<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="gmail-m_4767823175570176544DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2">
<table class="gmail-m_-3158670927827431154layout gmail-m_-3158670927827431154layout-table gmail-m_-3158670927827431154root-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="gmail-m_-3158670927827431154layout-row-margin36357" 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="gmail-m_-3158670927827431154layout-row36357" class="gmail-m_-3158670927827431154layout gmail-m_-3158670927827431154layout-row gmail-m_-3158670927827431154widget gmail-m_-3158670927827431154_widget_text gmail-m_-3158670927827431154style36357" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="gmail-m_-3158670927827431154layout-row-padding36357" 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="gmail-m_-3158670927827431154text_div35820" class="gmail-m_-3158670927827431154td_text gmail-m_-3158670927827431154td_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"><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"><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 our Gospel today, Jesus declares that he would not undermine the law
and the prophets but fulfill them. </b></span>Jesus himself was an observant Jew,
and the themes and images of the Holy Scriptures were elemental for him.</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">But
what is he going to fulfill? Protestant theologian N.T. Wright has
pointed out that <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>the Old Testament is essentially an unfinished
symphony, a drama without a climax. It is
the articulation of a hope, a dream, a longing—but without</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> a realization
of that hope, </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>without</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> a satisfaction <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">of that longing.</span></b></span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><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">Israel
knew itself to be the people with the definite mission to become holy
and thereby to render the world holy. But instead, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Israel </span>fell into
greater and greater sins, and instead of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">being the catalyst for the
conversion </span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">of the world,</span> the world was continually overwhelming and
enslaving <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Israel</span>.</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><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>And
then came Jesus, who turned out to be, in the most unexpected way, the
fulfillment of the dream. </b></span>From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus
effected the gathering of the tribes of Israel through conversion and
the forgiveness of sins.</span></b><br></span><br></b></b> Reflect: <span style="background-color:rgb(246,178,107)"><b>Have you ever asked Jesus to fulfill one of your dreams? Why or why not? </b></span><br></span></b></div>
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