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<span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><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">Frien</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><span style="margin:0px;outline:none;padding:0px"><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">ds</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><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"><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><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="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">today’s Gospel urges us to persist in prayer</span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">The Lord wants <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">us</span> to ask with persistence, even stubbornness.</span><br></span></b><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">Now, we must not think of God as becoming exasperated by our prayer of petition, but <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the clear implication is that <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">we </span></b></span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><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:italic">will</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"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>
 get what <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">we</span> want through persistence:</b></span> <b><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">"Ask and it will be given to you;
 seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."</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">How
 do we make sense of this? For me, <b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the best explanation is offered by 
St. Augustine. He said that God doesn’t always give <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">us </span>immediately what 
<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">we</span> ask for, and in fact, he compels <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">us</span> to ask again and again. The Lord 
wants to stretch <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">us</span>, expanding our desire so as to receive the gift he 
desires to give <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">us. </span></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">If
 we got everything we
wanted, right away and without effort, we wouldn’t appreciate what we’ve
 received, and we wouldn’t really be capable of taking it in. It would 
be like pouring new wine into old, shrunken wineskins, resulting in a 
loss of both the skins and the wine.<br></span><br></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></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"><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">So if the gift doesn’t come right away, don’t despair; rather, <b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">feel your very soul expanding in anticipation.  <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></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"><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, 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></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></b></div>

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