Episode 51 | Fed by Christ

[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. [00:00:14] Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, June 22, 2025, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. [00:00:27] This week's episode is entitled: Fed by Christ and in these readings, we will explore the Sacrament of Holy Communion in which we receive the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ and see how it was prefigured in both the Old and the New Testaments. [00:00:47] As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following: This week, all Scriptural paths lead to Jesus and the New Covenant he established in his Body and Blood, but we must be willing to follow where they lead… so, are we? [00:01:09] So, let's begin: In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. [00:01:15] Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the gift of the Most Holy Eucharist that nourishes us for eternal life. May we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus with reverence, humility, and gratitude, knowing that we are never worthy of so great a gift and thankful that you bestow it upon us out of love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. [00:01:51] Now that we have opened our hearts in prayer, let's listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures. [00:01:56] Our Gospel this week is from Luke 9: 11b-17. “[Jesus] spoke to [the crowds] of the Kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away; and the Twelve came and said to him, ‘Send the crowds away, to go to the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place.’ But he said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, ‘Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.’ And they did so, and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.” [00:03:23] This is Luke's version of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, an event that is actually found in all four Gospels. [00:03:32] In the verses that precede this passage, Luke tells us that Jesus sent the disciples out, two-by-two, on mission to heal the sick, drive out demons, and preach the kingdom. [00:03:48] He tells them to take no supplies or money with them, but to rely on the kindness of those willing to house and feed them. [00:03:59] Upon the disciples’ return, however, Luke tells us that Jesus took them to the town of Bethsaida, a secluded place, where they could rest, relax, and pray - but that didn't work out quite so well because the crowds followed them. [00:04:20] That is where we join the narrative. So, let's explore what Luke has written… [00:04:27] “[Jesus] spoke to [the crowds] of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing.” [00:04:34] Meaning that Jesus ministered to those who sought him out, not just with his preaching, but by his actions as well. [00:04:45] “Now the day began to wear away; and the Twelve came and said to him, ‘Send the crowds away, to go into the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place.’” [00:05:03] At the time of Jesus, Bethsaida was a sparsely populated area on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee. So, there weren't a lot of things available right there in that particular location. [00:05:20] “But he said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’” [00:05:26] Remember, the disciples had just returned from a mission during which they had to rely on the kindness of strangers for food and shelter, now Jesus is telling them that it is their turn to repay the hospitality they were shown. [00:05:49] “They said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.’” [00:05:59] I'm sure that the disciples were so caught up in the immediacy of trying to feed the great crowd of people surrounding them that they didn't recognize the Scriptural significance of the resources they had at hand. Luckily, we have the leisure to do just that. [00:06:21] In 1 Samuel 21, we hear that David asked Ahimelech, the priest of Nob, for five loaves to feed his men – and in Numbers 11, when the Israelites grew tired of eating manna in the desert, they asked for fish as they had eaten in Egypt. So, the supply of loaves and fish that the disciples had available were echoes of events that took place in the Old Testament. [00:06:58] Luke then tells us… “For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, ‘Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.’” [00:07:13] So Jesus tells the disciples to arrange the people in groups of fifty… now let's think about this. If you divide 5,000 by 50, it divides evenly - meaning there would have been about 100 groups. But the number 50 is significant for another reason. [00:07:35] The Jewish feast of Pentecost, a festival that commemorates the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai and celebrates the grain harvest, takes place about 50 days after Passover. And what is used to make bread but grain, right? So that makes the number 50 significant. [00:07:58] And remember, numbers are always significant in Scripture. By the number 5,000, Luke means it was a huge crowd, a really large significant crowd. [00:08:13] And to be able to divide that crowd into companies of 50, that's where we get the number 100. Remember, Scripture doesn't mention that… we do. But that just kind of gives us a scale for what the Apostles would have been dealing with. [00:08:30] That smaller group - to all of those smaller groups - can also represent churches… individual gatherings, places where Christians gather in groups to be fed by the Eucharist. [00:08:48] “And they did so, and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish” [00:08:56] I