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pray | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 11

pray | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 11

On the Inside; On the Outside


 
May 11 2017
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Are You a Seeker?

Posted by | Emotions/Feelings | No Comments

While on retreat a few months back, my spiritual director asked me this question: what am I seeking? (She asked me this question because it states that I am a seeker on my website and business card.) And, it was a good question for me to ponder while on my retreat. And ponder and pray I did – while walking and sitting on the shores of Lake Michigan. Here is the answer to this question as it came to me.

I am seeking to grow ever closer to the God of love. I want to continue to deepen my relationship with Him so that I can help others to have a personal relationship with our heavenly Father through a solid prayer life.

I seek to learn more about our faith.

I seek to become a better husband, father, and man of faith.

I seek to discover new and fresh ways to show the importance, relevance, and need of our faith to teens and young adults.

I seek to help others know that God is always present and with us – no matter what we do, say, or think.

I seek because I never want to be complacent or stuck with where I am. I may not always know where I am headed, but I want to try to enjoy the journey. And I am always looking forward to the surprises that God has in store for me.

I am seeking to help others find the way.

I am seeking; forever seeking.

What about you? Are you a seeker too?

Apr 30 2017
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Unrecognized Identity

Posted by | Everyday Life | No Comments

Has this ever happened to you? You are in a grocery store, the mall, maybe even taking your dog for a walk, and someone comes up to you all smiles and beaming eyes. They say “Hey! How have you been? It’s been such a long time. You look great.” You look deep in their eyes and you think for a second and the truth begins to sink in….you have no idea who this person is. This is truly embarrassing to say the least. Unfortunately, this happens to me more times than I care to admit. I have met so many people through the church and sometimes the face looks familiar but the name escapes me. I think we’ve all had a case of an unrecognized identity at one time or another in our lives. Read More

Mar 30 2017
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Prayer Changes Our Hearts

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Don’t hold back when praying to God – tell him exactly what’s wrong and insist on holding him to his promises. Prayer should be like speaking face-to-face with a friend: “without fear, freely and also with insistence.”

Pope Francis made these comments in a homily based on today’s reading from the Book of Exodus (32:7-14), when Moses begs God to spare his people, even though they have created a golden calf to worship as their god.

Pope Francis said that Moses shows what praying to God should really feel and sound like: not filled with empty words, but a heartfelt, “real fight with God.”

Moses is courageously insistent and argues his point, and prayer must also be “a negotiation with God, presenting arguments” supporting one’s position.

When God decides to not punish his people, it’s not God who has changed, but Moses, Pope Francis said.

“Prayer changes our hearts. It helps us better understand what our God is like. It helps us grow closer to him, recognize his love and rejuvenate our faith.”

The pope underlined what Jesus said: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.”

“No, say what’s what: ‘Look, Lord, I have this problem, in my family, with my child, with this, with that … What can you do? Now see here, you can’t leave me like this.’ This is prayer.”

Pray like Moses did, face-to-face with the Lord, like a friend, freely, with insistence and good arguments, the pope said. “And also scold the Lord a little: ‘Hey, you promised me this, and you haven’t done it …’ Like that, like you talk with a friend.”

Open one’s heart wide to God and get to know him better, and you’ll be amazed at how your relationship with the Lord will deepen and grow.

Nov 24 2016
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Thanksgiving Day Prayer

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thanksgiving-brownscombeFather, all of Creation rightly owes you thanks and praise.
Your justice, love and mercy abound.
We thank you this day for all that you have given us:

For the Passion and Death of your Divine Son,
we thank you Father,
through the Cross, He redeemed the world.

For the Church,
we thank you Father,
it is our beacon for salvation.

For the martyrs and saints who give testimony to your Son,
we thank you Father,
their witness to your Son is our inheritance.

For our loved ones and friends who have died and gone before us,
we thank you Father,
their love abides with us forever.

For loving spouses,
we thank you Father,
together we seek you.

For the gift of children,
we thank you Father,
they are your precious gifts to us and to the world.

For the gift of our families,
loved ones and good friends,
we thank you Father,
Through them we see the reflection of your Son.

For jobs, our homes and all that we have,
we thank you Father,
give us only that which we need, as we seek Your Kingdom.

For the bounty we are about to eat,
we thank you through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

Oct 12 2016
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Prayer is a Powerful Thing

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Photo courtesy of RGBStock.com.

Photo courtesy of RGBStock.com

A man’s daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the priest arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. “I guess you were expecting me,” he said. “No, who are you?” “I’m the new priest at your church,” he replied. “When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up.” “Oh yeah, the chair,” said the bedridden man. “Would you mind closing the door?” Puzzled, the priest shut the door. “I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter,” said the man. “But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt at prayer,” the old man continued, “until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, “Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here’s what I suggest. Sit down on a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, ‘I’ll be with you always.’ Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now. So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm.” The priest was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the priest that her daddy had died that afternoon. “Did he seem to die in peace?” he asked. “Yes, when I left the house around two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, In fact, beyond strange – kind of weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed.”

