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<b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;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, in today’s Gospel, <b><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">Jesus lays down the conditions of discipleship.</span><br></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"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">A
 few verses before</span></b> our reading, <b><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">Jesus predicted his Passion for the 
first time. He will sacrifice himself in love for the other—and in this,
 he will come to deeper life and
become a source of life to others. </span></b>Ronald Knox talked about<b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> the sign of 
the cross</span></b> this way:<b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> the first two gestures form <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">the letter "I," </span>and the 
next two cross it out. That’s what the cross of Jesus meant and means.</span><br></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"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">In
 this scene, he gathers the crowd with his disciples and pronounces the 
formula for following him</span></b>. We ought to be listening too with great 
attention: "<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up 
his cross, and follow me."</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"> </span></b></span><span><font size="4"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">The path of discipleship is the path of self-sacrificing love, and that means the path of suffering. </span></b><br></font><br></span></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b><div><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;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"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">Then the great paradox</span></b>: <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>"</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">For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it." </span></b></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">Put that over your door, on the refrigerator, on your screensaver.<b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> There is no better one-line guide to  the happy life.</span></b></span></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></div><div><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><b style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px;font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:18px;font-weight:400;line-height:inherit;text-decoration:inherit;font-family:georgia,"times new roman";font-style:normal;color:rgb(0,0,255)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Dicsőség az Atyának, a Fiúnak és a Szentléleknek most és mindörökké. Ámen.<br></span></b></span></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></div>

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