ICEMANforChrist

The fear of the L ORD is pure, enduring forever. The statutes of the L ORD are true, all of them just; More desirable than gold, than a hoard of purest gold, Sweeter also than honey  or drippings from the comb. (Psalm 19:10-11) John, Chapter 12, verse 14-15: 14 Jesus found an ass and sat upon it, as is written: 15 “ Fear no more, O daughter Zion; see, your king comes, seated upon an ass’s colt.” This verse is referring to our Lord entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday when the people acknowledged Christ as the Messiah. The daughter of Zion is a term used by the prophet Zachariah for Jerusalem and according to eastern traditions Kings traditionally rode on donkeys rather than horses. Another symbol of Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem is that of the Prince of Peace: He rode in on a donkey rather than a war horse into a city whose name means peace. According to Deut. 17:15 it was forbidden for a King of Israel to acquire horses. Based on that prohibition,...

John, Chapter 9, Verse 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Messiah, he would be expelled from the synagogue. Christ had healed a man born blind to these parents on the Sabbath and in this verse questioned about it and they were frightened as to the outcome. The synagogue and the academy were the two institutions which preserved the essence of the Judaism of the Diaspora and saved it from annihilation. As the place of public worship, the synagogue became the pivot of each community, just as the Sanctuary at Jerusalem had been the center for the entire people. The synagogue, consequently, is the most important feature of the Jewish community, which is inconceivable without it. [1] This was the equivalent to a social and spiritual death. To be expelled was alike to being made a leper-being imposed in a life of living death. It was worse than being defriended on Facebook!...

The lion roars—who will not be afraid! John, Chapter 7, verse 13: 13 Still, no one spoke openly about him because they were afraid of the Jews. The people were divided over Jesus and he was either loved or hated. Even today you must decide to follow Christ or follow the world for there is no middle ground. Amoris Lætitia [1] Looking to Jesus: The Vocation of the Family - Seeds of the Word and imperfect situations (76-79) The Gospel of the family also nourishes seeds that are still waiting to grow, and serves as the basis for caring for those plants that are wilting and must not be neglected. Thus, building on the gift of Christ in the sacrament, married couples may be led patiently further on in order to achieve a deeper grasp and a fuller integration of this mystery in their lives.   Natural marriage, therefore, is fully understood in the light of its fulfillment in the sacrament of Matrimony: only in contemplating Christ does a person come to know ...

John, Chapter 6, verse 19-20: 19   When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea   and coming near the boat, and they began to be   afraid  20   but he said to them, “It is I.   Do not be   afraid .” After rowing three or four miles they must have been exhausted. The conditions on the sea that night had to have been unnerving but there must have been some light from the moon as they had seen our Lord nevertheless they were afraid .  Then He said, “It is I” or literally “I AM” which was the name of God which no pious Jew was allow to even say! I wonder if they were thinking of the words of the Torah,   “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”   (Genesis 4:2) When they had seen and heard Christ.  They must have known at that point that here was the messiah because they believed. Immed...

Luke, Chapter 23, Verse 40 The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? This refers to the story of the good thief. Theophilus of Alexandria: 'Crucifixion and the Good Thief'. [1] The sun of righteousness appeared in the east and gave light to those who were in the darkness and in the shadow of death (Lk. 1:79)...The powerful lion sprang up out of the wood; all the wild beasts hid in their dens…This, if you like, is the way of Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he saw the real enemy of the whole human race, who is the devil. For the devil invaded the whole earth, and afflicted everyone with many kinds of sins, which he spreads with these great scourges, namely, idolatry, robbery, vanity, fornication, theft, murder, slander, licentiousness, envy, hatred, contempt, anger, sorcery, pollution, fraud, arrogance, perjury, falsehood, corruption, prostitution, deceit and whatever is similar in them. The...

