Busted Halo » Features

Busted Halo’s Digital Pilgrimage Video Blog

Brittany Janis — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:30:20 +0000

Check the map for Brittany, Samuel and Shiloh’s route! #13 Busted Halo cofounder Fr. Brett Hoover, CSP Fr. Brett fills us in on what he’s up to. #12 Meet Fr. Al Moser, CSP Father Al discusses what drew him to become a priest after serving in WWII. #11 Meet Jack Liu Jack shows Brittany around UC Berkeley’s campus and talks about [...]

Unholy Waterfront

Bill McGarvey — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:49 +0000

With a shock of sandy blonde hair that perpetually seems to be on the verge of revolt and a conversation style that is best described as a benign form of rapid-fire free association, it’s easy to picture Professor Jim Fisher, 52, as the young taxicab driving college dropout living in Hoboken, N.J., that he once [...]

Busted Borders: Walter (Argentina)-Video 5

The Editors — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:50:56 +0000

In this video, Walter talks about his love for creating music. In video 4, Walter talks about how soccer has helped him cope with his immigration issues. In video 3, Walter talks about the difficulties of facing an uncertain future. In video 2, Walter talks more about how he did not know he was undocumented until he was [...]

Our new blog — Rendezvous with G-d

The Editors — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:42 +0000

In Rendezvous with G-d, twentysomething blogger and journalist Monica Rozenfeld explores what it actually means as a young Jewish woman in New York City to have a relationship with G-d. From sitting at dinner tables with the ultra-Orthodox, non-believers and everything in-between, Monica asks herself tough questions about religion and spirituality. What does it mean? [...]

What Works: The Gratitude List

Phil Fox Rose — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:00:57 +0000

This is the last column to run before Thanksgiving, so I want to talk to you about gratitude. I could write a dozen columns about gratitude in various forms; for this column, I'm going to focus on one simple tool: the gratitude list.

When you find yourself feeling particularly ungrateful about your life — or your spiritual director or friend points out to you that you are — you can stop and remind yourself of all the things for which you can be grateful.

There are some obvious things. You often hear people say, "at least I've got my health." That might sound trite, but if you have ever experienced a serious loss of your own good health and then gotten it back, or if you or to someone close to you is deprived permanently of good health, you will know that good health is a great blessing. Another common item is family — partners, parents, children: whoever loves you unconditionally and gives you sustenance and support.

Not half full or half empty — just half full

Gratitude list items can also be seemingly trivial things — or at least things that might seem so to someone else. And many things can be seen as blessings or negatives. For example, I do not live with anyone else. I could focus on and feed feelings of loneliness. But I can also be grateful for the control I have over my environment and how easy it is to meditate and have silence when I want it. (Ask anyone with a big family about how precious that is!)

It's important, even though this is a list, to not fall into thinking of it as a two-sided ledger. It's not "I'm alone but at least I have peace and quiet." It's, "I can have peace and quiet whenever I want in my home."

It's not about seeing our world's cup as half full rather than half empty. Because the truth is everyone, and I mean everyone, has things they can be grateful for and things they can be ungrateful for. It's about paying attention to the part that's full. Who cares about what you don't have? Seriously. Think about that for a moment.

Focusing on what we don't have, on expectations of things that have not materialized for us, only leads to anxiety and self-pity. I'm not saying there is no place for wanting to create a more abundant life, but that's not the way. Paradoxically — as are most great spiritual principles — it is by being content with what we have that we are open to seeing clearly what is around us, and seeing new opportunities.

Corny and Profound

Ginny Kubitz Moyer — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:00:19 +0000

For Christmas one year, when I was in high school, my grandpa gave me the video of The Sound of Music. I was thrilled: my favorite movie, the one I’d loved since childhood, was mine to watch at will. My cousin Mark, in his early twenties at the time, regarded my new tape with good-natured [...]

Spiritual Seekers Adventure (on a Budget)

The Editors — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:40:38 +0000

BUSTED HALO® SPIRITUAL SEEKERS ADVENTURE 2010 Last year we had an enormous response to the Spiritual Seekers Adventure trips we were offering to the Camino in Spain as well as our arts & culture trip to Paris. Busted Halo® is happy to announce that we are offering these same journeys again for March 2010 at a [...]

