Hi everyone, welcome to this bonus episode of the Daily Gospel Exegesis podcast. Thanks again so much to all of you who are supporting the ministry in your prayers, or by telling other people about the ministry, or by your financial support through the Patreon page. It really does make a difference and ultimately it's all God's work. We do have some new projects underway for the ministry that I'm hoping to announce very
soon. So keep your eye out for some more bonus episodes in the coming weeks where I'm going to talk about the things that the ministry is working on. And you guys as the listeners, particularly those of you who are financially supporting the ministry, you are the ones that make these projects possible. So once again today I just wanted to share some feedback that's come in about the
ministry. Again, the purpose of this is to show you how much difference a small grassroots ministry can make in the lives of people who are searching for particular resources. And once again, I want to encourage each of you who think you might have a particular gift from God, find a way to use it to, to serve the body of Christ. And for some of you, that would mean making a podcast, making a website, making particular resources that aren't yet currently available in the Catholic world.
That's what I tried to do with this podcast. And it's bearing a lot of good fruit as you'll see today. Thank you to all of those who have written in with their feedback. This is just a selection of some of them. So Ruth says, just wanted to thank you for doing this. I've been listening to you on Hello for the last couple of months. I tried to never miss an episode. You've helped my husband and I grow our faith.
You've planted the seeds for us to take up reading the Bible and now have a better understanding thanks to you and this ministry. You've helped revive our Catholic faith and return to the Church as well. I enjoy listening to the Mass and playing your episode after to pick up on things I missed. Thank you so much for that feedback, Ruth, and it's fantastic that this podcast is helping you come back to the
church. Never underestimate, I often say this, but I'll say it again, never underestimate what studying the Bible can do for people's faith, for their Catholic faith in particular. Having access to good, solid resources that help them understand Jesus and the Bible can bring people back to the church. And I'm so grateful, Ruth, that this podcast has helped do that for you. We have some feedback here from Georgette, who is one of our Patreon supporters.
Your analysis is so satisfying. I'm not a theologian or an apologist, but I am a litigator and a historian. And as such, I can recognise the skills of a reader, a teacher, a persuader. And you have those in spades. Thank you so much for those kind words, Georgette. I think if I do have those gifts, then I think it's those are gifts from God. And I'm trying my best to use those in a way that will serve the body of Christ. And Georgette also had a couple of thoughts about one of the
episodes that's worth sharing. She is a student of history. So in terms of the crucifixion, here's what she says about the colour that Jesus is dressed in as during his trial before pilot when Jesus was dressed by the Romans for his crucifixion, a scarlet cloth was not a reference to the colour, But the Greek word seems to refer to the weave and the type. If it meant red and was really expensive, ordinary Roman soldiers would never have been dressed in it.
Red fabric dye was not that expensive for the Roman soldiers, first of all because they had access to lower priced cockney or dye from the shells of beetles the Roman explorers had access to. And then she provides a link to some more information about what's meant by the term scarlet. So that's interesting, Georgette. I wasn't aware that this scholarly debate about what exactly is meant by scarlet.
Georgette is saying that it probably doesn't refer to red because red was a fairly common colour and didn't necessarily represent royalty. I'm not sure whether that's the case, but that's something really interesting to think about. Thank you so much, Georgette. She also has some comments about the crucifixion itself.
Georgette's got a really interesting background across a few different areas and she says you'll be aware that there's some debate about where the nails were placed when Jesus was crucified. Traditionally we picture the nails as going straight through, straight through Jesus palms and his feet. So Georgia here says she's been involved in death penalty cases and she had to look into some of
the mechanisms of death. She says even with a little seat on the vertical bar of a cross, there's zero way that one could nail a person up by their hands and feet and let them stay up there with their body weight, not pulling them off the cross almost instantly. She goes on to talk about some experiments that have shown that trying to nail directly through someone's hands and feet would not work for a crucifixion.
