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Catholic | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 3

Catholic | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 3

On the Inside; On the Outside


 
Dec 02 2021
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The Best Gift Ever!

Posted by | Emotions/Feelings, Everyday Life | No Comments

It was a cold, crisp December morning as I ventured down the stairs to follow my weekly routine of watching Saturday morning cartoons. A commercial came on the air, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen…it was the Big Jim Sports Camper. It was the coolest toy ever! It included a boat, camping gear, and a bunch of manly accessories that a boy could only dream about. I swear that I heard angels singing when it came on the TV; and at the moment I knew, that is what I wanted most for Christmas. Read More

Nov 11 2021
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A Smell to Remember

Posted by | Emotions/Feelings, Everyday Life | No Comments

This is a story about an elementary teacher and one of her students. The teachers name was Mrs. Thompson. As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy name Teddy Stoddard.

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Nov 04 2021
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An Original is Worth More than a Copy

Posted by | Discipleship, Everyday Life | No Comments

“Imitating Christ does not mean living a life like Christ, but rather living your own life as authentically as Christ lived his.” ~Henri J.M. Nouwen

We’ve all seen it or heard it before. It could have been in a scripture passage, a spiritual book, a church hymn, or even in a preached homily at Mass. The message was this: each and every one of us should strive to imitate Jesus.

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Oct 07 2021
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Pleasing me – it should not be!

Posted by | Everyday Life | No Comments

“Love God greatly; be always united to God; do everything for God; love everything for God.” ~St. Gerard Majella

While on retreat, my lodging accommodations found me in the St. Gerard hermitage. This was quite ironic as this is also my middle name. In my room was a little booklet with novenas to St. Gerard. Admittedly, I did not know much about him, other then he is known as the patron saint of pregnant mothers. (Apparently, my mother prayed to him when she was trying to get pregnant with me – which is where my name derived.) And reading about him was very timely as his feast day is October 16th.

I read this little novena book cover to cover and discovered many things about St. Gerard. He was so attracted by God that his whole life was immersed in the greatness of God, surrendering completely to him. He strived to make everything he did an act of love for God. And he had the gift of recognizing the presence of Christ in the faces of others. That is certainly a gift that we need to pray for in our own lives.

St. Gerard was all about living God’s divine will. He had a sign on his door that read: “Here the will of God is done.” If you were to summarize his life-long intention, it would be with this phrase: to always please God in whatever he did. This should be our goal as well.

Whatever tasks or duties that we undertake, these should all be done cheerfully. We need to change our mindset and truly believe that everything we do should give delight to God. According to Gerard, no matter what comes our way, even when the worst things happen, we need to accept it as God’s will (even if it doesn’t seem to be) and try to make it into something joyful.

We pray that we are able to know and love God, to do everything for God, and have the strength to carry out his will each and every day. Make us always aware that no matter what we do, it matters to God. May we want nothing for ourselves but strive to want what God wants for us. Amen.

Sep 30 2021
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Mother, Help Me!

Posted by | Prayer | One Comment

While on retreat at the Redemptorist Retreat Center in Wisconsin, I had the opportunity, or shall I say the necessity, to pray to our Blessed Mother for something that was going on in my life. It just so happened that on the center grounds, there was a shrine dedicated to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Realizing that I could use all the help that I could get, I ventured inside.

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Feb 23 2021
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Are You Too Exhausted to Pray?

Posted by | Prayer | 2 Comments

During the first week of Lent, I listened to an audio book from Archbishop Desmond Tutu titled, ‘God Has A Dream.’ In that book, he makes this enlightening statement:

“Pray as you can – not as you can’t.”

He refers to the times when we are so exhausted that we can barely function, and we do not have the energy to give God our fullest attention.

The point is that we should not just give up or neglect prayer altogether because of our physical state of being. What we need to do is open up a dialogue with God letting him know that we don’t have it in us right now for “full-blown” prayer. Simply stating this to our heavenly Father is indeed a prayer in-and-of-itself. The purpose is to pray as you can – in the condition that you are. It doesn’t have to be a 15-minute litany. A simple prayer will do just as well. For it is better to pray short and simple than to not pray at all.

