<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_-6258949469905160978DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2">
<table class="gmail-m_-5286787279040275008layout gmail-m_-5286787279040275008layout-table gmail-m_-5286787279040275008root-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_-5286787279040275008layout-row-margin36474" 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_-5286787279040275008layout-row36474" class="gmail-m_-5286787279040275008layout gmail-m_-5286787279040275008layout-row gmail-m_-5286787279040275008widget gmail-m_-5286787279040275008_widget_text gmail-m_-5286787279040275008style36474" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="gmail-m_-5286787279040275008layout-row-padding36474" 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_-5286787279040275008text_div35937" class="gmail-m_-5286787279040275008td_text gmail-m_-5286787279040275008td_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 today’s Gospel Jesus prophesies his crucifixion and his Father’s
role in his coming death.</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> What enabled the first Christians to hold up
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the cross</span>, to sing its praises, to wear it as a decoration is the fact
that God raised up and ratified precisely this <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">crucified</span> Jesus.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>"You
killed him, but God raised him up." </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Therefore, God was involved in <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">this
terrible thing; </span>God was there, working out his salvific purposes.</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>But
what does this mean? There have been numerous attempts throughout the
Christian centuries to name the salvific nature of the cross. Let me
offer just one take on it. It became clear to the first Christians that
somehow, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>on<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> that terrible cross</span>,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> sin</span> had been dealt with.</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>The curse of
sin</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>had been removed, taken care of</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>On <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">that terrible cross</span>, Jesus
functioned as the "Lamb of God," sacrificed for<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> sin</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><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">Does
this mean God the Father is a cruel taskmaster, demanding a bloody
sacrifice so that his anger might be appeased? No, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Jesus’ <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">crucifixion</span>
was the opening up of the
divine heart so that we could see that no <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">sin of ours could finally
separate </span>us from the love of God.</b></span></span></b><br></span></b></b><br>
Reflect: <span style="background-color:rgb(249,203,156)"><b>How do this Gospel and reflection help you understand that
Jesus’ suffering was the supreme act of love from the Triune God? </b></span><br></span></b></div>
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