Today, November 10th, is the Roman Catholic Church’s memorial of the fifth-century Pope Saint Leo I, known as “St. Leo the Great.” Reigning for over two decades, he sought to preserve the unity of the Church and to ensure the safety of his people against frequent barbarian invasions. Read More
hope | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 5
On the Inside; On the Outside
A sloth is a strange looking animal, isn’t it? Whenever I look at a sloth, I say to myself, “I am sure glad that I am not a sloth!”
Who am I to say that a sloth isn’t thinking the same thing about me? A sloth might be glad that it’s not a human being. I guess what you think of others depends on who or what you are. But since I am a human and not a sloth, I think sloths are kind of weird looking.
A sloth has almost no tail and no ears, a short snout, and only has two or three toes, depending on the species. And sloths are slow moving animals that live in trees. But by far the strangest thing about the sloth is that it is an upside-down animal. If you want to look at a sloth straight in the eye, you have to turn your head upside down. Sloths live upside down. They eat upside down, and they spend their whole lives living upside down in trees.
I don’t know about you, but I would certainly not want to live that way. I would never want to walk upside down, eat upside down or even sleep upside down. It just sounds uncomfortable.
Yet, strangely enough, this is what many people do. They live upside down. Not really, of course. They don’t walk on their hands or eat hanging upside down from the kitchen ceiling. But they live upside down in another way. They don’t live the way that Jesus wants them to live.
Jesus says that we must seek God first. He says that we must make God number one in our life and ourselves number two. He says that when we do that, we’re living right side up. But many of us do the opposite. We make ourselves number one and God number two. That’s turning Jesus’ words on their head. That’s living like a sloth.
How can we make sure that we are living right side up? The best way is to live every day, with Christ’s help, in the way he has shown us: by loving our neighbor, helping one another, and spreading the Gospel by the way we live our lives. If we can do that on a day to day basis, the future will take care of itself and there will be no need to worry.
A farmer painted a sign advertising puppies for sale and was nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy. “Mister,” he said. “I want to buy one of your puppies.” “Well,” said the farmer, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.” The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. “I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?” “Sure,” said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. “Here, Dolly!” Out from the doghouse ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain-link fence. His eyes danced with delight. Read More
I was in 6th grade and about to take a big science test. But this test was not with just any teacher. It was with Sister Bernadette – the holy terror of my Catholic Elementary School. There was just something about her that gave me the creeps. I was a fairly average student back then, holding my own in all of my class subjects. But when it came to science, it just didn’t make sense to me. I couldn’t tell you the difference between a proton, a neutron, or a Klingon. I was terrified of this test! My Mom and Dad were always proud of my efforts to get good grades and I didn’t want to let them down. So just before the test, I wrote several of the answers on the top of my desk in barely legible pencil. I sat nervously as Sister started to hand out the tests. I didn’t want to get caught, but I didn’t want to fail either. Read More
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m getting really tired of those prescription drug commercials on TV. Now I don’t watch a lot of TV, but it seems like when I do, there are more and more of these drug companies advertising their particular drug. And it’s not that I’m bothered by the dancing elderly people, or the guy playing with his grand-daughter and her dog, or the frisky couple sitting in two separate bath tubs overlooking a lake; what gets me is the never-ending warning labels within those commercials. Here is an example of one I recently saw: Read More
I am so stressed! I am stressed out beyond belief! In fact, if stress burned calories, I’d be a supermodel. I am being bombarded from so many different directions that it’s beginning to take a toll on me mentally and physically. I am in the midst of moving my mother out of her home into a smaller place; my daily job has been insanely busy and hectic; the band that I play in has been working every single weekend; my responsibilities at church have been steadily increasing; and family and household obligations are thrown into the mix as well. It just doesn’t seem to stop. I am running nonstop. I am so stressed! Read More
This poem is dedicated to my father who went home to meet his Savior last November. Rest in peace, Dad… Read More
“When I decided to give my life over to the care of Christ it seemed as though I was riding a tandem bike with Christ pedaling on the back seat. I kept steering the bike as best as I could. It was a hard and rocky road. So I kept pleading for Christ to pedal harder to help me make it through the dangerous areas. There were treacherous corners, steep mountains, large rocks and deep holes on the road I was traveling. Because of the complexity of the path I kept crashing the bike and running off the road. I kept getting injured and I often lost hope that I could follow such a difficult path. After several serious mishaps, my Savior asked, ‘Might I steer for a while?’ Reluctantly, I agreed and climbed on the back of the bike and began pedaling as best as I could. I watched in wonder as to the new way that Christ maneuvered the bicycle through the obstacles on the path. He was able to navigate through every danger ahead. If I ever felt frightened He would lean back and touch me with comforting assurance. When I needed rest, He would stop pedaling to give me living water and the bread of life. He guided me to places and people who helped me gain knowledge, healing, acceptance and joy. Now I understand, the power of the tandem bike is to let Christ do the steering and when I think that maybe I can’t do it anymore, Christ always smiles at me and reminds me to keep pedaling.” ~Author unknown
Today, I want you to reflect on this question: do you trust in Jesus for all your needs, in every area of your life, and for anything you may encounter? If we trust in the Lord He will be there to help with decisions, temptations, illness, social situations, and whatever else we may encounter. We will find renewed trust, hope, love, and a deeper relationship with Him. In good times, in tough times, or in a year of drought, we can be like the tree by the waters that does not fear or worry; whose leaves are always green and never fails to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17:5-10)
As we continue on our Lenten journey, let us realize that it’s all about trusting God even when we can’t see what’s ahead for us. It’s about letting go of the handlebars of our lives and allowing God to take the lead. When we place our complete trust and confidence in the Lord, we will be blessed. That’s HIS promise! That’s OUR challenge!
We live in a throwaway society. We are trained to be wasteful consumers based on the messages we hear on a daily basis. From advertisements for new skinny jeans, to exotic perfume, to shoes that we really don’t need or even have room for, we are all persuaded to buy new and throwaway the old. For this reason, it’s important to challenge this throwaway mentality of always wanting more with appreciating and valuing what we truly have.
Today marks the 42nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. The more than 56 million lives lost to abortion since that 1973 decision reflect with heartbreaking magnitude what Pope Francis meant when he talked about a “throwaway culture.” Read More
Back in the 1990’s there was a TV show called, “Hercules: the Legendary Journeys!” It featured the dashing Hercules, who went from town to town protecting innocent villagers from monsters, thieves, or the whims of the gods. There was also a movie called “Hercules” that came out this past July. Now, don’t feel bad if you don’t remember the TV show or you didn’t see the movie, because my homily won’t hinge on any plot lines. You don’t need to remember Hercules and his bulging muscles and flowing hair or any of the cheesy monsters. You just need to remember this one thing: the Greek gods were portrayed as detached beings who cared very little about the men and women below. Read More