What we need to do is something that my spiritual director has told me for years. Instead of stressing over the fact that we cannot manage to pray in the manner that we would prefer, we just need to say something like this:

“Father, I am too exhausted right now to give you my complete attention or the praise that you rightly deserve. I will make the time to speak with you later. Until then, please continue to watch over me and keep me safe. Amen.”

Our intentions may always be good, but the body is often too weak. So, don’t be afraid to ask God to have the patience with us if we fall asleep in the middle of our prayer. There is nothing to be ashamed of if you fall asleep during prayer. As I always say, what better way to fall asleep than in the arms of our loving Father.

Don’t let exhaustion or extreme busyness pull us away from prayer. Make the effort to keep that line of communication with God always open and active. Remember, pray hardest when it’s hardest to pray and you will find true peace this Lenten season. Amen.

Sep 14 2020
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7 Ways to Live Like a Monk (even during a pandemic)

Posted by | Everyday Life | No Comments

The year 2020 has certainly been one of those years for the record books. This global pandemic has really changed so many things in our lives – things that we used to take for granted. Our definition of freedom ‘to do what we want, when we want and where we want’ may never be the same.

I read an article about how our life in lock-down is forcing all of us to live like monks. As we have become somewhat accustomed to shelter-in-place and home-quarantine, this has hopefully given us the opportunity to get over our fear of solitude and fully embrace our spiritual connection with God.

Have we embraced our inner monk during this solitude? If not, here are seven ways that we can live like a monk every single day (pandemic or not). Read More

May 21 2020
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We Are All in This Together

Posted by | Emotions/Feelings, Everyday Life | No Comments

Where is the one who brought up out of the sea, the shepherd of his flock? Where is the one who placed in their midst his holy spirit, who guided Moses by the hand, with his glorious arm? 

Where is the one who divided the waters before them— winning for himself an everlasting renown— who guided them through the depths, like horses in open country?

As cattle going down into the valley, they did not stumble. The spirit of the Lord guided them. Thus, you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name. ~Isaiah 63: 11b-14

 

Since the very beginning of this pandemic, there has been one phrase that we continue to hear: “We are all in this together.” It reminds us that you are I are not the only ones facing the challenges and struggles of COVID-19. Like it or not, we are all in the same boat.

As part of my day-job, I get to speak with people from across the globe every single day. This past week, I spoke with individuals from Japan, China, Sweden, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Every call begins with the topic of self-isolation, how we are surviving in this current environment, and if our families are safe. I see on a daily basis how we really are ‘all in this together.’ This is truly a global experience.

I have been thinking about this and how we can make a direct connection with our own Catholic faith. Catholic means universal. The Mass and the other sacraments are celebrated exactly the same throughout the world, bringing all Catholics together in a spirit of unity.

When I have attended Mass in other countries; even though I may not have fully understood the languages, I was fully aware of what was taking place. No matter where we may be, our Catholic faith is universal, centered around Jesus Christ and our belief in Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist.

But being Catholic is also about having an ongoing personal encounter with Christ so that we may be a witness of God’s love in the world. This means that we are called to live like Jesus and to work for peace and justice for one another by living out the Gospel.

We are part of this universal Church together, believing that God is not only present in the Eucharist, but is also present within us. This means that whatever we are going through, whatever comes our way, whatever obstacles we encounter, we are never left alone. God is always with us. Now I’ll admit, it’s not always easy to recognize Jesus when our eyes are cast down, when life is difficult, or when we find ourselves in our own personal pit of despair. But that is when we must fall back on our faith, trusting and believing that Jesus is the only one who can lift us out of our pit. We just need to be able to lift up our eyes and our hearts to see that Jesus is right there and to feel his presence.

My sisters and brothers, as Catholic-Christians “we are all in this together.” We always have been, and we always will be. May the spirit of the Lord guide us always and let us remember that Jesus is with us; Jesus is here – and we are never left alone.