by Faith Central & Steve Welsh
“‘… If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the [other] ninety-nine …. In just the same way, it is not the
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‘… some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed … not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘As for you, your sins are
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“… the Word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as … in the book of … Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his
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“The Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph … and the virgin’s name was Mary. … he said, ‘Hail, full of Grace! The Lord is with you. … Do not be afraid, Mary … you have found favor with God. … you will conceive in
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“As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, ‘Son of David, have pity on us!’ … He touched their eyes and said, ‘Let it be done for you according to your faith.’ …”
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“Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I give You praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been Your Gracious Will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows
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“Francis Xavier had planned to devote himself to the intellectual life, but at a strategic moment he surrendered to God, who had long and patiently pursued him. That surrender changed the course of his life—and the course of history as well. Even Ignatius of Loyola, the leader of the new Jesuit community, had planned to deploy Francis as a scholar.
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“On Dec. 3, the Roman Catholic Church honors St. Francis Xavier, one of the first Jesuits who went on to evangelize vast portions of Asia. …”
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“… St. Xavier ranks among the greatest missionaries in Christian history. Historians place the number of baptisms at roughly 30,000 people; lore cites numbers up to 100,000. Today, such missionary accomplishments may be challenging to appreciate in light of present day plurality, cultural relativism, and global engagement, yet a great deal can be learned from Xavier in the way he
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“For those of you who will be lighting an Advent ‘wreath’ this weekend, especially with tapers… remember to start with the purple candle ‘opposite’ the pink one in order for the progression to the pink one for the third week to look accurate. This also makes the candles burn down in successive order, which makes the visual impact of the
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