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Christ | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker
On the Inside; On the Outside
An Original is Worth More than a Copy
Posted by Deacon Allen | 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.
Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit appears on the vine,
Though the yield of the olive fails and the terraces produce no nourishment,though the flocks disappear from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls; Yet I will rejoice in the Lord and exult in my saving God.
God, my Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet swift as those of deer and enables me to tread upon the heights.
These short verses from Habakkuk (3:17-19) is a small portion of one of my favorite scripture passages. For me, it’s always a reminder that even in the face of fear and uncertainty, there is always an opportunity to express faith and trust in God’s awesome majesty and power. However, during this particular Holy Week, this has been a bit more challenging.
All of us are battling the dominant forces and effects of this COVID-19 outbreak. So much so that we cannot help ourselves from being overcome with fear. We have fears after being introduced to new terms such as “global pandemic, social distancing and self-isolation.” We have fears of becoming prisoners in our own homes – quarantined from those we love and our communities of faith. We have fears of losing our livelihood, our ability to socialize, our freedom to do what we want, when we want, and where we want. We have fears of losing our jobs, returning to our jobs, providing for our families and getting back to some sense of normalcy. And we are fearful of this powerful disease that is taking more and more lives ever single day. We can’t help but ask the question: when will this all end?
I’ve been reflecting a lot this week on how the disciples were feeling after Jesus had died and how similar it is to our current situation. Think about it. Jesus had been unjustly convicted, crucified and buried. His friends feared for their lives. They feared that they would be the next ones to die. They feared the uncertainties ahead of them: what to do, where to go, and how to move on. They isolated themselves to avoid any contact with others out of fear of what could happen. They were fearful that life outside of their community of believers would never feel the same again. They had to be asking that same question: when will this all end?
But despite all of their fears, they still held onto their faith. They still believed in Jesus and trusted that his death was not the end – but just the beginning. They were finally starting to understand that they needed to first experience death in order to experience resurrection – to experience new life in Christ; a life that knows no end.
We too must fall back on our faith during this period between death and resurrection, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We must believe that whatever comes our way, whatever we encounter, whatever fears overtake us, whatever uncertainties confront us – we are never left alone. We trust that our God and Savior is always with us, especially during the difficult times in our lives. We believe that Jesus is suffering right along with us, holding our hand and guiding us through the darkness. It’s our faith that will bring us that much needed comfort and hope.
On this Holy Saturday, let us rejoice in the Lord and give praise to our saving God. May we, just like the disciples, find the strength to ride out these dark days and patiently wait for the stone to be cast aside – for new life is right around the corner.
In our first reading (1 John 2:22-28), John tells us that as we have received the anointing from Christ, that anointing must remain in us. When the anointing remains in us, it teaches us about everything and is true. When that teaching remains in us, then we will remain in Christ.
The word “remain” really means persistence. When we “remain” in someone, that means that we are persistently living in that location. When we are persistently living in Christ, then our life is all about him and we are staying with him. In the same way, when John said that the anointing abides in us, this means that we need to think about the word of God persistently living in us and directing our lives. When we pray the words, “remain with us,” we are asking for the Lord to stay with us through all of life’s good times and bad times. We are asking for the Lord to persistently hold on to us and never let go. John is calling for us to live our lives in Christ and in his word, and not in the world.
To remain in Christ daily requires us to do three things:
- We must have a life-giving connection or relationship with God. This is a mutual union where we are united with Jesus always; for when we have no connection, we have no life.
- We are to be dependent on Jesus and rely on Him for everything. Are we spending consistent and regular time with the Lord in prayer? When we are apart from God, we find that we can do nothing.
- Lastly, we must continue to always remain in Jesus. We must persevere in His teaching by living out the Gospel. Are we meditating on God’s Word and applying it to our daily lives? To remain in Christ means to have a new relational direction.
So, as we begin this new year, let us make this our daily mantra: that we have a constant connection with God, are dependent upon God, and continue to remain in God. For when we remain in Christ, Christ will remain in us and abide with us always.
Back in college, I spent some time as a reporter for The Daily Herald newspaper. I covered village board meetings, park district meetings and the like. But every now and then I was given the opportunity to cover breaking news. And I remember from my journalism classes that in these situations, interviewing an eyewitness was extremely important because they had personally seen something happen and could give a first-hand description of it. That would help make the story more believable.
Today on the Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, I am reminded of my reporter days. What I really love of John’s writing style is his ability to place the reader directly into the story – as if we were right there with John. He writes from an eyewitness point of view. He does this so that we can identify with what is happening and help us to believe what has taken place.
That is essentially the role of an apostle, and that is what we are called to do each and every day. We need to be Jesus’ eyewitnesses to the world. We must help others see that Christ is in their lives, to know that the Lord is always with them, and that Jesus will never leave our side no matter what we do.
