With the holidays upon us, my wife and I are blessed to have all three of our boys home from college. It’s been a wonderful experience to have all of them home together for the first time in a long time. Not only is it precious time to spend together as a family, but we get to witness first-hand how they are growing and maturing right in front of our eyes. It is a very good thing to be a part of one, big happy family! Read More
God | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 19
On the Inside; On the Outside
God and a man are walking down the road. The man asks God, “What is the world like?” God replies, “I cannot talk when I am thirsty. If you could get me a drink of cool water, we could discuss what the world is like. There is a village nearby. Go and get me a drink.”
The man goes into the village and knocks at the door of the first house. A beautiful young woman opens the door. His jaw drops, but he manages to say, “I need a glass of cool water.” “Of course,” she says smiling, “but it is midday. Would you care to stay for some food?” “I am hungry,” he says, and your offer of food is truly kind.” He goes in and the door closes behind him. Read More
If you haven’t had a chance to read the America Magazine interview of Pope Francis, I have included the link here. It is a wonderful insight to our Pope. (http://www.americamagazine.org/pope-interview) One of the things that struck me the most was when the reporter asked him: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” The pope answered, “I am a sinner.” Well if the Pope is a sinner, what does that make me? Our Pope has inspired me to come clean…I too am a sinner! Read More
It’s Thursday morning: I’m working from home as I always do. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and I’m on the telephone with a very important customer. Suddenly, the lights begin flashing, my computer monitor flickers and goes black, the lights go out, and my telephone disconnects. Yes, we just took another power hit. (This has been a frequent occurrence lately, primarily due to some road construction that is happening at the end of our block.) So I quickly grab my mobile phone and redial the customer. I was saved by technology after technology nearly did me in. And that got me thinking. Read More
As we enter the final week of August (which is going to be a hot one in this neck of the woods), I wanted to pass along this posting from a friend of mine, Fr. Tom Zelinski from the St. Anthony Spirituality Center in Marathon, Wisconsin (http://sarcenter.com/). He truly captures the “heated” topic of the Dog Days of Summer.
This time of year is often referred to as “dog days.” I have been thinking about dogs, whatever the weather might be. Dogs have certain qualities about them that are quite appealing, when they are not suffering from particular doggie neuroses and other troubles. Read More
Last evening, I had an opportunity to get together with a friend for dinner. This may not seem like a big deal, but it really is. With my schedule, I really don’t get out socially very often. So when an opportunity like this comes about, I do not take it lightly. Especially when this friend is venturing out and beginning a new phase of his life. Read More
I spent the day on Saturday with about 800 teens from across the Midwest as we celebrated World Youth Day Chicago – A Midwest Celebration. It was an amazing day filled with energy, faith, and prayer. I was so blessed to have been able to be the emcee and give a workshop to such wonderful, faith-filled teens. The young church is certainly a powerful force! Read More
What does Jesus really ask of us as one of his followers? Are there certain requirements that we need to have? Are there a number of hoops that we need to jump through? Actually, God’s requirement is simple: love God and love each other. This sounds simple, but are we really doing this? Read More
Here is a prayer often attributed to Oscar Romero, but actually written by the late Bishop Ken Untener:
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith. Read More
This is a blog post by Joshua Madden that I felt compelled to pass along. Enjoy these five ways to prove God exists…
I’ve heard it. You’ve heard it. We’ve all heard it. “You can’t prove God exists!”
