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Christ is risen. Pascha is so solemn, so enthusiastic,

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so celebratory that there's a danger when we

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leave here on Sunday, go back to work and family

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cares and responsibilities. that we might fall

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into some kind of, I don't know, Paschal slump.

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Especially after experiencing Lent and Holy Week

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and that structure of services and fasting and

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prayers. But the church knows this. Great is

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the Lord's strength and great is his power. And

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of his understanding, there is no measure, we

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sang a whole number of times. And we believe

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that. And the church gives us this day and these

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particular reunions to excite us again, to give

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us some enthusiasm about our faith, and to question

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it too. If you recall on Sunday on Pascha at

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the Vespers, where the gospel left off, it was

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with Thomas saying, unless I see it, I'm not

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going to believe it. And again, I will point

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out, as I have a number of times, finally we

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have this fresco of that scene, Thomas coming,

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and it's called The Belief of Thomas. He gets

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a bad rap doubting Thomas, but his doubt, which

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was not toxic doubt, was not terminal doubt,

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led to faith because he questioned something.

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He questioned the apostles. So that's where we

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left off. And I think it's worth saying that

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no arguments from those men who had run away

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from Christ in his hour of need, fallen asleep

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in Gethsemane, and then left Golgotha. No arguments

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were going to confess St. Thomas about some kind

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of new life. You heard what the angel said in

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Acts to the apostles. Go out there into the temple

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and preach all the words of this new life. Don't

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be afraid. The angel had released them from prison.

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Well, Thomas knew that a Roman execution squad

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knew how to beat, crucify, and kill a person,

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and they knew when a person was dead. Jesus wasn't

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revived. somehow in the tomb without medical

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attention, beaten up so bad, and then just came

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back. No, he was killed by the Romans. The cross

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was a weapon, was a tool of death, and a frightful

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one at that. Thomas could not believe the news

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of the apostles. Why? They were not yet changed.

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They were still the same. They were not transformed.

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They were not bearers of the resurrection. But

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we can believe the apostles. We can believe the

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saints. We can believe the liturgy. We can believe

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the scriptures. Seeing how the church has survived

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despite whatever opposition and persecution and

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martyrdom came, the church flourished. We can

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believe. that Christ has risen by looking at

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the monastics, by the extraordinary peace of

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those who have Christ within them, the holiness,

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the countless miracles, the saints after saints

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after saints, who all stand and say, my Lord

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and my God. All these stand as radiant witnesses

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to us of the Lord's resurrection, because Christ's

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victory, the gospel story, is the victory over

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the most wicked and devious and horrible tyrant,

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the devil. And the death that this tyrant, the

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devil, promotes as good. Our joy, our boundless

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joy, our love for God, is founded how? On an

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historical event of God entering this world.

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Father Michael used to love this phrase, the

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inrushing of God into creation. He was crucified,

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buried, and rose again. That's the event. Our

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faith starts with an event in history which tells

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us that our faith is not about speculation. It's

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not about theory. It's not about religious searching

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or fuzzy mysticism or myth. It's about the historical

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event of the resurrection and those that believed

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that it took place. Pascha. And those apostles,

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those saints, those martyrs, you brothers and

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sisters are witnesses too of the resurrection.

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And when we embrace this witness in the life

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of the church, We see that the entire purpose

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of our life, you might be able to say it boils

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down to one thing. To be united to the risen

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Christ, the God -man. To see him, not with these

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eyes, but like the blind man knew it was Jesus.

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To see him in the heart. On Pascha. And every

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Saturday night, if we had matins, or Sunday morning,

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if we had matins, we would sing, having beheld

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the resurrection of Christ. Did you catch that?

