Author: Brent

No Cross Too Heavy with God’s Love

Pope Benedict XVI during visit to São Paulo, B...

Where did August go?  Sorry for what seemed like a long vacation.  But trust me, I was hard at work writing my rosary guide which always seemed to need one more revision.  But the good news is that it looks like my summer surge is over and I now have some proof copies for what will hopefully be one, final round of editing.

As summer comes to an end it is time to once again get back to writing articles on RosaryMeds on a more regular basis.  This year I started tieing together the Sunday Gospel reading and a rosary mystery.  Now I want to take my articles in a different direction and tie the rosary mysteries to Catholic news and current events.  I want to show how we can tie the lessons taught in the rosary to things we witness every day.

I’m going to start with some words of wisdom Pope Benedict XVI gave to a group of new seminarians at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.  He told them not to be afraid to take up their crosses and follow Jesus’ path.  From the article on the Catholic News Agency:

“The Christian follows the Lord with love when he accepts his cross which in the eyes of the world appears as a defeat and a ‘loss of life’, while that man knows that he does not bear his alone but with Jesus, sharing the same path of self-giving,”  the Pope said.

I think this is an important observation on how the modern world views religious life.  Modern secularists look at the time Catholics spend praying, fasting, reading the Bible (ok, most of us probably come up a little short in this category), and receiving the sacraments and ask, “why?”  They see us living what they would consider a pointless life instead of going out and “having fun.”  Of course, questioning the path of Christ is hardly a new phenomenon.  In the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery of the rosary we see Jesus’ Passion where He falls down and gets back up repeatedly only to face greater suffering.  We look at Christ’s actions and ask, “why?”  Why did Jesus keep getting back up knowing that his path was not getting any easier?  Why did He get up when the only thing facing him was crucifixion?

Jesus continued out of love for us and a resolve to follow the path God laid before Him.  While Jesus pleaded with God in the Garden of Gesthemene to find an easier route, Jesus also acknowledged that He would do whatever God deemed necessary.  God chose a difficult road for Jesus but ultimately one that Jesus not only endured, but triumphed as seen in the Resurrection.  Similarly, God sometimes lays down a difficult road for many of us.  It is one fraught with inconveniences at its best and persecution and martyrdom at its worst.  But all these roads, from the easiest to the hardest, lead to our salvation in God’s Kingdom of Heaven.  God’s glory is why Jesus continued carrying His cross and it is why we carry ours.

So when we pray the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery of the rosary let us remember those who choose religious life whether they be seminarians, priests, brothers, nuns, deacons, and anyone who serves the Church.  Many of them choose to lead a hard life and one that is not appreciated by many in modern society who view religion as silly superstition.  People who choose a religious vocation see the ultimate joy that comes from living in God’s grace even if that means giving up some worldly luxuries.  They are an inspiration to us all as we should have that same goal of loving God with every word, thought, and action.

We should also pray for those who are staunch secularists or hate faiths like the Catholic Church.  They are the ones who fell under the weight of the cross this world offers them and only see misery in religion.  As the Pope told the seminarians:

“When the fulfillment of one’s life is only aimed towards social success, and physical and economic well-being, man is not thinking according to God but according to man.” Such an attempt to refuse God’s “project of love,” said the Pope, “almost prevents man from carrying out His masterly will.”

The modern secularist reminds me of an athlete who tells himself he cannot continue the long race.  He thinks he has no energy left and that he is too far behind to catch up.  All he sees is obstacles and cannot see that glorious finish line.  All they concentrate on is the heavy weight of their “crosses” in life and in their beaten state they do not see what Jesus has prepared for them in Heaven.  We should pray that they get their spiritual “second wind” and accept God’s “project of love” as the Pope puts it.  When we accept God’s road and truly acknowledge the greatness God has in store for us then there is no cross heavy enough to keep us down.