know that I covered the scriptural significance of the loaves and fish just a minute ago, but here I want to look at the numbers. [00:09:08] We have five loaves and two fish… 5 + 2 = 7, right? [00:09:18] Not only is seven a perfect number in the Bible (since it represents the completion of all of creation - represents the days of the week) it also recalls - in another way - the Jewish Feast of Pentecost all over again. Because the Feast of Pentecost was also called the Feast of Weeks because it took place seven weeks after Passover. [00:09:54] “[Jesus] looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.” [00:10:04] That's a short sentence, but there are a few things I want to point out in that short sentence. [00:10:12] First, when Luke tells us that Jesus looked up to heaven, that's an attitude of prayer and throughout Luke's Gospel, he tells us that Jesus spent a lot of time praying to the Father. [00:10:27] Second, the action of taking, blessing, breaking, and giving are the same actions that Jesus performs at the Last Supper when he institutes the Eucharist, they are the same actions by which the disciples finally recognized Jesus after the Resurrection on the Road to Emmaus, and they are the very same actions that Catholic priests perform during the Eucharistic prayer at Mass. [00:11:09] And lastly, we are told that Jesus gave the food to the disciples to give to the crowd… meaning that it is the disciples who undertake the ministry of feeding the people, which prefigures the ministerial priesthood of the Church and their role in feeding the faithful with the Sacrament of Holy Communion. [00:11:41] “And all ate and were satisfied.” That sentence should remind us of Exodus 16, where the Israelites ate their fill of manna in the desert - and remember, Manna (bread from heaven) also prefigures the Eucharist. [00:12:06] And then - being satisfied is a sign of the heavenly banquet, of the abundance present in the kingdom of heaven at the Feast of the Lamb. [00:12:23] “And they took up what was left over,” From the earliest days of the communal celebration of the Eucharist in the Church, a portion of the meal was taken to and shared with those who were unable to be present at the gathering - for whatever reason. [00:12:46] That practice of sharing Holy Communion with those who are unable to be present as part of the worshiping community is still part of the Catholic Mass. [00:12:56] One difference between the early Church and today is that in the modern Church, any Holy Communion not consumed - by either those present in the Church or taken to those who couldn't be present - any Holy Communion left over, is gathered and placed in a Tabernacle, where it is kept with great reverence and respect. So, what was left over from the feeding of the five thousand? [00:13:35] Luke tells us… “twelve baskets of broken pieces.” [00:13:42] And there we have another biblically significant number - the number 12. [00:13:48] And it's significant for a couple of reasons. First, because of the 12 tribes of Israel - one of the four primary tasks of the Messiah was the restoration of Israel. So, Twelve there - feeding all of those gathered with 12 baskets left over - represents the restoration of Israel. [00:14:14] But that number should also make us think of the Apostles. There were 12 Apostles and 12 baskets full of leftover pieces point to what will be the extravagant success of the mission entrusted to the Apostles by Christ. [00:14:42] Think about that… the Church began with twelve central followers of Jesus, and it has spread throughout the entire world… I think that's pretty extravagant success. [00:15:01] Jesus' miraculous Feeding of the Five Thousand prefigures the miracle of the Eucharist and for that first Scriptural path we have been guided upon, we are thankful. [00:15:18] Because without Jesus Christ, without his Sacrifice, without his Body and Blood, we are just a club that gets together every week to hold hands and sing songs. [00:15:35] Jesus’ Sacrifice on the Cross, made present again every week during the celebration of the Mass, is what makes us the Church. [00:15:49] So, stay with me as we take up the next Scriptural path in our First Reading which is from Genesis 14: 18-20. [00:16:01] “[In those days,] Melchiz’edek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!’ And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” [00:16:27] Now that's a really, really short reading, but it's also a bizarre interaction, and it really begs for some context. So let me set the stage. [00:16:40] A great battle had taken place between two groups of kingdoms, and that battle took place in the valley of Siddim - which is located just south of the Dead Sea. [00:16:54] One group was made up of four kingdoms from Mesopotamia, and the other group was made up of five kingdoms from the valley of Siddim - among that second group were the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah. By the way, the armies of the kingdoms of Mesopotamia were victorious and afterwards their soldiers raided and looted the cities in the valley of Siddim… including Sodom, which - as it turns out - happened to be the dwelling place of Abram's nephew, Lot. [00:17:36] Lot was captured and taken prisoner along with his family and his possessions. [00:17:42] Abram, upon learning of Lot's capture, led his own men out to rescue Lot and his family from their captors. [00:17:54] This passage takes place immediately upon Abram's victorious return. [00:18:02] So let's explore this reading a bit further… “[In those days,] Melchiz’edek king