Latest / Catholic Spirit Radio / Good News #208 030726: Thirst No More: The Woman at the Well and the Living Water

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Good News #208 030726: Thirst No More: The Woman at the Well and the Living Water · Catholic Spirit Radio

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Welcome to Good News on Catholic Spirit Radio, a program for teens and almost
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teens to better understand that the gospel of Jesus Christ is relevant in their
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lives, and it's a place where your questions about faith and religion can be answered.
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And now, here's your host, Deacon Al. Welcome.
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Good evening and welcome to Good News on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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I am Deacon Al Lundy, a permanent deacon of the Peoria Diocese,
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welcoming you every Saturday and Sunday evening from 8 to 8.30 on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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This is a big week coming up for us here at Catholic Spirit Radio.
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Monday, March 9th, will mark our 15th anniversary on the air.
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It's hard to believe it's been 15 years already. Seems like 12.
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But here we are at 15 years, local productions, network productions from EWTN
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and other Catholic networks.
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And we are just so pleased to be able to say we've been serving all of our communities
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now, more and more every year, it seems, for 15 years.
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We've gone from a single tower to a bunch of towers. I've lost count. 10?
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11? Where are we? 10?
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9? 11? 6? 16? 6? 9? Give me a number, John. 15.
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15. So a tower a year, basically.
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It's really wonderful. I mean, we're stretching all over central Illinois and going north.
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We're even touching into Wisconsin now. It's so fantastic to have all of you
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listeners with us. We hope you enjoy what we do.
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We hope you enjoy this ministry. We certainly enjoy it.
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And we're only here 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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And to celebrate our 15th anniversary this Monday, on March the 9th,
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we're going to have our doors open from nine in the morning till five o'clock
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in the evening, letting you come in, get a tour of the station,
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look around, see the facilities,
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see how our programming is done, visit our lovely chapel.
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We've got a beautiful chapel here, dedicated to.
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To Fulton Sheen and a lot of Sheen artifacts there for you to view.
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And we'd like to share some anniversary cake with us and refreshments and just
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really get to know us here at Catholic Spirit Radio.
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So we hope you'll join us this Monday, March 9th, from 9 in the morning till
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5 in the evening as we celebrate 15 years on the air spreading the good news
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of Jesus Christ all over Illinois.
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And every year we hope to continue to grow larger and larger thanks to your
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support as part of the Catholic Spirit Radio family.
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So that's what's going on here. We hope that you're having a wonderful Lent.
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I hope that you're making it meaningful, that what you're doing in the way of
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prayers, alms, and fasting is helping you to grow in a closer relationship with
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Christ. That's what Lent is all about.
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I love the line from Scripture, don't rend your clothing, rend your heart.
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This is a time to rip your heart open and get rid of all those things within
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your soul, within your behavior that is separating you from the love of Christ.
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And we're all imperfect, we're all broken, we all have ways to improve,
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and we take these 40 days of Lent to really focus on that and change our lives to be more Christlike.
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So I hope you're taking advantage of this time to do that.
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I hope you're adding extra prayer into your days.
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Even if it's just grace, if you've never done grace before, that's a good,
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easy way to start, is showing gratitude to God for the things that you have
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each and every day that sustain you.
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Take this time to be Christ-like to others, to help those who are poor,
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who are hungry, who are homeless, imprisoned, housebound.
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This is the time to do that, to start thinking about others rather than yourself,
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become more outward in your Christian love.
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So it's a wonderful time of the year for us, and hopefully as we get closer
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and closer to the celebration of the Feast of the Resurrection, Easter,
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that you are in a much better place in your relationship with Christ than when
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you started on Ash Wednesday.
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And to help get you there, we, of course, have the graces of the sacraments,
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the most important of which, of course, is the Eucharist, which is celebrated
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at every Mass every day of the week.
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Wherever town you're in, you have an opportunity each day to attend Mass and receive the Eucharist.
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So I hope you're taking advantage of that, especially on Sundays,
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and attend the Sunday Mass. And so later on in the program, we're going to be
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looking and listening to those readings from the Sunday Mass, especially the gospel.
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Quite a lengthy one today. This is The Woman at the Well.
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A beautiful story from the gospels, which has so many layers to it as to what
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we can learn about Christ and Christ's love for us through this gospel reading.
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So we'll be sharing that with you and doing a reflection on that.
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My reflection today is a little different. I got some interesting news this morning.
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I have some surgery in my future.
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Not really thrilled to hear about that, but it is what it is.
