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<table class="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-table m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577root-table" style="font-size:13px;min-width:100%;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" width="650" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row-margin27767" 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_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row27767" class="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577widget m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577_widget_html m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577style27767" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row-padding27767" 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_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577html_div27287" 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">Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time</p>
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<tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row-margin27768" 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_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row27768" class="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577widget m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577_widget_html m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577style27768" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row-padding27768" 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_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577html_div27288" 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">Luke 13:1-9</p>
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<tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row-margin27772" 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_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row27772" class="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577widget m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577_widget_text m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577style27772" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577layout-row-padding27772" 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_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577text_div27292" class="m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577td_text m_-8409047933755049191gmail-m_7553681844052038577td_block" style="color:inherit;font-size:12px;font-weight:inherit;line-height:1.5;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:Arial" valign="top" align="left"> <div style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;line-height:1.5"> <div style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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">Friends, <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>today’s Gospel includes the parable of a fig tree that bears no fruit.</b></span></span><br><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">This
 is <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>a standard trope in the theological literature of Israel: the tree
that bears no fruit is evocative of the moral person who<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> bears no 
</span>spiritual fruit.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Every single person has a mission: to be a conduit of 
the divine grace into the world. Planted in God</b></span>—think of <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>Jesus’ image of
 the vine and the branches</b></span>—<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>they are meant to bring forth the fruits of 
love, peace, compassion, justice, nonviolence. </b></span></span><br><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">And
 notice that <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>this should be effortless. The closer God gets, the more 
alive we become.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>But the mystery of sin is that we resist<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the invasion 
of God</b></span>; <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>we prefer to go our own way; we cling to our own prerogatives 
and our own narrow freedom.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>And the result is lifelessness. It feels 
like depression,</b></span> like your life is going nowhere—in Dante’s language, 
like being <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>"lost in a dark wood."</b></span></span><br><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 style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>In
 Jesus’ parable, the one caring for the tree begs the owner for one more
 chance to manure the tree and to hoe around it, hoping to bring it back
 to life. But <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">if no life comes, the tree will be cut down.</span> </b></span>This is the 
note of urgency that is struck over and again in the Bible. We can run 
out of time. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>We can become so resistant to<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> God’s grace </span>that our leaves 
dry up. </b><b>This </b></span></span></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:normal;font-style:normal"><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;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="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">is</span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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:currentcolor none medium;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">not divine vengeance; it <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>is spiritual physics.</b></span></span><br><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">So don’t be afraid of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>God! Surrender to him</b></span>.</span></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>

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