With yesterday being the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I’ve been thinking a lot about Mary. Every year, I’m blown away by Mary’s faith when she said “yes” to God. Especially as a young teenager, I can only imagine what her faith was like. Read More
Mary | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 2
On the Inside; On the Outside
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.”
With Mother’s Day being this Sunday, I wanted to share this blog post written by Mary Bielski this week. Mary is a Catholic Youth Minister and national speaker. This is a good reminder not only for teens, but for adults as well.
On December 31st, I had the opportunity to preach on the feast of Mary, the Mother of God. My homily focused on the fact that a new year calls us to reflect, sort out, and understand – that our lives are fundamentally changed by Christ. I spoke of how Mary couldn’t help but ponder the drastic changes her son would bring to her life, and maybe even her world.
As all of us take the time to look back over the past year, and all those important days and events, can we see how God was present and active in all of them?
Then, I shared my list of the ten things that I learned in 2011. At the request of many, here is my list: Read More
