Abortion = Not Peechy Keen According to Most Americans

When I was in radio I worked with a conservative talk show host named Bob Grant, who despite being a republican, still surprisingly supported abortion rights (I think more because he doesn't like government regulation of anything). But one thing he used to say that I thought reflected the opinions of most people--even those who support abortion rights.

"Now look, I don't think abortion is just "peechy keen" either."

It seems now that the USCCB backs up Grant's thought with this recent survey of about 2300 adults.

A quote highlighting the survey.

A nationwide survey commissioned by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has found that four out of five U.S. adults (82 percent) think abortion should either be illegal under all circumstances (11 percent) or would limit its legality. Thirty-eight (38) percent would limit abortion to the narrow circumstances of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother; and an additional 33 percent would limit abortion to either the first three or first six months. Only 9 percent said abortion should be legal for any reason at any time during pregnancy.

As a pro-life person, I think this is good news obviously. I'd love to see what percentage of young adults said they thought abortion wasn't a good idea. I would guess that percentage would be rather high.

Returning to the Church

Deacon Greg posted an interesting story of a Deacon who reconciled with the church after being hurt by some of its members. I thought about people who return to the church and their reasons for doing so and I wondered how many people must be thinking about coming back to the church as their new year's resolution?

The Paulists have a great program called Landings for people who are considering returning to the church. It provides them with a safe landing place where they aren't judged for their past but rather how they can grow into further unity with the church, heal those old wounds and recover a new sense of faith that perhaps had been lurking in their lives all along.

Many people often don't have a particular grudge against the church but rather seek an opportunity for spiritual renewal. Disciples in Mission helps parishes do that very well from the Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association.

Of course for people in their 20s and 30s in particular, BustedHalo.com® is a e-zine that promotes looking at everyday life experiences of young adults through a spiritual perspective. We also have a few plug and play programs and our retreat ministry that we run in cohort with our colleagues in Chicago at Charis Ministries which is two opportunities for more direct ministry with young adult Catholics.

Fr Dave Dwyer does his radio ministry on Sirius but we also do a weekly podcast called the Busted Halo Cast® which you can also find on iTunes.

So if you've got questions or are thinking of returning to the Catholic Church---first of all--know that you are welcome. Let us know how we can be of service to you.

Happy 2009...I Resolve....

I celebrated 2009 quietly at home after not feeling too well yesterday. Am better now and am very excited for the upcoming year.

Anybody make resolutions? Mine is to look more carefully at how I spend my time. Am I always doing what is best for me or do I spend time watching trash TV?

I also plan to read more which is a resolution I make nearly every year. I think I found a way to help jump start the reading process for me this year though. I plan to read a bunch of plays. You can read a good play in about an hour or so. While large novels or even some good religious books take more time. I think reading a play a day might give me a sense of accomplishment and encourage me to read a lot more. Besides--they're fun. I've already read Doubt after seeing the movie and now I'm reading The Weir tonight which I have seen on Broadway. I bought a book of Arthur Miller and Harold Pinter plays. Pinter died the other day as well so condolences to his fans and family--what a great writer!


Lastly, after reading the book, Marley and Me and then seeing the movie this week, I realize that I love my dog and that my time with him is very limited. So I want to try to spend a lot of time working with him and taking care of him. I love taking the long walk with him every night. It probably knocks a few more pounds off of me too!

2008: Feeling Adequate...Finally

As we begin to turn the page on another year, I look back on my own experiences in 2008. One of the main things I decided to do as a 2008 resolution was to work on my own self-esteem issues.

One wouldn't know it to look at me, but I do struggle with my own self-worth at times. Writing my book, Googling God has helped me really come into my own this past year and has helped me solidify a place as someone who is a well-known expert in the Young Adult Ministry field.

I recently had someone come to me for spiritual direction and without divulging the person or the nature of her spiritual issue...it was a moment for me when I saw a lot of myself in another person and therefore I think I may be the right person to help her find meaning in her life with God's help.

We are both people with meager upbringing. Her, from a small Podunk-midwestern town and me, the son of a school custodial worker. Both of my parents did not graduate high school (my mom came close but had to quit to support her family when her dad got sick). I think my dad's best year he made $27,000. Somehow, some way they sent me to college--and not just any college but, my beloved Fordham. No easy task on their behalf--and I'm very proud of them and their efforts.

