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love | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 16

love | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 16

On the Inside; On the Outside


 
Dec 12 2013
Love0

Carrying Christ to Others

Posted by | Prayer | No Comments

Every time I hear the story in today’s Gospel (Luke 1:26-38), I can’t help but to be in awe of Mary and her acceptance of her call to be the Mother of God. I can’t help but to think about how Mary responded with complete, obedient faith.

I’m sure that Mary had a ton of questions that were bouncing around in her mind. And I’m sure that Mary, so innocent and young, struggled with her fear and not really knowing what was being asked of her – just as we too struggle with allowing God to accomplish all things through us. But it is in faith that we know that God will use us in spite of our weaknesses, our deficiencies, and even our own ignorance.

In these remaining weeks of Advent, let us take a deliberate step back from the rapid pace of our lives and take some time to simply breathe. Let us then focus on what God is asking of us; knowing that God has chosen each one of us, just like Mary, to carry Christ to others.

Let us pray for the strength to echo Mary’s words of prayer: “May it be done to me according to your word.”

Sep 19 2013
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Make a Choice

Posted by | Everyday Life | No Comments

2chairsWhen tenor Luciano Pavarotti was a boy, his father, a baker, introduced him to the wonders of song. He urged him to work very hard to develop his voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in Pavarotti’s hometown of Modena, Italy, took him as a pupil. He also enrolled in a teachers’ college. On graduating, Pavarotti asked his father, “Shall I be a teacher or a singer?” “Luciano”, his father replied, “if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.” 

Life is full of choices. Every day we are invited to choose. We choose what we are going to eat, what we are going to wear, how we are going to act, what we are going to do, and where we are going to go.  Read More

Aug 29 2013
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Blameless in Holiness

Posted by | Prayer | No Comments

john-the-baptistWith today being the Memorial of The Passion of St. John the Baptist, the line that always comes to mind from him is, “He must increase while I must decrease.” This has got to be my favorite quote because it always reminds me that it’s never about me, but it’s always about God. (And that is also a great way to pray!)

However, St. Paul prays to the Thessalonians (3:7-13), “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all…to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father.” Read More

Aug 26 2013
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Dog Days of Summer

Posted by | Everyday Life | No Comments

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

May 02 2013
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The Greatest Gift Ever!

Posted by | Discipleship | No Comments

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

Jan 03 2013
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All in the Family

Posted by | Family | No Comments

Family is a wonderful blessing! (Archie Bunker may not agree with me on this, but it is the honest truth!) Spending time with all of them around the holidays was truly a special event. However, when you talk about family, especially if you are referring to overall size, my family is dwarfed by my wife’s family. In other words, my family is very small, while hers is very big. Read More

Dec 24 2012
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Merry Christmas to All!!!

Posted by | Hodgepodge | No Comments

“I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come around, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”
~Charles Dickens Read More

Dec 23 2012
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Leaping with Joy

Posted by | Emotions/Feelings | No Comments

How do you express your joy? Do you clap your hands, laugh loudly scream out, or react with a gesture? In our Gospel today, the infant John “leaped for joy.” John, in his mother’s womb, expressed an emotional and physical reaction.

Elizabeth experienced a jump in her womb and Luke relates it to John’s recognition of Jesus. This beautifully captures the emotion and feeling of that meeting between the two pregnant women. Read More