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
Gospel | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 3
On the Inside; On the Outside
Today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 8:26-40) is often used as an example for witnessing to a foreigner or a Gentile. However, I personally believe that this passage is also about being open to where the Holy Spirit is leading us. Read More
We took our eldest son out to dinner last night for his birthday. The restaurant that he chose had a Texas/western-style atmosphere, so you can probably imagine what the feel of the place was like. As we were being escorted to our table, I noticed a sign over the area where the restrooms were located that read “Outhouse.” I smiled to myself about this and instantly had a flashback to my mother’s side of the family who lived on a farm that had an outhouse in their yard, since they did not have indoor plumbing when I was young. And then, my mind took off in a completely different direction.
On Sunday, we typically spend some quality time with the Lord at Mass. We gather around the Lord’s table to praise and thank God for the many blessings in our lives. We bring our sin-fullness that we accumulated during the week and ask for God’s forgiveness and ask that we are strengthened for the week to come. We sing and pray with our fellow parishioners as we gather to hear God’s word spoken to us and to move us. Basically, we are worshiping “inhouse” – or in God’s house. Then, we are sent out after Mass to go out into the world; to take what we had just heard and to spread the news to those whom we meet on a daily basis. We are to live the Gospel and to be Eucharist to others. We are to strive to imitate Jesus by loving our neighbors as ourselves, and to treat others with the respect and dignity that they deserve. We are to live “outhouse” and not keep Jesus to ourselves.
As this week begins, I challenge all of us to leave the comforts of the “inhouse” and take the good news of Jesus Christ to the “outhouse” so that all can experience the love that God has for each one of us.
“It’s one thing to talk about the gospel, but it is quite another to live it. It is one thing to preach about Christ, but it is another to follow in His footsteps.” Angel Abrea
When you think of religion in Asia, one automatically thinks of Buddhism and Confucianism. You can imagine how surprised I was when I found out that in South Korea today, a tiny fraction of the population is Confucian, 26% is Buddhist, and 26% is Christian – 10% of whom are Catholic. The means that Christianity is tied, numerically speaking, as the largest religion in that Asian nation. This is truly remarkable considering that Christianity was introduced there just over 200 years ago, and the first native-born priest was ordained only in 1846.
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“If I am to know the will of God, I must have the right attitude toward life.”
Trappist monk Thomas Merton really hit the mark when he wrote this. How can a person expect to hear the voice of God if one isn’t listening? How can a person expect to see the path one must walk if one is blinded by their own desires? How can a person expect to experience the presence of God if one doesn’t let God inside one’s heart?
Live the gospel by the way you live your life, and you will experience the Lord in ways you never imagined.