Busted Borders: Walter (Argentina)-Video 4

The Editors — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:42 +0000

In this video, Walter talks about how soccer has helped him cope with his immigration issues. In video 3, Walter talks about the difficulties of facing an uncertain future. In video 2, Walter talks more about how he did not know he was undocumented until he was applying for college. In video 1, Walter explains how he [...]

Introducing Our New Blog — Kicking and Screaming

The Editors — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:05:59 +0000

As a Paulist seminarian Tom Gibbons has spent the past three years immersed in the academic study required of any man who will be ordained a Roman Catholic priest. During that time, Gibbons has written a lot about the experience, and his new blog, Kicking and Screaming is an intimate look at the questions and [...]

Defining the Hook-Up Culture

Dr. Christine B. Whelan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:00:55 +0000

As a young professor at a big university, I’m able to talk to my students about rather personal issues like hooking up, relationships and sex. In one class, I asked students to diagram, on a large whiteboard, the evolution of a relationship — from first meeting to marriage. This was a fascinating exercise, and highlighted [...]

Health Care Reform and Catholicism Revisited

Phil Fox Rose — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:51:18 +0000

Thousands of you read, responded to and shared my August piece about the health care debate and Catholicism. We are now in the final phase of the Congressional process and some things are clearer than they were then. Catholic Church leaders wanted undocumented immigrants included in the bill. They are not. Sadly, the Church stands [...]

Finding God in All Things

Bill McGarvey — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:21 +0000

If you were able to conduct a free association exercise among Catholics, the term “Jesuit” would most likely evoke responses like “educators,” “intelligent,” “worldly” and perhaps even “liberal.” But as the largest male religious order in the Catholic church, the Society of Jesus—as the Jesuits are officially known—has nearly 20,000 members spread out across [...]

Busted Borders: Walter (Argentina)-Video 3

The Editors — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:57 +0000

In this video, Walter talks about the difficulties of facing an uncertain future. In video 2, Walter talks more about how he did not know he was undocumented until he was applying for college. In video 1, Walter explains how he was caught by ICE and detained for twenty day.

What Works: The Welcoming Prayer

Phil Fox Rose — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:09:34 +0000

I want to share with you a little method with a big impact: the Welcoming Prayer. This unassuming little method has helped me many times. What’s your first impulse when you have a “bad” feeling? If you’re like me, it’s usually to suppress it. But we all know that doesn’t work. What you focus on [...]

Interview With The Exorcist

Dave Dwyer, CSP — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:37:59 +0000

Fr. Dave Dwyer CSP interviews Fr. Gary Thomas about the book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist.

Southern, Proud and Pagan

Anthony Chiorazzi — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:33:21 +0000

Tom Cornwell had a secret stashed in the ottoman of his Savannah, Georgia, home. A former Jehovah’s Witness elder and minister for 20 years, he worshipped the Egyptian goddess Isis. Cornwell, 62, thought his secret was safe — until his devout Jehovah’s Witness wife announced she’d found his cache of witchcraft books. Cornwell (not his real [...]

5 Ways to Celebrate Halloween Without Turning Tricks for Treats

Brittany Janis — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:03:50 +0000

It may sound blasphemous, or at least juvenile, but Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Not that it has anything on Christmas, but it’s definitely in my top three. When I started my life in the ”real world,” especially when I began working at Busted Halo®, I was shocked by some of my coworkers’ [...]

Saints and All Hallows Eve

James Martin, SJ — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:20:07 +0000

Father James Martin, SJ, author of My Life with the Saints, talks about the connection between Halloween (October 31) and All Saints Day (November 1). As part of our ongoing series Googling God: Resources for the Spiritual Seeker, Fr. Martin answers FAQs such as: How saints get made? What is a patron saint? Is praying to the saints [...]

Viewing America Through Michael Jackson

Mirlande Jeanlouis — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:13:19 +0000

The sudden death of Michael Jackson this past summer took the world by surprise and led to spontaneous fan tributes around the globe and countless conversations about the King of Pop’s place in popular culture. Many of those conversations are bound to be revisited with the release this week of This Is It, a film [...]