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The Feast of the Assumption

The statue of the Assumption venerated at Ghax...
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With all the upheaval and uncertainty in this world — riots in England, financial markets slowing down, jobs disappearing, etc., maybe it is time to get back to basics and focus on what’s really important.  Monday, 8/15/11, was the feast of the Assumption which we pray in the Fourth Glorious Mystery of the rosary.  In my meditation on that mystery, I talk about how Mary is our spiritual guide and offers us five easy habits we can use to get back in touch with God’s awesome grace.  I call them the 5 R’s — Recite (prayers), Read (the bible), Refrain (from indulgent eating), Repent (from your sins), and Receive (the Eucharist).  We should all take a little time out from all the worries of this world and focus on what is really important.  We should also pray particularly for all those who do not seem to have a spiritual compass and live in a world without hope or joy of something permanent such as God’s love.  We pray that they find the strength to orient themselves towards God’s truth and live in His grace.

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What’s Your Request?

King Solomon, Russian icon from first quarter ...
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The first reading for Sunday, 7/24/11, was the story about how Solomon the Wise actually became, well, wise.  In a dream, God came to Solomon, ruler of Israelites, and granted him one request.  Instead of earthly wealth and power, Solomon asked for the gift of wisdom.  God granted Solomon his request because of its unselfish nature.  Likewise, God gives us special gifts for praying the rosary if our requests are to help further our relationship with Him.

The Confraternity of the Rosary was started over 500 years ago by the Dominican order.  It is a Catholic association that promotes praying the rosary.  Over the years, the Virgin Mary made 15 promises of the benefits that come from praying the rosary.  They include gifts like:

  • What you shall ask through my Rosary you shall obtain.
  • To those who propagate my Rosary I promise aid in all their necessities.
  • Whoever recites my Rosary devoutly reflecting on the mysteries, shall never be overwhelmed by misfortune.

Sound great?  If taken out of context one might think that praying the rosary will yield money, power, fame, and fortune.  If I ask for one million dollars I will receive it right?  I have a guarantee to find the love of my life or get that big promotion at work!  Of course, we know the rosary does not work like this.  So what does Mary mean in these promises?

We have to go back to Sunday’s reading and the story of Solomon.  God did have the power to grant Solomon whatever he wanted.  But God also reserved the right to turn down Solomon’s request if it was selfish or did not further His Heavenly kingdom.  The same goes with the promises of the rosary.  We will obtain whatever we ask as long as those requests are to deepen our relationship with God.  God will answer our prayers when we ask Him for what is truly important.  When Mary speaks of our necessities, she is not talking about our earthly ones.  Everything that happens in this life, good and bad, will one day pass away.  Our true necessities revolve around the state of our soul which will determine where we spend all eternity.  That is the aid we will receive praying the rosary.

Often we are like small children when we approach God in prayer.  To a child, a toy on the shelf at a store or a candy bar in the checkout counter feels like the most important thing in the world.  And children are devastated when they do not get what they want as we see when a parent drags their wailing child through the isles of a supermarket (poor parent).  And yet we often do the same thing in our prayers.  We ask God for things that we think are incredibly important because we lack the perspective to know that they are really quite inconsequential.  One of the benefits of the rosary is that we will not only receive our spiritual necessities, but we will gain a deeper understanding as to what those needs are.

So when we pray the rosary, let us remember to approach God humbly with our requests and intentions.  We should remember what is truly important which is the salvation of our soul and the souls of others.  Everything else, whether it be about work, finances, and relationships in this world are trivial when compared to receiving God’s grace.  And while it is fine to ask God for help in these areas we should remember to keep those requests in perspective.  Who knows?  Maybe one day God will come to you in a dream, as He did Solomon, and give you one request.  Will your heart be centered on God so that you will ask for what is truly important?

