Busted Halo » Religion & Spirituality

What Works: Pentecost and Boldness in the Holy Spirit

Phil Fox Rose — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:05:52 +0000

The beginning of Acts 2 reads like a breathless passage from a Hollywood screenplay: When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Like so [...]

Unwrap the Gifts of the Spirit this Pentecost

Andy Otto — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:05:44 +0000

On Pentecost Sunday, God breathed the Holy Spirit into the apostles to remind them that they were not alone. Jesus had died, risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Jesus’ followers were afraid and unsure of their future. The Holy Spirit came to comfort them even though Jesus wasn’t there to physically comfort them [...]

What Works: Gossip

Phil Fox Rose — Thu, 10 May 2012 04:15:43 +0000

Gossip seems like the main form of entertainment these days. We’re bombarded with the ups and downs, the personal embarrassments, of entertainers, politicians, and a whole swath of people on pseudo-reality shows whose only reason for fame seems to be self-promotion. People have always been attracted to lurid news. In the Middle Ages, instead of [...]

Transformed in the Eucharist

Sr. Bernadette Reis, fsp — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:05:03 +0000

For many Catholics, the mystery involved with receiving Holy Communion remains a distant reality. The language that the Church uses to define the mystery of the Eucharist is heavily philosophic, thus making it perhaps even more difficult to understand. Yet, we cannot ignore the fact that the Eucharist is at the heart of the Catholic [...]

May is for Mary

Caitlin Kennell Kim — Fri, 04 May 2012 06:05:45 +0000

The first time my now husband came to lunch in my tiny studio apartment he looked with puzzled amusement at the statues and icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary that dotted my closet-sized dwelling and noted that I was “a very strange sort of Protestant.” Long before I became Catholic I loved Our Lady. Her [...]

‘How Do I Serve the Church as a Lay Person?’

Andy Otto — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:05:05 +0000

For two and a half years I was a Jesuit, living religious life and experiencing what it was like to be part of the Church in more of a public capacity. I had many opportunities to serve people from all walks of life in different places. I had to get used to people calling me brother or father, though I was neither. It was kind of nice to be an “official” representative of the Catholic Church as a religious.

What Works: Building Up Others

Phil Fox Rose — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:05:09 +0000

In preparing to give a presentation on the structures of faith communities, I was just reading 1 Corinthians 12-14. You may, like me, be familiar with chapters 12 and 13 separately as two of the best-known passages from the Pauline letters. But I’d never put them together along with the following chapter. As a set, [...]

Adoration of the… Um… Er

Ann Turner — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:05:11 +0000

When I came into the Catholic Church ten years ago, there were a number of things I was a bit unclear about, including: the Pope, the Council of Trent, when exactly to kneel with everyone else so that I did not stick out like a foolish person with no wit, and — Eucharistic Adoration. Not [...]

God As My Improv Partner

Clarissa Aljentera — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:05:47 +0000

These days, my spiritual life unfolds like it might on an improv stage. Both improv and spirituality have organic qualities, great depth and playfulness, too. And looking at my faith life through the lens of improv comedy helps me reclaim unscripted moments in new ways. I began attending improv classes in Chicago as a new [...]

What Works: Waiting patiently

Phil Fox Rose — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:40:57 +0000

One of the most popular columns I’ve ever written is about struggling with being on time. It led to a TV interview and over two years later people still regularly bring it up in conversation. But working on your own on-timeness can lead to an interesting new issue: being on time when others are not. [...]

Resurrection Women

Caitlin Kennell Kim — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 06:05:04 +0000

We are tired. We feel it is now time to rise up and speak … You are asking, “Who are these women?” I will say we are ordinary mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters. For us, this is just the beginning. – Leymah Gbowee, winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize In almost every corner of this [...]

Walking Through the Triduum

Julianne Wallace — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 06:05:28 +0000

The Triduum (TRIH-du-um) is the time of the Church year when we celebrate the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This three-day celebration begins with the Holy Thursday Mass and continues on Good Friday with the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion. At the end of this liturgy, we leave the church in silence, waiting [...]

Oh, My God: Maternal Love and the Cross

Caitlin Kennell Kim — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 07:05:47 +0000

On March 7, 2008 at approximately three o’clock in the afternoon Theodore Xavier Kim had his first shots ... four of them. Now, it should be noted that I love my son’s pediatrician. I’m using the word LOVE here.

What Works: The Hunger Games — Is Its Violence Appropriate?

Phil Fox Rose — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 08:05:15 +0000

I wasn’t going to write about The Hunger Games movie – I’m a huge fan of the books and had no advance screening, so I just went to the theater with everyone else on opening night as a consumer. But I have to share my reaction to concern expressed about The Hunger Games‘ violence which [...]

