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TODAY’S WORD…
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Jesus said,
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide
and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.
For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life,
and there are few who find it.”
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– Matthew 7:13-14 (NRSV)
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REFLECTION…
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The way of sin is momentarily pleasant
and calls for no effort,
but…it leads in the direction of eternal perdition.
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The plain fact is that
the majority appear to avoid the narrow gate and the road that leads to life
– they even despise it because it involves carrying “the cross”;
it involves self-giving
and self-sacrifice.
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Self-denial,
forgiveness of others,
monogamy,
meekness,
renunciation of the pursuit of wealth as the chief end to life,
and other basic principles of faith and morality
– all seem to be diametrically opposed to our baser instincts
which propel us constantly in the direction of the the narrow gate
leading to the wide, glittery and seducing road.
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It is only those truly desiring salvation,
who set their minds upon the things of heaven and on the Lord’s promise.
It is only those truly desiring salvation,
who determinedly enter and negotiate, with God’s help,
the narrow and demanding way…that leads to eternal Life.
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QUOTE…
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“If a man resolves
to submit himself to carrying this cross
– that is to say, if he resolves to desire in truth
to meet trials and to bear them in all things for God’s sake,
he will find in them all
great relief and sweetness
wherewith he may travel upon this road,
detached from all things
and desiring nothing.
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Yet, if he desires to possess anything
– whether it comes from God or from any other source –
with any feeling of attachment,
he has not stripped and denied himself in all things;
and thus he will be unable to walk along this narrow path
or climb upward by it”
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– St. John of the Cross
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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…
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Lord, detach me from everything, help me overcome my weaknesses…and lead me along Your Way.
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A LAMP TO MY FEET. A LIGHT FOR MY PATH. 