Elizabeth Tichvon, Author at Amazing Catechists

Urgent Freedom

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13).

There’s an exit on one of our local interstates that I call the “Jesus Exit,” because there sits a church with a billboard-sized sign of the famous Warner Sallman painting, “The Head of Christ,” which depicts our Lord looking up toward His Father in Heaven. Underneath it reads, “ARE YOU ON THE RIGHT ROAD?” It’s a message that continuously reminds the multitude of travelers of the critical choice we must make, since we don’t know the day or hour that our earthly life will end.

This Tuesday’s Gospel parable of the “two ways” will teach us the significance our moral decisions have on our salvation. The way of Christ, which is the right road, can be challenging and difficult at times, but it leads to life. The way of sin, which is the wrong road, is easier, because it is more pleasurable – but it leads to eternal fire. “The affirmations of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion.” (Catechism, Para. 1036)

It’s now, in this life, that we’re offered the choice between life and death, and it’s only by the road of conversion that we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, from which we’re excluded by mortal sin. We must make the choice to reconcile ourselves with God, then continue to follow the right road, which leads to eternal joy. Jesus said that those who find it are few. Still, each of us can use our freedom and choose to be on it.

Catechist’s Choice

By Elizabeth Tichvon

While sitting down with a cup of tea to write this post, I noticed a message on the tea bag label: “Your choices will change the world.”

In his mission to the ends of the earth, St. Paul frequently made choices that changed the world around him and which continue to change our world today. In fact, in today’s First Reading in Acts, I can count five occasions where St. Paul chose to stay faithful to his mission, despite the bleak conditions around him.

Instead of giving in to hopelessness or escaping when he had the chance, St. Paul used his grim prison experience to advance his mission. He stayed behind, not only to keep the jailer from taking his own life, but to help influence the jailer’s eternal life with the Word of God and the Sacrament of Baptism. St. Paul didn’t think twice about his own needs because of his resolve to preach the Gospel to every soul in need of healing.

God rescued St. Paul time and time again simply because he chose to be faithful in the face of his physical and emotional sufferings. This must be a catechist’s choice as well, for we find favor with God when, instead of despairing or running away from our own trials, we go on with a hopeful approach. Like St. Paul who, after being stripped, beaten and imprisoned, chose to pray and sing hymns to God while staked to his prison cell, we must trust that when we call to the Lord, He will answer us and build up strength within us. As C. S. Lewis wrote, “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” Every day a catechist has a choice to make.

The Lord completes what He has done for us through our own catechetical mission to the world. He graces us so that we too may share the message St. Paul declared to his jailer in Philippi: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)

“The Eucharist is the heart of the Church. Where Eucharistic life flourishes, there the life of the Church will blossom.” – Blessed John Paul II

By Elizabeth Tichvon

dis·tin·guished 1: marked by eminence, distinction, or excellence; 2: befitting an eminent person

con·spic·u·ous 1: obvious to the eye or mind; 2: attracting attention : striking

A large, digital sign sits on the lawn in front of one of the local Catholic churches that reads, “C H – – C H . . . What’s missing? U R!”

But “U R” is not what I think of as missing every time I drive by. What’s missing is the Real Presence – at this Catholic Church and at many others like it that have taken up the tradition that the tabernacle may be hidden around a corner or in the back of a chapel where you have to search for it. According to Canon Law, “The tabernacle in which the Most Holy Eucharist is reserved is to be situated in some part of the church or oratory which is distinguished, conspicuous, beautifully decorated, and suitable for prayer.” (Can. 938 §2.)

While on travel recently, we attended Mass at a beautiful Church, but again there was no tabernacle in sight. After Mass while waiting in the reception line, I desperately wanted to say a little something to the priest, who had celebrated such a moving mass. As I approached him he said, “Hello, dear” so kindly that I felt the courage to speak, “Why?” I must have sounded like Cindy Lou Who when I repeated, “Why…is there no tabernacle in the front of the Church?” Promptly his demeanor changed and he gently pushed me away, replying, “It’s not getting changed and I’m not discussing it,” and looked past me to the next person, dismissing me. Obviously he’d been challenged before.

Dear priests of God, please find it in the corners of your hearts to bring Jesus out of the corners of your Churches and place Him out in the open, front and center, behind the altar where He intends to be to fulfill His promise that He will never abandon us. The placement of the Sacred Tabernacle fosters our adoration of Him every time we enter the Church, particularly at every Mass before we consume Him in the Holy Eucharist. But you already know that.

Then, why am I writing this?