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The good news is not the worst thing I've ever been through in my life.
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And certainly doesn't have to be the last thing, although it might be. Who knows?
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When I was 13, I had ruptured my appendix, went six days with ruptured appendix
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before they got operated on. So, yeah.
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But now I find out that there's some more going on inside me that it has to be repaired.
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It's not going to happen for several months yet, but it's now on the calendar.
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And what I wanted to share with you, because many of you are probably going
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through something similar, where you have a medical procedure coming up and
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it could be a little worrisome.
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What I want to offer you is that it's fine to be sad about it.
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It's okay to be concerned about those in your circle of family and friends who
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are going to be concerned about you and could be affected by the positive or
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negative outcome of your procedure.
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But don't be frightened. Christ tells us in Scripture over and over and over
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again, over 300 times, be not afraid.
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If you're in a good relationship with Christ, what exactly is the worst thing that can happen to us?
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I mean, the very worst thing that can happen is that we end up in an even closer relationship with God.
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Okay, that's not a bad place to be. You know, so don't be afraid.
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God has a plan for each and every one of us.
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And if that plan is to be here as part of the church on earth,
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still doing battle with sin, still serving Christ by serving others, if that's the plan,
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that's not a bad plan.
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But if God's plan is, okay, your work here is done, you've proven your service,
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and it's time now to spend eternity with Christ, that's not a bad thing either.
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So it's okay to be worried. It's okay to be concerned. But don't be afraid.
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Have faith in God's plan. no matter what that plan is. And it's not for us to decide.
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I'm not in a hurry to die, but I'm not afraid of the transition.
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I'm not afraid of what is waiting for me.
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And I think I would rather go into the surgery with that sort of fortitude and
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that kind of an attitude rather than go in fearful as to what's going to happen
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or leave others behind fearful.
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I certainly don't, I wouldn't want my family to be afraid of what's going to happen.
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I don't mind them being concerned about it. Certainly they probably are or will
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be when the time comes to be concerned.
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But I certainly wouldn't want to do anything to cause them fear.
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And I don't think Christ wants us to be fearful either.
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There's great strength through faith. And our scriptures talk about that over
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and over again, especially in the New Testament.
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So before we take our break and get into the readings for this Sunday,
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I just want to say for those of you who are facing surgery in the future,
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remember the words of Christ, be not afraid.
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Have faith in God's love and love your faith and be willing to share that with others,
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to not only share your faith with them, but share your strength and your lack
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of fear with them because someone you know is going through this as well.
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And so we're all in this together, and God's hope is that we all end up,
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at the end of time together again for eternity.
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So hang in there. Keep your prayers going. Have a wonderful Lent.
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We're going to take a break for just a few moments. When we come back,
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we'll look at the readings from the Mass of the third Sunday of Lent.
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Stay tuned. Good news will be right back on Catholic Spirit Radio.
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Monday, March 9th is Catholic Spirit Radio's 15th anniversary.
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Celebrate with us by stopping by the radio station at 108 Boykin's Place in
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Normal for a slice of anniversary cake.
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9 to 5, Monday, March 9th. Thanks for your support and prayers for 15 years.
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Did you know there's an app for Catholic Spirit Radio? Listeners with phones,
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tablets, and other devices can tune into our programs and podcasts anytime.
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Just go to the Google Play or Apple App Store to download the app Catholic Spirit Talk Radio.
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It's free. Get all the quality programs you know and love. Monday,
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March 9th is Catholic Spirit Radio's 15th anniversary.
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Celebrate with us by stopping by the radio station at 108 Boykin's Place in
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Normal for a slice of anniversary cake. 9 to 5, Monday, March 9th.
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Thanks for your support and prayers for 15 years.
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And welcome back to Good News. Again, I am Deacon Al Lundy, a permanent deacon of the Peoria Diocese.
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And each week here on Good News, we look at the good news of Jesus Christ,
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the gospel of Christ as shared in our readings from the Sunday Mass.
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And for the next three Sundays, we have special readings going on for what we call the scrutinies.
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So this is a time of year where we have adults who are coming to the end of
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their course of OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults.
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This is a program, an educational program, that we put adults through as they
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convert into the Catholic faith.
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And so we have our candidates, the elect, who are preparing for baptism,
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as well as catechumens who are coming into the faith through confirmation.
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But we have, especially for the elect, those to be baptized,
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we have these three weekends of the scrutinies where we teach them special lessons
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to help strengthen and purify them, strengthen them to resist evil.
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And so we use three very specific readings from John every year in churches where we have the elect.
