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work | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker

work | Deacon Allen Tatara Catholic Speaker

On the Inside; On the Outside


 
Mar 05 2020
Love1

Ask and You Shall Receive

Posted by | Emotions/Feelings | 2 Comments

For the past several weeks, I have been under an overwhelming amount of stress. Most of this was work-related: working long hours with short deadlines. Throw in several church-related activities and tasks on top of that, and I was running on non-stop overdrive.

        In the midst of all of this, we had a family emergency at the hospital. Upon driving to the hospital one day, I noticed that I was having difficulty breathing and felt some odd pains in my chest that I had never felt before. I thought that I was having a heart attack. I immediately broke into prayer asking God to help calm me down. At that very moment, a song came on the radio – and I heard these lyrics:

Every anxious thought that steals my breath,
It’s a heavy weight upon my chest.
As I lie awake and wonder what the future will hold,
Help me to remember that You’re in control.

You’re my courage when I worry in the dead of night.
You’re my strength ’cause I’m not strong enough to win this fight.
You are greater than the battle raging in my mind;
I will trust You, Lord, I will fear no more.

As soon as these words touched my ears, I felt the power of God within me and I began to realize that I could not handle all of this weight on my own. I suddenly felt a calmness come over me and began to breathe normal again.

In our first reading, Queen Esther, filled with anguish, breaks into prayer and realizes that there is no one else who can provide her with the help she needs other than her Lord and Savior.

Every now and then, you and I need a little reminder that we need to turn to God for help. We cannot handle our stress alone but need to rely on the one who can help us carry our load.

During this Lenten season, let us get into the habit of turning to our Father in prayer. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Lord, turn our mourning into gladness and our sorrows into wholeness. Praise be to God, now and forever. Amen.

Sep 17 2017
Love0

Forgiveness is a Tough Job

Posted by | Emotions/Feelings | One Comment

Just the other day I was flipping through TV channels and came across a show about a guy who picks up road kill for a living. I thought, “Why in the world would anyone want to watch this?” And then, of course, I couldn’t turn it off! That show was called “Dirty Jobs,” and Mike Rowe was the man who became famous for trying some of the dirtiest jobs on the planet. He has waded through sewers, castrated horses, farmed worm poop, and sorted through medical waste, just to name a few. He goes out and learns about the jobs that none of us would ever want to do, and gets coached by the people who do these jobs every day for a living. It’s not just for entertainment, because Mike goes deeper in order to pay respect to the men and women who roll up their sleeves and do these challenging jobs every day. Read More

Sep 03 2015
Love0

Back to School Time

Posted by | Prayer | No Comments
Photo Credit: musicpsychology.co.uk

Photo Credit: musicpsychology.co.uk

It’s September, and while the leaves begin to prepare to depart from the security of its tree branches, so our children begin to depart from their families back to school. Summer is officially over, at least according to the school calendar. So as all of our children begin to form new routines and practices, I wanted to share a prayer that has been attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas. Please pass this on to any student that you know so that it can help them in their studies this year.

Prayer Before Study

Come, Holy Spirit, Divine Creator,
true source of light and fountain of wisdom!

Pour forth your brilliance upon my dense intellect,
dissipate the darkness which covers me, that of sin and of ignorance.
Grant me a penetrating mind to understand,
a retentive memory, method and ease in learning,
the lucidity to comprehend, and abundant grace in expressing myself.

Guide the beginning of my work,
direct its progress,
and bring it to successful completion.

This I ask through Jesus Christ, true God and true man,
living and reigning with you and the Father, forever and ever.
Amen.

Oct 03 2014
Love0

Prayer for the Work of Our Hands

Posted by | Prayer | No Comments

Blessed are you, Lord God,
Creator of all that is good,
for in your mercy you give us work
that we may be co-creators with you.

With hands to fashion and form,
minds to imagine what has yet to be,
hearts to care for what we have made,
and a spirit to impart to our own creations,
we rejoice in the labor you give us.

By imitating you, our God and Maker,
we continue to shape the world,
to name it and claim it
and be good stewards of your good gifts
through the life-giving Spirit that renews the earth.

Keep us mindful of the power you share with us
that we may create only that which leads to peace.
May the work of our hands and our visions and dreams
collaborate with your good will,
which continues to build for us your kingdom on earth.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

~Diana Macalintal

May 06 2014
Love0

Status “Quo”te

Posted by | Quotes | No Comments

“Do not depend on the hope of results. When you are doing the sort of work you have taken on…you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself.”

~Thomas Merton

Feb 11 2013
Love0

Grieving Job Loss: Stage 5

Posted by | Work | No Comments

Today, we look at the final stage of grieving job loss. There’s no magic number to indicate when a person will reach this stage, but know that when one gets here, they are in a much better place emotionally.

Stage 5: Acceptance
Well, that sucked. What’s next? Read More

Feb 10 2013
Love0

Grieving Job Loss: Stage 4

Posted by | Work | One Comment

Sometimes we find ourselves feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another. But when we experience job loss, these feelings take on an entirely new perspective and meaning.

Stage 4: Depression
I’m never going to get a job. Nobody is looking for someone like me. I don’t have the right skills for any of the available jobs out there.  Read More

Feb 08 2013
Love0

Grieving Job Loss: Stage 3

Posted by | Work | No Comments

In the next stage of grieving job loss, we sometimes feel like we are experiencing buyer’s remorse. This could become a dangerous place to be, simply because it blows apart your self-esteem. And then, you are left feeling like a wet noodle: limp and lifeless.

Stage 3: Bargaining
Maybe if I just… What if I… If only I… Read More

Feb 07 2013
Love0

Grieving Job Loss: Stage 2

Posted by | Work | No Comments

Yesterday, we looked at denial, the first stage of grieving job loss. Once you work your way through that first stage (which is not always easy), you find yourself entering a space where your attitude suddenly turns dark. You begin to become a person with a disposition – and not a pleasant one at that.

Stage 2: Anger
How could they do this to me? What on earth were they thinking? Were they even thinking this through? What a bunch of morons! Do they know they made a mistake laying me off? Read More

Feb 06 2013
Love0

Grieving Job Loss: Stage 1

Posted by | Work | No Comments

In case you missed the news, I was laid off from my job on January 24th. This was just after celebrating my 25th service anniversary in December. You can only imagine the amount of emotions that were taking place in my head, in my gut, and in my heart. It has been nearly two weeks since that “event” has taken place, and I believe that I am finally ready to write about it.

In the coming days, I will begin walking through the Five Stages of Grieving Job Loss. It is based on the Five Stages of Grief described by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her book “On Death and Dying”. My hope is that by describing these stages (not only for others, but also for myself), it will help move us through this process more quickly and with less emotional strain.

Stage 1: Denial
This can’t be happening to me! I can’t believe they are letting me go! They will not be able to live without me! Read More