of Salem” [00:18:11] Okay, let's stop there. [00:18:14] As we've heard before, Melchizedek is quite the nebulous figure. [00:18:22] He appears here in Genesis 14, with no fanfare, and disappears just as mysteriously at the end of this passage. [00:18:35] Now, the name Melchizedek means king of righteousness, so that's one bit of information we have about him. [00:18:46] He is the first person to be called a priest in the Bible, that's another piece of information. [00:18:54] And we are told that he is the king of Salem, so that's our third piece of information. [00:19:01] Now, Salem was a shortened version of the name for the ancient city of Jerusalem. [00:19:09] “[he] brought out bread and wine;” [00:19:13] Now, bread and wine would have comprised the elements of a celebratory meal. That's one way to look at it, because Abram has come back victorious from his battle. [00:19:29] However, there's another level that we need to consider there. And that level is that we, as Christians, see in the elements of bread and wine… we see the very same elements that are consecrated and become the Eucharist. “he was priest of God Most High.” [00:19:49] Now, there are two schools of thought about that particular phrase. [00:19:55] Some scholars have suggested that Melchizedek was a Canaanite priest (meaning that he was pagan) while others contend that he was a priest of the one true God. Most scholars discount the theory that Melchizedek was a pagan worshiper because while the Canaanite deity was seen as preeminent among other deities, it was never viewed as a creator and - as we'll see shortly - Melchizedek does say that God Most High is just that. [00:20:34] So that supports the validity of Melchizedek being a priest of the one true God - the same God worshiped by Abram. “And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth;” And there's that phrase - the recognition of God Most High as the Creator, which argues against Melchizedek being a pagan, and for Melchizedek being a priest of the one true God. [00:21:07] “and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” [00:21:14] And that is why it's important to understand the context of this passage. We now comprehend why Melchizedek says that. He's acknowledging Abram's victory over the soldiers that raided Sodom and captured Lot, his family, and his possessions. “And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.” [00:21:41] That gift that Abram gives to Melchizedek - a tenth of everything he had - prefigures the tithe that will become part of the Mosaic Law in Numbers 18. [00:21:56] After that, Melchizedek simply disappears, never to be heard from again. [00:22:04] Oh, he's mentioned in Psalm 110 in the Letter to the Hebrews, but Melchizedek himself doesn't make another personal appearance. [00:22:16] So, scholars speculate about him based only on the scant information we have… and they've drawn several conclusions. [00:22:30] The first conclusion that is drawn is that Melchizedek's kingship and his priesthood are eternal. [00:22:41] That may seem like quite a leap, but bear with me… because he appears and disappears mysteriously, because he has no definite beginning and no apparent end, he is considered to be eternal. And because his priesthood and his kingship are considered to be eternal, he is viewed as a type, or a prefigurement, of the Messiah. [00:23:17] And what is the Messiah but a priest/king whose priesthood and throne and kingdom will last forever? [00:23:26] There's where that connection comes in. [00:23:29] As Christians, we see Melchizedek as a type for Christ - meaning that the priesthood of Melchizedek prefigures the priesthood of Jesus. [00:23:42] Neither priesthood has an apparent beginning or an apparent end - they are both eternal. [00:23:49] And the priesthood of Jesus is, of course, the basis for the ministerial priesthood of the Church. [00:23:58] Let's be thankful for our journey down that Scriptural path as well, as we look to our next path, which leads us through the book of Psalms. [00:24:11] This week, our Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 110, and the refrain is: “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchiz’edek.” [00:24:24] And - again - Psalm 110, as I said, is one of those places where Melchizedek is mentioned. [00:24:33] And here are the verses: [00:24:36] “The LORD says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.” “The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes!” “Your people will offer themselves freely on the day you lead your host upon the holy mountain. From the womb of the morning like dew your youth will come upon you.” “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever after the order of Melchiz’edek.” [00:25:17] This Psalm is a Royal Psalm, specifically it's an Enthronement Psalm. [00:25:25] Our modern minds would most likely associate an Enthronement Psalm with the installation of a human king on an earthly throne - and that would be wrong. [00:25:36] Enthronement Psalms always celebrate God's kingship and authority and were, interestingly enough, often used in temple worship, particularly for Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year festival. [00:25:55] This particular Psalm does, interestingly enough, reference a human king but one whose authority is legitimized by God. So, let's look at how the Psalmist breaks all of this down… [00:26:12] “The LORD says to my lord:” [00:26:15] That phrase can be quite confusing because one reference is to God and the other is to the king, but we aren't able to discern that just by listening to it; we can only see that on