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Why Civilized Society Needs God

I came across this article on The Jerusalem Post about the decline of people who believe in God in Britain and the detrimental effects it has had on their society.  The article cites a research study that found that only 35% of the British population believe in God while it’s 92% in the USA.  The article has this to say about the effect of this low percentage:

This decline of faith and optimism may account for why Britain – once the most advanced nation on earth, which gave the world parliamentary democracy and inimitable centers of higher learning – is today more famous for exporting reality shows like Big Brother and Project Catwalk. For while religion affirms the infinite dignity of the human person, its absence robs life of its sanctity. Universal exploitation and humiliation for fame and fortune are the inevitable outgrowth.

Of course, America is no prize pig either.  Religion is under assault from all sides whether it be from a president who believes that a large part of America has backwards beliefs and “cling to their guns and religion” to government bureaucrats who eagerly disregard our Constitutional right to practice religion.  And one only has to read the news to see the negative affects our move away from God and religion has had.  Without recognizing a higher authority and a better life to come, people just live for today.  They live for money, fame, lust, and sloth.  Just look at some of today’s headlines on the Drudge Report:

That is just a small glimpse of the fruits of a more secular society.  And since we cannot appeal to a sense of morality (since morality implies religious beliefs) the only solution in a secular world is more rules and regulations.  Because people are not encouraged to develop a native sense of right and wrong, bigger government interference is the only remedy.  Our founding fathers realized that a stable, free, and open society is one based on religion.  For example, George Washington had this to say about the role of religion and government:

Enough with the political talk.  After all, this is a prayer website focused on the rosary.  So as spiritual people, how are we to respond?  With the rosary of course!  Pick a mystery and think of how it relates to society moving away from God and then pray for those poor souls.  For example, think about The Second Sorrowful Mystery and Jesus’ suffering.  Now think of all those people who suffer because they try to live without God in their lives.  We pray that their suffering may be redemptive and that they come back into God’s grace.  Or we can focus on The Third Luminous Mystery and how Jesus asks us to live for His kingdom of Heaven.  Now think of all those people who live solely for this earthly kingdom.  We pray that they will one day respond to Jesus’ call to conversion.  Finally, think of The Fifth Glorious Mystery and pray to Mary, Queen of Heaven, for Her intercession in all the ills this world has brought upon itself because we refuse to live as God calls us.  Any rosary mystery can apply to this issue of society moving away from God.  The important part in reversing this trend is to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!  And when you think you’ve prayed enough, PRAY SOME MORE!

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Did the Shepherd Leave His Flock?

While I’m still taking a summer sabbatical to finish my book I thought I should write an article on an important topic.  This past week we learned that a popular Catholic theologian, Father John Corapi, decided to leave the priesthood after being accused of misconduct three months ago.  When the accusations became public he was placed on administrative leave while Church officials investigated the validity of the claims.  However, although the claims have not been verified or dismissed, Father Corapi decided to leave the priesthood so he could serve a wider audience instead of being stuck in priestly limbo.  His decision did not sit well with many people including myself.  I think about all my posts on the Catholic Answers Forums where I referred to one of his talks.  I think about the hours I spent listening to him on EWTN radio.  Was all that time wasted on a false messenger?

Someone leaving the priesthood, while rare, is not unprecedented.  But Father Corapi leaving the priesthood leaves me with mixed feelings.  If you ever listened to his lectures you probably heard him talk about sacrifice, redemptive suffering, and how we just can’t quit when fighting the good fight.  He talked about the power of God’s grace and the sacraments.  And yet, what are we to conclude when Father Corapi decided to leave the priesthood after three months of administrative leave?  How much did the priesthood mean to him if he could leave it so easily?  It seems like he should have listened to some of his own lectures on perseverance.  Compare him to priests that keep their vows despite persecution or the ones that became martyrs because they would not abandon their calling when times became tough.  So when Father Corapi threw in the towel while the Church was in the early stages of its investigation it makes me wonder how much weight I should give to his teachings.