Lent: Even More Extreme Edition

Lynn Freehill — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 07:05:45 +0000

Since I was a teenager, I’d always been a heroic sacrificer of chocolate, candy, or sweets come Lent. I heart sugar, so it was genuinely hard. But looking back, I was probably doing it as much for my looks as for God. In 2010, I took a slice out of my vanity by giving up [...]

Jesus and the Tiny Donut Holes

Ann Turner — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:05:18 +0000

When I started writing for Busted Halo, the first piece I wrote, “What Sticks To Our Fingers,” was about death and what is left to us after a loved one passes on. It was pretty intense. And sad. I’ve been told, also moving. My editor suggested that for my first Busted Halo post I might [...]

Lent: Extreme Edition

Lynn Freehill — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 07:05:59 +0000

My boyfriend and I were in Mass last month when an announcement reminded me: Lent was coming. I nudged him, stage-whispering, “Oh no — what am I going to give up? I have two weeks to figure it out!” He gave me The Eye. “Don’t you dare try to give up something even more extreme,” [...]

Happy Anniversary, Busted Halo®!

The Editors — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 07:05:05 +0000

Dear readers, donors,and friends: Ten years ago BustedHalo.com made its debut and began reaching out to young adults who were discovering and re-discovering the Catholic Church. Through the years, Busted Halo® has grown and adapted to meet the evolving needs of 20- and 30-somethings and today continues to help young adults explore their spirituality. Click [...]

What Works: Starting Anew

Phil Fox Rose — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 08:05:49 +0000

It seems that every year around this time I'm inspired to write about renewal and fresh starts. That's not surprising, of course. The vernal equinox (March 20) is just days away and where I live in the American Northeast, the annual cycle of natural rebirth is starting to Spring into high gear. Last Tuesday, I saw my first snowdrops on the ground, on Saturday I came across an apple tree covered in buds, and now suddenly there are day lilies everywhere. This is the time of Easter (April 8), Passover (April 6-14), and the Persian/Iranian New Year (March 20). (I realize not all my readers are in a temperate climate, so forgive that I'm talking about it now. It's my experience.)

Christianity is full of messages of rebirth, most notably the semi-comical exchange between Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus in John 3, from which comes the term "born again." The whole thing centers on the fact that the Greek word anothen can mean "again" or "from above" depending on context. After Jesus says we must be born again/from above, Nicodemus is confused and says,"How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus patiently explains that he doesn't mean being born again physically, but rather born "of the Spirit."

I wrote once before about former Intel CEO Andy Grove's ideas concerning inflection points. Grove says that much of the harm is done not by wrong decisions but by people's unwillingness later to change direction. Even though they may know in their heart that they're on the wrong track, they stick to their course rather than admit error. Yet, Christianity offers us -- demands of us! -- the opportunity to do exactly that. Whether its a full blown conversion, an annual renewal along with the rest of the church community at Easter, or an individual act of confession and rededication at any time, Christians have many ways to turn around (con-vert) and get back on the path at any time.

My own life has been shaped by several conversions. My turning from addiction to recovery not only physically saved my life but, more significantly, set me on a new path of growth and harmony. My baptism, after having been raised atheist, was the result of a spiritual conversion that in many ways grew from that earlier "turning." And my decision to devote my work life to spiritual projects was another change of direction.

What Works: Being imperfect doesn’t mean you’re bad, just human

Phil Fox Rose — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:05:34 +0000

I broke my Lenten commitment on day one. On Ash Wednesday, after a difficult day, I trudged right past two people asking for change on my way home, remembering my commitment but in my aggravation willfully denying it. I felt entitled to do the wrong thing because I'd had a hard day. I'm not proud of this, but does it mean I'm a bad person? Does it mean I failed at Lent? No, it means I'm human. The next day, I recommitted and haven't slipped since.

What’s With the Ash?

The Editors — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:50:41 +0000

Every year on Ash Wednesday, Catholic churches are filled with people receiving ashes. More people attend church on this day than on any other throughout the year. We hit the steps outside of New York City’s St. Paul the Apostle Church to ask young adults why they made the effort to get out of bed [...]

What Works: What Are You Giving Up for Lent?

Phil Fox Rose — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:30:36 +0000

"What are you giving up for Lent?" is not a question I heard growing up in my atheist home. It’s second nature for most Catholics, though -- to give up some favorite thing (like chocolate or ice cream) for Lent. But if you have an addiction to alcohol, a drug or cigarettes, I want you to consider using this Lent as a turning point. If you don't have a dependence on a physically addictive substance like those, then broaden the definition a bit: How about something nonessential like caffeine or sleeping pills? (I'm not talking about prescribed medicines that balance you.) Consider seeing if you can live without it of the next 40 days. If you want to broaden the term addiction further in the now-trendy way for things like the internet and pornography, that's OK too.

