Busy January Schedule

Hey folks:

I will be making the rounds to the following cities in January. If you'd like to contact me to speak at your parish or diocese the best way to do that is to email me at mike@bustedhalo.com

Here's the skinny

January 6-9 - Western Province of Dominicans Conference - San Francisco

January 10-12 - Fashion Me a People Conference - Orlando, Florida

January 20 - Paulist Center - Boston, MA

January 22 - Fordham University Campus Ministry- Bronx, NY

January 26 - Diocese of Raleigh - Raleigh, NC

January 27 - Good Shepherd KofC - NY, NY

January 29-31- National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministers Conference - Little Rock Arkansas

And that's just January folks. I've got a lot of open dates in February and in May. April would be real tough at this point but the summer is open as well.

I do charge a reasonable fee for a workshop ($1000 plus expenses) but we can negotiate.

BustedHalo Retreat

An outstanding retreat experience with a great group of people this past weekend at one of my favorite places on earth- Mt Paul Retreat Center in Oak Ridge, NY.

Thanks to all the team members for making this happen.

For more on BustedHalo Retreats- simply email me: mike@bustedhalo.com

Upcoming retreat events:

Feb 3, 2008 – BustedHalo POD Retreat – a “busy person’s Lenten retreat experience that involves the following:

- Listening to retreat talks on podcast once a week
- Meeting with a spiritual director twice in person during lent.
- Working with some spiritual websites throughout lent.
- Participating in 2 “virtual small groups” using skype.

Cost: $50


August 1-3, 2008 – BustedHalo Seeker’s Retreat – Mt Paul Retreat Center, Oak Ridge,NJ
A summer retreat experience open to all people in their 20s and 30s. Run by young adults, for young adults.

Cost: $100

October 24-26, 2008 - Who Do You Say That I Am?
A Jesus-focused retreat experience by young adults, for young adults.

Cost: $100

EWTN Scandal?

American Papist wrote this interesting post last week:

To be fair, Fr. Francis Mary Stone has not admitted to having a sexual encounter--so I'll reserve judgement here. I wonder what Mother Angelica would say--especially since she would regularly lambaste the more liberal end of the Catholic Church.

Regardless, this is the one show that I would watch on EWTN from time to time. So I'll keep the good father in my prayers.

Finland Student Kills

From the NY TIMES:

The YouTube video, titled “Jokela High School Massacre — 11/7/2007,” was posted Tuesday by a user called Sturmgeist89.

Set to a song called “Stray Bullet” by the industrial rock band KMFDM, the video shows a photo of a building that appears to be Jokela High School. The photo breaks apart to reveal a red-tinted picture of a man pointing a handgun at the camera.

“I am prepared to fight and die for my cause,” read a posting by a user of the same name. “I, as a natural selector, will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of natural selection.”

Hours after the massacre, the user’s account was suspended.

Lyrics to various songs by KMFDM, including “Stray Bullet,” were also posted on a Web site maintained by Eric Harris, one of the two gunmen in the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado.

More here

The insanity of these acts continue to stem from milennials seeing the world as a senseless place of chaos. Here the student looked to rectify this situation by eliminating those who are "disgraces of the human race."

The sad thing is that some grasp on tightly to a tradition and adhere to it but are healthy and able to integrate that well into their young lives. Others, especially the pathological, end up causing more chaos in their nihlistic way of life where nothing matters anymore.

St Dominic's in San Francisco

Has a new podcast: Check them out by clicking here

I hosted an event here last week and they are really starting to do some creative things here.

Spirituality and Practice

The website Spirituality and Practice has also reviewed Googling God as a book on Questing.

See read their review of Googling God here as well.

Zenit Likes the Book

Zenit - The Vatican News Service gives my book another awesome review.

"Googling God: The Religious Landscape of People in Their 20s and 30s," published by Paulist Press, is written by Mike Hayes, associate director of Paulist Young Adult Ministries. In the introduction, Hayes explains that while some had doubted if young people were religious at all, there is a religious awakening among at least some youth.

Hayes provides an interesting examination of young people in the United States, with many points worth reflecting on. His book is also useful for the tips it offers on how to use the Internet and other media to communicate.

Read the entire review including some interesting facts on religion on the web worldwide here

Zenit is a worldwide news service and thus, Googling God's book rating on Amazon.com has skyrocketed from 35,000 to 7,500. Keep it going if you haven't bought the book as of yet.

Where's God

This needs a lot more editing but I wanted to get some reactions.