She says far more likely the nail was placed between the bones of the wrists and the feet were either nailed through the heels or sometimes through 1 longer spike through the feet higher up closer to the ankles. So what Georgette is saying is consistent with what some recent scholarship is showing about the likely way that Romans did crucifixions.
And you may well be right. Of course we do have the traditional images of the nails through Jesus hands and feet, and indeed we have the stigmata as well. And we also have visions of people with and in the vision Jesus hands and feet are literally pierced. However, we do understand that sometimes visions can show things are meaningful for people without them necessarily representing what it was actually like at the real
crucifixion historically. So there's all sorts of complicated things that go into this. We may never be able to get a definitive answer, but it's certainly useful to have access to the historical data that supporters like Georgia can provide because it makes sure that we're not just assuming one particular viewpoint.
In this podcast we always want to give you different viewpoints and I'm always very grateful to listeners to pointing out when there are different ways of looking at particular passages. So Mary Lee, who is also a Patreon supporter, says this. Hello was my beginning finding your gospel exegesis. I didn't realise how little I knew about Jesus Jewishness. There are so many unanswered questions about the customs and
genesis of God's chosen people. Your explanations are so insightful, and I'd like your accent. Supporting the ministry is important because I get so much from it, including a sense of grace. So thank you so much for your support, Mary Lee. And I'm, I'm glad this podcast is helping you understand the Jewish context of the New Testament. Understanding that can be a real groundbreaking finding for a lot of people when you first encounter it.
She goes on to talk about how she's part of the Shroud Science Group, which is a group of about 100 international scholars who've studied the Shroud of Turin. And she says your podcast adds another layer to understanding the divine Word of God. When one sees the passion of God on the Shroud, it can bring tears, even after all of these years. So I'd encourage all of you as listeners to look into the Shroud of Shirin.
There are, of course, mixed opinions among scholars about it, but there seems to be a growing consensus that the Shroud of Turin may indeed be authentic. And as Mary says, there's a group of scientists and scholars that study the Shroud, and there's some really fascinating findings. Some good resources are available through Father Robert Spitzer, who does quite a bit of work teaching Catholics about the Shroud of Turin. It's it's well worth looking at. We have some feedback from an
anonymous listener here. I'm writing from New York City and I've been listening to your podcast via Hello and I must say God bless you and thank you. I believe you're doing the Lord's work delivering the Daily Exegesis podcast, which I think helps to add informed context and substance to Bible scripture. I listen to your podcast on a daily basis, which helps me to better interpret and understand gospel readings in their proper context and has inspired me to
read the Bible more. I've been reading the Bible more over the past year than I have in my entire 40 years on this earth, and this podcast is a significant reason for that. What a wonderful gift and a great resource. Though my faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ never waned, I was a person who is distant from the Catholic Church for years, but have found my way back feeling strengthened, renewed and reinvigorated in the Catholic faith.
Keep doing this work for which I plan to continue to support. Thank you so much for that feedback from this anonymous person from New York City. It's amazing the amount of feedback I get from people who are probably a bit older who say this podcast has helped them understand the Catholic faith in a way that they would never expose to in all of their in all of their early life as a Catholic. We need to do more in this space.
We need to expose Catholics to good Bible resources, encourage them to study the Bible, come alongside them, do more Bible studies, do more catechesis. And thankfully, there's more and more resources available now to do just that. And I'm glad this podcast is helping people go deeper in their faith and ultimately in their relationship with God. Some feedback here from Gina. I listen to your Bible exegesis every morning. It's always the first thing I do
so that I don't miss a day. That's how important to my life it is. I found the podcast through the Hello app and I was pleased that I did. I'd been searching and trying other courses for a while to replace a long time Bible class that ended when my teacher retired. I've studied the Bible for many years, Bible studies as well as academic courses, and I'm continuing to learn through your podcast.
One of the recent revelations that I've never heard another Bible teaching emphasize is the idea that in many instances, Jesus is talking specifically to his apostles, not to us. That has given me a new perspective through which to read much of the New Testament. Thank you so much for that feedback, Gina. And yeah, it's interesting. That's something that struck me as I was beginning to study the words of the Gospels and getting into the nitty gritty.