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Having beheld the resurrection of Christ, let

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us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless

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one. And we sing these words on Pascha, and again

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and again during Bright Week, if we were doing

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matins. How do we see? These words tell us. Let

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us purify our senses, and we shall see Christ

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shining in the unapproachable light of the resurrection,

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and we shall clearly hear him say, rejoice, as

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we sing the song of victory. How do we see with

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the eyes of our heart, and how do we purify our

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senses? What has Lent been about? Usually, our

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senses, eyes, taste, touch. hearing, are all

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finely attuned to the things of this world. That's

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okay. They should be. But when we pursue touch,

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taste, sight, and hearing, when we pursue it

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as a pursuit of an ongoing goal of pleasure,

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then the other sense that we have, the vision,

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You see what I mean? The vision is buried. We

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have to go the way of the cross. Fasting and

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prayer, forgiveness, vigil, these things are

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all putting to death the old man and the corruptions

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of the flesh, the grabbing and pulling into our

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heart, which disfigures that heart. We cannot

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see the resurrection. of Christ. It's not just

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believing the historical event. It's having Christ

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within our soul and living the resurrection.

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And because we can do that, and we can, this

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is not lofty. This is our goal. This is what

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we are here for. Today, to receive Christ within

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us, to behold the resurrection as we receive

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his glorified body and blood, and to praise him

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for his wondrous and amazing work of salvation.

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And that power, which we share now, we share

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now in baptism and communion and repentance,

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that power and our own eventual rising from the

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dead tells us something. This is my second point.

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That's essential. We do not forget, because in

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the world now, there is a powerful opposition

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to this thought, to this teaching, which is what?

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That what God has made is good. That what God

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has made can be holy, can bear the spirit, can

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carry the spirit. Yes, we start with our broken

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and sinful souls and bodies. That's our starting

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point. But we don't normalize sin, the sinful

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world within us or around us. We can't normalize

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sin. We can't say it's okay. We have to struggle

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to keep the commandments, that is to carry the

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cross, to deny ourselves, to confess our sins.

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Who doesn't feel the pain, the fallenness of

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the human body, our brokenness, if I could use

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this phrase, our dysphoria. We are not in paradise,

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not yet whole, not yet as we should be, not yet

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as we will be. The devil tricks us in this most

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basic sense that we have that not all is correct.

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and offers us and the world all kinds of options.

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Transhumanism, you think it's nothing now. It's

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coming down the road. Not to mention the assault

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on our biology, the body that God has made. Indeed,

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things are not the way they will be, but we shall

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be, says St. John, as he is, as Christ is in

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the resurrection. Don't let sin, don't let current

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morality dehumanize you and those that you love.

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In all areas of our life, all areas, food, what

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we watch, what we listen to, how we comport ourselves,

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how we treat our body, especially if this is

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clear in terms of sexual morality and sexed bodies,

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we remain a creation of God bought with a price.

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You are not your own, says St. Paul. You have

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been purchased with the precious blood of the

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Lord. And we discover at Pascha and this week,

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little by little, with some effort, that the

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resurrection of Christ proves to us that what

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God created in the beginning, when he said, it

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is good, It is indeed good. It is godly and capable

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of holiness. Such holiness. God has made us body

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and soul. In the beginning he created us male

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and female. In his image and in his likeness.

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And our struggle is not to find ourselves. Which

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is what those who are lost always say. I need

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to find myself. There's truth in there. Yes.

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But looking in the wrong place will bring you

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to spiritual death. Find myself how we have been

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buried with Christ in holy baptism and died with

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him. It is not I who live, but Christ who lives

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within me and loves me. This is vital to accept,

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brothers and sisters, since the world absolutely

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rejects this foundational good news teaching

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about our human nature, that by the resurrection,

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everything will be healed and as it should be.

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St. Paul powerfully says this, be not conformed

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to this world, but be transformed by the renewal

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of your mind that you may prove what is good

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and acceptable and the perfect will of God. Jesus

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Christ gives us the starting point and the ending

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point. You heard it in the third week of Lent.

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Deny yourself. You will find yourself. If you

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try to save yourself, you will lose. You will

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lose it all. Pick up your cross and follow the

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one who will lead you to the resurrection. He's

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leading us to the only place that we can go to

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be made whole. That is to be holy as he is holy.

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Christ is risen.