When I start to have doubts about the validity of Father Corapi’s teachings given recent events I recall one of the more important tenants of the Catholic faith.  God’s truth does not rely on the faithfulness or the state of grace of His messengers. While we are flawed and can fall into sin that does not impact that validity of God’s Word.  Although John Corapi decided to leave the priesthood we must remember that many of his teachings about the Catholic faith remain true because they come directly from Church doctrine.  You cannot deny Church doctrine or history regardless of how you feel about the person making the statements.  This division is what makes the Catholic Church so special in that while the Church, as an institution run by humans may fail at times, God’s truth that underlies that institution remains solid and unchanged.

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And so, while I do not agree with Father Corapi’s decision to leave the priesthood, I will not disregard or ignore what he taught about the Catholic faith.  God has always chosen imperfect messengers to spread His word.  I hope that one day I will still be able to hear one of Father Corapi’s lectures on EWTN after the dust settles from the events of these past few months.  It’s a shame that future generations may miss Father Corapi’s strong voice and unambiguous stance on Church doctrine.  We should pray, not only for him, but for all priests who face difficult challenges in their vocation.  The Third Glorious Mystery of the rosary is perfect for priestly intentions since priests are powered by the same Holy Spirit that gave the apostles strength to do God’s will at Pentecost.  May priests everywhere have the strength to continue doing God’s work and fight the good fight.

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Our Lady’s Messages: May, 2011

May 02, 2011

Dear children; God the Father is sending me to show you the way of salvation, because He, my children, desires to save you and not to condemn you. That is why I, as a mother, am gathering you around me, because with my motherly love I desire to help you to be free of the dirtiness of the past and to begin to live anew and differently. I am calling you to resurrect in my Son. Along with confession of sins renounce everything that has distanced you from my Son and that has made your life empty and unsuccessful. Say ‘yes’ to the Father with the heart and set out on the way of salvation to which He is calling you through the Holy Spirit. Thank you. I am especially praying for the shepherds (priests), for God to help them to be alongside you with a fullness of heart.

Confession

Remember when you pray the Fourth Glorious Mystery of the rosary that God assumed Mary, body and soul, into Heaven so she could be our guide to eternal salvation.  Also remember the Second Glorious Mystery of the rosary.  Jesus ascended into Heaven to judge the living and the dead.  However, while He is our ultimate judge, He does not wish to condemn us but instead wants us to live with him forever in happiness.  May we try to avoid sin and receive mercy through the Sacrament of Reconciliation to show that we want to live in God’s grace as much as He wants to give it to us.

May 25, 2011

Dear children! My prayer today is for all of you who seek the grace of conversion. You knock on the door of my heart, but without hope and prayer, in sin, and without the Sacrament of Reconciliation with God. Leave sin and decide, little children, for holiness. Only in this way can I help you, hear your prayers and seek intercession before the Most High. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Think about Mary’s message when you pray the Third Luminous Mystery and remember that Jesus calls all of us to lead a life of conversion.  May we turn away from sin and strive to live in God’s grace.  We should remember that each day is an opportunity to forge a deeper relationship with God.

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Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima

In 1917, on the 13th day of each month for six months starting in May, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal.  The apparitions at Fatima have particular significance regarding the rosary as Mary asked the children to pray it every day informing them it was the key to peace both personally and globally.  Fatima is where we also get the Fatima Prayer which is prayed at the end of each decade of the rosary.  For those who do not know it, it is very simple and yet extremely powerful:

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell and lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of your mercy.

There is so much power contained in that one little sentence.  As I explain in my upcoming book on the rosary (that’s right, I’m writing a book), this is an incredibly important prayer since you acknowledge the reality of hell and that everyone runs the risk of going there if we choose to live in sin instead of embracing God’s truth.  We beg for God’s mercy that we will be worthy of Heaven and ask for mercy for those who do not live as Jesus calls them.  Take this small prayer seriously as it reminds us of the consequences of sin and the power of God to forgive and save anyone no matter how far they may stray.

