Sydney, Australia: Pre-World Youth Day

After a rather enjoyable 15 hour plane ride from Los Angeles, I touched down in Sydney and am waiting for colleagues to join me. So for these two days I am free to explore the city. Sydney is wonderful! It reminds me of a combination of San Francisco and New York. At present, it's a bit chilly here as it is there winter. Temperatures in the 50s but not freezing. The Sydney tower is pictured to your right which I might go to with friends later in the week.

I went to the World famous Sydney Aquarium and saw A PLATYPUS!

And then, a giant tortoise, lots of different looking sharks, cute penguins, and sea lions (my personal favorite). Pics below:








I then went next door to Australia's Wild and got to pet a Wallaby and see a Koala. A wallaby is like a small kangaroo. Notice also that I didn't say that I saw a Koala Bear! Koalas are not bears! They are marsupials, like Kangaroos and Wallabys. I'm headed to the Blue Mountains at the end of my time here so I'll get better pictures of that but here are a few of both for now.









Evenings sound rowdy here as I hear a lot of car horns, loud laughs and feminine screams from my hotel room. I hear things get rowdy on Saturday nights and I'm exhausted so I'm turning in early. I'm a bit concerned that the city isn't quite prepared enough for this as they have all kinds of warning signs about heavy traffic and bad transit. We'll see. Tomorrow: Climbing the Harbour Bridge!

Off to Sydney and World Youth Day

So I'm sitting in the airport at LAX waiting for my Qantas flight to Australia. Besides being in the presence of the Pope, I'm excited to go to the Land Down Under as well. I have a few days to myself and plan to do the Harbour Bridge Climb and then hit the zoo and the Aquarium. I hear that there are animals there that you'll never see anywhere else. I'll be happy to just cuddle with a Koala Bear like John Paul II did when he went here.

Paulist Press Gala

Headed to Paulist Press today for their celebration of the Paulist 150th Anniversary. They've been at it for 141 of those 150 years and one particular Paulist, Fr. Kevin Lynch, CSP has been at the Press for over 50 years now. If you've ever dared to read a copy of anything from the Second Vatican Council you have Fr. Lynch to thank. He translated and published much of that for the English speaking world.

He gave me the best advice about my own book after it was published. He said:

"Mike, reviews sell books. And pushing your own book does as well. If you get those two things working together, you'll skyrocket."

Right he was. After the National Catholic Reporter reviewed Googling God the Amazon ranking went from like 400,000 to 210,000. Then Zenit, the Vatican News service published a review and it flew down to 6,000. Which is awesome for a book of it's size.

Don't have a copy of Googling God yet? Get one here.

Bob Sheppard not ready yet

Since I've seen a few bloggers incorrectly quote 98 year old Yankee announcer Bob Sheppard saying that he was going to be back at the Stadium on July 1--I'd like to clear up what he actually said in my article from BustedHalo.com awhile back about his possible return to the stadium after his long illness.

He said:

"According to the doctor, when I reach, “my fighting weight” about 145-150, he will allow me to go back to Yankee Stadium and finish the season. So my target date to be back is July 1. There is an All Star Game to be played at Yankee Stadium on July 15th and one of my goals is to be there and announce it. I did one years and years ago at Yankee Stadium but I can’t recall it. So now this would be something to remember. I do want to be there next year when we open a new Stadium. And I’d like to be the one who says, “Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen…Welcome to the NEW…Yankee Stadium.”

Now go read the whole article and then listen to the podcast. Sheppard actually says "Welcome to the NEW Yankee Stadium." I hope we get to hear him say that LIVE next year and that he's back by the All Star Game.

What I'm hearing from trusted sources is that Sheppard is not quite yet at the weight he'd like to be and that even when he is he needs to convince both his doctor and his wife that he's healthy enough to return. One source said: "He may have trouble staying awake for 9 innings. His energy is just not quite what it was. But who knows? The Stadium might bring him some energy just by being there and going back to the stadium is what keeps him focused on his recovery."

Go get 'em, Bob!

Reflections on my Last World Youth Day in Toronto

So back in 2002 I went to World Youth Day in Toronto, the last WYD that John Paul II attended. I remember the place being overloaded with teen-agers most of the week. In reality this event was supposed to be for college students and younger adults just starting out in life. The connotation of "youth" in foreign lands essentially runs from the ages of 16 until marriage (whenever that is). In Spanish it is connoted by the word jovenes. In the United States and even just in English language countries youth equals teens...hence the confusion and the different audiences.

I believe now you have to be 16 in order to attend so that might clear this up a bit.

Regardless, in Toronto I was annoyed at the fact that BustedHalo's target audience was not really present until later in the week..closer to the time of the Pope's mass (which, in hindsight, makes sense...young adults can't take a random week off of work, while teens are on summer vacation).