But let's face it. There were probably a lot of naysayers who didn't think I would amount to much (and there still are). I remember telling people that I was going to work in radio and they told me "fat chance". For someone who had no connections and no experience to work for 10 years in that business is itself an achievement. I even got to cover some professional sports and did "phone-in voicers" and broadcasted a year of minor league baseball! I was an arrogant young kid who didn't listen to people when they told me to get out of New York and develop my on-air skills somewhere else and then try to work my way back east. Had I actually done that, I may have done somewhat better than I did in that business, but ultimately, I think I would've been unhappy in the long run. So I'm thankful for the experience nonetheless.

Regardless, becoming an expert in the field of ministry is something I never thought I could or would do. Writing a book was never a long-term dream or goal. And I have done both of those things. A friend recently pointed out that a lot of people I know have had many connections and have been able to use those connections to help them get what they want. A friend had a parent who wrote a book--so when they wrote a book, they were able to get it published a lot easier. Another friend has a sister who worked in politics so they had an inside track to their job.

"But you, Mike, had none of those connections. You should be really proud of yourself because you did it all without anyone's help. And probably with quite a few people saying that you never would be able to do any of it."

I started to say some of the same things about all the gifts and talents that my directee has to her and mentioned how far she has come with her own limited means and several other challenges that would have made a lot of people quit on themselves. I hoped to reveal to her just how great she really is and how much she has accomplished despite all the struggle. And it hit me really hard after the person left:

I really need to say the same things to myself from time to time about my own accomplishments. I often have struggled to be happy about things--or to feel good about myself. Sometimes all it takes is one naysayer to bring me back down. "See you're not that good." Or I start sensing impending doom: "Someone is going to prove my book wrong." (One of my first thoughts after my book was published).

One of the things in this past year that helped me get past some of these feelings of inadequacy was when David Gibson, who is a religion writer and reporter that I admire asked me to sign a copy of Googling God for him. I used to get so surprised when people would ask me to sign their book. I had these feelings of "Who me? Sign what? Huh?" I was often overcome by the fear of my own inadequacies. When David asked me to sign, my first thought was "I should ask him to sign this book for ME!" I began to have a rather paradoxical mindset. I was somebody who had written a book but then I was minimizing that accomplishment because someone who I regarded as a great writer asked me to autograph it for him.

But then something happened, as I signed an inscription for him, I began to allow myself to finally feel comfortable about my success--to still remain humble, but also allow myself some pride as well. I think something was holding me back from really accepting success and it was Dave's gesture that helped me push much of those inadequate feelings to the wayside. When people thank me for signing their book now I often thank them--not merely for purchasing it or even just for reading it--but for their anonymous help in allowing me some further self-esteem.

I have noticed since then, that I have began to stand up for myself more (and others too). I don't let the naysayers have the final word and when I feel like someone has minimized me, I remember that theirs is only one opinion and that it's not one that many others share. I also look more carefully about what people are really saying and where my gifts really lie and how I can do more of those things more frequently and how I can continue to collaborate with others who make me feel more alive, empowered and connected to God.

So 2008 is nearing its completion and while the Dow is still down (my retirement accounts are getting wacked!) my spirits are at an all time high. I'm an author, an expert, a minister, a husband, a son, a podcaster, a retreat/spiritual director and my dog's best friend. Whew! That's a lot and yet there's still more to evolve! I am excited about a new year for the first time in a very long time and know that God has much more in store for me and for all of us.

Blessings on your 2009. May your year be filled with self-esteem for all you do for yourself, others and God.

The Holy Family--Joseph's family and God's

NOTE: Edited due to a stupid error on my part. 4th graph below is now correct--reading that Joseph died before Jesus died--not before he was born. I simply mis-typed. Apologies for the confusion.)

A few years ago my wife and I decided that we would look into adopting a child. We found that the cost was relatively expensive and we wanted (for a number of reasons) to insure that we could adopt a toddler with no special needs and found that this was actually a relatively unusual thing to come across. It turns out that most adoptions are either newborn babies or are much older children. After a long period of discernment, we decided to table the idea of adoption for some time until we were more financially and even emotionally stable. I wanted badly to be a father but have been unable to do so through natural means and now am even finding it difficult to adopt a child. While my dog feeds some of my parental longings, he is not a child but rather a canine best friend. I had to come to terms that I may indeed not ever become a father.

