A few years ago, I was attending a team meeting for work, one where our management team got everyone together to rally the troops and motivate us to perform better. We had a motivational speaker who was giving us a presentation. As I was listening, I noticed that my boss (who was sitting turned-somewhat sideways in the front row) was picking her nose – and not daintily, but very aggressively. As much as I didn’t want to look at her, I couldn’t help but to do so. I became so fixated on her actions that I had stopped listening to the speaker. Read More
Deacon Allen | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 35
On the Inside; On the Outside
“Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light.”
~ G.K. Chesterton
As we begin this season of Lent, today’s Gospel (Luke 9:22-25) is a difficult message to hear and an even tougher one to carry out. We are told that we each need to carry our own cross and follow Jesus, and be prepared to do so every day. We are also told that we must renounce “self” in order for us to live. Now this goes against our every desire to want to advance ourselves in the eyes of others as well as to focus our attention on our own needs and wants. Read More
People are always asking me for ideas for what “things” they can do during Lent to partake in the hallmarks of a Christian life of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. As our Lenten journey is about to begin, I want to focus on the first hallmark: prayer.
There are many ways to pray, but there are a few methods that can really help us spiritually prepare ourselves during Lent. Read More
“Prayer is not a power to remove obstacles to growth; prayer is a reliance on God that he will raise us to grow through obstacles.” ~Anonymous
“What do you do when everything is going wrong and there’s nothing else you can do? You hang on – just like Jesus did.” ~Anonymous
Solomon’s legacy began with great success. But despite his glorious beginning, Solomon’s heart was not entirely with the Lord (1 Kings 11:4-13). He basically did not obey God, and the end result was that Solomon’s reign was catastrophic. This all came about because he had forgotten God’s unconditional and faithful love and decided to serve idols instead. Today, we too have our idols that we worship and find that our hearts are not entirely with the Lord. Read More
According to the data, most people have already given up on their resolutions for 2014. So, I thought that this would be a good time to share the resolutions that Pope Francis made for this year, in hopes that it will reinvigorate us to continue our quest to do better. Also, his list is full of great ideas for us to incorporate into our lives as well. (This came from an interview by Paterno Esmaquel II originally posted on Rappler. It is a series of Pope Francis quotes in the form of New Year’s resolutions.) Read More
“God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work for me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission – I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. Therefore, I will trust him, whatever, wherever I am. I cannot be thrown away.” ~John Henry Newman
This morning, I was standing in our kitchen, waiting for my tea to steep. Gazing outside the window at the cold and snowy landscape, I noticed a robin in our neighbor’s tree. How strange, I thought, to see a robin at the end of January. We usually don’t see these birds here until the weather warms up, like around early March. But there she was, just sitting in the tree and enjoying the winter morning. Read More