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And we have a lot this year in the Diocese of Peoria, over 600 adults coming
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into the Catholic faith at the Vigil Mass throughout the diocese,
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which is just fantastic.
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I know the Springfield Diocese, who we reach, have over 900.
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I'm not sure what Joliet has, but the Joliet Diocese has hundreds coming into the faith as well.
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Many of these are young people, college age. It's so refreshing to see so many
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college-age men and women choosing to join the Catholic faith and to enrich
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themselves to the Catholic faith.
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So the readings this weekend, it's the Samaritan woman at the well.
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Next weekend, it will be the healing of the man born blind.
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And then on the third weekend, it will be the raising of Lazarus.
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And all of these Gospels teach very specific things to strengthen these elect
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in their faith as they enter baptism.
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So our first reading is going to be from the book of Exodus.
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Our second reading is Paul to the Romans. And then the third reading is the Gospel of John.
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And the theme that you're going to see through all three of these readings is the use of water.
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And as you think about baptism, water is a huge part of Christian baptism.
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And what water represents, which is new life as well as Christ's love,
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is represented in the use of water.
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And when we talk about thirst, this isn't just a physical thirst that the scriptures are referring to.
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They want you to think about your spiritual thirst.
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Your thirst for stuff, and what kind of refreshment can you really get from
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things of this world compared to what you get from the love of Christ.
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So, in our first reading for the book of Exodus, it says, In those days,
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in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses,
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saying, Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?
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Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?
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So Moses cried out to the Lord, What shall I do with this people?
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A little more, and they'll stone me.
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The Lord answered Moses, Go over there in front of the people,
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along with some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand as you go the
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staff with which you struck the river.
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I'll be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb.
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Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.
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This Moses did in the presence of the elders of Israel.
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The place was called Massa and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled there
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and tested the Lord saying, is the Lord in our midst or not?
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The word of the Lord. So here the people are dying of thirst out in the desert.
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They turned to Moses complaining after Moses freed them from slavery and said,
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Well, you freed us just so we could die here? Is this what this is all about?
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And God says, I will stand on the rock, strike the rock at my feet, and water will pour out.
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And it did. And the people for days were able to drink and water their cattle and live in the desert.
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Well, what is this water really that God directs them to? This is Christ.
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This is Christ that brings us life.
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Just as water brings life to the desert, Christ brings life to us.
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In our reading from Paul to the Romans, Paul writes, Brothers and sisters,
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since we have just been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
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Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access to faith in this grace in which we stand.
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And we boast in hope of the glory of God, and hope does not disappoint.
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Because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy
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Spirit who has been given to us.
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For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
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Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
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though perhaps for a good person one might find courage to die.
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But God proves His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
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So, God's grace is not earned.
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There's nothing we did to deserve God's forgiveness, God's salvation.
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But through Christ, His love is poured. Think of the pouring of water,
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which of course makes us think of baptism.
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Christ's love is poured into us through the Holy Spirit, through the love of
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God, which just like with the Israelites, refreshes us and gives us new life.
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So through baptism, we become one in a new life in Christ.
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Our reading from the Holy Gospel comes from John, and it, too,
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is centered around water.
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Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob
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had given to his son Joseph.
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Jacob's well was there.
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Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.
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A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
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Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. His disciples had gone into town to buy food.
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The Samaritan woman said to him, How can you, a Jew, ask me,
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a Samaritan woman, for a drink?
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For Jews use nothing in common with the Samaritans.
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Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God,
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and who is saying to you, Give me a drink?
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You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.
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The woman said to him, Sir, you do not even have a bucket. and the cistern is deep.
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Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from
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it himself, with his children and his flocks?
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Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.
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But whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.
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The water I shall give will become in him a spring of water,
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welling up to eternal life.
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The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so that I may not be thirsty
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or have to keep coming here to draw water.
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Jesus said to her, Go call your husband and come back.
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The woman answered and said to him, I do not have a husband.
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Jesus answered her, You are right in saying, I do not have a husband,
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for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband.
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What you have said is true, the woman said to him. Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.
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Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but the people say that the place
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to worship is in Jerusalem.
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Jesus said to her, Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship
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the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
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You people worship what you do not understand.
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We worship what we understand because salvation is from the Jews.
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I'm sorry, you people worship what you do not understand. We worship what we
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understand because salvation is from the Jews.
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But the hour is coming and is now here when true worshipers will worship the
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Father in spirit and truth.
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And indeed, the Father seeks such people to worship Him.
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God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
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The woman said to Him, I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ.