The two more spiritual elements for me were just the presence of the Pope being there for young people, despite his ailments, despite the travel. Secondly, there was a really beautiful night when the sun was setting on the Canadian summer when Fr Brett Hoover turned to me and said: "Look at all these people from all over the world, from all different cultures, here on this beautiful night...and it's all because they're Catholic."

Indeed.

Tomorrow: My experience of JPII.

John Allen Comments on Archbishop Burke and his Promotion

Awesome article today from our esteemed colleague John Allen on the promotion of Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis as Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura--essentially the highest Court of the Catholic Church.

Burke is the Archbishop who has taken the lead amongst U.S. Bishops in showing pro-choice politicians the door when it comes to having them receive communion in the Catholic Church. The rumor that began to swirl is that the Vatican may have agreed with his stance but not his methods of implementing the punishment. Many within the Church, even amongst traditionalists, state that they don't like politicizing the Eucharist.

I agree with that sentiment--but I do think that the politicians themselves should in good conscience not put their priests in that uncomfortable position and abstain themselves from taking communion when their opinions and voting records do not reflect being in full communion with the church.

Secondly, and this will sound cranky...but as a Eucharistic Minister the thing that appauls me most is the number of people who come up to the communion line and after hearing me state "The Body of Christ" they, in turn, say nothing.

I've started waiting for a response in some instances--usually adults who I think should know better or who simply just might be having a tough day and are blinded by that and are going through the motions. I often prompt children..."Amen, right?" And they usually smile and say "AMEN!" in a very loud tone.

I've also heard many variations on "Amen" from people.

Here are some of my favorite "answers" to "The Body of Christ."

1) "Yes" --Ok close but not quite there. At least that's the right sentiment.

2) "Thank you" -- Which I believe is said by the Episcopalians. And thus places you in the awkward position of telling me that you really believe in consubstatiation (the bread and wine are symbols--but not the essence of Christ) and not transubstatiation (that Christ is truly present in the "accidents" of the bread and wine. The essence of the material you are receiving is Christ--not bread and/or wine--although they look and taste like bread and wine).

3) "We are." A nice sentiment but not really on the mark. We must become what we receive and we can't become the Body of Christ without believing that what we are receiving IS in fact the Body of Christ. So you are one step ahead of the crowd and in this case that doesn't gain you special merits.

4) My friend once said in his best Southern accent: "What if I said "sho 'nuff?" (sure enough for those who can't translate 'hick'). I said I'd probably laugh but would probably also think you're a lot closer to those who say "Thank you."

5) Silence. Some people just stare at you.

I think that when talking about who gets to receive communion and who doesn't we need to turn to Canon Law and there seems to be a conflict which I will try to resolve here as best as I can muster--although I am certainly not a Canon Lawyer.

Here are the two Canons that are most often pointed to:

Can. 915 Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion. (emphasis mine)

Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.

So this seems to say that Eucharistic Ministers of any type should not admit people who are known to be holding positions contrary to the Church but then it also says that people of the same ilk should abstain themselves. So what's the deal?

I think the answer may be both:

If it is so widely held by the public that the person in question is not "in communion" with what the church teaches, than to offer that person communion indeed woould be the equivalent of THE RECIPIENT telling a devious lie. To a lesser extent the minister of communion would be complicit in that lie as well, since they have knowledge of their intentions.

However, the initial movement here really always must be with the communion recipient. They must decide if they are going to at least attempt to commit a sacralige and in that vein, does that impel the minister to "defend the Eucharist" from such.

I'm of two minds:

I think first and foremost CONVERSATION must take place in which the priest, bishop or minister has a talk with the person in question and asks them their intentions and thereby can also ask them to refrain from communion so as not to bring the matter of scandal to a heightened nature.

Secondly, I think Jesus can take care of Himself pretty well and doesn't really need us to make such demonstrative defenses of Him. That doesn't mean that we need to do nothing here (see above) but I think that turning the sacrament of Jesus' Body and Blood into a political side show also is a sacralige that demeans the unity of the sacrament to begin with.

So while I think Archbishop Burke is right in his intention to call those who are not in communion with us to refrain from the sacrament--I question if his methods of publicly and vociferiously scathing politicians is neccessary to achieve the goal.

Perhaps in his new position where he is forced to listen to cases and then to determine if the law of the church has been violated might be an opportunity for him to "listen someone into communion" once again with the Lord and with the Church.

World Youth Day in Australia

If you are lucky enough to be going to the land down under for World Youth Day with the Pope--then drop me a line here via this blog and we'll have a get-together while we are there in Sydney.