Throughout that time (and ever since then, actually) I began to pray to St. Joseph for guidance. Like myself he too found himself in some strange circumstances. Scholars tell us that St Joseph was probably around 30 (a ripe old age for someone at that point in antiquity) and a craftsman of some sort (some say Carpenter but he was probably a bit more than that). He was probably a widower who had made a deal to marry another young woman and now that time had come. Mary a young girl of about 14 was his betrothed. And then it all fell apart.

The teen was pregnant and he had not yet taken her into his home. So how could this be? Think of the scandal that this must have caused. Mary was probably accused of being a loose woman and Joseph was most likely embarrassed that he let his wife-to-be go off gallivanting with someone else. Perhaps Mary didn't want to marry him at all and so, she decided that this would be a way out.

However, Jewish law gave Joseph the right to stone Mary for becoming pregnant. And because Joseph was "a righteous man" it would be natural for others to suggest that he would do so. I often wonder if Joseph ever considered going through with this? What we know from scripture is that Joseph indeed decided to "divorce her quietly." It would spare everyone the embarrassment and would allow him to remain ritually pure and not the husband of some harlot. But something with Joseph did not sit right here. And thus he can't even sleep soundly--he begins to dream and God takes that opportunity to talk to Joseph to assure him that all is well and that he should take Mary as his wife. Later he also convinced him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt even when that would go against any Jewish person's common sense (didn't we escape from Egypt into the promised land? Why would I want to go there?). The worst part of Joseph's experience is that he most likely died before Jesus died (since we don't see him at the foot of the cross) and never really figures out what the whole picture means.

But, Joseph, nevertheless, trusts in God and believes that all will be well just because God says so--even when his own experience tells him to think differently.

Do I ever have faith like that? Do I think that I will be OK even if God has decided that I won't be a father? DO I think that all will be well when the world often seems upside down? Do I consider that things might not be askew just because I don't always get what I want? Do I ever trust God enough to lead me when things seem dark?

If I'm honest with myself I'll see that I'm really no Joseph. That I want everything tied up in a nice neat package where life is predictable. And life, as Joseph knew all too well is rarely ever that easy. And trusting in God doesn't make it any easier but rather, it most likely makes them all the more harder.

The good news in the end is that Joseph was able to raise Jesus into a man who was able to see such compassion for the poor. He was able to awaken people to see all the good that was in them and make simple fisherman disciples and the founders of a church that still exists two thousand years later. Are we able to trust God that much when we may not even see the plan completed?

Perhaps therein is the point. Before God's kingdom is ever re-established--most of us will long be gone from this earth. Do we have faith strong enough to let go and trust that God really knows what he's doing? Do we have enough faith to allow God to use us without really knowing how it will all end?

I hope so. Because if so, then we are like Joseph.

Newish iPhone Application: ibreviary

I own an iPod touch and downloaded the ibrevary application at Deacon Greg's suggestion. I've seen a few of these types of online apps that one can use online or on phones and I think this one is #1 the most readable version. A nice font size and a fairly intuitive navigation. Check it out in itunes and here from America Magazine's blog.

Note: this application is now available in English. I do notice an occasional translation from the Italian that's slightly off--but I must say it is impressive.

The creator of iBreviary, Fr Paolo Padrini, runs a popular Italian website called Passi nel deserto ("Steps in the desert").

Emilie Lemmons' Catholic Spirit

A fine writer for the great Catholic Spirit Newspaper in Minneapolis who wrote one of the more balanced pieces on Catholic identity not that long ago. Lemmons fought cancer not long after having children. Her blog Lemmondrops was poignant and often tearful but yet honest as it addressed her fears and hopes for life with cancer and eventually, life after death.

A money quote if there ever was one from her editor at The Catholic Spirit:

How can a person facing death possibly experience joy? Here’s a little of what Emilie wrote:

“What if I just let go of that? What if I trust that even if I die tomorrow or next month or next year, things will somehow work out? What if I allow myself to put the outcome in God’s hands and just live intensely in the present, absorbing and embracing life as it happens? It’s not indifference or admitting defeat; it’s seeing the bigger picture.”

And she concluded:

“Maybe I am capable of experiencing joy after all. Maybe I don’t need to approach joy with resentment. Maybe that message is what my Advent light is illuminating. I pray that I can enter into the lesson God is trying to teach me.”