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When He comes, He will tell us everything.
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Jesus said to her, I am He, the one speaking with you.
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At that moment, His disciples returned and were amazed that He was talking with
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a woman. But still no one said, What are you looking for?
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Or, Why are you talking with her?
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The woman left with her water jar and went into the town and said to the people,
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Come and see a man who told me everything I have done.
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Could he possibly be the Christ?
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They went out of the town and came to him, and meanwhile the disciples urged him, Rabbi, eat.
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But he said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know.
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So the disciples said to one another, Could someone have brought him something to eat?
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Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of the one who sent me, and to finish his work.
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Do you not say, in four months the harvest will be here?
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I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.
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The reaper is already receiving payment and gathering crops for eternal life,
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so that the sower and the reaper can rejoice together.
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For here the saying is verified that one sows and another reaps.
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I sent you to reap what you have not worked for.
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Others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.
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Many of the Samaritans of the town began to believe in him because the word
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of the woman who testified, He told me everything I have done.
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When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them,
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and he stayed there two days.
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Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the
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woman, We we no longer believe because of your word,
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for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of
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the world, the gospel of the Lord.
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So Jesus meets a woman at a well. And you know, in the scriptures,
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there's four occasions where a man meets a woman at a well.
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And in each of those occasions, they marry, except in this occasion.
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A lot of Bible scholars believe that this is a parable, and that the woman at
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the well represents the tribes of Israel, who've had more than one ruler, more than one husband.
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They've, in fact, had multiple rulers.
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They've been taken over by the Romans, the Babylonians, the Assyrians.
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They've had all kinds of husbands, people who lorded over them before this point.
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And now they're coming into belief with Christ through Jesus' word.
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So he turns out this is the marriage of the Christian faith to the Jewish faith.
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This is the meeting at the well of these cultures.
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And that as they learn more about the word of Christ, they become to believe more and more in Christ.
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This is just shortly before his arrest and crucifixion. This is right after
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he talks about, I've sent you out, you know, the reapers and the sowers.
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He sent the sowers out. He sent his disciples out in pairs, 72 of them to go
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out and to baptize and to preach and to heal.
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So now it's time for the harvest. They've gone out. He's been preaching in public.
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People have been hearing the word. They're starting to come to Christ through
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their belief. And now it's time to harvest them.
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And the disciples still don't quite get this, and Christ is trying to make it
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more apparent to them by telling them this parable.
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As for the Samaritans, as for us and the Samaritans, what do we thirst for?
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And what's going to resolve that thirst for us?
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Too often, we thirst for the wrong thing, and we look for the wrong place to satiate that thirst.
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We look for money, or we look for power. We look for authority.
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We look for stuff, possessions.
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You know, that if I only had this, I could be happy, right?
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If I had more money, I could be happier. If I had a better job, I could be happier.
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If I had a better wife, a better spouse, I could be happier.
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We're looking for our happiness in things around us, where Christ is saying
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the only place you can satisfy this thirst, the only place you can satiate what
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you're missing is through Christ.
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And once you discover that, as the woman at the well did, now you have to go
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share that with others and bring others to that same understanding.
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I hope that's what we're doing at Catholic Spirit Radio. I hope that's what
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our program is doing, is helping to satiate that thirst that's out there.
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If you're not happy, and we all seek happiness, if you're not happy in your
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life, chances are it's not because you don't have enough stuff or enough money or enough authority.
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You don't have enough Christ.
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That's where the answer comes. That's where the satisfaction comes.
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That thirst is looking for baptism and the graces that come with baptism.
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So if you've not been baptized, now's the time to start looking into that.
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And if you have been baptized, now's the time to really dig into those graces
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and look at what that gift is.
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What does it mean to be a child of God, and how are you living that out in your lives.
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And Lent is the time to do that.
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I hope you have a wonderful week. I hope you have a deep and thoughtful and fruitful Lent.
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And may Almighty God bless you, protect you from all evil, and bring you to everlasting life.
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Good night from Catholic Spirit Radio. Don't forget to come Monday, March 9th, 9 a.m.
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To 5 p.m., and celebrate our 15th anniversary with us. God bless.
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You've been listening to Good News on Catholic Spirit Radio,
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a program for teens and almost teens to better understand that the gospel of
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Jesus Christ is relevant in your life.
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Submit your questions to Deacon Al at goodnews at catholicspiritradio.com.
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That's goodnews at catholicspiritradio.com.
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Deacon will answer your questions about faith and religion.
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Thank you for listening to Good News on Catholic Spirit Radio.