Dying for Spiritual Enlightenment

Dr. Christine B. Whelan — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:00:49 +0000

What would you do for spiritual enlightenment and personal success? Would you agree to spend 36 hours alone in the desert without food or water to help clear your mind and find your true potential? Would you follow a trusted leader into a dark, hot tent to experience a version of a centuries-old Native American [...]

Captain Lou Albano, “Nice Italian Boy”

Catherine Perry — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:12:46 +0000

“Captain” Lou Albano (1933-2009) — professional wrestling legend and star of Cyndi Lauper videos — was what my grandmother called “a nice Italian boy.” Never mind that by the time she met him, he was in his 50s; and, that to an entire industry of professional wrestlers, being called “nice” would have been the kiss [...]

God Doesn’t Like Ugly

Bill McGarvey — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:00:28 +0000

Throughout the side chapels and the interior of St. Paul the Apostle Church in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, the historically significant artwork on permanent display now shares space with a compelling and eclectic mix of contemporary pieces. God Doesn’t Like Ugly, as the exhibition is titled, is the third major group exhibition presented [...]

Busted Borders: Prerna (Fiji) – Video 7

The Editors — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:00:19 +0000

In this final episode, Prerna talks about the repercussions of leaving Fiji and why she continues to stay and work in the U.S. In video six, Prerna discusses the fallout with her family, community and school as a result of her new relationship. In video five, Prerna discusses her first love while growing up in Fiji. In [...]

Busted Borders: Prerna (Fiji) – Video 6

The Editors — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:50:44 +0000

In this sixth video, Prerna discusses the fallout with her family, community and school as a result of her new relationship. In video five, Prerna discusses her first love while growing up in Fiji. In video four, Prerna talks about her experience biking from Los Angeles to Berkeley, CA. In video three, Prerna’s family is trying to [...]

The Family that Plays Together

Bill McGarvey — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:00:27 +0000

In the white-hot glare of worldwide celebrity there are no shadows, there are only outsized figures of triumph or scorn. They are presented to us as fully formed creations, media amplified surfaces without depth who occupy our fantasies until something else inevitably takes their place. This strange and rare sort of fame — which basketball [...]

What Works: Baggage

Phil Fox Rose — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:00:15 +0000

We’ve all heard the jokes. Ever since the term “baggage” entered popular use thanks to the 80s inner child movement, it’s been both a warning — “I have a lot of baggage” — and a punchline. Example: A few weeks ago on Jay Mohr’s sitcom, Gary Unmarried, before he meets his ex-wife’s new boyfriend, she says: [...]

Impressions of a Quake’s Aftermath

Laura Sheahen — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:12:13 +0000

I’m an information officer for Catholic Relief Services in Asia. This past month, we’ve had our hands full keeping up with the string of natural disasters that has hit the region. From my home base in Cambodia, I was sent to the Philippines to cover our response to severe flooding; then an earthquake hit Sumatra [...]

Busted Borders: Prerna (Fiji) – Video 5

The Editors — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:00:06 +0000

In this fifth video, Prerna discusses her first love while growing up in Fiji. In video four, Prerna talks about her experience biking from Los Angeles to Berkeley, CA. In video three, Prerna’s family is trying to avoid foreclosure on their home. In video two, Prerna becomes an activist, a blogger and a volunteer. In video one, we learn [...]

Debut of The Daily Jolt!

The Editors — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:18:58 +0000

When we launched our Fast Pray Give calendar this past Lent, we quickly learned that our readers really loved checking back each day for the little piece of inspiration or information we offered, as well as the small spiritual challenge we gave them along with it. In the midst of their busy lives, people were [...]

Toxic Friendships

Dr. Christine B. Whelan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:00:06 +0000

“We need to talk.” The four dreaded words that strike fear into all of us. “We need to talk” is almost never the start of a fun conversation. It’s usually about how you’ve done something wrong. Or how the relationship isn’t working for the other person. And while we all dread those four little words in [...]