<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div id="m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_2049869919770758507DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2"><table style="border-top:1px solid rgb(211,212,222)"><tbody><tr><td style="width:55px;padding-top:18px">
<table class="m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817layout m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817layout-table m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817root-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_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817layout-row-margin36231" 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_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817layout-row36231" class="m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817layout m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817layout-row m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817widget m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817_widget_text m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817style36231" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817layout-row-padding36231" style="padding:10px 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_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817text_div35694" class="m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817td_text m_5412959663750167528gmail-m_-9053873833764566817td_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"><div 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;text-align:start"><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-size:18px;font-style:normal;text-align:start"><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:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;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"><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> in today’s Gospel Jesus tells the crowds who seek a sign that they will only receive the sign of Jonah: "</b></span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b><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">Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation."</span></b></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">Jonah
is called by God to preach to Nineveh, which is described as an
enormously large city.
It takes, they say, three days to walk through it. I can’t help but
think of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Nineveh as one of our large, modern cities</b></span>, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>a center of all
sorts of worldly activity and preoccupation.</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"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>What
would its conversion look like? A turning back to God as the only
enduring good.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>After hearing the word of Jonah, the Ninevites proclaim a
fast, and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>What is the
purpose of these ascetic practices? To wean people away from </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>an
attachment to <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">worldly pleasures.</span></b></span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b><br><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></b></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">Go
beyond the mind that you have. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Repent. Live as though nothing</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>in this
world </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>finally matters.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>And you will be living in the kingdom of God!</b></span><br><br> </span></b></b></b></span></b><span style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-size:18px;font-style:normal;text-align:start"><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:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;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="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(255,255,255)">Reflect: How is fasting tied to repentance? What is a contemporary version of "putting on sackcloth and ashes"? </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><b style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-size:18px;font-style:normal;text-align:start"><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"><br></span></b></div>
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