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Busted Halo
https://bustedhalo.com/ -- 57 posts
How Do I Invite Coworkers to Think About Social Justice Issues?
How do I invite coworkers to think about fair trade, recycling, and other everyday social justice issues? There are a...
Waste Not, Want Not: Catholic Social Teaching and Reducing Food Waste
“Pass those plates down to the food disposal,” Grandpa would inevitably boom at the end of each meal, scraping sandwich crusts...
Three Things I’m Doing to Teach My Young Children About the Mass
Being a Catholic parent with young kids is one of the greatest blessings, but taking them to Mass on Sundays can often feel...
Do This in Memory of Me
“Will you take care of my car for me after I’m gone?” My father asked me while we sat in my sister’s living room. I didn’t know...
Always Missing Something: What Missionary Work Taught Me About Longing for Home
As a medical missionary, following God’s call from Texas to Tanzania required a lot of preparation. I read books, studied...
The Thrill and Fear of Free Falling
Imagine a moment of complete free fall. If you have ever experienced that jolt in your gut, that razor chill throughout your...
Starting Anew
It seems that every year around this time I’m inspired to write about renewal and fresh starts. That’s not surprising, of...
Removing “Should” and “Have To” From Your Vocabulary
I drink my morning coffee with milk. For some reason, I can barely stand drinking it without. One rainy evening I’m at home on...
Creative Ways To Celebrate the 50 Days of Easter With Mari Pablo
Easter is more than just one day, and Father Dave welcomes back Catholic speaker Mari Pablo to share how she is celebrating all...
3 Ways to Maintain Joy Throughout the Easter Season
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I began to suffer a deep depression, unlike anything I had known previously. I’m a...
The Good Friday Silent Treatment
The events of Good Friday are violent, to put it mildly. The crucifixion of Jesus and all the events leading up to it are...
How to Carry the Meaning of Holy Week Through the Rest of the Year
I remember the first time I attended services at my church for the entire Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter. I...
A Beginner's Guide to Eucharistic Adoration
My first experience with Eucharistic Adoration occurred in sixth grade at my Catholic elementary school when my homeroom...
Catholic Social Teaching in Action: How to Follow in the Footsteps of Holy Men and Women
Often referred to as “the best-kept secret of the Church,” Catholic Social Teaching is central to our Christian faith,...
Full, Active Participation: 7 Ways To Connect More Deeply With Sunday Mass
“I get nothing out of Mass.” How many times have we heard someone utter this dilemma? Depending on my mood, my mind bounces to...
Looking for a Sign from God? Try These Prayer Practices Instead
My friend Madison once told me how in prayer, she’ll request signs from God — really specific signs. “God, if I’m supposed to...
The Lord's Invitation: 4 Ways to Pray Without Ceasing
I remember reading through the letters of St. Paul in college and being struck by a line that had never really stood out to me...
The Work of Rest: How I Find Time for Spiritual Reflection in My Busy Life
As our family prepared for vacation one year, we were consumed with checklists and activities. While helping my daughter into...
5 Proverbs to Make You a Better Employee
The book of Proverbs may have been written centuries ago for an agrarian Middle Eastern society, but its wisdom isn’t bound by...
Theotokos?!: A Convert’s Guide to the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
Attention! Christmas is NOT over! January 1, we celebrate the second most significant feast of the Christmas season: The...
Praying for Patience: What I’ve Learned from God’s Time vs. My Own
Patience. None of us have as much as we need. We all need it. The lead singer of Guns N’ Roses, Axl Rose, even sang about it....
Start the New Year With Mary
The whole holiday season, my sons (4-year-old twins and a 6-year-old) were excited not only about Christmas gifts, but also...
Spiritual Mentorship: The Blessing of Journeying a Challenging Road With a Faith Supporter
On the grounds of Elmhurst University in Illinois, there is a beautiful, white chapel. I am waiting there for my spiritual...
Fostering Unity with the Eastern Rite: An Advent Challenge
Singing in Latin, genuflecting at Sunday Mass, and celibate priests — quintessential Catholic stuff, right? WRONG-O! (I know....
Have Yourself a Holy Little Advent: A Convert's Guide to the Season
Having emerged from your tryptophan-induced stupor, you awoke on Friday to the triumphant proclamation that it is Christmas....
10 Ways to Serve Others When You Have Young Kids
No matter how servant-hearted we are, it’s all too common for our altruistic efforts to come screeching to a halt once little...
6 Simple Ways to Enrich Your Advent Season
When I was a nominal Catholic, I liked to pretend that I knew a lot about Catholicism. Realistically, I knew slightly less than...
Why Do We Read So Much From the Prophet Isaiah During Advent and Christmas?
The Catholic theologian Gerald O’Collins, S.J., has called the writings of the prophet Isaiah “the fifth gospel.” By this he...