the printed page. The first LORD is in all caps, which means that the Psalmist is speaking about God; the second lord is all lowercase, meaning that the Psalmist is referring to a human king. [00:26:46] So, what the Psalmist is essentially saying is: God says to my king. And what does God say? [00:26:55] “Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.” [00:27:02] By that invitation, God elevates the king to a position of ultimate honor at God's right hand. [00:27:12] And “till I make your enemies a footstool” is a metaphor for the defeat and subjugation of the king's enemies. [00:27:22] “The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes!” [00:27:29] Well, Zion, of course, is Mount Zion and - as we know - the city of Jerusalem and the Temple sit atop Mount Zion. [00:27:38] So, from Jerusalem the LORD (and again, that's in all caps, so it's referring to God) God sends forth the king's scepter - which is a symbol of the king's authority… extending the king's authority over his enemies. [00:28:00] But again, that is God's action. The king doesn't actually accomplish that by his own effort. [00:28:10] God makes the king supreme over his earthly enemies. And then he does rule - that is the one thing the king does - he rules because God has given him the authority to do so. [00:28:25] “Your people will offer themselves freely on the day you lead your host upon the holy mountain. From the womb of the morning like dew your youth will come upon you.” [00:28:39] That is a very poetic verse, meaning that when the king returns triumphantly to Jerusalem (the holy mountain), when he comes in triumph (leading his troops behind him - that's the host) the people will follow him gladly. [00:29:03] Then the Psalmist offers a whimsical metaphor: “from the womb of the morning like dew” - so that should help us vividly picture dew laying heavy on the grass in the early hours of the morning. [00:29:24] So with that in mind, then, we are to picture your youth - the youth of the king - will come to you. In other words, what that's saying is that the king himself will be renewed - in body and spirit - and made again like a young man. [00:29:48] “The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchiz’edek.” [00:29:59] Again, the word LORD is in all caps, so we know that the Psalmist is speaking about God. [00:30:06] And through that declaration, God is bestowing priestly dignity upon the king. [00:30:16] Because, as we learned in Genesis (our First Reading), Melchizedek was both priest and king. [00:30:24] Now, one other thing I want to point out before we go any further is that the King of Israel was expected to act as a priest on certain national occasions - and in particular, we should think of when David escorted the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem in 2 Samuel, or when Solomon dedicated theTtemple in Jerusalem in 1 Kings. [00:31:00] And the refrain, of course, running through all of those verses keeps reminding us of the figure of Melchizedek, both priest and king, who - by his actions and by his very existence - foreshadows the Messiah. [00:31:25] Christians, of course, recognize Jesus as the Messiah. [00:31:31] And Melchizedek's priesthood, as we heard earlier, is considered to be eternal, having neither a predecessor nor a successor, unlike the Levitical priesthood, which originated with Aaron (who was from the house of Levi). And the Levitical priesthood was passed down through Aaron's descendants. [00:32:01] So again, that differentiates Melchizedek further from the Levitical priesthood, and that makes Melchizedek, to the Christian mind, a type for Jesus, whose priesthood is eternal. This Psalm is, therefore, another Scriptural path that leads us to Jesus, and we are for that, thankful… even if it may have been a little more difficult to follow. That takes us to our next path, our Second Reading, which is from 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26. “[Brothers and sisters:] I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also the chalice, after supper, saying, ‘This chalice is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the chalice, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” [00:33:43] Remember, 1 Corinthians is one of Paul's Occasional Letters, meaning that it was written to address specific occasions that were causing significant problems in the Corinthian community. [00:34:01] This passage does not specifically mention what situation Paul is addressing, but if we read the preceding six verses, we quickly learn the problem. [00:34:14] The Corinthians were misusing their communal meals as social gatherings, allowing wealth and status to fracture their community rather than focusing on the unity that fellowship in Jesus imparts; some members of the community were indulging in excessively opulent food and drink while others went hungry rather than sharing a common meal intended to commemorate the Last Supper; and they were promoting division and disrespect in their community rather than living according to the teachings of Jesus. [00:35:09] This passage recounts the events of the Last Supper to remind the Corinthians just what their communal meal is based upon. [00:35:24] This is actually the earliest written account we have of the Last Supper and the Institution of the Eucharist. Mark is the earliest written Gospel, but the Letter to the Corinthians predates that by about 15 years. [00:35:44] And by the way, we hear this same reading on Holy Thursday. [00:35:49] So, let's go back through and better understand what Paul is saying… [00:35:58] “[Brothers and