Go Bishops Go!

The U.S. Bishops addressed a letter to the leaders headed to the G8 Summitt on July 7-9.

Some Highlights:

As the G8 Summit in Japan approaches, we write on behalf of the Catholic bishops’ conferences to the leaders of our respective nations to urge you to deepen your commitments and actions to reduce global poverty and address global climate change.

As our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI said at his visit to the United Nations in April: “[Q]uestions of security, development goals, reduction of local and global inequalities, protection of the environment, of resources and of the climate, require all international leaders to act jointly and to show a readiness to work in good faith, respecting the law, and promoting solidarity with the weakest regions of the planet. I am thinking especially of those countries in Africa and other parts of the world which remain on the margins of authentic integral development, and are therefore at risk of experiencing only the negative effects of globalization.”

Our religious and moral commitment to protect human life and promote human dignity moves us to be particularly concerned for the poorest and most vulnerable members of the human family, especially those in developing countries. The experience of the Catholic Church in serving the needs of poor communities leads us to applaud the Summit’s focus on development and Africa.

Read the entire letter here

Fr Mark Mossa - new blog

No commenting on the new blog...but always a thoughtful comment.

http://frmarkmossasj.blogspot.com/

Extemporaneously Speaking

During Scott Appleby's presentation he misspoke and called our website "Broken Halo." I mention this not to slight the good professor's name (God knows thousands of people make the same mistake--so much so that we even tried to buy Brokenhalo.com a few times), but rather to offer a few funnies.

One Paulist yelled out: "BUSTED halo."

To which Appleby replied: "Shoot...right sorry. Wow! It's even more drastic than I thought."

To which I replied: "At least it isn't SHATTERED."

And it was all that quick. Laughs all around.

My advisor said to me..."You've got a real gift for quick retorts. Were you always that quick? Or does that come from your radio training?"

I said, "Well I learned a bit in radio...but I was the state extemporaneous spaking champ for a club I was in in high school. That's where I really learned it. In fact, that's probably where I learned how to preach."

And I went to public school...

In short--the rules I learned for extemporaneous speaking are as follows:

1) Tell stories throughout--and one that grabs the audience right away up top.

2) Speak vibrantly and strong as if you were trying to make a point that the audience just had to know--as if their lives maybe didn't quite depend on it--but rather something that you just had to share.

3) Speak between 3-5 minutes only. That makes you narrow in on a point.

4) Have ONE point and one point only. Stay on topic and don't try to go through any back doors.

5) Speak ENGLISH. No high fallutin words.

6) Know your audience--and if you don't know your audience (for some odd reason) try to lead with stories that everyone can resonate with.

7) Make people fall in love with your idea--not neccessarily appealling only to the intellect but more to the heart.

8) Don't go overboard with syrupy stuff--have a gentle balance while leaning towards the heart.

All good advice. Hopefully I've lived up to it.

Always good to get praise

I got a nice note from my boss this morning saying how proud he was of Bill McGarvey and myself during the entire 150th Anniversary gathering of the Paulists. Every presenter had mentioned BustedHalo and Bill and I were the only two non-Paulist workshop presenters during the breakout session festivities.

I tend to thrive on that kind of praise so today--I'm flying high.

Good News on Dad

Some kind of "airborne, mysterious" virus entered my dad's system and THAT was what pushed his blood pressure and heart rate up--not a stroke or a heart attack. I suppose it's not actually great news when doctors use the word "mystery" but in truth, the antibiotics pushed everything back down along with a little bit of lopressa (sp?).

I saw him yesterday and he looked great and in good spirits. He underwent a stress test today and passed that with flying colors. They are waiting on some blood work but it looks like he will return home tomorrow.

Thanks to all for the prayers and especially to fellow blogger Gashwin who knows all too well the feelings of fear I went through. Please pray for his family as they lost their father last year.

More from Fr. Bell's Ordination

The newly ordained pictured here with My wife and I...and his new priestly hat...our gag gift to him.

Fr. Steven will serve his first assignment at St. Austin's Parish in Austin, TX and will celebrate his first mass next week at St. Augustin's parish in our nation's capitol.

Fr. Steven Bell, CSP - new priest

Fr. Steven Bell, CSP is the newest member of the priesthood of the Paulist Fathers.
Fr. Steven spent a summer with us at BustedHalo.com and is a delight to be around.
A coalition of singers from St Augstine's and St Joseph's parish joined the Paulists and their collaborators for a most joyful celebration. The ceremony was filled with the style of African-American culture...from the lectors who enlivened the word to the outstanding choir...this was a celebration that allowed us to believe that the spirit is alive and that Jesus is truly present!
Special thanks to Archbishop O'Brien the Archbishop of Baltimore for being there for the new Fr. Steven. As he said, "I feel the spirit here today!" Indeed.
Pictured above is Fr. Tom Ryan, CSP laying hands on the ordinand.