“Every member of the Church must be vigilant in seeing that this sacrament of love shall be at the center of the life of the people of God so that through all the manifestations of worship due to it, Christ shall be given back ‘love for love,’ and truly become the life of our souls.” – Blessed John Paul II

A Beautiful Day to Repent

By Elizabeth Tichvon

March 9, 2013

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent

… a reflection on Today’s Sacred Scripture:

Psalm 51 was recently given to me as my penance after a confession heard by a young visiting priest to our church. “Why Psalm 51?” I asked.

He said, simply, “It is beautiful.” He shared with me that he always adds this Psalm to whatever penance he is given during his own confessions.

He explained that it allows us to acknowledge that we are sinners, “Wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sins cleanse me.” It teaches us that by denying sin, we separate ourselves from God’s many graces which we need to become closer to Him. But by recognizing our sins and being truly sorry for them, “with a heart contrite and humbled,” He will never reject us. It gives us the opportunity to ask Him to stay close to us, despite our faults, “Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me.”

During this time of Lenten fasting and praying, we can reach into today’s Responsorial Psalm 51 and ask God to purify us, “A clean heart create for me, O God.” When we ask for His forgiveness, we exchange our weakness for strength, “A steadfast spirit renew within me” and we exchange our remorse for the greatest of His graces, true peace and happiness.

Elizabeth

Small Gifts, Great Love

By Elizabeth Tichvon

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you” (Luke 6:36-38).

Where else in the New Testament does Jesus speak so intimately to each of us? None of us has the same opportunities to be merciful, to love, to forgive. Jesus gives each of us different talents that match the role He assigns us. Talents come in as many varieties as there are people, and all are equally important to His perfect plan. But we must use our talents to do His will by giving away gifts we design from our own passions and from our own desire to give.

A smile is a gift when it transforms a life. A prayer is a gift when it alters the direction of a soul. Wealth is a gift when it feeds a stranger. A word of encouragement is a gift when it lifts the spirit of someone we find hard to love. These gifts seem minor to us, but their weight is measured by Jesus alone. Our small gifts given with great love are just as precious to Him as a gift given by someone we hold high, like Mother Teresa, whose arms were a gift to countless children as she held them with their last breath.

Jesus places people of His choice, not ours, in our path for us to love. We must not waste the opportunity, but move forward according to this assumption, using our free will.

Our reward will be measured on its own and against no one else’s. We’ll recognize that our gift was considered great in Jesus’ eyes when the measure He returns to us fulfills the deepest desires of our hearts. Once again, we learn that loving acts bring us the greatest joy!

https://usccb.org/bible/readings/022513.cfm

My Jesus Crucified…

By Elizabeth Tichvon

“When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret” (Matthew 6:6).

Ash Wednesday allows us to practice what Jesus taught as we observe this first day of Lent. We fast and receive God’s blessing with ashes on our foreheads to express our sorrow for offending Him. Today’s Gospel reading invites us to do this with sincerity, asking our Father for forgiveness openly and honestly, but from the inner rooms of our hearts.

When Jesus taught His disciples how to fast, pray and practice good deeds in a manner most pleasing to our Father, He said they shouldn’t act like the hypocrites who made sure others saw them, so as to win their praise. The hypocrites received the praise they pined for, but that was it for them, Jesus warned, “They have received their reward” (Matthew 6:5).

When the praise of man is our only incentive to do good, then the praise of man is all we’ll get. On the other hand, if our acts are done from the heart with the intent that only our Father see them, a most excellent reward comes to us, “and your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matthew 6:18). What we receive from delighting our Father is lasting. Our recompense begins immediately with His grace and continues on for eternity—what could be better?

Not everyone can distinguish sincerity, but our Heavenly Father sees everything. Let us humbly speak with faith to the One who knows of our hunger, hears our every prayer, sees our every deed, forgives us of everything and rewards us greatly.

Shining Catechists

By Elizabeth Tichvon

The desire for God is written into every human heart, so we should all have some sense of what Jesus demands of us as His disciples. Maybe that’s why many turn Him down when He calls them to be one, because they fear the weight of their crosses. I wonder how many aspirants in Jesus’ time abandoned the idea altogether when they learned what He required of them, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:27)

Jesus warned us that it would be demanding. He wants us to look hard at what it’ll cost us and consider the suffering that comes with it. He tells us to renounce our possessions and put Him first before our families and even our own lives!

It’s a severe message the Gospel brings, but as St. Paul tells us, we must make every effort to persevere for our salvation and the salvation of others. Fortunately, we learn quickly that material possessions become less important to us the more we hunger for Jesus’ presence.

When we put God before our own families, He sends us the grace to see that He created the ones we love and they are His gifts to us. Without Him we have nothing and that’s why we love Him more; that’s why we love Him first.

In reality, accepting the call is the most difficult part, but Jesus comes at once to give us courage, and each trial leaves us with tremendous strength and even joy. As disciples we put to use all Jesus reveals to us to accept our crosses with patience, speak our faith with courage and to bear witness to it with confidence, even at the cost of our lives.