There's quite a few things that Jesus says primarily just to his apostles. Now, some of those things Jesus then wanted the apostles to teach others, but quite a lot of the gospels are instructions that were at the time just for his apostles. And I agree that when you realise that, it helps you resolve a lot of questions you have, She says. I just wanted to write to say thank you for your podcast, for your time and dedication that
make it so valuable. I know the Holy Spirit is inspiring you daily to strengthen the faith of your listeners. I'm pleased to be a monthly supporter and tell people about it as often as I can. Thank you so much, Gina, for supporting the ministry and for continuing to tell other people about it. Ultimately, that's the most important thing for grassroots small ministries. What we rely on is listeners to tell other people about it. That's how things like this
grow. Some feedback from Albert. I wanted to drop a note to say that my wife and I are huge fans of your podcast. We've been avid listeners for about two years now, ever since it became available on the Hello App. We truly enjoy everything about it, from the insightful discussions on the biblical context times to the thoughtful connections with specific teachings in Cat in the Catholic Catechism.
Your work is so much appreciated and we've been recommending it to our friends so they can TuneIn and enjoy it too. Thank you, Albert, Indeed, Hello is doing a great service in the way it's making all sorts of audio resources available for Catholics, from Bible studies to reflections to music.
If you are a listener who's been sort of wanting an app that brings together some of the best of Catholic audio in a way that's categorized really well and will help you deepen your relationship with God, the Hello app is well worth checking out if you haven't already. We've got some feedback here from a fellow Australian, Rosanna, She says. I've been following your podcast in Hello. I really appreciate your work. It gives me a better understanding of the Gospels and history.
I appreciate that it explains clearly an interpretation different from my own. I like the going before attending Mass. I understand the literal reflection on the gospel and parables. I find this very helpful for me. Thank you for doing this podcast. May God bless you and your work.
Thank you so much, Rosanna. I'm glad this podcast is helping you as a companion to understanding the readings of Mass. That's really the point of the format of this particular podcast is to help you understand the gospel readings at Mass on in a deeper way. We've got a quick comment on one of the episodes from David, who's a Patreon supporter. He says, I had this random thought that I consider worth meditating on.
In one of the episodes for Matthew's Gospel, you mentioned that we are fortunate that the gospel writers tell us the interpretation of some of the parables. Now that's true. I do tend to emphasize that the gospel authors often give us an interpretation of the parable that most of the crowd in Jesus time wouldn't have heard. So in that sense, we're more fortunate than the crowd. But he goes on to make a good point.
We need to consider that the people listening to Jesus were witnesses of several miracles that we aren't. Therefore, I think there's a trade off between how fortunate people were or are. Yeah, it's a really good point, David. It's true that they got to see some amazing miracles that we would love to see. The general principle that applies to all of us is the more revelation or the more information about God that we receive, the more accountable we are.
And we in our 21st century need to be careful because we have a lot of revelation from God and information from God through the church, and we're accountable to God to know those things and to act on them. So thank you for that wonderful feedback, David. Quick comment from Brenda. She says please never stop what you're doing. I absolutely love listening to you and understanding the Bible. I have started recommending you to our youth group kids.
Thank you so much, Brenda, and I'm glad you're recommending this to youth groups. This podcast would be particularly suited probably to older high school students and maybe for college students as well. We do tend to find, and I've seen this as well in my own work, that as Catholics progress through high school, they get more and more fed up with simplistic, cheesy interpretations of scripture and they want something a bit
deeper. And this podcast may be a good one to give or to tell your teen, your older teenagers about, to help them start to develop an appreciation for that deeper level and to give them what they're looking for ultimately so that they don't get switched off the faith thinking that it hasn't got any intellectual substance to it. Thank you for the work you're doing, Brenda. Quick comment here from Paul. He says, First off, I want to
thank you for this podcast. It has helped me to understand my Catholic faith greatly. I often try to search on the Internet Catholic interpretations of scripture but found it cumbersome and difficult to do so. I agree Paul, sometimes when you do a Google search it can be hard to find Catholic interpretations of scripture because most of the websites out there are Protestant
interpretations. Having said that, there are now quite a few good Catholic interpretation websites out there, so it's good that there's things happening in that space. He says can you consider putting a repeat button on your podcast so that it will repeat automatically? I enjoyed listening over and over during the day for pieces
I've missed. So actually, Paul, most podcast apps that you listen to this podcast on do have a repeat button that you can use if you would like to go back and listen to something that you've missed. I hope that's helpful for you. Next, we're going to hear an audio comment from Joseph in Ireland, who's also got a wonderful accent. He's got a comment about one of the episodes relating to Jesus apostles being in Capernaums. So let's have a listen to what he has to say about that episode.