BustedHalo Cast: New RSS Feed

Hey folks--

If you are one of our loyal BustedHalo Cast listeners, we now have a new RSS Feed.

http://bustedhalocast.libsyn.com/rss

Our friend Rapheal Prevot (RIP)

I went to the funeral of a friend today who died of colon cancer and who was not yet 50 years old and has an 8 year old son. Rapheal was a great guy, not just a lawyer but the labor relations council for the National Football League's management counsel. I knew him simply as someone who loved his family--especially his wife Roberta and son Rapheal III, his friends, his church and clearly his God. He always helped everyone he met including countless alumni of his beloved Indiana law school

I've been helping out my priest-friend Fr. Jack Collins, CSP with a parents group where the goal is to explore our faith so that we can pass it on to the next generation. I'm really just there to help Fr. Jack but, I've gotten into the group's dynamic discussions as my wife Marion and I continue to discuss adoption. Roberta has been a huge comfort to me in the group and Raphael, while more of the silent type, was also someone who had a rock-solid faith that moved me more than he probably knew. He'd always have a great story or even a struggle in his own life that he was able to convey in such a human way--that let us all know that we were all going to be OK, no matter what happens to us. Little did we know that this was probably Raphael's way of saying good-bye to us without us actually knowing it.

Fr, Jack mentioned two wonderful things in his homily. Fr. Jack also lost his father not long after his 8th birthday. He told little Rapheal that he knew how he felt and that even though his dad was gone that he's always been able to keep him in his heart and talk to him whenever he felt like it all these years.

Little Raphael responded: "Fr. Jack! We're Twins!"

Ok, go get a tissue. I'll wait....

His second point was that many of us in the parish didn't realize how serious Rapheal's cancer was. Some of us didn't even know that he was sick. "He refused to live in the shadow of his illness," Roberta told our group in an email this week. Fr. Jack recalled this and then noted. "And he didn't....

He lived in the shadow of his God."

Amen.

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

Wall-E

A great review of a movie I hadn't planned on seeing today by Jeff Guhin on BustedHalo

John Allen and Ron Rohlheiser

I had planned on blogging some of this myself but wanted to digest it further.

John Allen and Ron Rohlheiser were two speakers at the Paulist 150th Celebration.

Gashwin blogs a good post on these two giants.

Under a bushel basket

Fr. Steven Bell, CSP celebrates his first mass today. The gospel is the bit about "You are the light of the world." And also, "You can't hide your light under a bushel basket."

Let me tell you straightforward: Fr. Steven always lets his light shine and has been a light for so many--especially when they find themselves in dark places...

And I don't think there is a bushel basket that big to contain all the light he exudes.

Congrats on your first mass!

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

The New Fr. Mark Mossa, SJ

Congrats, Fr. Mark!

Anointing of Hands

Bishop anoints Mark's symbolizing the strengthing power of the Holy Spirit.

Laying of Hands

Bishop Fiorenza lays his hands on Mark.

prostration

Mark and Jose prostrate themselves in submission before God.

Mark Mossa Ordination-The Questions

Mark and his co-ordinand Jose Fetzer, SJ answer the questions of Bishop Joseph Fiorenza who will ordain them priests.

Mark Mossa, SJ

Mark Mossa, SJ is being Ordained to thee priesthood today. Mark is the author of the "You Duped Me, Lord" blog

More on Fr. Paul Keenan

Fr Paul's radio work spanned over a long period of time and he purchased much of the time himself and then selling advertising to everyone from funeral homes to pet stores. He worked like a dog to keep the show on the air including one evening when a check from an anonymous donor came in about 5 minutes before he was scheduled to go on.
On WOR his show was called "As You Think" and it was often billed as "positive radio". Keenan acted partly as priest, espousing different pieces of tradition and partly pastoral counselor fielding listener calls from many a lonely customer looking for direction, many in their old age who were often ignored.
His WABC show which had a bigger following was called Religion on the Line and dealt with ecumenical issues. He co-hosted the show with a rabbi (who's name escapes me).
Fr. Keenan wrote several books his best seller was Good News For Bad Days which included personal reflections of his own and others to serve as a "pick me up". Fr Paul had a hearty laugh and often would shoot back a zinger to those of us in the control room who'd whisper a funny in his headsets through the talk back. My favorite was:

Me: "OK Keenan, let's see what you can do. Try not to make radios click off all over the city."

PK: Why? Are you the first guest?

I howled.

Ric Sansone, his longtime producer, often credited Keenan for making the most out of any situation. When times were tough Fr. Keenan didn't fold, he often expanded his ministry into something new. Besides the terrestrial radio shows, most recently, Fr.Keenan moved onto satellite radio on Sirius and penned a column for Catholic New York.
A longtime confidant of many in the radio business, Fr Paul's life blessed so many of us. He was so excited about the Sirius gig and the Archdiocese's committment to it...it seems somewhat cruel that he only saw it succeed for a short time.

Rest in Peace, Fr. Paul. God says your show is at 9pm Heaven Standard Time.

