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<table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr id="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout-row19431" class="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout-row m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688widget m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688_widget_picture m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688style19431" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" align="center"><td id="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout-row-padding19431" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);padding:20px 30px 0px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td class="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688image-td" align="center" width="590" valign="top"><a href="http://wordonfire.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=f4b404287914110dac7009c89e87fa0d&i=1416A1764A29A1266047" style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;color:rgb(237,119,34);display:block;min-width:100%" target="_blank"><img src="http://wordonfire.imgus11.com/public/7e2867fcaf0c2ddd581483e5e17f4d20.png?r=1836712087" alt="" style="display:block;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none;border-width:medium;outline:medium none currentcolor;width:221px;opacity:1;max-width:100%" class="m_-90381106495875614gmail-CToWUd" width="221"></a></td>
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<table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr id="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout-row19427" class="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout-row m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688widget m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688_widget_html m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688style19427" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout-row-padding19427" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);padding:30px 30px 0px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td id="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688html_div18996" align="left" width="590"> <p style="color:black;font-family:Avenir Next;font-size:20px;font-weight:500;line-height:1.25;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase">2nd <span class="m_-90381106495875614gmail-aBn"><span class="m_-90381106495875614gmail-aQJ">Thursday</span></span> of Advent - Memorial of Saint John of the Cross</p>
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<table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr id="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout-row19428" class="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout-row m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688widget m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688_widget_html m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688style19428" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688layout-row-padding19428" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);padding:5px 30px 0px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td id="m_-90381106495875614gmail-m_-4341858944890013688html_div18997" align="left" width="590"> <p style="color:rgb(237,119,34);font-family:Avenir Next;font-size:18px;line-height:1.25;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase">Matthew 11:11-15</p>
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<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> today’s Gospel affirms the greatness of John the Baptist. </b></span>I think it’s
fair to say that you cannot really understand Jesus without
understanding John, which is precisely why all four Evangelists tell the
story of the Baptist as a kind of overture to the story of Jesus.<br></span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal;text-align:start"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>John
did not draw attention to <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">himself.</span> </b><b>Rather, he presented <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">himself as a
preparation, a forerunner, a prophet preparing</span> the way of the Lord. </b></span>He
was summing up much of Israelite history, but stressing that this
history was open-ended, unfinished.<br></span><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal;text-align:start">And
therefore, how powerful it was when, upon spying Jesus coming to be
baptized, <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>he said, "Behold the Lamb of God."</b></span> No first-century Israelite
would have missed the meaning of that: <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>behold the one who has come to be
sacrificed. Behold the sacrifice, </b></span>which will sum up, complete, and
perfect the Temple. Moreover,<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> behold the Passover lamb,</b></span> who sums up the
whole meaning of that event
and brings it to fulfillment.<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><br></b></span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><br></b></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal;text-align:start"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>And
this is why</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>John says, "He must increase and I must decrease.</b></span>" In other
words, the overture is complete; and now the great opera begins.<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">The
preparatory work of Israel</span> </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>is over</b></span>, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>and now the Messiah will reign.</b></span></span></span></div>
</b></b></b></b></b></div>
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