San Francisco Tour: First Stop: St Vincent de Paul

One of the best young adult ministry outlets in the country had me come and speak to a large crowd of book-buying young adults tonight. We even hit a bar afterwards.
John Brust, their fearless leader and their pastor Fr. Ring were gracious hosts.
They're trying to rope me into coming with them on their bike tour/wine tasting on Saturday while I'm here. This is forcing me to reveal one of my secrets: I don't bike--I never learned how--maybe coupling this with wine would be a good idea in my case.

Daily Breakfast with Fr. Roderick

Fr. Roderick--the host of the popular daily breakfast podcast--posted his recent interview with yours truly today.

Listen to our walk through Central Park here.

Hope you enjoy it.

Mike

Upcoming Events

October is chock full of events:

10/14 - St Paul the Apostle Church - BustedHalo Pre-retreat Event:
Join us at St Paul's to learn all about the BustedHalo Retreat Ministry--our next retreat is on November 9-11 at Mt Paul Retreat Center. Register Here.

10/19 - Providence Convention Center - Voice of the Faithful:
Join me as I speak to VOTF members about how they can better reach young adults. They are desperately seeking younger members. I think young people sense a liberal agenda with this group and perhaps rightfully so...it's the first time that I'll have an experience with these folks and I'll be a bit of a prophet in this neck of the woods...hopefully that will be met as a challenge by the membership and not a criticism. Check them out here

10/20 - Fordham University - Sapientia et Doctrina Dinner to benefit the Graduate School of Religion:
I'm on the committee for this dinner--it's $100/person but very worth it--superb food and the honoring of people who are doing great work in the name of the church. The big honorees are the priest and rabbi from the TV show--The God Squad. Register here

I will do a presentation on the book at the following locations as well:

10/21 - Holy Trinity Parish - 82nd and Amsterdam - NYC

Then all in San Francisco:

10/22 - St Vincent de Paul Parish - 7:30PM
2320 Green St.
(415) 922-1010

10/24 - St. Dominic's Parish
2390 Bush Street
(415) 567-7824
http://www.stdominics.org/youngadults

10/25 - Holy Spirit Parish
2700 Dwight Way
(510) 848-7812

10/26 - Discussion and booksigning at Old St. Mary's bookstore on Grant at California in downtown San Francisco on Friday, October 26 at 12:30pm (until 1:15pm). Mass is also at 12:10pm in the Church. Light snacks provided. Open to all.
Old St. Mary's Cathedral
California and Grant
(415) 288-3800

10/27 -28 - Holy Spirit Parish - Berkeley
Will be at masses signing books.

Cute Dogs Dig My Book

My chiahuahua, Haze Hayes, loves his new t-shirt which makes him a walking advertisement for my book. Perhaps my next book will be "Googling Dog."

Daily Breakfast with Fr. Roderick

I spent the last few days with the awesome Fr. Roderick Vonhogen of the Daily Breakfast Podcast and the Catholic Insider Podcast. What a nice man--and a good priest! He's from the Netherlands but has a worldwide audience on his podcast morning show.

It's a great show that doesn't merely talk about religion but instead talks about pop culture with an added view on the spirituality behind it. Of course there are other catechetical elements of the show as well but it's really more about the things Fr. Roderick likes to do.

Next week (most likely Friday) Fr. Roderick will feature me as a guest on his Daily Breakfast show which will feature a 45 minute jaunt we took around Manhattan together and chatted about my book. He gave it a great recommendation and it was just fun to walk in Central Park with someone who wasn't as familiar with NYC as I am.

Check his podcast out in advance of my episode.

National Catholic Reporter Review

Money quotes from the review of Googling God in the National Catholic Reporter by the obviously astute Erin Ryan:

Issue Date: October 5, 2007

GOOGLING GOD: THE RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE OF PEOPLE IN THEIR 20S AND 30S
By Mike Hayes
Paulist Press, 208 pages, $16.95

In his book for youth (my edit: young adult) ministers, Googling God: The Religious Landscape of People in their 20s and 30s, author Mike Hayes makes it clear that young adults are more than just the church’s “future.” They are the church now.

“God often is so far removed from young adult life that they long for opportunities where they can see, feel, taste and smell the very fervor of religion,” says Mr. Hayes, who points out the importance of following up these experiences with solid church teachings and guidance from ministers.

"In Part Three of Googling God, Mr. Hayes gives practical advice about methods of doing ministry and resources for further reading. He also stresses the importance of using technology, especially the Internet, and gives tips on how to start your own Web page, which every church should have, he says, in the age of Google search engines and instantaneous answers."