If you do not know much about Fatima, I encourage you to take some time reading about it as it is really fascinating and also slightly scary.  You can get a good overview from Wikipedia, Catholic Exchange, or any number of books and DVDs from Amazon.
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Gospel for May 8, 2011 — Awareness

Man and woman (holding her child) walking by t...
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The Gospel for Sunday, May 8 is from Luke 24:13-35 where some disciples of Jesus met Him on the road to Jerusalem but did not recognize Him.  They did not realize Jesus was with them until He ate with them and broke bread similar to what He did at the Last Supper.  Only then did they realize how foolish they were that they did not recognize Jesus in their presence.  Likewise, when we pray the rosary Jesus is in our presence both listening to us and trying to guide us to His kingdom of Heaven.  But often we do not recognize Jesus’ presence in our prayers or in our lives.

This Sunday’s Gospel follows the same theme as last week’s in that it shows that all too often we look for God in our lives in all the wrong places.  Last week Thomas the apostle had so little faith he would not recognize Jesus’ resurrection until he saw Jesus face to face.  And now in this week’s Gospel two of Jesus’ disciples did not recognize Jesus although they were walking and talking with Him.  They did not see Jesus despite the fact that He explained all the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets explaining His death and resurrection.  And yet they still did not recognize Him.  We too often fail to recognize Jesus in our lives although His truth is all around us.

I touched on this briefly when discussing Doubting Thomas and how we do not always take those telling the truth seriously.  In this case I mean the truth of Jesus Christ as taught through the Catholic Church.  We hear this truth all the time whether it be during Mass, in the Catechism or Bible, Papal decrees, or simply the Church’s traditions that have been practiced for centuries.  We hear them and yet we so often do not follow them because we do not think of them as Jesus’ teachings.  We hear them as the thoughts and opinions of fellow humans much like the disciples in the Gospel thought that Jesus was just some normal traveler.  And so we do not give the Church’s teachings the consideration they deserve and go about living counter to its teachings.  Would you argue about abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, contraception, and human cloning if you stood face to face with Jesus?  Probably not.  So why do we so readily argue with His Church and disobey His teachings?  Are we like the disciples in the Gospel who discovered how foolish they were for not recognizing Jesus in their presence?

We should remember this Gospel reading when we pray the Third Luminous Mystery of the rosary and remember Jesus’ proclamation of Heaven and His call to conversion.  Really meditate this week on the areas in your life where you do not hear Jesus through the Church’s teachings and challenge yourself to learn what Jesus is trying to tell you through His Church.  You will probably not be converted in some of your beliefs overnight.  But just researching what the Church really believes and teaches and humbling yourself to the possibility that there might be areas of your life where you have not let the Holy Spirit guide you is a huge step in the right direction.  There is no doubt that questioning your deeply held beliefs is hard especially if Jesus leads you in a direction that runs counter to popular opinion.  But the Third Luminous Mystery points out that we need to choose whether to live for God’s kingdom or our earthly kingdom.  Do you see that Jesus walks beside you every day and is trying to lead you down the right path or are you too wrapped up in living solely for what this world has to offer?

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Our Lady’s Messages: April, 2011

Our Lady’s message of April 2, 2011 to Mirjana at Medjugore

Dear children; With motherly love I desire to open the heart of each of you and to teach you personal unity with the Father. To accept this, you must comprehend that you are important to God and that He is calling you individually. You must comprehend that your prayer is a conversation of a child with the Father; that love is the way by which you must set out – love for God and for your neighbour. That is, my children, the love that has no boundaries, that is the love that emanates from truth and goes to the end. Follow me, my children, so that also others, in recognizing the truth and love in you, may follow you. Thank you.

I like that Mary tells us that prayer is our conversation with God.  We so often rattle off prayers that we forget the point of them.  Prayers are not some sort of divine credit where you get a certain amount of points each time your pray.  A lot of people think of prayer this way.  On Catholic message forums I read posts from people always asking questions like, “Why did I get this illness although I pray every day?”  We must remember that Jesus never said, nor does the Church teach that misfortune will never befall those who pray.  In fact, the history of the Catholic Church seems to show quite the opposite.  Usually the saints and other faithful people led challenging lives and were often persecuted or martyred.