Luke, Chapter 22, Verse 1-2 1 Now the feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was drawing near, 2 and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to put him to death, for they were afraid of the people. Fear is the eighth deadly sin and the Jewish authorities were absolutely controlled by fear . Naturally when fear rules your life you instinctively run or fight. They chose the death of one man to save the people, which was their rationalization to have Christ killed. Judas was their answer. The Jewish authorities’ leadership failed miserably out of self-deception. The anatomy of peace: resolving the heart of conflict [1] Leadership and Self-Deception is simple: people whose hearts are at peace do not wage war, whether they're heads of state or members of a family. In this semi-fictional narrative ("inspired by actual events") illustrating the principles of achieving peace, the setting is a two-day parent workshop at an Arizona-based wi...

Saturday morning at 8 a.m. I will be leading a series of nine spiritual hikes in the Sedona area all are welcome. Here is the link www.holygroundsadventures.com for locations and dates. Luke, Chapter 20, Verse 19 The scribes and chief priests sought to lay their hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people, for they knew that he had addressed this parable to them. Politics never changes. Those in power find it very difficult to surrender. The powerful leaders of Israel were offended because Christ told them the truth, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” The Real Issue was Surrender [1] The scribes had set a trap by asking whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar. They sought to label Him as a traitor to the Jews if he said yes and if He said no they could accuse Him before the Romans. Their plan was perfect yet, Jesus was able to see past the façade. Taxes were not the issue: Surrender was the issue. Who or w...

Saturday morning at 8 a.m. I will be leading a series of nine spiritual hikes in the Sedona area all are welcome. Here is the link  www.holygroundsadventures.com  for locations and dates. Luke, Chapter 19, Verse 20-21 20 Then the other servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it stored away in a handkerchief, 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding person; you take up what you did not lay down and you harvest what you did not plant.’ When I read this I thought of Mathew Kelly’s writing from his book, “Rediscovering Catholicism.” Kelly speaks about the various attitudes and philosophies which shape and define the particular mindset of the modern secular world. In particular, he identifies three key things: individualism, hedonism and minimalism. First, what’s individualism? Individualism is an attitude whereby I come to see myself as the center of the universe. The individualist will typically go through the course of his or her...

Luke, Chapter 18, Verse 1-8 1 Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, 2 “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. 3 And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ 4 For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, 5 because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’” 6 The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. 7 Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? 8 I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Will the Son of Man find faith on earth when he comes? We mus...

Luke, Chapter 12, Verse 32 Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. Today is the feast of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga who demonstrates for us how he was not afraid to lose everything to gain the kingdom. While still young he read the lives of saintly Jesuit missionaries, and he decided to become a Jesuit. His father and some other relatives tried hard to change his mind. It was a fierce battle of wills, but after several years, Aloysius won. With his father's permission, Aloysius gave his large inheritance to his brother and joined the Jesuit order at 17 years of age. The novice director, who was in charge of training Aloysius, told him to cut down on his long hours of prayer and to give up some of his fasting and other penances. Aloysius obeyed willingly. He understood that obedience was better than “doing his own thing.” When Aloysius was 23, a serious epidemic broke out in Rome. Aloysius volunteered at once to help in the...

Luke, Chapter 12, Verse 7 Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid . You are worth more than many sparrows. When I read this passage I get the idea that I indeed must be the least of those in the Kingdom of God. I as a young man had handsome strawberry blond hair and I gained the attention of many a young lady. Yet, as time went on it all fell out. At first I rebuked: No, I will not take this and I used various elixirs in an attempt to keep the hair. As it thinned I did the comb over and then one day I said screw it and shaved my head. Vanity all is vanity. As life went on the challenges of everyday life I lost more than my hair and every day I struggled to retain the joy of life against insurmountable odds in which I lost more than my hair. (Divorce, single parenthood, angry children, unemployment, bankruptcy, sickness) Bravely I continued but ever so slowly I found my joy of life was falling out and anger was replacing it. Yet, by the grace of G...