"Mr. Hayes also notes that all the young adults he interviewed wish for “a more collaborative dialogue between the church and young adults,” and that whether they are from Steubenville or from a Jesuit parish in New York, they tend to think beyond “liberal” or “conservative” categories. And from the interviews, it is clear that while their approaches to life are diverse, each young person has clearly given a lot of thought to the spiritual questions he or she has faced."

And finally, the big quote which refers to Mark Hart's Blessed Are the Bored in Spirit which she also reviewed in the same column:

"Both authors both clearly have a lot of experience with young people, but by letting the young individuals speak for themselves, Mr. Hayes winds up with the more engaging book.

She gets it. Now you can too. Buy my book
Read the whole article here:

BustedHalo.com's Renee Lareau Reviews Googling God

Renee LaReau--superstar reporter for NCR and BustedHalo weighs in on my book.

Googling God

The Religious Landscape of People in their 20s and 30s

By Mike Hayes (BustedHalo Books)

$16.95, 208 pages

Reviewed by Renée LaReau

In many ways, the 18-to-34-year-old crowd is a sought-after demographic. Advertisers continually try to lure young fashionistas, techies and foodies with their cutting-edge wares. Television executives craft sitcoms and reality shows hoping to capture the interest of this population. The Catholic Church, too, seeks their energy, enthusiasm and talents.

But appealing to these young adults in way that leads to lifelong commitment presents a challenge. How can an institution with a 2,000 year history, that’s not typically known for its innovation or it speed, attract and engage young adults, who prize the immediacy of text messaging and Google searches, change careers every two to three years, and thrive in a culture that promotes individualism and personal choice?

Read the whole review here

The Googling God post of the day

I will expound on a topic each weekday that I think pertains what I'm trying to say with Googling God. Today's topic comes from Lincoln, Nebraska:

LINCOLN, Nebraska (AP) -- A legislator who filed a lawsuit against God has gotten something he might not have expected: a response.


State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha said he sued God last week to make a point about frivolous lawsuits.

One of two court filings from "God" came Wednesday under otherworldly circumstances, according to John Friend, clerk of the Douglas County District Court in Omaha.

"This one miraculously appeared on the counter. It just all of a sudden was here -- poof!" Friend said.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha sued God last week, seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty for making terroristic threats, inspiring fear and causing "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants."

Chambers, a self-proclaimed agnostic who often criticizes Christians, said his filing was triggered by a federal lawsuit he considers frivolous. He said he's trying to make the point that anybody can sue anybody.

Not so, says "God." His response argues that the defendant is immune from some earthly laws and the court lacks jurisdiction.

I think it's funny that someone assumed God SHOULD respond to this kook, but it goes to show that people think God should work on their time. Whoever wrote the response was quite ingenious actually and exhibited my points about God often working beyond the boundaries of human experience and the need for good mentoring (which the writer seemingly has cast himself into that role) to assist someone when God doesn't miraculously intervene in human affairs. People need someone to help them re-form religious meaning at these key moments of their life.

Read the whole article here

Buy Googling God here

Book Review: U.S. Catholic

Matt Bigelow---U.S. Catholic reviewed my book!

Googling God
By Mike Hayes (Paulist Press, 2007)
Mike Hayes left a 12-year career in radio to minister to young adults following an invitation from his parish priest. In his five years of ministry, Hayes has found that technology has fundamentally shaped their approach to information.

“We need always to assume that a large percentage of young adults believe that instant gratification is merely a click of a mouse or a touch of a button away and that they can apply this to every area of their life, religion included,” Hayes says.

In Googling God: The Religious Landscape of People in their 20s and 30s, Hayes explains that although the current information landscape is characterized by instant access, religion and faith don’t have easy answers....

Read the whole review here

Summed up nicely---if I do say so myself!

An excerpt of the book is here

BustedHalo asked for an excerpt which you can read here. I'll try to include more pieces of the book here in the upcoming weeks.

Catholic Online also asked me to write a piece for them which you can find here.

THE BOOK IS REALLY HERE

I held it and snuggled it close for the first time yesterday. It still has that new book smell. Paulist Press did a nice job with the cover as it looks much better than I expected and the blurbs we got for the back were really great too. I also like the font they used.

You want to buy it you say?

Here's a link to do so through bustedhalo.com

Obviously you can also go through Amazon for a bit of a discount.

THE BOOK IS HERE

Well...not quite...

But it is available to be ordered on Amazon.com.

You can also pre-order it on The Halo Store at BustedHalo.com here

Pic of the new doggy

Isn't he cute?

Wow! Three months of inactivity

With the dawn of the Sirius show and the purchase of a new dog (Haze the Chiuaua)my time has not been my own. Apologies all around. I will make an effort at re-blogging soon.

Check out the new fangled BustedHalo Blog very soon.