WEDNESDAY, September 30 (Jerome)

Matthew 7:13-21. The gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

How often have we been told that "you can't get something for nothing," "there is no free lunch," or "you must pay the piper"? These are all clichés with an element of truth.

There is a side of us that would like always to take the easy way. Television ads promising we will lose twenty pounds in a week with no dieting or exercise sound wonderful. The pill that will cure every ailment with no side effects makes us grab our credit card and call the 800 number in the next fifteen minutes. But these are all modern day false prophets.

In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, this reminder of the narrow gate and hard road is meant to keep us away from false prophets. There are no shortcuts to living our life so that it leads to the kingdom of heaven. Hard work, fervent prayer, sacrificial service, and abiding love--these are the signposts on the hard road of life. But if we follow them, they will lead us to the kingdom of God.

PRAY for the Diocese of St. Edmundsbury and Ipswich (Canterbury, England)

Ps 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30 * 119:121-144; 2 Kings 18:9-25; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.
Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.

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Print contrast.

Sep 30, 2009 at 8:43 am

Written by Goldware,

For several days the print contrast has been very light. Reading the daily commentary is difficult at best. One technique used is to copy and paste the contents in a word processor and darkening there, however, why should a reader need to jump through that hoop. Please get your computer systems people to fix this problem once and for all.
Thank you

...

Sep 30, 2009 at 12:41 pm

Written by Joanne Richards,

In my bible, the text says "for the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life,and few are those who find it." It does not say the life of a Christian is Hard.

...

Sep 30, 2009 at 2:35 pm

Written by alistaire meredith,

a life following god is so precious that it is difficult to explain. read Through the Narrow Gate by Karen Armstrong.

in her own way, janice prepared my mind for seminary, this morning, i spoke with bruce, and he wants to formally continue her work. from now on, i am to meet with him on a monthly basis.

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