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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_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row19456" class="m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589widget m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589_widget_html m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589style19456" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row-padding19456" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);padding:0px 30px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td id="m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589html_div19025" width="590" align="left"> <p style="color:white;font-family:Sorts Mill Goudy;font-size:4px;line-height:1.5">Your daily Gospel reflection...</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_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row19458" class="m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589widget m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589_widget_picture m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589style19458" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" align="center"><td id="m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row-padding19458" 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_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589image-td" width="590" valign="top" align="center"><a href="http://wordonfire.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=f4b404287914110dac7009c89e87fa0d&i=1419A1767A29A1266050" 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=881236139" 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_6883691973290742602gmail-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_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row19454" class="m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589widget m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589_widget_html m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589style19454" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row-padding19454" 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_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589html_div19023" width="590" align="left"> <p style="color:black;font-family:Avenir Next;font-size:20px;font-weight:500;line-height:1.25;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase">3rd <span class="m_6883691973290742602gmail-aBn"><span class="m_6883691973290742602gmail-aQJ">Sunday</span></span> of Advent</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_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row19455" class="m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589widget m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589_widget_html m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589style19455" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589layout-row-padding19455" 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_6883691973290742602gmail-m_2612789657314043589html_div19024" width="590" align="left"> <p style="color:rgb(237,119,34);font-family:Avenir Next;font-size:18px;line-height:1.25;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase">John 1:6-8, 19-28</p>
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<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>today’s Gospel presents John the Baptist as the messenger preparing the
way for Jesus. John speaks: "I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the
desert, make straight the way of the Lord.’</b></span>" He is saying that his job
is to prepare for the mighty coming of the Lord. He is to build the
highway that will facilitate his arrival. A change is coming, a
revolution is on the way, a disaster (the destruction of the
old) is about to happen. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Prepare the w<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">ay of the Lord.<br></span></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
what is the manner of preparation? It is a baptism of repentance.
</b></span>Baptism—an immersion in water—reminded first-century Jews of the exodus,
passing through the Red Sea,<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> leaving <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the ways of slavery </span>behind</b></span>. God
would humble the powers of their time as he once humbled Egypt and
Babylon.<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>And
repentance? It simply means going beyond <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">the <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">mind</span> that you have.</span> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>How
our minds are conditioned by the fallen world!</b></span> How our expectations are
shaped, stunted by what has gone before. It’s time, John is saying, for a
new mind, a new set of eyes, a new kind of expectation.</span></span></div>
</b></b></b></b></b></div>
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