Rest in Peace, Em, and may your kids become great people by simply becoming half the person you were.

A hat tip to Rocco Palmo for the pic and the sad news.

Refusing Communion in Oz

This one comes from Deacon Greg over at the Deacon's Bench, it seems in Australia, a minister (I assume a lay person who is an extraordinary minister) refused a governmental official communion because of a recent vote on abortion. Turns out, however that the official voted against abortion in the proceedings and his wife is a pro-life lawyer. He was refused with his kids in his arms to make it even more embarrassing.

As a layman who is also a Eucharistic minister, I feel compelled to apologize to the official on behalf of all people who serve as Eucharistic Ministers. A priest, who knows him well, gave him communion on another line (good for him for going to the next queue (That's Aussie for line!).

Here we have one more another reason not to politicize communion. It becomes selective at the whimsy of the minister and there can be times, when that minister abuses that privilege or in this case, is simply an idiot who didn't get his facts straight. Maybe the Dingo (pictured above) ate his brain?

Jim Mckay

Here's the second of my pieces on The Faithful Departed for 2008. Jim McKay who I never had the pleasure to meet in my years in Broadcasting was someone who I really admired.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May Jim's soul and all the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

The Faithful Departed - Tim Russert

It is customary at the end of each year to look back and remember important figures who have died over the previous twelve months. But, instead of offering a laundry list of well-known deceased people's accomplishments, for Busted Halo's Faithful Departed feature we asked our writers to reflect on the spiritual impact that people—or institutions, buildings etc.—that passed away in 2008 had upon them. While most of our subjects had no explicit religious connections, their ability to touch souls—testified to in this year's reflections—is beyond doubt. From a sports commentator and a cardinal to a comedian and the "House that Ruth Built," these reflections demonstrate how powerfully alive the sense of the sacred can be in the most unexpected people and places.

Here's the first of my reflections on those that died this past year. We start with Tim Russert.

Always Advent For the Jets

I root for the New York Jets. Not only do the Jets lose every year they seem to be experts on finding out new ways to do it.

It's always Advent when you're a Jet fan.

The Jets at 8-3 seemed destined for the playoffs at the very least. But Jet fans once again let their team fool them, myself included.

1-4 in their last 5 games puts them out of the playoffs and after a disastrous loss two weeks ago in Seattle they really would've done everyone a favor if they just went out and shot themselves before taking on Miami this weekend. Coach Mangini, once known as the Man-Genius, was fired today and rightfully so.

I ask myself every year why I put myself through the trouble of rooting for these guys? They will always lose, or so it seems. However, like the Red Sox fans know now--losing builds character. It makes victory all the more savory.

It's also more interesting to lose. When I covered baseball I always found that the better stories were in the losing locker room. The pitcher who was tortured by personal demons, the rookie who dropped the ball and feels like he's going to be placed on the next bus out of town, the coach who simply made a bad decision, the complaints about officials and umpires. The other guys just won--but the losers ended up being a greater story.

I also find that losing creates opportunity for self-reflection (or at least it should). What am I falling short at in my life? What could I have done better? Am I satisfied with being #2? Am I really using all my gifts and talents wisely? Who do we need to help us? What needs to be my focus today?

And so... we have the Jets, asking many of the same questions. They now must deal with finding a new coach after him being touted as the next big coaching success and then crashing and burning. They have their aging Quarterback who wanted to have one last great day in the spotlight but couldn't push the hands of time back even one minute more. And they have their cursed history that reminds all of us of a Lucy-football--the one that she pulls away from Charlie Brown and sends him crashing down and nearly killing himself.

One day...next year...the longing...waiting for the savior...the darkness...lighting small candles and seeing just a bit more light each week...

But when does the savior come?

Never...it's always Advent when you root for the Jets.

But Advent is often a lot more interesting than Christmas.

Doubt

"What do you do when you're not sure?"

Indeed this is the question that epitomizes the entire play turned movie Doubt in which Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep turn in Oscar worthy performances of a priest and nun at odds with one another over the possible molestation of a Catholic School's first black student by the priest himself.

The beauty of this movie is that as all good stories go--it is the characters themselves that draw the viewers in and make the entire production a thrilling and vivid whodunit adventure.