But understand that something isn't an addiction just because you use it a lot. For it to be an addiction, it should be that your use interferes with your life, you wish if didn't, and you can't stop. If you have an addiction problem, odds are you already have a suspicion, though you may refuse to accept it. Or maybe friends or family have been telling you that you do.

Make a commitment to abstain from something you have a problem with -- alcohol, smoking, gambling -- starting Ash Wednesday and continuing for the duration of Lent. Not the rest of your life. Just about seven weeks.

It might become a turning point. You might discover you like your life better without it and gain a real willingness to let it go. And if you don't manage to stay stopped, you will have learned an important lesson -- that this "habit" is maybe something more; that it has some measure of control over you...

That Time of Year Again

Sr. Bernadette Reis, fsp — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:05:49 +0000

It’s that time of the year again. Most Christians have to face an important decision in their lives — what to “give up” for Lent. Last year I was invited to a Facebook page where people were posting the all-important decision they had made. I was fascinated that the trend hasn’t changed: no sweets and [...]

Fast Pray Give

The Editors — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:24:10 +0000

Traditionally, Lent was a time for personal conversion leading up to Easter, during which Christians practiced the spiritual disciplines of fasting, praying and almsgiving to strip away all that is unnecessary and become more mindful of their ultimate dependence on God. Let's recapture the true meaning of Lent in ways that are actually relevant to your life. Each day throughout Lent, starting on Ash Wednesday, the calendar's link for that day will become active, revealing a Daily Jolt for spiritual contemplation relating to Lent, and new and practical ideas for fasting, prayer and almsgiving.

Oh, and we'll have weekly prizes and a grand prize. By filling out a brief survey and sharing your contact info with us, you will be entered into random drawings for the weekly and grand prizes. (You can enter once a week, which also increases your chances of winning the grand prize.

Busted Halo's^® Fast Pray Give Calendar is completely unflunkable, entirely relevant and totally inspiring. The idea isn't to be perfect but to continue on our path, so if you slip up one day, don't give up; simply begin again the next day. We hope you'll join Busted Halo this year with our Fast Pray Give Lent calendar.

Re: Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus

Phil Fox Rose — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:05:05 +0000

As the viral video “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus,” by Jefferson Bethke, approaches 18 million views, I will add my response into the clutter. I’ve seen pro-life responses. I’ve seen Catholic exceptionalism responses. I’ve seen atheist and non-Christian responses that agree but then have their own conclusions. I am not interested in getting [...]

Three Tips for Worshipping Well

Julianne Wallace — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:10:42 +0000

We all know the drill. We should go to Mass on Sunday. We should go to Mass on Holy Days. And really, in general, we should worship God more in our daily lives. Now, consider this: stop “shoulding on yourself.” In a recent column Fr. Jim Martin, SJ, wrote that if we are too busy [...]

What Works: SOPA, PIPA and the Illusion of Control

Phil Fox Rose — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:05:03 +0000

It was all of 13 minutes after midnight on Tuesday night when I went to look up something in Wikipedia… even though I knew the blackout protest was coming and had posted about it. If you didn’t know what was going on or would like to learn a little more about SOPA and PIPA, with [...]

New Beginnings

Christina Gebel — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:10:36 +0000

Let’s talk about the New Year. If you’re like me, you picked up a few magazines with promising headlines like “Finding the New You in 2012: Your Easy Guide to a Physical and Emotional Makeover!” at the grocery store, wrote some resolutions on a piece of paper you might be lucky enough to find if [...]

Myth Busting in the “Mormon Moment”

Neylan McBaine — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:05:49 +0000

Since I wrote for Busted Halo about Mitt Romney’s first run for president in 2008, much has changed in the public landscape regarding knowledge and perceptions of Mormonism. Americans today find themselves swept up in a “Mormon Moment,” thanks to Romney’s second run, Jon Huntsman Jr.’s candidacy, and popular media coverage of The Book of [...]

Eden is for Herbivores

Elizabeth Desimone — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 08:01:16 +0000

Let’s get one thing clear: I like the taste of meat. I like double bacon cheeseburgers. I like steak so rare it moos. On Thanksgiving I want turkey, on Christmas I want ham, and on my father’s birthday I want meatballs made from my family’s off-the-boat-from-Sicily recipe, so good they take five hours to make [...]