Each of us is called to be a disciple, and that’s not always an easy thing to do. But when we become an eyewitness for Christ and bring the Good News of Jesus to others, we will find a joy like we’ve never experienced before.
My son and his fiance came to visit us last weekend and they were joyfully telling us of how their wedding plans are progressing and how “ahead of schedule” they were in a number of things. They also stated that the “save the date” cards were ready to be mailed. This is something that Stephanie and I didn’t have to do when we got married. Back then, we just sent out our wedding invitation and that was it. Nowadays, it’s proper etiquette to notify people ahead of time so that they have time to prepare and put it on their calendars.
In today’s Gospel (MT 22:1-14), Jesus tells us about how the kingdom of heaven is like a wedding feast, and how each of us has received a “save the date” announcement. Each of us is invited to participate, but we often don’t respond. Sometimes we have too much to do, or it’s not high on our list of priorities, or we may not even care to celebrate with this particular group of people. We often find an excuse just so we don’t have to go to the party.
But what if we received a “save the date” announcement from Jesus? What if we had plenty of time to prepare? What if we were warned? Perhaps if we knew the date of our entrance into heaven, we’d better prepare ourselves and perhaps live life differently.
This is the message for us today. We have been invited. We have been notified. We have been warned. Entrance into God’s kingdom is not automatic. We need to take action and respond. This means that we need to take responsibility for how we are living. Are we treating others with dignity and respect? Do we forgive others instead of holding grudges? Do we love unselfishly and put the needs of others before our own? Do we love our enemies as we do ourselves?
It’s time we start living the way that God intended us to live – by truly loving one another, helping one another and being a witness of Christ to everyone we encounter.
The venue is ready, the party is planned, and the table is set. But are we really prepared to “save the date” and accept God’s invitation to partake in the heavenly feast? Let’s hope so, for our eternal life depends on it!
One of my many diaconal duties at our parish is to meet with our engaged couples. I, along with my wife Stephanie, help prepare them as they journey toward marriage. One of the things that I always tell them is that marriage is not a contract, but a covenant. A covenant is an unbreakable bond, something that our couples need to understand as they prepare for a lifetime of commitment to one another in marriage.
In our readings today, we hear of God making a new covenant with his people. It’s a covenant so deep and important that it is placed and written on our hearts. It’s a covenant so intense that we are only made aware of it because God has revealed it to us. And much like our engaged couples discover, it’s an unbreakable bond. No matter what we do or what we say, God is with us and forgives us. God does this because He loves us so intensely that we actually become one with each other. We are bonded in our love, and we are never left alone.
Back in college, I helped form a group of Catholic musicians and singers that sang at our campus Masses and events. When I was researching a name for our group, I consulted the Bible. Today’s reading from Jeremiah really hit home (Jeremiah 31:31-34). After a group vote, we decided to call ourselves “New Covenant.” (I even wrote a song about it!)
Each of us is called to have a personal relationship with God, so we are able to not only recognize God in our daily lives but to also spread Christ to those we encounter. This is the new covenant, and it is with us every single day. We just need to look inside our hearts (it’s written right there) so we can experience and share it with others.
Let us rejoice in the fact that we are loved by our Creator, our heavenly Father, who hands over the keys to the kingdom to those who will accept them. We are bound together in an unbreakable relationship of love. He is our God; we are His people. As it is written in the verse of my song:
He lives in you, and you live in Him, and that covenant will never end.
Whenever I hear today’s Gospel (Matthew 7:21-29), I can’t help but think about St. Irenaeus. He is hardly a household name among Catholics today, and it’s easy to understand why. The distance between his time and ours is about 18 centuries. But St. Irenaeus remains enormously important to the Church today, especially for those who want to better understand and defend their faith.
Irenaeus was crucially important in establishing the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Eucharist, Irenaeus writes, consists of “two realities, earthly and heavenly.” He describes Christ as the “perfect bread” of the Father who enables us to enter into full communion with the being of God: “He did this when He appeared as a man, that we, being nourished, as it were, from the breast of His flesh, and having, by such a course of milk nourishment, become accustomed to eat and drink the Word of God, may be able also to contain in ourselves the Bread of immortality, which is the Spirit of the Father.” These are not the words of someone who views the Eucharist as a symbol, but one who has a deep, rock-solid faith.
Irenaeus is also famous for recapitulation – the concept that all things are summed up, or, literally, brought back to their head – which is Christ. Irenaeus is saying that Christ, in a sense, re-enacted all the events and all the figures from the Garden of Eden, in the process of undoing original sin. Irenaeus writes, just as Christ is the new Adam, so also Mary is the new Eve. And just as tree was the cause of the curse, so also we were saved through a tree (the cross).
Through all his writings and by his actions, St. Irenaeus teaches us that if our faith is strong, we can overcome anything that is thrown our way. If our lives are built on the rock of Christ and we listen to his words and act on them, we will have a powerful foundation for the rest of our lives.
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
On 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