Such strength should have us repeating the words St. Paul left for us, “Even if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you. In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me.” (Philippians 2:17)

With more joy than ever imagined, we push forward as God’s Catechists. Some will think we’ve given up a great deal, but we’re still the same stars, we’re just shining brighter in a world that so desperately needs His light.

“The Voice of the LORD is Over the Waters” (Psalm 29:3).

By Elizabeth Tichvon

Today we celebrate the Feast that recalls the manifestation of Jesus as our Messiah – His Baptism! Each Thursday as we recite the First Luminous Mystery, we revisit that beautiful visual in the Jordan River of Jesus making the waters holy for us, of the Holy Spirit coming upon Him, of the heavens that were closed by Adam’s sin being opened, and of the voice of the Father so pleased with the obedience of His Son; so happy for His Plan that awaits each of us who has put on a clean garment at our own Baptism.

Baptisms at our church are magnificent! They’re often held at the Sunday Mass, which makes it a celebration for everyone! When the big moment arrives, all eyes are on the baptismal font at the back of the church where the infant receives water and spirit. Afterward, the family proceeds before the altar and stands under a bright skylight from which a wooden cross is suspended. Our pastor takes the infant into the palms of his hands and lifts the little bundle toward Heaven, elevating it as high as his arms will extend! As the child is held there, everyone joins the priest in prayer.

As we pray together for the child reborn, we are reminded of how blessed we are to have been saved through this beautiful sacrament, given to us by Jesus Himself. Jesus said to Nicodemus “Unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to this very conversation, that baptism is necessary for our salvation – “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism, we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: ‘Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word.'” (Catechism, Para. 1213)

The good news is that every person who is not already baptized may be baptized! God can fit any one of us into the palms of His perfect and loving hands and lift us up to a new life with Him! We needn’t be babies! Everyone, teens and adults of all ages, even the dying, can once again become children – children of God.

Zechariah’s Year of Faith

By Elizabeth Tichvon

… a reflection on today’s Sacred Scripture:

“You did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time” (Luke 1:20).

Faith assures us that anything is possible with God, and the Catechism teaches that, “God, who created everything also rules everything and can do everything. God’s power is loving, for He is our Father, and mysterious, for only faith can discern it when it is made perfect in weakness.” (Catechism, Para. 268)

But faith doesn’t always come easy, as Zechariah discovered. He and Elizabeth had spent their lives childless; Elizabeth was barren and now they were old, so any hope of a child had gone forever and their prayers remained unanswered.

Or so it seemed.

A message of incredible hope was delivered to Zechariah by the Angel Gabriel, “Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John” (Luke 1:13). But Zechariah didn’t believe and his doubt became a lesson in faith after he was made speechless.

In time, Zechariah accepted the Angel’s message as truth and God’s promise was fulfilled. Zechariah was given a son who was great and whose name would restore his speech and change his and Elizabeth’s lives, and the lives of the children of Israel forever!

How often do we pray for what we think is impossible then doubt we’ll ever receive an answer, especially one as extraordinary as Zechariah’s? We lean toward uncertainty when our situation seems hopeless—but it’s only hopeless to us. What seemed hopeless to Zechariah was accomplished with the help of an angel, God’s grace and Zechariah’s ultimate trust and faith.

Like Zechariah, we must trust in God’s loving power and believe that He will exceed our expectations in time. Zechariah’s muteness taught us that our prayers will only be answered in fullness when we believe.

Elizabeth

Advent…A Beautiful Reason

By Elizabeth Tichvon

“Sing to the LORD; bless His Name!” (Psalm 96:3).

The Psalms inspire us to express our deepest feelings for God through prayer. Today’s Responsorial Psalm 96 stirs us to bless, praise and glorify the Name of God. The Catechism teaches that the Lord’s Name is holy and “we must keep it in mind in loving adoration.” (Catechism, Par. 2143)

One of the most meaningful ways we can do this is at the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, where at the conclusion of the exposition of the consecrated host and liturgy, the beautiful Divine Praises are chanted:

Blessed be God.

Blessed be His Holy Name.

Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.

Blessed be the Name of Jesus.

Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.

Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.

The acclamation continues with the blessing of the names of Mary, of Joseph, and of all the angels and saints. As the priest is leaving, we bless God’s Name again with the closing hymn, “Holy God We Praise Thy Name!”

Advent is a beautiful reason to sing to the Lord a new song with Vespers and incense! Seek to attend a Solemn Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament as your Christmas gift to Almighty God, who confides His Name to those who believe in Him, who believes in you and calls you by name.

To your great Name be endless praise!

Elizabeth

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