Prayer is a powerful thing. But we need to remember that prayer doesn’t change things for us, it changes us for things. That’s why we need to be able to integrate prayer into our daily schedule. It’s not difficult to do. We just need to get into the habit of doing it.

Let’s make a commitment, starting right now, to pray throughout our day. Let’s praise and thank God for all that we are and for all we’ve been given.

My sisters and brothers, Jesus is sitting right next to you. Let the conversation begin.

Sep 15 2016
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Don’t Worry!

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I thought that I’d share an entry from my personal journal dated September 21, 2007. I hope you find this to be helpful if you struggle with worrying.

worryaboutnothingYesterday morning, I experienced one of those “God Moments” on my way to work. The day before, I had been hearing some nasty rumors of major layoffs coming in October at our office location. It sounded like it was going to be one of those bad ones with a large number of people being let go. So naturally, I began worrying. With me being the “new guy” in the group (being a part of this team for only a few short months), I figured that I would surely be the first one to go.

My sleep was restless that night; and from about 4 am on, I was wide awake with worry thinking about potential job loss. After tossing and turning for a while, I finally decided to get up and get on with my day. On my commute to work, I was praying to God about calming my mind. I prayed that I find the strength to trust in the Lord at all times and not worry about things that are out of my control, for God will take care of me and guide me – as He always does!

As I am driving, I passed a church on my route that had a sign out front. It read: “Don’t Worry – It May Not Happen.” It was like getting hit in the head with a brick. God was giving me a sign (literally). A feeling of calm suddenly enveloped me, and I finally felt at ease. (And when October came, I was still employed.)

May I continue to praise God for being the light in my life and for reminding me that all will be fine if I can only trust in Him who gives me life. Worry about nothing – Pray about everything. That’s good advice for all of us!

Sep 01 2016
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What a Surprise!

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My wife and I spent this past weekend with 13 teenagers on a Peer Ministry Retreat at a camp in East Troy, Wisconsin. This was our 8th year doing this retreat and we really enjoy watching the teens as they learn important leadership skills and deepen their relationship with God. We always stress to them the importance of making time for prayer in their busy lives, and I always share this story with them.

surpriseA few years back while on this same retreat, I decided to do my Sunday morning prayers down by the lake. It was a misty, calm morning as I sat myself down on the little wooden pier. I pulled out my Liturgy of the Hours and began praying out loud. At a certain point, I began freely talking with God about some things that were going on in my life at the time. I verbally placed my intentions before the Lord hoping for some direction and guidance. Suddenly, I noticed movement from deep beneath the murky waters, and slowly emerged a very large turtle. His head peered out of the water and it was looking directly at me. I was completely caught by surprise. It felt like God appeared before me right when I needed him during my prayer. After a brief moment of eye contact between each other, the turtle returned to the depths of the lake.

Our God surprises us so many times during our lives, but we’re often so preoccupied with life that we often miss it. Sometimes we’re asked to put out our boat one more time, to try again, to go outside our comfort zone and take a chance. But how often do we react like Simon Peter and say that we’re not worthy of such blessings, that we’re not worthy of such love? We need to trust in the Lord and not be afraid, for he made us out of love and wants what’s best for us. And if we do, the rewards will be amazing.

May the Lord bless and fill your life with his mercy, his unending love, and with many surprises.

Aug 11 2016
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3 Things You Need When You Pray

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How is your prayer life? Is it improving day-by-day, or are you stuck right where you stand?

I always suggest to people that if they are struggling with their prayer life, or if they find themselves stuck in the same-old, same-old, to shake things up a bit. It is always a good thing to try out different prayer forms to get your creative and spiritual juices flowing once more. I believe that it often helps one to re-connect with their Creator and develop a deeper relationship with Christ. Read More

Jul 14 2016
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Undesirable Prayer

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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 29 2016
Love2

You Are Special

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I recently came across some notes that I had taken while on a silent retreat a number of years ago. There’s something special about finding little nuggets of information from past moments in life that bring back not only fond memories, but often times new-found joy. It’s like re-learning something you already knew – but kind of compartmentalized far back in the recesses of your brain.

man_silhouette_clip_art_9510One of the things that I had written down from our retreat master was something that he told us to remember: I am special, and God has plans for me. This is certainly a statement that we need to keep repeating to ourselves each and every day. It needs to be a part of our core values as Catholic Christians. It needs to be spoken by us when we are struggling with the stresses of our lives. It needs to be a part of our daily language.

We so often forget that we have been uniquely created by God and that each one of us is a major part of God’s plan. Yet, here is something to reflect upon: How often do I try to interfere with God’s plan? How often do I try to do what I think is best for me instead of first asking God? Sometimes, we get so stressed out trying to figure out what we should be doing with our lives that we forget that it’s really not up to us in the first place. God has destined us for greatness.

We truly need to feel and believe the fact that God knows what He is doing. We need to stop second-guessing God and simply listen to His directions for us. This can only happen if we take time each day for prayer. We need to be able to voice our questions and concerns to our Creator, but then we have to be able to be silent and listen.

Try repeating this phrase each morning as you arise from your sleep and several times throughout your day: I am special, and God has plans for me. You’ll be amazed at how your perspective on life will change.