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<table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row19507" class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row gmail-m_9026790058871625658widget gmail-m_9026790058871625658_widget_picture" align="left"><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row-padding19507" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658image-td" align="left" width="650" valign="top"><img src="http://wordonfire.imgus11.com/public/6cd5352adde2290ae096397277658644.jpg?r=287318047" alt="" style="display: block; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: medium; border-image: none 100% / 1 / 0 stretch; outline: medium none currentcolor; width: 650px; opacity: 1; max-width: 100%;" class="gmail-CToWUd gmail-a6T" tabindex="0" width="650"></td>
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<table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row19510" class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row gmail-m_9026790058871625658widget gmail-m_9026790058871625658_widget_html gmail-m_9026790058871625658style19510" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row-padding19510" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);padding:0px 30px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658html_div19079" align="left" width="590"> <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" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row19513" class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row gmail-m_9026790058871625658widget gmail-m_9026790058871625658_widget_text gmail-m_9026790058871625658style19513" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row-padding19513" style="padding:30px 30px 20px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658text_div19082" class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658td_text gmail-m_9026790058871625658td_block" style="color:inherit;font-size:12px;font-weight:inherit;line-height:1;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:Arial" align="left" valign="top"> <div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:26px"> <div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;text-align:center"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-style:italic;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:26px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:italic"><span class="gmail-aBn" tabindex="0"><span class="gmail-aQJ">Saturday, December 23, 2017</span></span></span></b><br></div>
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<table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row19512" class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row gmail-m_9026790058871625658widget gmail-m_9026790058871625658_widget_picture gmail-m_9026790058871625658style19512" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" align="center"><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row-padding19512" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);padding:20px 30px 0px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658image-td" align="center" width="590" valign="top"><a href="http://wordonfire.acemlnb.com/lt.php?s=f4b404287914110dac7009c89e87fa0d&i=1425A1773A29A1266056" 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=694119185" alt="" style="display: block; border-color: currentcolor; border-style: none; border-width: medium; border-image: none 100% / 1 / 0 stretch; outline: medium none currentcolor; width: 221px; opacity: 1; max-width: 100%;" class="gmail-CToWUd" width="221"></a></td>
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<table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row19508" class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row gmail-m_9026790058871625658widget gmail-m_9026790058871625658_widget_html gmail-m_9026790058871625658style19508" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row-padding19508" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);padding:30px 30px 0px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658html_div19077" 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">3rd <span class="gmail-aBn" tabindex="0"><span class="gmail-aQJ">Saturday</span></span> of Advent</p>
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<table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row19509" class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row gmail-m_9026790058871625658widget gmail-m_9026790058871625658_widget_html gmail-m_9026790058871625658style19509" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row-padding19509" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);padding:5px 30px 0px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658html_div19078" 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">Luke 1:57-66</p>
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<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row19514" class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row gmail-m_9026790058871625658widget gmail-m_9026790058871625658_widget_text gmail-m_9026790058871625658style19514" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658layout-row-padding19514" style="padding:10px 30px 0px" valign="top"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658text_div19083" class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658td_text gmail-m_9026790058871625658td_block" style="color:inherit;font-size:12px;font-weight:inherit;line-height:1.5;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:Arial" align="left" valign="top"> <div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:1.5"> <div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-align:start"><span style="color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit"><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">Friends,
<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> today’s Gospel reflects on the absolutely pivotal figure of John the
Baptist. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>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. John sums up Israel, </b></span>and without the Israelite background, the
story of Jesus becomes opaque.<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(208,224,227)"><b>The
story of John’s birth brings his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, into
focus. Both are strongly priestly personages. Elizabeth is a descendant
of the family of Aaron, the first priest of Israel, and Zechariah was a
practicing Temple priest.</b></span><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">What’s
important for our purposes is that<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> John was of very priestly stock.</b></span> So<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>
why, when we first hear of him in his adult life, is he out in the
desert and not in the Temple? </b></span>Well, there was a long prophetic tradition
that criticized the Temple for its corruption.
In John’s time, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the Temple was mired in very messy, vile, and violent
politics.</b></span> So what is he doing in the desert? He is offering what the
Temple ought to be offering but wasn’t, due to its corruption, na</span></span><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td id="gmail-m_9026790058871625658text_div19083" class="gmail-m_9026790058871625658td_text gmail-m_9026790058871625658td_block" style="color:inherit;font-size:12px;font-weight:inherit;line-height:1.5;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:Arial" align="left" valign="top"> <div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:1.5"> <div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><div style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-align:start"><span style="color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit"><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">Friends,
<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> today’s Gospel reflects on the absolutely pivotal figure of John the
Baptist. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>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. John sums up Israel, </b></span>and without the Israelite background, the
story of Jesus becomes opaque.<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(208,224,227)"><b>The
story of John’s birth brings his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, into
focus. Both are strongly priestly personages. Elizabeth is a descendant
of the family of Aaron, the first priest of Israel, and Zechariah was a
practicing Temple priest.</b></span><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">What’s
important for our purposes is that<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b> John was of very priestly stock.</b></span> So<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>
why, when we first hear of him in his adult life, is he out in the
desert and not in the Temple? </b></span>Well, there was a long prophetic tradition
that criticized the Temple for its corruption.
In John’s time, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the Temple was mired in very messy, vile, and violent
politics.</b></span> So what is he doing in the desert?<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> He is offering what the
Temple ought to be offering <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">but wasn’t, due to its corruption</span>, namely,
the forgiveness of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">sins.</span></b></span></span></span></div><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span></b></b></b></b></b></div><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span></div><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><span style="color:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit"><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"><br></span></span></span></div><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span></b></b></b></b></b></div><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span></div><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
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