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<tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row-margin20985" style="padding:5px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row20985" class="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065widget m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065_widget_text m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065style20985" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row-padding20985" style="padding:30px 30px 20px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065text_div20544" class="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065td_text m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065td_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"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-size:26px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:italic"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:26px;font-style:italic"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:26px;font-style:italic"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:26px;font-style:italic;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:26px;font-style:italic;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="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-aBn"><span class="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-aQJ">Thursday, February 8, 2018</span></span></span></b></b></b></b></b></b><br></div>
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<tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row-margin20982" style="padding:0px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row20982" class="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065widget m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065_widget_html m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065style20982" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row-padding20982" 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_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065html_div20541" align="left"> <p>Mark 7:24-30</p>
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<tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row-margin20986" style="padding:5px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row20986" class="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065widget m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065_widget_text m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065style20986" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065layout-row-padding20986" style="padding:10px 30px 30px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td id="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065text_div20545" class="m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065td_text m_1232370647780186787m_8496156685843626597gmail-m_-923846263200690065td_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"><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"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><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">Friends,
 <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>our Gospel for today, the story of Jesus’ conversation with the 
Syro-Phoenician woman, </b></span></span></b></span></b></b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><span 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"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal">is one of
those famously problematic passages in the New Testament. </span></span></span></span></span></span><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"><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"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><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"><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>This poor 
woman, a Canaanite, a foreigner, comes forward and tells Jesus of her 
daughter who is troubled by a demon, and the Lord just ignores her. When
 she persists, Jesus says, "I have come only to the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel." When she prostrates herself at his feet, Jesus says, 
"It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the 
dogs."</b></span></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"> </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">Of
 course, <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>the woman responds </b></span>with one of the best one-liners in the 
Scriptures, almost all of which otherwise belong to Jesus himself: 
<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>"Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the
scraps that fall from the table of their masters." At this point, Jesus 
praises her for her faith and cures her daughter. </b></span></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"> </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">What’s
 going on here is really interesting and provocative. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>The 
Syro-Phoenician woman is being invited into a life of discipleship, into
 the following of Jesus.</b></span> She is resisted, not because<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> Jesus </b></span>is having a 
bad day, but because</span></b></span></b></b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><span style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><span 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"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:18px;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal"> he </span></span></span></span></span></span><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"><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"><b style="margin:0px;outline:medium none currentcolor;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><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"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>wants the strength of her faith to show itself.</b></span></span></b></span></b></b></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div>

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