WEBVTT

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Last week, we celebrated so joyously the transfiguration

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of Christ. We heard the account how Jesus and

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his three chosen disciples, Peter, James, and

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John, were walking up Mount Tabor. California,

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that wouldn't be called a mountain. It's only

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1 ,800 feet. But they had to go up, and probably

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at night. up a path used by shepherds. So, you

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know, anybody that's been to Mount Tabor, to

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that church, those roads with the buses and taxis

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going up and down all day long, they weren't

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there. It was a tough hike. So we heard all about

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that. And Christ himself reveals a little bit

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of his glory. to the disciples as far, we heard

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in the hymn, as they could bear it, as they could

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perceive it, as they could stand it even, because

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the glory of God is beyond anything that the

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human mind and eyes and heart can possibly imagine.

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But Christ revealed that to them to strengthen

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them for what was to come. He was speaking, you

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remember, with Moses and Elijah, the two prophets,

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about... St. Luke says his exodus. You know what

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the exodus was? From slavery to freedom. From

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Egypt across the Red Sea. God saved the people

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of Israel, the Hebrews. Jesus spoke of his exodus

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to the cross. So we heard a little bit at the

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end of today's reading about Jesus warning them,

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giving them a heads up. What is going to happen?

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They weren't listening. And we heard today that

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Christ has descended from Mount Tabor. This gospel

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lesson is taken just after that event. So while

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Christ was revealing his glory to the apostles,

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the three on the mountain down below, the other

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nine were being subjected to harsh, harsh criticism,

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insults, because they could not heal this boy.

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Probably a young man, not a boy, who was possessed

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by demons. There's confusion, there's shouting,

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there's blaming by the scribes and the religious

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authorities of the day. They're questioning the

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disciples on their inability to heal this person.

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The father says, he's moon crazy, he's a lunatic,

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because he believed. Probably had some faith,

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but he believed that the moon exerted, and who

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knows, I won't express an opinion on that, but

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he was blaming the moon for his son's problem

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when it was a demon. In fact, he was demon possessed.

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I'm going to focus not on that aspect of it so

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much today, because you heard this gospel during

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Lent. It's one of the readings. St. Mark's version

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that you hear during Lent. But what I want you

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to hear is this. Little children, says St. John,

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the evangelist. That's us. It doesn't mean just

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the little children. Little children, let no

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one deceive you. He who practices righteousness

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is righteous, just as he is righteous, Jesus.

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He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has

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sinned from the beginning. For this purpose.

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the Son of God was manifested, that he might

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destroy the works of the devil. Remember that.

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Jesus came to destroy him who held the power

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of death over those who in fear all their life.

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He came to destroy the devil. And he sees now

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an opportunity to show his... mercy, and to show

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what really transfiguration is all about. In

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this amazing account, the creator himself tells

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us what we need to do. We're not possessed. Those

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of you that were baptized, received into the

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church, you know. that there was those exorcisms,

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that Christ claimed you for his own because he

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made you. You are his creation. And as his creation,

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think about what he has created you for, to be

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like him, to be God's representative of love

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and mercy and holiness and goodness. In the midst

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of terror and sin and suffering, This kid throwing

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himself into the fire and the water. What's the

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devil try to do? He tries to kill. That's what

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he tries to do. If not physically, then spiritually

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first in any case. As representatives of God,

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we can see some of this in our society. The poor

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people, the suffering, who have been afflicted

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by the opioid crisis and all of that. Mental

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illness and depression. Brothers and sisters,

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seek the peace of God first. Then if you encounter

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someone, you can bless them and ask God's power

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to come and heal them. Let's go on. The Creator

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says, That if we have just a tiny bit of faith,

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the size of a mustard seed, nothing is impossible

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for us. In St. Mark's version of the account

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we heard, Jesus says to the man, if you can believe

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however little, all things are possible to faith.

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Nothing's impossible. All things are possible.