Fr. Paul Keenan - Rest in Peace

I was stunned at the news that the longtime director of radio ministry in the Archdiocese of NY, Fr. Paul Keenan has died. Fr. Paul was a wonderful guy and was a great colleague when I was at WOR Radio in NYC and then at Sirius.
His deep baritone will be missed. I will try to call the Joey Reynolds show on WOR tonight since he was a frequent contributor there.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

Huge Success in Boston

Bolting back from Boston today after a wonderful retreat on the Cape. Fr. Ruben Patino, CSP and Rich Andre, CSP--a Paulist seminarian--joined me in providing the young adults from the Paulist Center with a retreat experience..or I should say they provided us with the experience as the retreat we design is run by young adults for young adults.

The group was a wonderful and interesting one and from several different backgrounds--a lot of people working in the public sector as teachers for low income students, healthcare, and social work; a few grad students and employees of Harvard and other Massachusetts schools.

I was privileged to be there and did a good deal of spiritual direction and led the reconciliation service. I think this retreat has legs here in Boston. The group itself was very impressive--smart, friendly and interested in their faith. The Paulist Center has a great tradition of social justice so that was indeed a focus for many.

The question box session we run was indeed fun and spilled over into our social hour in the late evening on Saturday. We also played a game until the wee hours called Apples to Apples--which is hysterical.

Blessings to the team who made it all happen.

Bolt to Boston

So I'm blogging from the Bolt Bus on my way to the first Boston-Based BustedHalo Retreat! Should be a good time.

Boltbus is a new company that is a subsidiary of Greyhound and you can get a fare for as cheap as a dollar if you book in advance long enough. I booked yesterday and got a one-way fare from NYC to Boston for $15...that beats Amtrak by a long shot. What's more is there is free wi-fi access on the bus--how awesome is that. I've gotten so much work done! I even watched Fr Rodrick's show for a little while and did a bit of blogging on my dog's blog. At times it's a bit slow but for the most part it's awesome. There's supposedly more legroom on this but I wouldn't say it's significantly more as compared with Amtrak--but for $15 it's roomy.

The one downside thus far--the bus was late and we're about an hour behind schedule. The company is only 3 months old--but so far it might be the place to go if you're taking a quick trip to Boston, Philly or Washington DC.

As for the BustedHalo retreat--this should be fun. I'll be preaching the reconciliation service on Saturday night on the prodigal son--some of which I sampled on here this past week.

The Greatest Commandments

In today's Gospel Jesus speaks his famous lines (which are right out of the old testament) on which of the Commandments are the greatest. A lot of people get confused because these are not two of the "heavy ten" that Moses carried down from the mountain. In Jewish law there are hundreds of commandments to follow not merely the 10 we always point to. So Jesus picks two out. The first one is well known from Leviticus but the second one is a rather obscure reference and he thus turns those listening on their heads when he reports it.
Interestingly, we often forget about the response of the person who asked him the question to begin with. He says that Jesus is right and it seems that he is following these directives. Jesus tells him that he is not far from the Kingdom of God.
Loving God with all of our being and then loving others as we love ourselves is tough stuff. I find it hard to love others well...especially those who make it hard to love them. Loving co-workers after you've had an argument or disrespected you is essentially our call. Loving my wife when I don't feel like it because I'm grumpy in the morning calls me to examine how I'm too self-involved in those wee hours.
How can we more appropriately love God better..with our whole being though? This strikes me of being the stuff that's more difficult. Don't I ignore God until it's convenient for me to ask for His intercession or until He hits me with a two by four and wakes me up to realize I need him and I'm not all powerful? We all like to make ourselves into Gods. We have all the answers, we know what's best for us and we control our own destinies. Hogwash. Jesus reminds us that we need God and that we are called to serve.
Today's prayer: Lord, Help me realize that I am vulnerable and need you in my life and help me begin to notice your presence more within those who make it hard for me to love them. Amen.

The Older Brother

The one thing that is awesome about the parable of the Prodigal Son is the fact that many people resonate with nearly all the characters. We've all been there when we think we've wasted something. We've all felt the disappointment when someone lets us down or wastes an opportunity we've given them. But perhaps the character of the older brother that Jesus has named is the one we should all pay the most attention to and he is often the most overlooked.

The older brother stayed home, some scholars say that he had little ambition and just kind of went along with the crowd while the younger brother might have screwed things up and was way too headstrong, but still took a risk and found out who he really was.

Regardless of the speculation, the resentment shown by the older brother is personified by the Pharisees who were grumbling about Jesus' teachings. Jesus is reminding them that they have forgotten about the destitute in their midst. They have been "looking down" on people because of their own righteousness and that when people repent of their own sinfulness they were apt to let "sleeping dogs lie."

So the message is really one of a call to put aside resentments and judgments on the part of those of us who tend to be the "older brother" not those of us who are the "Fathers." The Father is all too ready to forgive and he forgives in the same manner that God does--he can not help BUT forgive. The older brother is the one who needs to shore up his forgiving.

How does the story end? We don't know. We never hear if the older brother goes inside or not to join is brother or if he stands in resentment for the rest of his life.

