How can you grow in generosity this season?

By Elizabeth Tichvon 

Still Life with Female Figure by Campodoglio (Wikimedia Commons).

"...Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees.  He said to the host who invited him, 'When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.  Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.  For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous'”  (Luke 14:12-14).

Jesus calls us to invite the needy to our banquet table. His message doesn't discourage us from welcoming friends, family and wealthy neighbors, but asks that we bear in mind our intentions. It's against human nature to give lavishly without looking for repayment. But Jesus insists that we give without expectations. How do we do that?
 
Perhaps we can start by practicing generosity toward those with no means of reciprocation. Consider the young lady in prison without loved ones to send money for an occasional luxury such as a soda or bag of chips. The retired nun on a small income, standing in the grocery checkout line. The father of nine, longing to take all of his children to a ballgame, but can't afford one ticket. The poor beggar with nothing but her clothes and unassuming nature. We may find it's easier to give without the prospect of receiving, when we give to such persons.

Continue reading at Elizabeth's blog  click-elizabeth.

Real love and the power of words

By Elizabeth Tichvon

St. Paul by Montagna (photo credit: Wikipedia).

Let's encourage each other out of love and out of reverence for Christ. He reads our hearts and those of the ones we hurt, and there's nothing flowery about a broken heart.  Jesus doesn't care how educated, successful or physically attractive we are.  Not one of us is better than another, despite how we choose to perceive this world, which is really upside down and inside out.  So, strive to be nice.  Strive to be nicer.  Strive to be the nicest.  Always.  If not out of love, for Love.  e.

"My son, fix your heart steadfastly in God, and do not fear the judgments of men, where your own conscience witnesses that you are innocent.  It is very good and blessed sometimes to suffer such sayings, and it will not be irksome to a humble heart which trusts more in God than in itself.  People often speak much, yet little faith is to be put in their sayings.  It is not possible to please all men, for, though St. Paul labored as much as he might to please all people in God and did for all men all he could for their salvation, he nevertheless could not prevent himself from being judged by others and despised by them.  And so he committed all to God, who knows all things, and armed himself with patience and humility against all things that could be untruly spoken against him.  Nevertheless, he sometimes answered to the charges, lest, by his silence, hurt or hindrance might have risen for others."

Continue reading at Elizabeth's blog click-elizabeth.

Do you listen when God talks?

By Elizabeth Tichvon 

Self-Portrait as a Deaf Man by Reynolds (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

"They may hear and listen, but not understand." (see Mark 4:12)

What does the voice of God sound like? When He talks to us, do we hear Him?

Our Creator blessed most of us with the ability to perceive sound—what a beautiful instrument we have to receive His Word. But hearing is only a physical device which means nothing at all if we don't allow His messages to resound in our hearts. We must welcome the sounds of God, for our ability to hear becomes an even greater gift when we use it to accept with faith the words of His Son,"Whoever has ears ought to hear." 

One of our parish Sunday Masses is signed for the hearing impaired. It provides the deaf an opportunity to participate in the Mass and to "hear" the scripture readings of the day. The deaf may not be able to detect sound, but they are just as capable of receiving and understanding God's word as a hearing person. Whether we hear with our ears or through an interpreter, we must first accept Jesus, then ask Him to reveal to us what He did for His Twelve, "The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you." (Mark 4:11)

We all have the same disabilities when it comes to "hearing" God's Word, yet we're all called to enter His Kingdom. In order to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, we must enter and become His disciples, for if we stay outside, everything remains unknown.

Elizabeth blogs at clickity click

Small gifts, great love

by Elizabeth Tichvon

Grandmother's Birthday by Brenner (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

"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!


Elizabeth originally posted this as a reflection on the day's Scripture reading at her blog Clickity Click.

Imagine touching Jesus!

by Elizabeth Tichvon

The Healing of the Hemophiliac by Veronese (photo in public domain).

St. Mark describes crowds of people traveling long distances to experience the miracle of Jesus. Crowds so large and desperate, Jesus expected to be crushed by them! Imagine!

How quickly word would spread if Jesus were here with us today, curing the sick and healing the sick of heart. With our technology, word would spread so quickly, Jesus would be crushed during his first appearance! Even if you weren’t sick, imagine touching Jesus! We couldn’t build an auditorium big enough to hold such crowds!

Since, outside of the Eucharist, Jesus isn’t with us in the physical sense, the “crowds” of today are more like large gatherings. Even with the growing popularity of mega-churches and worship halls, there’s no threat of anyone being “crushed” or “pressed upon." The only crushing and pressing that comes to mind are among frantic shoppers on Christmas Eve or mobs of rock fans waiting to get good seats to a Stones concert. How sorry we might see ourselves as we enter eternal life, standing before the beautiful Light of the World crying, “You are the Son of God” and recalling the hours we spent seeking material pleasures while Jesus waited in the long line of our life to touch us!

Jesus fulfilled His mission on earth so that we, in the present, can touch Him through faith. He is reserving a front row seat in eternity for each of us! Follow the road to Him and He’ll make the journey short. No crowds, no long lines . . . no waiting!


Elizabeth originally posted this at her blog  Clickity-click.