‘Twas the rush before Christmas, when all through the house,
I was stirring like crazy trying to wrap my wife’s blouse.
The stockings were crooked, the house was disjointed,
If Santa were to come, he’d be very disappointed.
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prayer | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker - Part 7
On the Inside; On the Outside
Surprise! We Are All Pregnant!
Posted by Deacon Allen | Discipleship, Emotions/Feelings, Everyday Life | No CommentsI believe that there are two types of people in this world: those who like surprises and those who don’t. I, for one, do not like surprises. And I think the reason why is that the surprise usually doesn’t end well for me. Let me give you a perfect example.
Since we just celebrated the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary yesterday, I thought that this would be an appropriate post.
Once upon a time there was a peasant woman, and a very wicked woman she was. When the woman died, she did not leave a single good deed behind.
The devil caught her and plunged her into a lake of fire. So, her guardian angel stood and wondered what good deed of hers he could remember to tell God. “She once pulled up an onion in her garden,” said the angel, “and gave it to a beggar woman.” And God answered, “You take that onion then, hold it out to her in the lake, and let her take hold and be pulled out. And if you pull her out of the lake, let her come to paradise, but if the onion breaks, then the woman must stay where she is.”
The angel ran to the woman and held out the onion to her. “Come,” said he, “catch hold and I’ll pull you out.” And he began cautiously pulling her out. He had just pulled her out when the other sinners in the lake, seeing how she was being drawn out, began catching hold of her so as to be pulled out with her. But she was a very wicked woman, and she began kicking them. “I’m to be pulled out, not you. It’s my onion, not yours.” As soon as she said this, the onion broke. The woman fell back into the lake – and she is burning there to this day.
So, the angel wept and went away.
Remember, you get what you give. The more good deeds that you could do in your life, the more fulfilling your life is going to be, and your Father in heaven will rejoice.
Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you. ~Luke 6:38
An Original is Worth More than a Copy
Posted by Deacon Allen | Discipleship, Everyday Life | No Comments“Imitating Christ does not mean living a life like Christ, but rather living your own life as authentically as Christ lived his.” ~Henri J.M. Nouwen
We’ve all seen it or heard it before. It could have been in a scripture passage, a spiritual book, a church hymn, or even in a preached homily at Mass. The message was this: each and every one of us should strive to imitate Jesus.
When you were growing up as a child, what was your go-to object when you needed comfort, safety, or security? Was it a snuggly blanket, a pillow, a doll, or a stuffed animal? For me, it was my stuffed Winnie the Pooh. He may be small in stature, but to me, he was a giant. His protective presence was always felt, and he never failed to make me feel safe. When powerful storms bombarded the night-time sky, he was always there for me to grab on tightly and hold close. I always felt comforted when Pooh was there.
There’s something very special that happens when we are being held, especially by a loved one – like a spouse, parent, or friend. There is this intense connection that permeates any negative emotions that we are experiencing – and almost instantaneously, these vanish from existence. There is an unspoken power in that embracing hug that tells us that everything is going to be alright. In that very moment, we feel loved, appreciated, and worthy, and we feel as if we can overcome anything that comes our way.
This is what we experience when our Lord holds onto us. When we are filled with fear because we cannot see the road ahead of us or where we are going, Jesus tells us that everything is going to be just fine and points us in the right direction. When we have doubts about our abilities or talents, Jesus tells us that we already have everything that we need for our mission. When we feel like we’re carrying all of the world’s burdens on our shoulders, Jesus is there to take the load from us. When we hit rock bottom and when life seems to keep handing us insurmountable hills to climb, Jesus is there to give us a hand and help us up.
Anytime we experience pain, struggles or setbacks in our lives, we need to remember that Jesus is right there with us, giving us the biggest bear-hug ever. Our loving Father is always there to wrap his arms around us, brush off any remnants of our worries, fears, concerns, or anxieties, and simply hold onto us – and he will never, ever let go!
May God’s loving embrace strengthen us during our times of weakness, and may his powerful words always be with us when he says: “Fear not, I am with you. I will strengthen you and help you.”
“Love God greatly; be always united to God; do everything for God; love everything for God.” ~St. Gerard Majella
While on retreat, my lodging accommodations found me in the St. Gerard hermitage. This was quite ironic as this is also my middle name. In my room was a little booklet with novenas to St. Gerard. Admittedly, I did not know much about him, other then he is known as the patron saint of pregnant mothers. (Apparently, my mother prayed to him when she was trying to get pregnant with me – which is where my name derived.) And reading about him was very timely as his feast day is October 16th.
I read this little novena book cover to cover and discovered many things about St. Gerard. He was so attracted by God that his whole life was immersed in the greatness of God, surrendering completely to him. He strived to make everything he did an act of love for God. And he had the gift of recognizing the presence of Christ in the faces of others. That is certainly a gift that we need to pray for in our own lives.
St. Gerard was all about living God’s divine will. He had a sign on his door that read: “Here the will of God is done.” If you were to summarize his life-long intention, it would be with this phrase: to always please God in whatever he did. This should be our goal as well.
Whatever tasks or duties that we undertake, these should all be done cheerfully. We need to change our mindset and truly believe that everything we do should give delight to God. According to Gerard, no matter what comes our way, even when the worst things happen, we need to accept it as God’s will (even if it doesn’t seem to be) and try to make it into something joyful.
We pray that we are able to know and love God, to do everything for God, and have the strength to carry out his will each and every day. Make us always aware that no matter what we do, it matters to God. May we want nothing for ourselves but strive to want what God wants for us. Amen.
While on retreat at the Redemptorist Retreat Center in Wisconsin, I had the opportunity, or shall I say the necessity, to pray to our Blessed Mother for something that was going on in my life. It just so happened that on the center grounds, there was a shrine dedicated to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Realizing that I could use all the help that I could get, I ventured inside.
There was one thing that my family took very seriously when I was growing up, and that was Family Night. This usually involved playing a game or watching a movie, like those on Family Classics, The Wonderful World of Disney, or network TV. One of our all-time favorites and one that we would never-ever miss was The Wizard of Oz.
Decisions, decisions, decisions. No matter where we turn in life, there’s a decision that needs to be made. What should I do today? What do I wear? What book should I read? What do I want to be when I grow up? Should I exercise or binge watch some TV series? And on and on.
According to the people who know about this kind of stuff, adults make 35,000 decisions every day. Crazy, right? And 226.7 of these decisions are about food alone! What should I eat today? Do I pick it up or have it delivered? Do I stick to my diet or snarf-down that piece of chocolate cake? And on and on. Our lives are filled with decisions. Read More
