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Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House

Summary: 
This is President Obama's third annual Easter Prayer Breakfast.
President Barack Obama delivers remarks before the Easter Prayer Breakfast (April 4, 2012)

President Barack Obama delivers remarks before the Easter Prayer Breakfast, in the East Room of the White House, April 4, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

To mark Easter, President Obama this morning hosted a prayer breakfast at the White House.

In his remarks, he talked about how the holiday is an opportunity for Christians to remember that Jesus was a human being -- with doubts and fears:

In the garden of Gethsemane, with attackers closing in around him, Jesus told His disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” He fell to his knees, pleading with His Father, saying, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” And yet, in the end, He confronted His fear with words of humble surrender, saying, “If it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”

So it is only because Jesus conquered His own anguish, conquered His fear, that we’re able to celebrate the resurrection. It’s only because He endured unimaginable pain that wracked His body and bore the sins of the world that He burdened -- that burdened His soul that we are able to proclaim, “He is Risen!”

This is President Obama's third annual Easter Prayer Breakfast. Read the full remarks from today's event here.