And that is where the challenge is presented to the Pharisees and to us. Where do we need to get past our resentments and welcome those who we have a hard time forgiving? Who are the people in our lives who we think have squandered their gifts and have lived like pigs but who now need that warm embrace not merely from God but also from those who felt the brunt of their lack of committment to their obligations? For those who are unemployed, who have not cherished life in all forms, who have ignored the needs of their families and who now turn toward someone for forgiveness...let us make our prayer for them and let us call ourselves to action--to stop looking down at them and instead look into their hearts and let that turn our own into a welcome embrace.

What time is the party?

Prodigal Son

"He Came to His Senses"

I think that one line of scripture encapsulates much of the younger brother's repentence. He had squandered all of his father's wealth and even his asking for his inheritance was the equivalent of wishing for his father's death. Think of what that must've done to his poor father, the man who had given him everything.
His obsession with his own freedom led him into the pigsty, a somewhat appropriate place for someone who lived so lavishly. The symbolism should not be lost on us though, a jewish man amongst pigs...possibly the lowest place he could be. How could he possibly go home now?
And yet...he came to his senses and realized that his father might need another slave and swallowing his pride might just be the thing he needed to do.
He rehearses his apology...and when he gets near his home he finds his Father who has been obsessively waiting for him to return home...a son who has sold the property around his own home piece by piece and the new owners have been moving in all around him, each another sign of his son's malevolence and now that all the land is gone it means everyone has taken advantage of him and have probably left him for dead.
But now....NOW...the son returns home! Imagine the father's joy..the tears down his face as his muddy, smelly, squandering son comes home. Despite how filthy he is he goes running and embraces and kisses him.
This is exactly how God loves us too. Today may we realize the God who knows no resentment...who runs to greet us even when we are so filthy and ashamed and feel like we have wasted it all. When we feel like a pig.
Tomorrow: The Older Brother.

The Woz

I e-mail interviewed the founder of Apple Computers Steve Wozniak. He's not particularly religious but, does lots of good work with kids. A subject that I would have liked to delve into more with him, but over email I was only entitled to some cryptic responses. Regardless, he's a cool albeit eccentric guy. With the almost religious dedication that Mac fans have to their product (and I may soon head that way myself) I thought it wise for us to try to get inside the mind of a guy who started it all and find out a bit of what makes him tick.

The interview is here

The Infant Jesus

During this period of what we Catholics call ordinary time I thought I'd do a few reflections on some of the classic Gospel stories starting with The Nativity.

We often see God as we see ourselves. Some years ago I was struck by a religious sister's response to the question: Who do you pray to?

Her response: The baby Jesus.

Now honestly, up until this point I didn't think this woman was particularly bright and often she tended towards dominating conversation. So her remark about the baby Jesus was met by a friend by his whispering in my ear:

"Of course! The baby Jesus can't talk--so he just has to listen to her blather on all day."

But yet...

Do we ever place ourselves in that manger at Christmas? Do we ever look upon ourselves as the vulnerable one? Do we dare ever become the Jesus that we gaze upon adoringly each Christmas?

The baby Jesus has dared to become one of us. The God we profess to believe in enters this world as a little baby--who needs constant care by his parents. They will spend every waking hour wondering if he is OK. Checking in those early days on his breathing. Making sure he gets enough to eat (and in early Mideastern culture this was no easy feat).

Do we ever dare to allow someone to have THAT much control over our lives as adults?

The answer not only at Christmas is to see ourselves as the vulnerable little child and God as the God who dares to break into our world to care for us for all eternity. But to do so--God must become like us, be born into our world, and die our human death.

And so, the same is true for us. We will face horrors and one day succumb to our own mortality. And the truth of the matter is that we are very easily forgotten after we are long gone (how many of us remember our great-great-grandparents?). But the truth that we profess is that God never forgets us. God loves us enough to become one of us--to experience the fear of being vulnerable and the very fear that we all have of being a forgotten soul.

God's response is the fact that he was lying in that manger, in a lowly place, filled with the fear of all of this newness--completely vulnerable to the world around him--and yet still being God.

Yes, the infant Jesus is the vulnerable one to whom we must aspire to become. We place the gift of our very selves at his manger--filled with all of our rawness, our mistakes, our hungers, our fears.

We know not what awaits us--but our faith tells us that whatever may lie ahead that we are able to bring our whole selves to God--even when we don't think much of who we are. Remember the manger and know that God is with us in all our vulnerablity.

Before You Die...

I started a great book today: The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die by John Izzo, PhD.

Izzo interviewed over 500 people that other people pointed him to as having a sense of profound peace about themselves: from town barbers to Holocaust survivors they all have something to teach us. A full review comes when I finish.

Saints and Sinners

Dr. Maureen Tilly of my famed Alma Mater, Fordham spoke at Apostolst--the young adult group at St Paul the Apostle on Saints and Sinners and was remarkable.

