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<table class="gmail-m_-3968357596758665508layout gmail-m_-3968357596758665508layout-table gmail-m_-3968357596758665508root-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_-3968357596758665508layout-row-margin36402" 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_-3968357596758665508layout-row36402" class="gmail-m_-3968357596758665508layout gmail-m_-3968357596758665508layout-row gmail-m_-3968357596758665508widget gmail-m_-3968357596758665508_widget_text gmail-m_-3968357596758665508style36402" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="gmail-m_-3968357596758665508layout-row-padding36402" 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_-3968357596758665508text_div35865" class="gmail-m_-3968357596758665508td_text gmail-m_-3968357596758665508td_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>our Gospel today tells of Jesus healing a royal official’s son</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>The official</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">
asked him to heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him,
"Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe."</span><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><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">But the
royal official persisted. And Jesus told him his son would live. The man believed Jesus, and his son recovered.</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">Theologian
Paul Tillich said that "faith" is the most misunderstood word in the
religious vocabulary. And this is a tragedy, for <font size="6"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>faith </b></span></font>stands at the
very heart of the program; it is the </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:italic">sine qua non</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">
of the Christian thing. What is it? The opening line of Hebrews 11 has
the right definition: <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>"Faith is confident assurance concerning what we
hope for, and conviction about things we do not see."</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">Faith
is a straining ahead toward those things that are, at best, dimly
glimpsed. But notice please that it is not a craven, hand-wringing,
unsure business. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>It is confident and full of conviction. </b><b>Think of the
great figures of faith, from Abraham to John Paul II: </b></span>they are anything
but shaky, indefinite, questioning people. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Like the royal official,
they are clear, focused, assured.</b></span></span></b><br></span></b></b><br> <span style="background-color:rgb(246,178,107)"><b>Reflect: What adjectives would you use to describe your own faith? </b></span><br></span></b></div>
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