ICEMANforChrist

  Second Sunday of Advent St. Barbara's branch   John, Chapter 12, Verse 25 Whoever LOVES his life -- loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.   We are all seeds and a seed that is not buried will not bear fruit. Jesus is mentioning his own self-giving which He joins to that of His disciples. They are called to identical servant roles. [1] This is servant leadership. The servant leader is servant first…. Becoming a servant-leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions. For such people, it will be a later choice to serve—after leadership is established. The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them are the shadings and blends that are part of the...

  First Saturday SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER   John, Chapter 11, Verse 3-5 3 So the sisters sent word to him, saying, “Master, the one you LOVE is ill.” 4 When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.   Martha, Mary and Lazarus were three home runs of Christ. They were loved by Christ not because of their wealth but by the fact they knew that all wealth is really just on loan from the Father and that we are to use our wealth to build the kingdom. You cannot love God and money. When our Lord was raised up on the cross we see that our true wealth is in him and until we come to our own natural end we should use our wealth to bring truth, beauty, and love to our communities and families.   The Mass is a reenactment of the death of our Lord. It is thought-provoking to contemplate that Pilates notice above...

  First Friday END OF SLAVERY DAY   John, Chapter 10, Verse 17 This is why the Father LOVES me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.   This is probably a reference to the manna in the desert, which elsewhere is seen as a type of the Eucharist. In the Gospel of John Christ states, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So, the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. (John 4: 32-34).  We like our Lord should have the same desire to build the Kingdom of God; to create a New Jerusalem in our home, at our work and in our communities. Our Lord asks that we prepare ourselves for the work by eating the food he gives us which is the new covenant.  We need this food to create a change in us from the old man to become sons of God in and through Christ which is the new covenant of His blood. Those wh...