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<table class="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-table gmail-m_5493930891705889328root-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_5493930891705889328layout-row-margin36513" 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="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-row36513" class="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-row gmail-m_5493930891705889328widget gmail-m_5493930891705889328_widget_html gmail-m_5493930891705889328style36513" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-row-padding36513" 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="gmail-m_5493930891705889328html_div35976" 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">Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion</p>
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<tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-row-margin36514" 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="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-row36514" class="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-row gmail-m_5493930891705889328widget gmail-m_5493930891705889328_widget_html gmail-m_5493930891705889328style36514" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-row-padding36514" 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="gmail-m_5493930891705889328html_div35977" 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 22:14 - 23:56</p>
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<tr style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><td id="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-row-margin36519" 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_5493930891705889328layout-row36519" class="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-row gmail-m_5493930891705889328widget gmail-m_5493930891705889328_widget_text gmail-m_5493930891705889328style36519" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="gmail-m_5493930891705889328layout-row-padding36519" 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_5493930891705889328text_div35982" class="gmail-m_5493930891705889328td_text gmail-m_5493930891705889328td_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>how dark are the readings for Palm Sunday! </b></span>We read through Luke’s
Passion narrative, leaving out the good news of the Resurrection. To get
to the bottom of this emphasis on suffering, to decipher its religious
meaning, is to uncover the theological significance of this day.</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>Do
you remember the first time that life <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">really knocked you around</span></b></span>?<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> It
might have been an extraordinary failure; it
might have been the first time you confronted real violence or real
hatred; it might have been a massive disappointment; it might have been
the death of</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>someone that you loved. </b></span>If you want concrete examples, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>look
at some really dysfunctional families</b></span>; look at the West Side of Chicago
or anywhere in the Middle East. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>This mess, this problem, bedevils <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">all
of us.</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"><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>The
biblical approach is clear: God sets about a rescue operation—the
formation of a holy people Israel who would follow <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">his commands, worship
him aright</span>, and t<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">hereby become a magnet to</span> the world</b></span>. They would teach
and show the way out of the
dilemma.</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">He
would form a people ready to receive him; he would gradually effect a
unity between divinity and humanity; <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>and one day, a servant of Yahweh
would appear, someone </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>despised and reviled by</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>men. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>And this mysterious
figure would solve<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the problem </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>by bearing away</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the sins of the world, </b></span>by
carrying them off <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>through his suffering.</b></span></span></b><br></span></b></b><br>
<span style="background-color:rgb(249,203,156)"><b>Reflect: Do you remember the first time that life really knocked you
around? What role did faith play in how you got through it?</b></span></span></b></div></b></b></b></b></b></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
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