Hi, Philip here in Limerick in Ireland. Just want to say there, I've been listening to the Exhaust podcast this morning and it was really useful information there regarding the, you know, how Philip and Andrew or sorry, Peter and Andrew or Simon and Andrew, how they avoided the taxes by living in Capernaum so that they didn't have to cross the border. It's great to hear stuff like
that. Like it's very, very interesting and it just, I suppose, helps you get a better perspective on, on the, the time and the culture and just to relate to the, the story itself. I think the more background information like that, that we know the better. So just keep up the good work as usual. I think they're really good podcasts. I, I love listening to them because I always see things in a different light or I, I learn something new.
And it's like, I almost felt like sometimes like, you know, the way you explain there that Philip and I keep talking about Philip, Andrew and Peter that they, it said that they were from Beth Saida. And you were saying then that like, you know, people wondered, well, why is it mentioned in other places that they're from Capernaum?
But it was, you know, I can always be blind at times to very what might, what should appear to be very obvious, like if you're living in a certain place, that doesn't mean you're from that place. So even just your explanation and that meaning, you know, it's, it's great to hear. So look, keep up the good work and thanks again.
God bless. Thank you so much for sending in that comment, Phillip, And I'm glad that that podcast episode helped you understand what has confused some people about how can Phillip be from both Capernaum and Bethsaida at the same time. And This is why it's good to jump into some commentaries, because for a lot of these seeming contradictions or seeming confusing passages, scholars have largely resolved them, as they have in this case. Thank you for sending in that audio message again.
And to all of you as listeners, you can send through an audio question or a comment if you would prefer to do it that way. Sometimes your podcast app lets you leave a an audio message directly through the podcast app, but you can also record the file and then send it through to the ministry at logical.biblestudy@gmail.com via e-mail. We have a comment here from Joseph, who's a Patreon
supporter. He says, this past June while I was vacation vacationing, I was riding my motorcycle for an hour each way. During my rides, I explored Hello, an app I had recently downloaded and discovered the Daily Gospel Exegesis. From the moment I heard your voice and approach, I was captivated. Your literal interpretation of Scripture has fascinated me and given me a fresh perspective. I especially appreciate how you connect historical events and make Jesus feel so approachable.
Thank you so much for that feedback, Joseph. I'm glad this is something that's been helpful to you as you listen riding around on your motorbike. And indeed, we're trying to offer something unique with the approach in this podcast, which is we're looking at the literal sense of Scripture, seeing what the author was trying to convey
to his original audience. A last brief comment that we'll look at today from Maricela. She says as a cradle Catholic, I'm amazed as to how much I'm learning in my older years. Your work is amazing and changing my life into a true believer and follower of Christ our Lord. The explanations are clear and thought provoking for me to reflect on in my daily life. God bless this ministry. I'm also supporting it financially. Thank you so much for those wonderful comments, Maricela.
It's amazing to me to see how this small ministry is trying to do something simple to help Catholics is really helping people like yourself become closer to God and become a better Catholic. Thank you to all those who are sending feedback in. We'll do more of these episodes in the future. Please keep the ministry in your prayers as we start to do some new things in the coming months and continue to tell other people about the ministry.
Thanks, and we'll see you for the normal episode next time.