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John the Baptist's Testimony |
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God the Father promised us His only Son and that
we should be ready for Him. |
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In
today’s Gospel the Jewish leaders questioned John
the Baptist asking him who he was, and even
suggesting that he was the Christ, Elijah, or the
Prophet. To these, John again replies:
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"… but there is one among you whom you do
not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to
untie."
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Just as how we would identify ourselves
today John simply identified himself by whom
he was not. Identifications, such as, "I am
so-and-so’s husband, wife or child" may
sound familiar to a lot of us.
Some of us do this because we do not want
the other person to make a mistake of
identifying us as, or even with, someone we
do not look too highly.
The other reason is simply be just to
name-drop, hoping that by being associated
with someone respected, we gain some that
respect. Indeed, the saying, "We are known
by the company we keep" is a two-edged
sword.
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Continued below... |
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My Prayer Box
Newsletter |
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My Prayer Box newsletter is published weekly and contains the
readings for that Sunday. It has reflections, stories and
reader contributions, prayers and news relevant to living a
proud Catholic life.
The reader contributions include announcements, interesting
articles, pictures and greetings. We also solicit news
regarding activities and events your parishes that you might
useful for others.
The newsletter has over 1000 subscribers.
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Why Is This Important
So often our identity is tied to the identity of
another person. We identify who we are by emulating
those we respect and point out our differences from
those we do not. Those we respect we honor by
placing them in a pedestal.
On my way to work early one morning, I heard a talk
show host re-tell a story of a reporter interviewing
a writer. After the interview the writer turned the
table around and asked the interviewer what was the
one thing that he remembered about his father. The
interviewer answered that his father told him just
before he died that, "… in all my life I’ve reported
three fire alarms, and all of them were true."
Some of us might dismiss that quote as a musing of
an old man halfway to his grave. Some of us,
however, see two virtues that are so rare: Honor and
a sense of duty. He could have just run away, or
worse, looked away. Instead, he reported those fires
and may have saved lives and properties.
The main message that I take away from the Advent
stories is that God the Father promised us His only
Son and that we should be ready for Him. He kept His
word, knowing that His Son will give up His life for
us.
How many of us will even think of doing the same
sacrifice?
How do we get ready?
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Bringing the Message to Our Homes |
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Have
a sense of duty, by doing what is expected of
you, not as an investment, just in case "God is
watching" but because it is the right thing to
do
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Honor your word by keeping them, as God honored
His
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Know
that someday we will be made to account for the
"false alarms" we’ve created in life.
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Apologetics |
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Mary
and the Saints |
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Mass
and the Eucharist |
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Prayers |
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Novenas |
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The Rosary |
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Traditional Prayers:
Discover the origin of your favorite prayer. We might
even have the original Latin version, too. |
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Novenas:
Learn how
to say a novena in honor of your favorite
Saint. |
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Archived Articles |
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Prayer Requests |
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Tours and Pilgrimages |
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