The play is set in 1964 which is a strange year for Catholics. Kennedy was just assassinated and the winds of change have been blowing in the Catholic Church's Second Vatican Council. They play makes no apologies for using the wind as a symbol throughout and placing change as a sideline debate between said priest and nun.

Streep plays Sr Aloysious who is a dour old school crank who keeps the children of the Catholic School living in fear of her but at times, shows glimmers of condolence. A second nun, Sr James seems like a naive woman who accepts the priests explanation of trying to protect the boy from a minor transgression as an alibi for the accusation of sexual abuse. It is here that we find that nearly everything is upside-down. Sr Aloysious is hoping to keep the church's winds of change at bay but is also tied down from having Fr Flynn removed because she holds no power as a woman to bring forth an accusation to her superiors who will most likely not find her credible. At the same time, the simple-minded Sr James is open to ideas of a "more welcoming church" but is naive of the ways of the world and the mere possibility that Fr Flynn might indeed be a predator ("Isn't it easier to just believe him?" Sr Aloysious asks her). Fr Flynn is looking to bring the church into a new time but then paradoxically uses the church's hierarchical structure to defend himself and even to try to gain some psychological advantages (he enters Sr Aloysious's office and sits in her chair at one point and threatens to recommend to the pastor that she be removed as principal).

The mere simplicity of easy answers brings Doubt to what we all think of the characters make-up. Is the priest guilty or is the crotchety nun just harboring a grudge, cranky that her church is changing without her?

I would've loved to see this play but I think the movie does a good job of staying true to the play's make up. Shanley directed it after all, so there's not much of a surprise there. I did read the play after seeing the movie and it does seem more suited for the stage. However, catch this movie and become enraptured by two great performances and shake hands with the winds of change that will blow your convictions all over the theatre.

The Ending of the Year

A lovely, yet, bone-chilling reflection on the end of another year from Nicole Sotelo over at the National Catholic Reporter.

And then I thought of Jesus who also wept when faced with the possibility of his own death. He must have known his radical actions were catching the eyes of authorities who could end his life. Did Jesus ever make anything resembling a six-months-to-live checklist, I wondered? What would have been on his list? How did he spend his final days?

Please keep her and other survivors of cancer in your prayers this year's end and read the rest of her article here.

Be a "Yes Man"

A thought-provoking review of a movie I recently saw, Yes Man with Jim Carrey and the adorable Zooey Dechantal, by the esteemed Paul Jarzembowski over at Spiritual Popcorn. Here's the money quote:

Perhaps every now and then, we need to be "yes men" - when a poor man asks for our help, when a friend asks to talk, or when an risky opportunity comes our way.

Like the parable of the talents in the Scriptures (Matt. 25:14-30), it was the servant who took the risk and said "yes" that reaped the greatest reward. Or like the disciples themselves who risked and sacrificed their livelihoods to follow Jesus - who said "yes" to His "follow me" - that had their lives forever changed.

Saying "yes" to new and bold opportunities, to those in need, and to exciting directions in our lives can make our world a lot more colorful - not bleak and frigid like a Chicago winter.

While I have not lived through a Chicago winter, I find winter to be invigorating, even with the gray overcast skies. But Paul's point is a grand one. Are we responding "yes" to the things that truly will invigorate us?

Merry Christmas

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." -Luke 2:8-14

Last night I went to Midnight Mass at St. Sebastian's in Woodside and it was possibly the most beautiful mass I have ever been to at Christmas. After communion they shut all the lights in the church out save for the lights on the tree and the manger. The choir sang Silent Night and then after a brief moment of silence, the lights came up and we continued with mass. Really beautiful...and here I was without a camera.

I have been to masses with the best choirs, the best preaching and even ones that welcomed parishioners and visitors well... But sometimes just a very simple ritual can bring an entire church to tears. I saw a lot of people drying their eyes after the lights came up on the altar and off. People from all different walks of life gathered as one into the life of a little baby who would be born in the wood of a manger and give his life on the wood of the cross. Christmas reminds me that in the simple birth of a baby, God comes to humanity as human...a simple birth, but a profound act that changed the history of the world as shows us the depth of our God's love for us.

Merry Christmas

Pope Benedict on World Youth Day

John Allen reports on the Pope's Year in Review. He seems to say much about what I claim about World Youth Day in my book, Googling God, specifically in the chapter called Pope as Rock Star.

