WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit, glory to Jesus Christ. There's

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a hymn that we sing at the service of Great Compline

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during Lent, especially the first week we know

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of it. It says something like, O Lord of hosts,

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be with us. for in adversity we have no other

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help but thee. O Lord of hosts, have mercy on

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us. This is a prayer that God be with us, that

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our Lord Jesus Christ be with us as we bear our

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crosses, as we go to work, as we take care of

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our family, as we pray in the morning and the

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evening, as we prepare for Holy Communion. We

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come to church. That we want God to be with us.

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That we can't exist without God for the one thing

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he created us out of non -existence. And in all

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our troubles and our joys, we want the Lord to

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be with us. And we've spent the last... Five

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Sundays. The five Sundays of Lent. We're at the

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fifth and final Sunday of Lent. We've spent the

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last five Sundays contemplating how to be closer

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to the Lord so that he can be with us. How to

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move things out of our life that are not essential.

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That are obstacles to loving God. That are obstacles

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to being with the Lord. Or let's say, obstacles

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to the Lord being with us. Because he's always

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with us. He's always with us. You have been baptized.

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You've been anointed. But now, after all these

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five weeks, the church wants us to turn our attention,

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and it's a subtle change. From this idea, O Lord

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of hosts, be with us. For in adversity we have

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no other help but Thee. That's always true. It

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always will be true. But the church now wants

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us to turn our attention to another way of approaching

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the whole thing. So it gives us these two very

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interesting Gospels. To me, are the best of all

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of Lent. These two Gospels. The one from Mark,

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the third time the Lord is telling his disciples

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what's going to happen. And the one from Luke,

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chapter 7, in honor of this great saint, Mary

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of Egypt, whose icon is in the middle of our

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church, whose fresco is over there, so appropriately

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by the confession stance, and she is the model

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of repentance. And so we have these two amazing

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accounts. We can only look at one. We'd be here

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all day. I'd love to talk about both of them

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and the epistles, but let us focus our minds

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on the gospel from Mark because it's not about

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the apostles, right? They are seated in glory,

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not at the Lord's right and left hand. That's

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the Theotokos. and John the Baptist. If you need

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an illustration, just look right there. No, but

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they're seated in glory in the divine council.

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The gospel story is about us. Let's look at it

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very briefly. This is chapter 10 of the gospel

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of St. Mark. Jesus has put his face to Jerusalem,

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and the disciples have three Responses, the gospel

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says. They were amazed. They were afraid. And

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they were confused. Sounds like us. They were

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on the road going up to Jerusalem. Jesus was

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going before them, and they were amazed. Why

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were they amazed? Because they knew Jesus has

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already told them twice what would await him

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in Jerusalem. He'd be arrested and crucified.

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Peter already tried to stop this. He said, this

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is not what the Messiah does. And Jesus, do you

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remember what he said to Peter? Get behind me,

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Satan. That's thinking the ways of man. This

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is the way of God. It has to be this way. And

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they followed as Jesus led the way. And that's

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unusual. For the master to lead the way? No,

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the disciple walks first. Jesus was walking before

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them. And it says they were afraid because now

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they knew. Amazed and afraid. Then he took them

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to the side, all 12. And he told them for the

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third time what would occur. We're going to Jerusalem.

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The Son of Man, he calls himself the Son of Man

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here. Why? Because the prophet Daniel had identified

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the Messiah, the one, the Ancient of Days, the

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one who would come with glory in the name of

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the Father as the Son of Man. And Jesus is saying,

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That's how he refers to himself. The son of man

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will be betrayed to the chief priest. And they're

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thinking, betrayed? Betrayed by who? Who will

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betray him? We wouldn't betray him. And they

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will condemn him to death and deliver him to

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the Gentiles, that is the Romans, who have the

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authority to impose the death sentence. The Romans

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knew how to kill a slave or troublemaker on the

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cross. There was simply no question what would

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happen. And they will mock him. Brothers and

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sisters, when you hear that in the gospel, that

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Jesus, our Savior, the compassionate and loving

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God, will be mocked and spit upon? Doesn't that

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just tear your heart? This terrible thing that

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someone would do to someone else, but particularly

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our Lord and God and Savior. And then he said

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to them, and the third day he will arise. Apparently,

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two of the apostles, disciples, let's say at

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this point, two of the disciples were not listening

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to Jesus. James and John. Well, you see James

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and John asleep up there at the Transfiguration.