Prayers for Dad

Readers:

I am at the Paulist 150th Anniversary in Washington but while I was here my dad was taken to the hospital with an elevated heart rate, trembling and a high fever. He seems fine now and my sister is with him and says he seems to be better. The doctors believe that an infection pushed his heart rate up. Regardless, he is 80 years old--so this is a fairly serious situation. Secondly, he has been the primary caregiver for my mom who is not in good health. I will be returning home tomorrow afternoon to care for my mom while my sister cares for my dad's needs.

Prayers are very seriously needed. This is my nightmare to be honest. I love my dad so much...if you want to know what kind of dad he's been--read this article I wrote on him after the movie Million Dollar Baby came out.

Tour of DC Monuments

After dinner the Paulist associates/collaborators (read: lay people) went on a tour of the DC monuments.
Here's a shot of the Capitol rotunda.

Another reason to love the Ipod

So for the second time I left my ipod shuffle in my shirt pocket and in it went to the washing machine.
Amazingly...it still works!

And now it's all shiny!

Paulist 150th Anniversary in DC

We were treated to a wonderful day on the Campus of Catholic University today and got two rousing lectures by Dr. David O'Brien and Dr. Scott Appleby from Holy Cross and Notre Dame respectively who spoke on Isaac Hecker, the Paulist founder and the implications of his ministry for today's group of Paulists.
Afterwards we had some small group breakouts and then we celebrated mass in memory of the deceased Paulists. Seminarian Tom Gibbons put together a wonderful slideshow of pictures of almost every Paulist who has gone before us. I nearly lost it when Fr. Michael Hunt (who many will remember from his Westside Paulist blog) came on the screen. He edited the initial manuscript of Googling God and gave it some new direction before handing it off to Fr Mike Kerrigan.

Pictured is Patti Simpson a lay pastoral associate from the Paulist Center in Boston during the procession for the deceased Paulists.

Tomorrow: More lectures and a Gala Celebration.

Tim Russert: Laid to Rest--Welcome Home

An outstanding memorial service as if there could be such a thing--but a true honor of a man's life. May we all be fortunate enough to be so loved--and to love others the way he obviously did.

See exerpts from the memorial here:

Coming Up: Mobile Blogging the Paulist Sequicentennial

That's 150 years, folks! The Paulists are celebrating their 150th anniversary this week in Washington, DC and I'll be there providing all the pictures descriptions and accounts of the game without the express written consent of Major League Baseball.

Deacon Steven Bell will also be raised to the order of the priesthood! Yay! Steven was the Cantor at the Mass for the Pope at Nationals Stadium and is one of my all-time favorite people. And let me tell you--that guy can SING!

Mark Mossa, SJ: Right out of the box--an awesome homily

Fr. Mark Mossa's first mass was certainly an interesting affair. It was held on the Loyola, New Orleans campus and that morning it rained as it has never raimed before--flooding the area around the Jesuit residence and causing a panic--how will the newly ordained get across the now river separating him from celebrating his first mass?

Ah, with God, all things are possible. A truck was procurred to get Fr. Mark on his way. Some quotables:

"Well, this isn't quite the way I envisioned my first mass but as it says on my ordination card: You duped me, Lord and I let myself be duped. So I guess God is just at it again.

The purificator that the wipe the oils from the newly ordained's hands is traditionally given to their Mother. So Mom, here ya go. When you see St. Peter at the gates, just show him that and you should be good to go!

Tim Russert: Father's Day

I was a big Tim Russert fan. I'm so jealous of Fr. Dave who has a picture of himself and Matt Lauer when he was on the Today Show with them. A graduate of John Carroll University in Cleveland, Russert always had much praise for the church, the Jesuits in particular. He will be missed.

I wrote this piece for BustedHalo on Friday:

For a Father

Tim Russert

1950-2008


By Mike Hayes

The lecture hall was packed as the crowd awaited a speaker known by millions for his enormous insight into American politics. Every Sunday, Tim Russert spoke to the titans of American politics as moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” where his grilling of public figures on the issues of the day had become legendary. But tonight people came from far and wide to hear him speak about a topic far more dear to him: his Father. The publication of his riveting memoir, Big Russ and Me, offered a window into the values and experiences that were at the core of this well-regarded Washington newsman’s life. The book’s success had a surprisingly large impact on the American public.

His dad, Tim Sr., a hardnosed working class guy, who worked two jobs, neither of them particularly elegant—he delivered newspapers and picked up garbage for a living—and yet Russert talked about him as the epitome of class. Big Russ taught him the values of living with faith, discipline and simple honesty. He made an honest living and family always came first. What more could a son ask for?

Universal Truths

Throughout Russert’s life, when he saw those values reflected back to him in the people he came across like the Jesuit priests who taught him and his dad’s drinking buddies, to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan who Russert helped get elected in 1976, Russert drew a clear line tracing it all back to his father’s living room in Buffalo.... [More]

Fr. Mark Mossa, S.J. Mass #1

Fr. Mark all smiles!
Next stop: Boston College for doctoral work.

Fr. Mark consecrates the Eucharist for the first time

Let us adore Christ!

Fr. Mark Mossa - First Mass

At St Ignatius Chapel at Loyola University. (l-r) Fr. Mossa, Myself and my wife Marion Hayes

New Orleans Jazz

The band played us to the reception.

and off to the reception