One of the quotes I'll keep with me is:

"Be patient: God isn't finshed with me yet."

How often I forget that I am a Saint in the making and that the saints are such interesting people. We (no pun here) sanitize the saints and forget that St. Francis rejected the status quo of his father's riches and stood naked in the street. We are apt to think of him as a quiet man in a garden talking with the animals. (In truth he wanted the birds to shut up during mass).

But I think that provides me with enough reflection this week. How am I becoming more of the person that God wants me to be? How am I sharing the Gospel? How am I living a Saintly life--that's often filled with adventure and hard choices?

This week's BustedHalo Cast features Paul Cammarata from The SaintCast who gives us a tour of Saintly Sights.

Thanks to all for an inspiring week.

Back to Home

Flying on Air Canada back home. ESPN picked up my Bob Sheppard piece which made me feel a lot better about not winning any awards at Catholic Press.

I was thinking more deeply about what the award would mean to me anyway. I won a CPA award in 2004 for an article that I had even forgotten I wrote. It's a good article but the book is something I'm much more proud of. So I'm feeling weird about the concept of awards.

I also didn't write the book to win awards but rather to serve others...I believe the book is doing that and the next one will do that as well.

Right now I'm mobile blogging an annoyed at the guy next to me who has an empty seat next to him on this plane that's open so we can both have more leg room. Ugh.

But back to being self reflective... I need to have more self-confidence about my work and know that it's all good stuff. Whether that gets recognized or not. God is the only one that I try to serve with what I do...and that is more than enough.

Today's prayer: "Give me only your love and your grace...that's enough for me."

ESPN's Rob Neyer Picks up my Interview with Bob Sheppard

Yankee Stadium's The Voice of God - Bob Sheppard

ESPN Insider

See the whole interview here on BustedHalo

Pastoral Ministry Award--good news and bad news

The bad news first: Googling God did not win EITHER award (First time author of a book or Best Book on Pastoral Ministry) it applied for at the Catholic Press Association Awards. We applied under our imprint BustedHalo Books--which is an imprint of Paulist Press.

The good news: Paulist Press won 2nd place in the Pastoral Ministry Category for Mexican American Catholics and then also took Honorable Mention in the same Category for The Practical Prophet and I Don't Want to Go To Church (which has a cool cover).

Other winners included:

Fr. Jim Martin, SJ who is a good friend won for his great book A Jesuit Off Broadway--which if you haven't read, is a wonderful book about his experience as a theological expert on the play "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" which was directed by Phillp Seymour Hoffmann who is clearly a genius of an actor.

Ellie Hidalgo of Los Angeles' The Tidings Newspaper won two awards for her fine reporting. Bryan Cones, who used to blog for BustedHalo and is the managing editor of U.S. Catholic won for two of his pieces and Eileen Markey who is one of our BustedHalo Writers also won for a piece she did for the National Catholic Reporter.

So congrats to all! As for me, I will feel better once I curl up with my dog and wife tomorrow--for now I'm drowning my sorrows with bad Canadian pizza.

First Time Author of a Book

And the winner is ...NOT Hayes

Catholic Update

wins 2 awards right out of the gate. My buddy John Feaster is the editor!

Next Year's Convention

Is in Anaheim California right across the street from DisneyLand. It's a world of laughter....

Who owns the New Catholic Enclyclopedia?

Marc Lombard and I raced to try to find this answer. He ran around the room to find the US Bishop's librarian. I used my my treo to find the info on wikipedia. Marc had the info quickly and also that Thomson-Gale (the alleged company) also owns Scribner. He got sidetracked on his way back to the table and Wiki beat him by about a minute but without the Scribner info.
Our purpose was really to see why it's not available online and Thomson Gale is looking to become the next version of Microfilm but in online form. So they are just buying up everything.
Ah...the interesting things we muse about at the dinner. My steak is now cold BTW.

St Anthony Messenger Press

Surprisingly we have a number of younger people at our table...all who work for the Franciscan organization at St Anthony Messenger Press. Dinner is provided by the Knights of Columbus.

Dinner partners

Marc Lombard and John Feaster are from American Catholic.org a Franciscan site and they will be my dinner partners. I'll weigh in on our other companions soon. Marc and I did a workshop on using new forms of media for Catholic Press Professionals (essentially editors of Catholic Newspapers). Fun time and I think it was useful for those who came.

Mobile Blogging from Catholic Press Awards

I'm going to let you know if Googling God is an award winning book instantly.

Catholic Press Awards Tonight

I'm up for TWO Catholic Press Awards tonight for Googling God--the book! One is for Best Book on Ministry and the other is for Best First Time Author. I hope I can at least place in both but I really want to win first place in at least one of them. We'll see. In the meantime, I am enjoying Toronto once again. I come here often and have Paulist priest friends who always let me crash at their place out of the kindness of their hearts.

