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love | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 11

love | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 11

On the Inside; On the Outside


 
Aug 18 2016
Love0

Clothed with Joy

Posted by | Everyday Life | One Comment

Have you been watching the Olympics? I love the history, the pageantry, the competitions and just seeing how all of the countries’ athletes get along with each other. And I love watching how emotional and dedicated they are to doing whatever it takes to achieve their Olympic dream. But I think what I love the most about the Olympic games is watching the sense of joy these athletes have in wearing their various team apparel while representing their country.

final-fiveI read that the women’s gymnastics outfits cost $1,200 each. (My entire wardrobe does not even come close to that!) Regardless of the cost, there is a sense of pride and honor in what they wear and everything it represents.

In today’s Gospel (Matthew 22:1-14), Jesus tells a parable about the kingdom of heaven. And in this story, joy should have been the apparel of every guest at the wedding. And it should be the same for us.

Every day we have a chance to represent our Lord: to use the gifts and talents that we have been given and to go out and do great things in God’s name. What a joy and honor that should be for us.

But so often we walk around with, what Pope Francis calls, “sour faces.” We forget to smile, be happy, and realize that every day that we are on this earth is a gift. It is a gift to be acknowledged, cherished, and used.

Our call to the kingdom of heaven comes to us each and every day, and it calls us right where we are. But it shouldn’t leave us where we are either. The Prophet Ezekiel tells us that the Lord “will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you.” Each of us was clothed with Christ at our baptism, and we were transformed to love and serve one another. Each of us was made for greatness, in the image and likeness of God. How blessed we are indeed!

Let us praise and thank the Lord for he has clothed us with joy. And you know what? It sure looks good on us! Let us not be afraid to show it.

Jul 28 2016
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Are You Living Upside-Down?

Posted by | Everyday Life | No Comments

two-toed-slothA 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.

Jul 14 2016
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Undesirable Prayer

Posted by | Prayer | No Comments

Once again, I find myself going through some old notes that I had taken on a prior retreat. And behold, I found this anonymous quote:

“The more words in prayer, the more undesirable the prayer is.”

So what exactly does this mean? Well, let’s be honest with ourselves – sometimes, we pray with too many words. We find ourselves going on and on to God about all that is happening in our lives, what prayers we want answered and what intentions we want to be granted. We deliver a long list of requests, needs, wants and desires – and we expect immediate action on every one of these.

prayer
Often times, we make our prayers too complicated. Simplicity is often needed in order to pray. Otherwise, we are just telling Jesus about ourselves. When we approach prayer, we need to have the simplicity of a child. If you’ve ever listened to a child pray, there is both a beauty and an innocence to their words. They are not weighed down by negativity, but are lifted up in positive spirituality. Their way of praying is simple, to the point, and from the heart.

One of the best ways to experience God in prayer is by forgetting yourself. Ultimately, if you want something, you must experience nothing. Our prayers should not be filled with meaningless words or just going through the motions. We must come to prayer  with a simplicity of speech and a willingness to listen to God. Always remember that prayer is a two-way dialogue with God. The challenge is to forget ourselves and to let our prayer be a loving experience with God our Father. We must be willing to let the Lord speak to us and to be open to receive what he has to say. If we can find a way to truly listen with our heart, we will then be able to experience desirable prayer.

Prayer is the most concrete way to make our home in God. ~Henri Nouwen

Jun 07 2016
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The Light in the Dark

Posted by | Everyday Life | 2 Comments

A few years ago, Stephanie and I were on vacation when it took an unexpected turn, leaving behind a memory that neither one of us expected. We headed off to Maine to do some wilderness hiking for a few days, and then headed up into Canada to spend some time in Quebec. Read More

May 29 2016
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Living the Way God Intended

Posted by | Discipleship | 2 Comments

Whenever I ask a group of teenagers to share their favorite story about Jesus, today’s Gospel is the one that always comes up (Luke 9:11b-17). “So much food!” they say. I think one of the reasons this is also such a memorable miracle story is the “go big” nature of it. Jesus doesn’t just give the hungry crowds a little to tide them over, but fills them with so much food that there are leftovers. Read More

Apr 14 2016
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Do You Understand What You Are Reading?

Posted by | Everyday Life | No Comments

Have you ever noticed on the back of a hotel door, they post information about your hotel rate as well as instructions of what to do in case of a fire? Ever since I was a member of the fire evacuation team at my former job, this is something that I always check out when I stay at a hotel. I want to share an actual description from one such hotel: Read More

Mar 16 2016
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The Trouble Tree

Posted by | Everyday Life | No Comments

Tonight, I want to share with you a powerful story:

I hired a carpenter to help me restore an old farmhouse.  After he had just finished a rough first day on the job, a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. Read More

Mar 14 2016
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God Understands

Posted by | Everyday Life | No Comments

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

Feb 28 2016
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Second Chances

Posted by | Everyday Life | No Comments

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