sisters:] I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you,” [00:36:05] Remember, Paul encountered the Risen Jesus on the road to Damascus so when he says “I received from the Lord” that's what he means… he personally encountered and spoke with the Risen Christ. [00:36:24] The RSV says “what I delivered to you” – the NAB translates that a bit differently… it says “handed on.” The Greek word Paul uses is paredōka, the Latin word is traditio, they both mean to entrust or transmit a teaching. [00:36:50] What makes the Latin word significant is that traditio is the root of the word tradition. In the Catholic Church, Tradition (capital “T” Tradition) is that which is handed on, or passed down, from generation to generation through the magisterium of the Church. [00:37:19] And what did Paul deliver to the Corinthians? [00:37:24] “that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” [00:37:48] There we have those actions again - take, bless (in this instance - give thanks), break, and give. [00:37:56] When Jesus says “This is my body” - those are the same actions (as I said) that Jesus used in the Feeding of the Five Thousand, the same actions he will use again on the Road to Emmaus that finally enable the disciples to recognize him, the very same actions that priests use in every celebration of the Sacrifice of the Catholic Mass. [00:38:29] Then he issues an extremely specific instruction: “Do this in remembrance me.” [00:38:44] That doesn't mean that we should simply call to mind a past event. [00:38:52] The Greek word used there is anamnesis, and its meaning is paradigm altering… or it should be! [00:39:07] Thomas Griffin, a Catholic teacher and theologian, published an article in 2021 entitled: “Anamnesis and the Key to the Mass” in which he wrote: “The definition of anamnesis is to make a past event become present now. That is why, as Catholics, we can say that the bread and wine actually become the Body and Blood of Christ. Not because we made it up, but because Jesus said so himself. In his own words, Jesus said that when you do this, you will make the moment of my offering on the Cross present and real. Anamnesis provides the detail for why the Church has always taught that Christ is not re-sacrificed at each Mass, but that we enter into that one moment in history when he was scourged for our offenses and wounded for our sins… his victorious suffering stands outside of time.” [00:40:45] That is an amazing quote. [00:40:49] It's a wonderful article - if you get the chance, look it up, read the whole thing. [00:40:55] He's really an amazing author. [00:41:00] And if we are able to listen to Griffin's words with an open mind, if we can find a way to accept them, and truly believe them - they are unequivocally paradigm altering. Unfortunately, not even all Catholics truly believe that. And that is a failure on all Catholics… on the part of each and every one of us. [00:41:42] Because if we believe it, we have to act like we truly believe it! “In the same way also the chalice, after supper, saying, ‘This chalice is the covenant in my blood.” [00:41:58] There's our final Scriptural path in this week's reading that has led us to the New Covenant established by Jesus through the sacrifice of his Body and Blood. [00:42:13] Jesus doesn't stop there, he goes on again… “Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” [00:42:28] And there's that word again – remembrance - anamnesis. [00:42:35] Not just recalling or recollecting a past event, but making Christ's sacrifice on the Cross present again… entering into the moment of Christ's Sacrifice which stands forever outside of time. [00:43:03] “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the chalice, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.” “Eat this bread” – “Drink this chalice” - Paul is referring to the Eucharist, to what Catholics call the Sacrament of Holy Communion. [00:43:30] I'd like to share just a bit more of Thomas Griffin's thoughts with you… [00:43:38] He says: “The Mass is a representation of Jesus’ Passion, Death, and Resurrection. He does not die again, but we enter into the divine moment of his last breath. We enter into that one specific place and time when Jesus was hanging on that Cross, suffocating, and suffering for you and me.” [00:44:27] Then Griffin leaves us with a piece of advice: “The reception of the Eucharist takes place under the wood of the Cross and in that moment, we come so close to God that he will actually become a part of us. So, the next time you are at Mass, picture that you are there on that gloomy [Good] Friday afternoon when Jesus offered his life for the world. [Because] you are actually there in that moment.” [00:45:29] Our Readings this week have led us down a number of Scriptural paths all reaching the same destination… Jesus and the New Covenant he established in his Body and Blood. [00:45:47] The Church felt that was such an important occasion that every year we celebrate this Solemnity… to commemorate its importance. [00:46:02] The choice, however, now is ours. We've heard the words, but are we willing to follow where they lead? [00:46:21] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at [email protected] Thank you for spending this time with me and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand. From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions. The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask. Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved. Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis of this podcast is available upon request. Thank you for listening and God bless.