,520 talked about how some scholars refer to that event as Jesus 436 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:52,480 middle coming. So he had a first coming when he 437 00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:54,600 was incarnated on earth and had his ministry. 438 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,760 And then he had a middle coming, which was a specific judgement 439 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,360 of Jesus on the Jewish leadership in AD 70. 440 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:03,080 We've talked about that a lot in the podcast. 441 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:05,680 And then he's going to have a second coming in the future. 442 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:09,720 So it's been given the title middle coming by scholars. 443 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:14,720 Now he wants to know where is this title Middle coming called 444 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,000 that in the tradition. Now as far as I'm aware from the 445 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,680 reading I've done on this, it's not typically called the middle 446 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:22,920 coming in older church tradition. 447 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,680 However, church fathers did often refer. 448 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:30,200 They did often discuss the Olivet Discourse and they would 449 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:33,480 often say it has been fulfilled in the destruction of the temple 450 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,680 so that they interpreted it the same way that we're interpreting 451 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,520 it in this podcast. Not all of them, by the way, but 452 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:43,880 a lot of them understood Jesus apocalyptic language to be a 453 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:45,840 reference to the destruction of the temple. 454 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:50,760 And then recent scholars have given this view or this event. 455 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:52,560 They've given it the label the Middle Coming. 456 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:57,200 If you're interested in this topic, can I recommend? 457 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,920 There's a book I recommend sometimes in this podcast on the 458 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,360 topic of the Olivet Discourse and the Middle Coming, which is 459 00:24:03,360 --> 00:24:07,240 called Rapture End Times error that leaves the Bible behind. 460 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:11,400 It's by David Curry, a Catholic biblical scholar who dives right 461 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:13,160 into the text of the Olivet Discourse. 462 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,120 And in that book, he actually quotes from several church 463 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:21,360 fathers who are making the exact same point, which is that they 464 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:24,920 believed these events were fulfilled in AD 70. 465 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,320 It's a really well written book on a topic that not many 466 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:30,800 scholars have been willing to talk about. 467 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:35,280 But given that a lot of the Gospels talk involve this 468 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:37,960 prophecy of Jesus, we've actually spent a bit of time in 469 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,680 the podcast talking about it. And for many people, it's the 470 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:43,520 first time they've heard this information about the middle 471 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:46,920 coming. So I hope that gives you a brief 472 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:49,840 answer to your question. And that resource is one that I 473 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,280 do recommend diving into. We've got a question here from 474 00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:55,240 Jonathan. And Jonathan is asking about 475 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,960 that phrase in the in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, 476 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:03,640 if someone slaps you on the right cheek, then offer your 477 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,880 left also. And this is indeed one of Jesus 478 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:09,840 most radical teachings. It's a bit harder to accept. 479 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,160 And he says in your exegesis, it sounded like you were saying 480 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,840 that Jesus was inviting his listeners to endure and receive 481 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:19,680 further abuse. And I've heard that 482 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,040 interpretation before. Indeed, that is the 483 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,040 interpretation that we offered in this podcast is that when 484 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:28,000 Jesus says if someone slaps you, slaps you on the right cheek off 485 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,680 your left, he's saying you don't need to retaliate. 486 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:34,160 Be willing to endure suffering. I think that is what he's 487 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:37,600 teaching. He goes on to say but, and then 488 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:42,160 he's quoting from a specific well known Catholic media 489 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:47,440 teacher says that the left hand would be considered unclean. 490 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,520 So turning to face that direction was less an invitation 491 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,320 or acceptance of another strike offering the face to be struck 492 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:57,760 there, but instead a bold but simple way of declaring that the 493 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,000 person struck would not be struck again. 494 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:02,840 It seemed in a very astute observation. 495 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,840 I was wondering if you had heard this or knew how true it was of 496 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,640 the culture at the time. So I haven't actually heard this 497 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:12,720 interpretation before, so it's an interesting one. 498 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:15,440 The left hand would be considered unclean. 499 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,760 So turning to face that direction was less an invitation 500 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,240 or acceptance of another strike, but instead of simple way of 501 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:24,920 declaring that it wouldn't be struck again. 502 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,120 It's interesting and I do see how that interpretation works. 503 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:30,760 However, I think there's a couple of problems with it. 504 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:34,000 So firstly, remember in the podcast we said that if someone 505 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:38,480 slaps you on the right cheek, and that's the way the the 506 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:40,240 scripture there is written. If someone slaps you on the 507 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:41,960 right cheek, then turn it off your left. 508 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,440 But if someone think about it, if someone's slapping you on the 509 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:48,160 right cheek, that person's facing you and they've slapped 510 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,960 you on the right cheek, it would have been their left hand that 511 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:55,160 did the slapping. So hopefully you can picture 512 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:57,760 that. So this interpretation that 513 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:01,920 someone's left hand is unclean and would never do any slapping, 514 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,920 which seems to maybe be part of the interpretation that's being 515 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,960 offered here, doesn't make sense because Jesus has assumed that 516 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,640 people will be slapped on their right cheek, which would be by 517 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,160 someone's left hand. So I'm not sure that this left 518 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,840 hand is unclean, therefore it would never do any slapping. 