“What, therefore, is the nature of what happens at World Youth Day?” the pope asked rhetorically. “What are the forces which run through it? Fashionable analyses tend to consider these days as a variant of modern youth culture, as a kind of rock festival with the pope as the star. With or without faith, these festivals would be more or less the same thing, and in this way the question of God can be taken off the table. There are also Catholic voices that cut in this direction, seeing the whole thing as a big show, perhaps attractive, but ultimately of little significance for the question of faith and the presence of the Gospel in our time. By that account, these would be moments of joyful ecstasy, but at the end of the day they leave everything as it was before, without influencing one’s life in a deep way.”

Benedict then proceeded to take the critique apart.

“That analysis fails to explain the uniqueness of these days, and the special character of the joy they create, their capacity to create communion,” he said.

“First of all, it’s important to take account of the fact that the World Youth Days don’t consist just of that one week which is visible to the world,” Benedict said. “There’s a long path, exterior and interior, that leads to it. The Cross, accompanied the image of the Mother of the Lord, makes a pilgrimage through the nations. The faith, in its own way, needs to be seen and touched. The encounter with the Cross, which is touched and carried, becomes an interior encounter with Him who died on the Cross for us. The encounter with the Cross awakens in the intimacy of the young people the memory of that God who wanted to become human and suffer for us. We also see the woman that He wanted as his mother. The solemn days are simply the culmination of this long journey, with which the young people meet one another and move together towards meeting Christ.”

“In Australia, it wasn’t an accident that the long Via Crucis through the city becoming the culminating event of these days,” the pope said. “It expressed anew all that had happened in the preceding years, and pointed to Him who brings all of us together: that God who loves us all the way to the Cross.”

“Thus, the pope is not the star around which everything turns. He is totally, and solely, the Vicar. He points to the Other who stands in our midst.”

I would add one thing. That while WYD is an awesome experience of the Papacy and does indeed point towards Christ through the experience, it also is only as good as what comes after it. What kind of follow up programming exists beyond WYD? Almost none. Let's get to work.

(Photo above by Lori Rogers)

St Monica's kinda...hot?

It's the feast day of St Monica and this rendering is simply stunning. She could be a model on the cover of Vogue and nobody would question it. Head on over to The Deacon's Bench and find out more information on this icon and the great Saint.

One of the many cool stories about St Monica, who was the mother of St. Augustine was that she was very concerned about his filandering ways as a young man and constantly prayed for his conversion. It was never her intention for him to so radically convert and become a priest and then, a bishop. (My own editorial comment would be that she wanted him to settle down and give her some grandchildren!) She was told that she prayed too hard!

I often wish that I had that kind of persistence in prayer. I often give up much too easily and think situations are hopeless. Today I pray that I have that Monica-like persistence to pray without ceasing.

Second funny aside: I remember once in college being very down about something at work. I then remember one of our managers was trying to motivate us a bit and make things a bit fun while we worked. So she started cutting out headlines from the paper that referred to all of us. Mine was "Mike: Don't Worry, Be Happy!"
Funny thing is that I still have that headline and it instantly made me laugh, fell better and it did in fact bring me out of my funk and helped me do a better job that day. The woman's name who gave it to me? You guessed it: Monica.

So today pray for people who don't much like themselves and get down on themselves--sometimes for no good reason. All they need some days are a Monica.

The BustedHalo Christmas Video

Merry Christmas from us to you.

Join Our Cause

Hey folks--

It's that time of year. While the economy is kicking everyone's butt, I realize that it's not the best time to ask people for money. However, I wanted to see if you would consider not only making a donation (big or small!) to Busted Halo this year before the year's out. We have set up a causes page on facebook to make things easy for facebook users. But we also have an appeal on Busted Halo where you can hear more about our ministry.

I was in the mood to see Cardinals

After thinking about Cardinal Dulles' funeral and Cardinal Egan's words today, I got a bit nostalgic for my World Youth Day Experience in Sydney. Here's the theme song and some snapshots in this video.



Mind you, after going to World Youth Day in Toronto I swore off big crowds and the whole experience--but now I find myself considering attending WYD 2011 in Madrid. We'll see where God leads me. Who knows, I may be close to being a Deacon by then? Rocco Palmo also has details about the early preparations for Madrid.