I got Barenaked

Barenaked ladies--the band, that is showed up at Fr. Dave's show and since he knows I like those guys he invited me down to meet them. I was so excited and I even snagged a pic.

They have a cool new kids album out--called Snacktime--which is for both kids and adults. "This is just a cool kids album that parents won't want to shoot themselves to if their kids listen to it over and over and over."

Agreed. Get it here

Happy 60th Anniversary to Paulist Fr. Jim Lloyd

Fr. Jim Lloyd who is 60 years a priest today is spunky at the age of 87. Fr. Jim saved my mother's life by being her spiritual guide when she was recovering from surgery and lost the will to live--he surgery was fine but her mental state was less than solid until Fr. Jim began to speak with her.

Happy 60th.

NCCL Panel Audio

Here is the audio from my response to Fr. Gene Lauer's presentation on Common Ground Conversations.

NCCL Panel

Wednesday (today) at 3PM, I'm responding to a panel discussion at the Houston Hyatt. If you're around stop in and maybe you can sneak in. The topic is "Listening to different voices"

I'll try to record the panel discussion and play back later.

Pope Benedict Message

My cousin Peter

My cousin Peter died while I was away at a conference. Peter was only 35 and struggled with a lot of demons in his life: addiction, depression, anger.

I've been beating myself up for not being there for him, not doing enough for him. And then I heard this story.

Peter had been in a rehab center in Albany and was doing well there. He attended daily chapel and was really enjoying his time getting better. His mother and sister visited him the day before he died and they went away happy, rejoicing--at how good he looked. How he was finally going to beat addiction.

It reminds me a lot of the Emmaus story. My cousin Peter too, was able to meet Jesus
on his road to recovery--like those disciples who were leaving Jerusalem who didn't want to stay where their pain was--but retreated to an out of the way place.

Peter died from some kind of rupture--internal bleeding--which happens sometimes with addicts. But his toxicology report came back clean--amazing.

And while it seems cruel that Peter's life here has ended--he also met the Lord at the end and it seemed that his eyes too were opened and even for a short time he was converted by having that experience and meeting Jesus. And his life was never the same after that. His heart was burning in Albany as that bread that we share was broken. He had no need for drugs after that, no need for a drink. Jesus was the only thing that he needed because he recognized him!

Today let's pray that all our addictions--small and large ones---can be overcome by recognizing the Lord in our lives...by falling in love with our God and converting our hearts so that our lives may not ever be the same again. And let us take comfort in the fact that we need to recognize the Lord in our lives--how Jesus worked to save Peter and then called him home. We are sad today because we miss him--but we also know that we have need to recognize Jesus here as the one who heals not only Peter but ourselves. Let us recognize him in our lives as the one who can heal us from all that keeps us apart from him.

Amen.

If it's Sunday then I must be in Houston

Hey folks--

I will be in Houston all this week speaking at the NACMP and NCCL conference. I'm the keynote at NACMP and then doing two smaller workshop/panel thingies at NCCL.

I also get to see my former roommate, Paul Daly, a Houston native who know works behind the scenes at FOX Sports in the Big H.

Should be fun.

Later this month I'll also be at the National Ministry Summitt (APril 20 - 23)
And then in Toronto from the 23rd -28th.

Reflection on Holy Thursday Gospel

I've always been touched by the gospel on Holy Thursday and as I discern the deaconate, I've been told that the story of the disciples washing the feet of Jesus holds even more special meaning for them. It's always been special to my wife and I because we believe it has been a remarkable symbol in our own marriage.

I'll explain: It is easy to forget. I forget dozens of things: To unload the diswasher, to pick my clothes up off of my chair, to get milk on the way home, to return an email that I said I would to someone struggling with faith.

How people, my wife in particular puts up with me--I'll never know.

But it seems to me that life is all about forgetting. Forgetting that mean comment that a friend said to me, letting go of those old hurts that we all like to hold on to, loving those who are hard to love by forgetting that they are annoying, or smelly and homeless.

John's gospel makes the washing of the feet the central element of the last evening Jesus spends with his friends. He doesn't mention the meal at all but rather that the greatest one of all--the man who was the only one worthy of being called a true friend--gets down and washes the filthy feet of his friends--the feet that walked the dusty and filthy open marketplace that was filled with animals, garbage and dust. Their sandals exposed their feet to all kinds of vile things. But Jesus gets down and washes their feet anyway. In as sense, he forgets about a lot of things here.

He forgets about his own pride, and takes the place of the lowest servant.
He forgets about his own future as he is fully aware of all that will happen to him.
And before it happens he forgets about his friends betrayal--for he knows who will betray him and he knows that the feet he is washing will run away and then fail to move in shame in that upper room.

Jesus forgets.

