Tag

mission | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 2

mission | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 2

On the Inside; On the Outside


 
Jul 16 2015
Love0

I Am Tired!

Posted by | Emotions/Feelings | No Comments

2015070995114515Last week, I was with a group of teens from our parish on a mission trip in Detroit, Michigan. There we lived in community and helped the people of Detroit with various acts of service and charity. What a fulfilling way to put our faith into action and truly experience Christ in those we served. What a blessing it was for our teens to have such an awesome experience.

But during that one full week of hard labor – of long days and short nights, I have to admit that I was really tired. My body ached, my muscles were sore, and my head throbbed from the heat and exertion. And suddenly I recalled an old proverb that I came across long ago: One can go a long way after one is tired. And that became my mantra for the week. Read More

May 17 2015
Love0

Moving On with the Mission

Posted by | Discipleship | No Comments

Today would have been my father’s 87th birthday. But as many of you know, he left this world last November. Tomorrow, it will be the six month anniversary of his death. I’ll be honest with you, I miss him dearly. I miss the talks we had, both in person and on the phone. I miss his advice. And I miss his warm embrace when we hugged. And I’ll never forget the last words he said to me the night before he died. When we were done talking on the phone, he said, “So long.” It was his way of saying goodbye. How ironic that these were his final words to me. Read More

Jul 27 2014
Love0

Love, Serve, Transform

Posted by | Discipleship | No Comments

What would you like to own more than anything else in the entire world? Would it be a sports car, a yacht, a beautiful mansion? What are these things worth to you? Jesus is telling us that following him and seeking the kingdom is worth even more than the thing we want most. As we learn more about the kingdom, the desire to attain it grows in us. We want to be in a place of perfect love and perfect peace, where there is no war or disease, no hatred or violence, no discrimination because of the color of our skin or the origin of our family, where people are respected and treated with dignity, and where all of us can live as sisters and brothers in Christ. What we need is what Solomon asked for: an understanding heart, so that we don’t judge others, but we love and serve one another and do what is right. And that’s not always an easy thing to do! Read More

Jan 12 2014
Love0

I Hear Voices!

Posted by | Discipleship | No Comments
Source: zengardner.com

Source: zengardner.com

I have a confession to make…I hear voices. I swear, I hear voices all the time. Now you tell people that you hear voices these days, and they are probably going dress you up in a very special kind of jacket, lock you up in a room with padded walls and put you on some heavy medication. Our modern world is not so accepting of people who hear voices.

And yet, when you think about it, we all have lots of voices running through our heads every day. We still hear the voice of our parents and the things that they taught us, the messages and lessons that they wanted us to have for life. We can still hear the voice of our favorite teacher or our favorite coach challenging us to be better and to try harder. Maybe we can hear the voice of a colleague, a supervisor, or even a friend, trying to give us some good advice. Read More

Jan 06 2014
Love0

There’s a Hair in My Ear!

Posted by | Everyday Life | One Comment

I have one of those magnifying mirrors in our bathroom that enable you to see everything on your face. And I do mean everything! It’s a little scary (and humbling) to see all the little bumps and pores on your skin. But this past Saturday as I was shaving in the morning, I noticed something a little out of the ordinary. Read More

Sep 29 2013
Love0

It All Begins with Us!

Posted by | Virtues | No Comments

There was an article in our local newspaper a couple of weeks ago that stated that the suburbs now have as many poor people as the city of Chicago. The number of poor in the suburbs has nearly doubled in 20 years from about 323,000 in 1990 to 630,000 in 2011, far outpacing overall population growth in the suburbs. It’s a trend researcher’s call “the suburbanization of poverty.” And this is not just here in Chicago; it’s a nationwide trend.

Poverty is defined based on income of less than $11,484 per year for a single person or less than $23,021 for a family of four. That’s living on $443 a week for rent, food, medicine, transportation, utilities, etc. I’m not sure how anyone can live on that amount in this area. Something has to be done! Read More