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That tells you a little bit about where James

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and John were at that point in their life. They

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couldn't really handle it. They weren't paying

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attention. And remember the account, James and

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John, they go to this town and the people don't

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listen to Jesus. They reject him. And James and

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John come to Jesus and says, Lord, shall we do

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like Elijah and ask God to bring down fire upon

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them and destroy them? And Jesus says, this is

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not the way we do it. James and John had a sense

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of entitlement, I think. They were very modern

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people. God owes us something. But Jesus is telling

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us something here. And this gospel is not just,

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well... let's say it's directed towards our catechumens,

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but not just the catechumens. Why? Jesus says

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to James and John, after they say, look, we want

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you to do something for us. Well, he's the master.

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Is that really the way we come to Jesus? Lord,

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I want you to do something for me. No, we come

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to Jesus like the woman in the other gospel,

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pouring out our tears on his feet, bringing something.

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Precious our life to him. And pouring that out.

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That's what servants of God do. Like that woman.

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She was a prostitute. And the Lord forgave. That's

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what we're like. That's why we come. That's why

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we pray. That's why we make our offerings. That's

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why we make our financial offerings. That's why

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we give to the poor. We want to serve God in

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the best way we can. That's why we try to love

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our neighbor and forgive. James and John, having

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a sense of entitlement, are asking Jesus to do

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something big. Right and left hand, Lord. We

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want to be there in your glory. And Jesus corrects

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them, but so gently, doesn't he? That's the way

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he is with us too. Does he ever slam you down?

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Does he ever pull you by your hair? Does he ever

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berate you? No. Our Lord waits for us. He will

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never... force us he gives us every situation

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so that we can flourish and many of those situations

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we don't like because we have to grow into them

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we have to struggle Jesus says to James and John

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and he says this to you my brothers and sisters

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catechumens especially are you able to drink

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the cup that I drink from think of what we do

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in just a little while to prepare for Holy Communion.

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Are you able to be baptized with the baptism

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that I will be baptized with? And he means the

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cup of the cross and suffering and the baptism

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of death. Baptism is a passage. It's a Passover.

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It's the Pascha. It's from death to life. It's

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the last chance for you catechumens to say, no,

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Lord. I think I'll wait on that. I'm not ready

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to take that cup. Or it's your chance, brothers

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and sisters, to say, I trust you, Lord. I'm with

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you to the end. And the Lord knows we probably

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will stumble a number of times. Who was with

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Jesus at the end? One. And the women, the courageous

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women. That's what made up the church on that

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day. So this tells me that we've been asking

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God to be with us. O Lord of hosts, be with us.

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But today, the church is turning that a little

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bit and saying, no, you be with the Lord. To

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be with the Lord now, as we move forward to this

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week of poems, we remember the death of Lazarus

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and his rising from the dead. Many of you don't

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know. because you don't come up here, but there's

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the fresco of the raising of Lazarus from the

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dead. Lazarus come forth, and on that day we

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will be baptizing, I think, God willing, 25 of

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our catechumens. The Lord is asking us to be

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with him. That means to be here, to be praying,

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to be supporting one another for Holy Week, to

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set things aside, to offer the precious ointment

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of your life. It sounds extravagant to come to

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church twice in one day. Well, maybe you can't

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all do that. But certainly, we can make next

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week holy by being here, by following Christ,

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by thinking of what Jesus just said. Follow me.

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Can you do this baptism? Can you take this cup?

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Yes, Lord, I can. I'm afraid of what's ahead.

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I'm amazed about it all. I'm sometimes confused,

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but I will follow you because I love you. To

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our Lord, who is going to his voluntary passion

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for us and for our salvation, be glory with his

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Father and his Holy Spirit now and ever, two

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ages of ages. Amen.