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service | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 2

service | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 2

On the Inside; On the Outside


 

We Need to be Poked!

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I was looking through some old photos of our past family camping vacations not too long ago. It was fun looking back on all of those vacations that we took, many to some incredible places with some amazing campsites. As I was looking at the pictures of all of us sitting around the campfire at night, I fondly remember lighting all of those fires – and keeping them going well into the night.

If you’ve ever been around a campfire, you know that once the wood catches fire, there is a need to poke the wood every so often in order to keep it burning. Sometimes you even need to adjust the position of the logs so that the entire log has a chance to burn. And that is a great analogy for our spiritual life as well.

As St. Paul wrote, each of us must “stir into flame the gift of God.” (Timothy 1:1-8) Sometimes, we become stuck right where we are. We become comfortable in our faith, almost to the point of non-action. We go through the motions and do what we’ve always done, but we don’t go any farther. We become stagnant, complacent, and our fire doesn’t burn completely – and we need to be poked. We need to get re-energized, renewed and redirected so that we can continue to follow our baptismal calling and mission to proclaim the Gospel to the entire world.

Let’s not hide our lamp under a bushel basket, but spread our light for all to see. Let us use our gifts to serve our Lord and our neighbor. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you.

Consider yourself poked!

Standing Here Naked

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naked manWhen praying the Liturgy of the Hours recently, I came across a line from the Book of Job that reminded me of something I once heard from my instructor in a communications class that I took during deacon formation. The line read:

“Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall go back again.”

I remember the teacher telling us that when we die, we will stand naked before the Lord – bearing everything about ourselves. We come into this world with nothing, and we leave this world with nothing. It doesn’t matter how much or how little we possessed while on this earth. It is all about what we’ve done with our time here. Everything we do remains a part of us. So when that day comes and we stand before the Lord naked, are we to be ashamed? Will we try to hide those things about ourselves that we find embarrassing?

We need to live our lives in a way that God desires, not to walk around thinking that we’re better than others, or more deserving or entitled to certain circumstances or behaviors. We need to always be aware of how our words and actions could make or break someone’s day. We need to be on constant watch for the temptations of the evil one who longs to point us in the wrong direction. We need to open ourselves up, to become fully exposed before our Lord and not be ashamed of who we are or what we’ve done. Let us strive to live a life of worthiness: loving everyone as God loves us and making a difference in our world.

Are You Life-Giving or Life-Taking?

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A few years ago, my wife Stephanie and I took a group of our parish teens on a summer mission trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. We were blessed to spend the week working with an organization called Little Brothers: Friends of the Elderly. This is a group that works with elderly people who have lost ties with family, have no family at all, and face the reality of simply being alone. Read More

Is It Soup Yet?

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corn soupOn Wednesday, I whipped up a batch of homemade Sweet Corn and Crab Soup for dinner. There’s nothing like a good pot of soup on a cold, winter evening. So I went grocery shopping last weekend to make sure that I had all of the needed ingredients to prepare the feast. I’m always amazed at the number of ingredients needed to make a pot of homemade soup. And it can be anything from meat, fish, various vegetables, and usually several spices. Then you have to do all of the necessary chopping and mixing. So the question to ask: is it soup yet? Well, not quite. You need to have the soup simmer for a period of time. Once these steps have been completed, you can finally partake in your creation (and hopefully it turned out well). Read More

Do I Trust God?

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Having spent three days this week with our parish teens at Youth Ministry talking about vocations, you can imagine that this topic is still fresh on my mind. The very fact that each one of us is called to a vocation is a powerful thought; but to be able to discern your vocation and live it out is an entirely different story. Read More

Naked I Stand

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Recently, when praying the Liturgy of the Hours, I read a verse from the Book of Job that suddenly reminded me of something that I was taught in one of my classes during diaconate formation. The verse was:

Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall go back again.

HumanSilhouetteI remember the teacher telling us that when we die, we will stand naked before the Lord – bearing everything about us. We come into this world with nothing, and we leave this world with nothing. It doesn’t matter how much or how little we possessed while on this earth. It is all about what we’ve done with our time here. Everything we do remains a part of us. It is like our skin is an invisible tattoo displaying everything we’ve done during our earthly lives.

Therefore, when we stand before the Lord naked, are we to be ashamed? Will we stand before our Savior with our hands covering our body parts, embarrassed for who we are?

Perhaps today is the day when we truly look at ourselves and see who we really are. Perhaps today is the day when we decide to begin anew. We need to live our lives in the way that God desired – not to walk around thinking that we’re better than others; but to live a life of humility, love, and service. We are to live a life where we love everyone, serve those in need, and do whatever is necessary in order to make a difference in the lives of others. Maybe then we can stand naked before our God, fully transparent, unafraid, and comfortable in our own skin.

Are You Excited?

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The word “excitement” means: “to be stirred or thrilled, the state of being emotionally worked up, the feeling of active and cheerful joy.” Some would say they have excitement at times, but it all depends on what they are doing, what they are “into” at the moment.

For example, many get excited at sporting events. Some will be thrilled at getting a new outfit, or a good meal out. Everybody gets excited with their gifts at Christmas or a good holiday. However, do we have that same level of excitement when it comes to God our Father? Read More

Mission Trip 2012: Winnebago, Nebraska

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Last week, my wife and I (and two additional chaperones) took 14 teens from our parish on our annual Summer Mission Trip.  This summer, we chose to go to a Native American Reservation in Winnebago, Nebraska.
 
It was in Winnebago where we lived in community with other teens from Nebraska, Missouri, California and Massachusetts at St. Augustine’s Indian Mission. The Winnebago Reservation is home to the Ho-Chunk tribe, and was founded in 1909 by Saint Catherine Drexel.  She actually had walked on the grounds where we walked, and we all thought that was really cool. Read More