Prayer is the language
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Instead of viewing prayer as some sort of spritual ATM, we must think of it more as our opportunity to voice or concerns and thanksgivings to God.  But almost more importantly, we must take that time to listen to what God tells us.  The true power of prayer is not that God will make our lives easy but that He will give us strength and guidance when difficult times hit us.  Furthermore, we have powerful prayers like the rosary.  The mysteries of the rosary and the structure of its prayers provide a framework for conversing with God.  Think of it as a way of speaking God’s language and making you more receptive and more likely to understand what God tells you.

 

Our Lady’s message of April 25, 2011 at Medjugorje

Dear children! As nature gives the most beautiful colors of the year, I also call you to witness with your life and to help others to draw closer to my Immaculate Heart, so that the flame of love for the Most High may sprout in their hearts. I am with you and I unceasingly pray for you that your life may be a reflection of Heaven here on earth. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Visitation, from Altarpiece of the Virgin (St ...
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Mary asks us to not to pay lip service to our faith through a lot of empty words and promises.  Rather, she wants us to live our faith with every word we speak, every thought in our mind, and every action we make.  She calls us to live in constant prayer so that we may be a beacon of Jesus’ love to all those around us.

We should remember Mary’s message when we pray the Second Joyful Mystery of the rosary — The Visitation.  Mary, after having accepted God’s Will in The Annunciation traveled to see her cousin, Elizabeth.  In the Gospel, these events happen side by side for a reason.  The first thing that Mary does after receiving God’s grace is go out and share the good news with others.  She did not keep that grace bottled up nor did she brag about God having chosen her to bring Jesus into this world.  Similarly, Mary calls us to not keep our faith bottled up.  Rather, she wants us to go out and be a reflection of Jesus’ love to all those around us.  When you meditate on the Visitation while praying the rosary ask yourself, “are my actions an accurate reflection of Jesus’ love?”

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Gospel for May 1, 2011 — Belief

Just Believe: ( John 20:29)
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The Gospel for May 1, 2011 is from John 20:19-31 where Jesus appears to His apostles after rising from the dead.  Thomas, who was not there when Jesus appeared, did not believe the apostles’ claim since he had not seen Jesus personally.  This Gospel teaches the meaning and value of faith and how we are often like doubting Thomas where we do not see the wonderful works of Jesus in our lives.  Like the Second Luminous Mystery of the rosary, the Miracle at Cana, Jesus performs miracles all around us every day and yet we often overlook them.

When you pray the rosary think about spending some time thanking God for all He does for He performs both small and large miracles every day.  At Cana, Jesus turned water into wine.  But that seems almost trivial when you consider the miracle of your life.  Just the fact that you are alive is miracle enough.  After all, you came from nothingness, started life as a little group of cells, and are now a moving, breathing human being with the ability to spread so much joy and happiness in others’ lives.  Throw on top of that the friends and family God placed in your life.  If you are married, think about the fact that out of the billions of the people in the world and the centuries of human existence God placed you and your spouse together at this specific place and time.  Think about all the skills you posses whether they be physical or mental.  We should remember to thank God for even the small miracles of a sunny day or a comfortable bed to sleep in at night.

Despite all the miracles around us we act like Thomas in John’s Gospel.  Thomas needed to personally experience that BIG MIRACLE to believe in Christ’s resurrection.  He would not take others’ word for it.  We too often look only for only that big miracle in our life to truly believe and love Jesus.  We want the booming voice from the sky to speak to us.  We want to see a hand reach down from the clouds to prevent an almost certain disaster.  We want our prayers to win the lottery answered.  Unfortunately, we are often so blinded looking for that big miracle that we overlook all those other miracles that show God’s presence in our lives.  Like Thomas not believing the word of the other apostles, we often ignore or do not believe the teachings of the Catholic Church.  The message of the Gospel and the Second Luminous Mystery is to have faith and rejoice in EVERYTHING God does for us and not be disappointed because He does not perform a specific, big miracle.

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