519 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,120 Interpretation works. But also this is a really good 520 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,360 lesson in a rule of exegesis, which is look at the surrounding 521 00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:25,240 context. Is there anything else before or 522 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:27,040 after it that would amplify the meaning of it? 523 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:30,880 And there is this is 1 little example Jesus gives among many. 524 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:32,840 Remember there's in the Sermon on the Mount. 525 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,800 He goes on to say if someone makes you walk one mile, go 526 00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:40,120 another mile. If someone would want to take 527 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:42,960 one of your clothes, offer a second item of clothing as well. 528 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,760 So it only we really need to interpret the slap you on the 529 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,320 left cheek, right cheek in relation to those others. 530 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:52,200 What's the point of all three of them? 531 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:54,480 The point that Jesus wants to make with all three of them is 532 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,320 if someone abuses you, be willing to endure further abuse. 533 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,200 That is the best way to interpret this passage, I think. 534 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,360 And I hope that that was a helpful clarification for you in 535 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:09,560 seeing how we should interpret things in in accordance with 536 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:11,600 what's happening in the surrounding words as well. 537 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:14,680 Last question we'll look at today is from Vivian again, 538 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,000 she's asking about Matthew chapter 6, verses 7 to 15. 539 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,200 This is when Jesus gives the our Father prayer and you know, 540 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:24,720 exegesis on that episode. We looked particularly at verse 541 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,760 13 and 14, which is when Jesus says do not put us to the test 542 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,760 or as we often say in our prayers, in our version of the 543 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,160 our Father, do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from 544 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:37,320 evil. So we talked there about the 545 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:40,160 best way to understand, lead us not into temptation. 546 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,280 There's a lot of controversy about that because the letter of 547 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,240 James says that God does not tempt people. 548 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,200 So we talked about maybe the best way to think about this is 549 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:54,160 God is I pray to God not to put us to the test because we know 550 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,480 that God does test people. And so maybe this is a prayer 551 00:28:57,760 --> 00:29:01,640 saying where possible, God do not put me to the test. 552 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,600 We also looked at how does that relate to the next verse about 553 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:07,600 deliver us from the evil one. One of the things that was 554 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,880 mentioned in that episode is that in the Italian lectionary 555 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:17,840 translation that has recently that phrase do not lead us into 556 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:21,760 temptation has been deliberately change to something more like do 557 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,160 not put us to the test. So that's in the Italian Our 558 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:27,400 Father when it's said in the Italian liturgy. 559 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:32,960 And so Vivian's question is why has the Pope not instructed the 560 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:37,120 amendment of the word temptation for all lectionaries aside from 561 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,440 Italian? I'm not sure about that. 562 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,320 That might be a question for a Canon lawyer. 563 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:45,120 I suspect that it's because he's the Bishop of Rome, which is in 564 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,120 Italy. He's exercising his authority 565 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:52,200 there, probably through the the curia that is involved there. 566 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:56,720 He's exercising his authority as the Bishop of the city of Rome 567 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:01,760 to make that change for the churches in his in his area 568 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,120 because he feels that that's prudent as the Bishop of that 569 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:05,920 area. But it seems that he didn't 570 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,280 exercise his universal jurisdiction over the church in 571 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:11,920 this matter. He didn't feel that it was a 572 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,400 change that he wanted to insist on all across the world, but 573 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,720 just in his diocese. I think that's probably the way 574 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,840 to think about why this only happened in an Italian diocese. 575 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,240 Hope that answers your question, and I hope you've found these 576 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,600 answers helpful to everyone who's listened today. 577 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:31,680 We do get a lot of really interesting questions and I love 578 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:35,960 being able to get into them, hopefully offer you some good 579 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:37,440 answers. But I also think there's a lot 580 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:41,800 of value in going through the process of talking about how we 581 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:43,680 got to that answer. That's where really good 582 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,960 teaching and learning happens. Hopefully all of this is helping 583 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,560 you grow in your walk with God and enabling you to have a 584 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:52,000 deeper understanding of Scripture. 585 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:54,720 If you're listening to this today, please keep telling other 586 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,520 people about this podcast. It's the only daily Catholic 587 00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:01,000 podcast out there that gives you a deep dive into the literal 588 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,760 sense of Scripture. Consider becoming a supporter. 589 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:09,680 And you can also get access now to full chronological verse by 590 00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:12,880 verse audio commentaries on the Gospels. 591 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,640 And you can see the link in the description for this episode to 592 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:18,360 see which ones are currently available. 593 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:21,600 So that's a really good resource to find all the episodes for a 594 00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:24,920 particular gospel in one place in chronological order. 595 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:28,160 Thanks so much for your support of this ministry. 596 00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:31,360 We'll get back into the regular episode next time.