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<table style="font-size:14px;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_7303989232574850575m_-2673223259787407011m_4331546764164888024gmail-m_-8967853304140380581layout-row-margin58580" style="padding:5px;background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" valign="top"><table style="font-size:14px;min-width:100%;border-collapse:initial" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr id="m_7303989232574850575m_-2673223259787407011m_4331546764164888024gmail-m_-8967853304140380581layout-row58580" style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><td id="m_7303989232574850575m_-2673223259787407011m_4331546764164888024gmail-m_-8967853304140380581layout-row-padding58580" style="padding:10px 30px 0px" valign="top"><table style="font-size:14px;min-width:100%" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td id="m_7303989232574850575m_-2673223259787407011m_4331546764164888024gmail-m_-8967853304140380581text_div57748" style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px;color:inherit;font-size:12px;font-weight:inherit;line-height:1.5;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:Arial" width="580" 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, on this Palm Sunday, <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>Matthew’s magnificent Gospel of the Passion bids us to reflect on <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the seriousness of sin. </span></b></span><br><br>
To be sure, the Gospel proclaimed by the first Christians involves the
glorious Resurrection, but those initial evangelists never let their
hearers forget that <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the one who had been raised was none other than the
one who <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">had been crucified. </span></b></span><br><br> So the question was—and remains—<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>why
would <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">God’s salvation</span> of the human race have to include something as
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">horrifying as the Crucifixion of</span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the Son of God</span>? </b></span><br><br> Here’s the
point. The Scriptural authors understand <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>sin</b></span> not so much as a series of
acts </span></b></b></b></span></b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><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">as</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"><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"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> a condition in which we are stuck</b></span>. </span></b></b></b></span></b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><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">No amount of merely human
effort could possibly solve the problem. </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"><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"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Something awful</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>had to be done
on our behalf in order
to offset</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the awfulness of sin. </b></span><br><br> With this biblical realism in
mind, we can begin to comprehend why the Crucifixion of the Son of God
was necessary. </span></b></b></b></span></b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><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">The just rapport between God and human beings could not
be reestablished either through our moral effort or with </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"><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">simply a word
of forgiveness. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Something had to be <i style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px">done</i>—and God alone could do it. </b></span><br><br><i style="margin:0px;outline:currentcolor none medium;padding:0px">Reflect: </i>Meditate on one of Christianity’s most mysterious truths: that <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> Crucifixion of</span> the Son of God was necessary. </b></span></span></b></b></b><br></span></b></div><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"><br></span></b></div><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">
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,255)"><b><i><span style="font-size:16px"><font size="2"><span>"Uram,
köszönöm Neked az ajándékba kapott éveket és évtizedeket. Köszönöm az
életem minden eredményét, amivel megörvendeztettél és minden kudarcát,
amivel a korlátaimra figyelmeztettél.<br>Köszönöm a családtagjaimat,
akik elviselnek, akik mellettem állnak és szeretnek. Uram, kérlek,
bocsásd meg, amit rosszul tettem, és amit elmulasztottam. Köszönöm, hogy
Te nem mégy nyugdíjba, hanem ma is mindent megteszel az üdvösségemért.<br>Uram,
adj nekem hálás szívet, hogy mindig észrevegyem: több okom van a
hálára, mint a panaszra. Ments meg az irigységtől, elégedetlenségtől,
nyugtalanságtól, a mindent-tudás látszatától és a mindent-jobban-tudás
hazugságától, a gyanútól, hogy valaki mindig bántani akar. Ments meg a
közönytől, a házsártos, barátságtalan viselkedéstől, az örökös
zsörtölődéstől, a rút önzéstől, a mindent elborító keserűségtől és a
hiábavalóság nyomasztó érzésétől.<br>
</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,255)"><b><i><span><span>Uram,
adj erőt, hogy békésen hordjam az öregkor terheit, humorral fogadjam a
feledékenységem jeleit, erőtlenségemet, érzékszerveim tompulását,
testi-szellemi erőm hanyatlását.<br>Uram, adj bölcs szívet, hogy meg
ne feledkezzem a végről itt, és a kezdetről odaát. Kérlek, adj kedvet a
munkához, amit még elvégezhetek. Tégy hasznossá, hogy ne érezzem csak
tehernek magamat és adj alázatot, hogy belássam, hogy egyre inkább
másokra szorulok. Adj kedvet az imádsághoz, a Veled való beszélgetéshez.
Adj világosságot, hogy jól lássam magam, és jól lássak másokat is. Adj
jó kedvet és nyitottságot, hogy még mindig tudjak befogadni és adj
szeretetet, hogy ne csak panaszkodjak mások hidegsége miatt, hanem
árasszam a szereteted melegét.<br>Uram, maradj az, aki mindig is
voltál: a megbocsátó Édesatyám. Ez indítson arra, hogy én is tudjak
megbocsátani. Ne engedd, hogy valaha is fáradt legyek a
köszönet-mondáshoz. Ne engedd, hogy valaha is abbahagyjam a
dicséretedet. Tartsd meg és növeld a hitemet. </span>Szólj Uram, még hallja a Te szolgád!"</span></i></b></span>
(Szt.II.János Pál pápa)<br></font></span></i></b></span>
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