And like the disciples I forget too. I forget that God cared enough about me to die for me--and yet I often think know a better way to happiness and turn to sin. I forget that great self-gift of God where he ransoms his son for our salvation and I think I deserve praise and adulation for doing so much less for my own friends and family. I forget about my neighbors whose names I often do not even know. I easily forget about those who are hungry even when they are in front of me daily on our city streets.

And to those who are close to me I often forget too. I forget to love my wife--ignoring her needs in favor of my own. Forgetting those household chores that I'd rather that she would do. Or even getting annoyed when she forgets things but not wanting to her her frustrations when I am at fault.

Each year, a parish I've been part of used to have the whole parish participate in the washing of the feet. My wife and I used to wash each other's feet every year and I can think of no greater symbol for a married couple to do together. Married couples know all the little annoying things, all of the faults and weaknesses that their partner has--and yet, they love each other anyway. Eschewing their anger in favor of love.

They wash feet.

They know all the dirty filthiest parts of the other one--and they get down in the muck of it all and scrub away--forgetting about those hurts and moving towards healing, forgiving and serving each others needs. They strengthen each other for the journey of marriage that lies ahead despite the pain of the past--or the future for that matter.

This is the kind of love we all need to feel and to give to and from one another. It is the very love of God who all too often forgets things about us--our sins, our faults and gives us the chance to start over in the great sacrament of reconciliation which we all too easily avoid. We want to hold on to those dirty parts of oursleves because we are ashamed. Like Peter, we don't want anyone to touch the filthiest parts of who we are.

But it is Jesus who gives us the example of love--the example that we need to follow that he reminids our forgetful selves that we must do as he has done. We need to serve the needs of others--to forget nobody. To touch all the dirty filthy parts of our world, of one another, even of our enemies.

We forget all too often...Jesus all too well-knowing of our sinfulness forgets it all over and over.

Perhaps that's all we need to remember...and yet, how often we choose to forget.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

I'm hitting the road in a big way this month:

1) 2/26: Archdiocese of Louisville- I'm doing an in-service day for diocesan employees.

2) 2/27-3/2 - Los Angeles Religious Education Congress - I'm simply attending but come on by the Paulist Press booth and maybe you'll find me.

3) March 8 - Diocese of Richmond - A retreat day for the Young Adult Ministry at the Diocese of Richmond and the legendary Sr. Diane Guy.

4) March 12 - Diocese of Youngstown - An inservice day on technology.

5) March 29 - Archdiocese of Detroit - I'm the keynote speaker at a retreat day for young adults.

April:

NCCL/NACAMP in Houston

National Ministry Summitt in Orlando

And the Archdiocese of Toronto: Details to follow.

I am proud of my Aunt Theresa

My wife's Aunt Theresa was award the Vincentian Mission Award at St John's University last night. Awesome!

Raleigh

In Raleigh today--I got the distinct thought that I'm travelling way too much. I went to JFK this morning and inverted my airlines switching today's United flight with Monday's American flight. Fortunately I had some time to spare and I got the airtrain from American to United without much of a problem. As I approached the American rep wondering why I wouldn't get my boarding pass I got the embarrassing realization as to what I did. I also nearly got in a fight.

As I ask the American Airlines guy for assistance:

Guy in back of me: Hey a**h**e, we were on line too. (Mind you, I didn't cut him off I just asked the AA guy for help--he could easily have gone around me.)

ME: You talking to ME? (sometimes I get brave)

Woman with guy (who sees I'm a lot bigger than her man-friend): No He's not.
(simultaneously) Guy: Yeah, I am.

Me: Why don't you just go ahead of me jacka**?

Guy goes ahead. I stare him down. Woman looks afraid and hopes I don't flex my muscles (both of them in my big toe).

I get to the United gate where my reservation is immediately recognized by the check in computer. Now I'm running late though. Flight is 2:35P. It's 2:00. Boarding at 2:15.

Computer: "Are you going to Raleigh-Durham?"
ME: (Presses Yes)
Computer: Do you have bags to check?
ME:(NO) I carry everything on.
Computer: Would you like ti use miles to upgrade to 1st class.
Me: AUGH! Just give me my boarding pass! (no)
Computer: Would you like to upgrade to Economy Plus for $28 more?
Me: NONONONONOONO! Give me the boarding pass!
Computer: Are you sure you don't want to upgrade.
ME: (Now shouting at the computer): WHERE THE HELL IS BUTTON FOR PUT ME ON THE BLASTED PLANE! JUST PRINT THE PASS! (NO!)
Computer: Do you want to change these seats?
Me: In a second I'm going to throw this machine down the aisle. NO.

Printing.....


I get to the gate at 2:15 and they board within minutes.

Yikes!

Regardless, I has a lovely dinner at the Cracker Barrell (chicken and dumplings--yum) with Kathleen Kozak from the Diocese of Raleigh who is hosting me. Tomorrow we talk with young adult leaders in the afternoon about their religious longings and how they can better understand each other and hopefully they come away with a plan for ministry events based on their charisms.

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: