As I was driving to church for a meeting, I passed some workers trimming trees along the roadway to avoid the electrical lines. This got me thinking of how we should be doing our own Lenten pruning. Read More
faith | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker
On the Inside; On the Outside
I realize that we are only one week into Lent, but some of us may be feeling a bit of pressure, especially if we gave up something that was really hard to give up. It’s right about now when we need a little boost of endurance to get us over the hump. Read More
Focus on One Thing Only during Lent
Posted by Deacon Allen | Emotions/Feelings, Everyday Life, Prayer | No CommentsHere we are, another Ash Wednesday. Lent has officially begun, and we as Catholic Christians begin thinking of all the things that we would like give up or do during these 40 days. But maybe, we just need to focus on one thing only during Lent. Read More
An Alarming Discovery
Posted by Deacon Allen | Emotions/Feelings, Everyday Life, Prayer | No CommentsRetreat flashback from October 2025:
I woke this morning not by hearing birds singing, but by an alarming discovery of a loud chirping sound above my head. After coming to some sense of alertness, I realized that sound was the smoke detector informing me that it was time to change the battery. Read More
This is a photo of my family on a vacation at Opryland in Tennessee. Honestly, I don’t remember much about that vacation, but this photo reminded me of how my parents had this desire for us to wear matching t-shirts. I’m guessing because it was easy to spot us if we wandered off. But I really think that they wanted us to be the same, only different. Read More
Resolution to Recognize and Respond
Posted by Deacon Allen | Discipleship, Emotions/Feelings, Everyday Life, Prayer | No CommentsHow many of you made New Year’s resolutions? How many of you abandoned these already? Don’t feel bad. Statistics show that only 9% of us keep our resolutions throughout the year. 23% of us quit our goals by the end of the first week of January. 80% of us will bail on our resolutions by the end of this month. That’s pretty wild. Read More
Welcome 2026! How quickly did you arrive – and I honestly don’t know what happened to 2025. Read More
Here’s Our Sign
Posted by Deacon Allen | Discipleship, Emotions/Feelings, Everyday Life | One CommentMany years ago, Bill Engvall came out with a comedy bit he called, “Here’s Your Sign,” which was based on his funny observations about everyday life, often involving people asking obvious questions. Let me give you an example: Read More
While on retreat a couple of months ago, I flipped through a magazine in my hermitage to see if anything captured my attention. Indeed there was!
My mind continues to be flooded with all sorts of things, feelings, and thoughts. At times, I feel like I am riding on a never-ending carousel ride that continues to spin and turn, never stopping for a chance to get off. These random thoughts just keep coming at all times, day and night, and it just never stops. Read More