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When we hear the Lord say these words, we might

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be tempted to question the validity of the claim

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that he made. Jesus. Nothing? Really? Nothing

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is impossible? Think about that. Jesus says these

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words. He also is going to tell the other disciples

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something else that we probably discount. I'll

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tell you that in a moment. There are moments

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in our life. where we do have faith. Think now

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with me those moments of peace, of tranquility,

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of God's love. Those things that you have seen

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and heard about, those miracles, whether large

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or small. Those are moments of great faith, which

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means we simply follow Jesus, we trust him. We

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let him make the decision for our life, and we

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make the decision to follow him. That's those

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times when we experience God's love. Those who

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live by faith also know that mountains, whether

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it's Mount Taylor or Mount Shasta, they don't

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move. In the course of life in Christ, we will

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meet such mountains. Not the physical kind. We

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don't need to move those. And that's not what

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Jesus means when he says, you can say this mountain,

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it'll dump itself into the sea. But those kind

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of mountains that bring our life in Christ to

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a standstill, when we're not sure of anything,

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and everything's impossible. But believe me,

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when you read this, and you see the saints in

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their lives, you know those mountains are no

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more immovable than Pharaoh's army in Exodus

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was invincible. Even a tiny bit of faith, like

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a mustard seed. Why a mustard seed? Why not a

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grain of sand? Why not some other thing that's

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super small? about the smallest of it, just.

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Because a mustard seed is alive, and it's going

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to grow. Not if you put it on the concrete, no,

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but if you nurture it in good soil, the soil

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of the heart, it will grow, and it will thrive,

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and faith will begin to mature. And in order

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to increase that faith, we're going to be tested.

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In order to make our love for God real. Faith

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is not about thinking about faith. It's faithfulness.

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It's about doing faith. It's about holding firm,

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resolute, true, being forged in the fire. To

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faith is to say to Christ, be it unto me according

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to thy will. And if we want to grow, we have

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to do two things. that Jesus said, and honestly,

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I'm no good at it, so I shouldn't even be telling

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you about this. And honestly, when it comes to

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prayer and fasting, the fasting part, I go, really?

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And many of you say that to me, too. And many

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of you just ignore it. I know that. Once again,

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don't post pictures on social media of... non

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-fasting food during the fasting day because

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I'll see it. And I don't need to see it because

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you'll lead me into temptation. Oh, it's okay

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for her. Maybe I should do that too. Prayer and

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fasting. The Lord says prayer and fasting. Prayer

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and fasting. We'd rather do something else. But

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we are obedient because prayer and fasting are

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two ways in which we actually take action. for

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our faith. It's not about thinking about it.

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It's about doing something in obedience to Christ

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and saying no to ourself and yes to God's will.

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It's also important in terms of prayer that we

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do not cultivate doubt. We want to cultivate

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faith. Faith is a very delicate thing. Yes, it's

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small. But it's growing and it's alive. In our

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modern age, since, oh, I don't know, probably

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the 1800s, cultivation of doubt is seen as a

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good thing. Doubt it all. Question authority.

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And plenty of that to question. I'm not arguing

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about that. But if we want to have more faith.

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We don't, when we feel something is wrong, when

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others are sinning, when we are worried, we don't

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cultivate doubt because doubt and cultivating

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it is like a snake that's eating its own tail.

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What happens when it gets to the head? It kills

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itself. On the other hand, we're to cultivate

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faith. How? St. Paul says, when we're praying,

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to think on. Whatever things are true, whatever

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things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever

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things are pure, whatever things are lovely,

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whatever things are of good report, if there

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be any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy,

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meditate on these things. Acting true. Acting

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noble. Acting justly. Acting purely. Those are

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works we do. Actions. See the announcement page

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today for a wonderful saying by St. Paisios of

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the Holy Mount about looking for the good wherever

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you are. Not like a fly looking for the dung

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heap, but like a bee looking for the flower.

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Our Lord reminds us. in the gospel today, by

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his action, by his healing, that this transformative

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life is right here in front of us, within our

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grasp. So after being strengthened today by the

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divine presence of worship, the word of God,

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the gospel, the Eucharist, let us go forth and

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cultivate that mustard seed of faith. so that

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we can not only learn how to move mountains,

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but literally how to change the state of our

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own heart. To him who is our life, be glory and

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honor, now and ever, to ages of ages.