10 Meaningful Advent Traditions to Try This Year
If you’re like me, the beauty and deep meaning of Advent can get away from you awfully fast. One minute you’re lighting that...
My Adult Children Have Left the Church. What Should I Do?
World Youth Day, recently held in Portugal, showcases how the Church is alive with young adults celebrating their faith, but...
Fasting from Injustice
I have a confession to make. I am horrible at fasting. Epically horrible. My Lenten fast usually devolves into me eating...
Grateful to Our Beloved Dead: Remembering 3 Lessons From My Polish Grandparents This All Saints' Day
It’s tradition in Polish culture to pay tribute to deceased loved ones with frequent visits to their gravesites, especially on...
Why Do Catholics Pray For the Dead?
Praying for the dead can be a helpful part of the grieving process, but it’s also part of Catholic tradition to pray for those...
Whose Approval Are We Seeking? How Staying True to Myself Brought Me Closer to God
I’ve never really been one to put much stock into what the proverbial crowd thinks or does. When it seemed that my entire...
A Prayer for All Occasions
While I’m not sure if I believe in the cliche of “love at first sight” as far as human relationships go, I’ve definitely fallen...
Suffering From ‘Broken-Record Prayer Syndrome’? Here Are Three Ways to Renew Your Spiritual Life
I came up with the term “broken-record prayer syndrome” shortly after my husband and I began praying out loud together. The...
How Do the Saints Hear Our Prayers?
I’ve taught faith formation classes to people of all ages, from preschoolers to pensioners, and by far the best questions come...
Offered to Pray for Someone? 5 Fresh Ways to Stick to Your Word
We were sitting in the shade at a playground watching our preschoolers dash from slide to slide when my best friend turned to...
5 Creative Ways to Pray for Others
Not so long ago, my prayer time consisted of presenting a long list of requests to God. Although they were heartfelt and...
How to Follow in the Footsteps of Holy Men and Women
Often referred to as “the best-kept secret of the Church,” Catholic Social Teaching is central to our Christian faith,...
How Finding a Spiritual Director Changed My Life
“Who do you imagine as a spiritual director?” Carla, the coordinator at my local Ignatian Spirituality Center asked. I started...
Essential Reading for the Spiritual Seeker
Most of us can identify certain teachers or mentors who have had a profound impact on our lives. The same can be said for...
3 Ways to Deepen Your Faith by Reading the Saints' Diaries
While struggling to find bright spots of hope and light in a world of uncertainty during the pandemic, I had the happy fortune...
Lessons from St. Teresa: How to Be the Eyes, Hands, and Feet of Christ
Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks ...
How to Overcome the 3 Lies We Tell Ourselves
Earlier this year my home parish welcomed a new associate pastor. He’s a friendly and vibrant young priest and a gifted...
4 Essential Practices of Healthy Parishes
Management guru Peter Drucker is reputed to have said that the four hardest jobs in America are president of the United States,...
How to Foster a Faith-Filled Home When Your Spouse Isn’t Full of Faith
My husband Arthur and I are, in many ways, total opposites. I write; he welds. I think big-picture, while he minds the details....
Fatherly Advice: Should You Share Your Confession With a Spouse?
A listener asks Father Dave for advice about sharing details of his experience during the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Dave...
Hospitality for the Terrified: 5 Simple Ways to Reach Out to Others
Does the thought of hosting a meal fill you with terror? Do you break out in a cold sweat when you think of holding a...
Eccentric Evangelism: How I Use My Quirks to Spread the Gospel
“Jesus is cheese, or, to be more precise, like mountains of cheese,” artist Salvador Dali once said. Oddly, Dali was known to...
5 Must-Read Books to Deepen Your Faith This Summer
If you, like me, are also planning a summer of contemplative reflection, the following books have all helped me. 1. “The...
10 Years Strong: How We Built Our Marriage on a Foundation of Prayer
A couple of years before meeting my wife, I started praying a prayer about her and about preparing both of us for marriage. I...
How a Tough Time Changed My Understanding of Advent Hope
Hope. I thought I knew what the word meant. And I’ve practiced that “hope,” or what I thought hope was, since childhood: “I...
10 Meaningful Advent Traditions to Try This Year
If you’re like me, the beauty and deep meaning of Advent can get away from you awfully fast. One minute you’re lighting that...
How I Use Ignatian Discernment to Help Make Decisions Big and Small
I always thought I knew exactly where my sons would go to school. There’s an excellent Catholic school right next to where I...
3 Steps to Master the Art of Active Waiting
“Active waiting.” Isn’t that an oxymoron? We associate the word “active” with movement and energy. And isn’t “waiting” a...
Ways to Foster a Meaningful Marriage
It was another Saturday night in our house: The kids were asleep, the dog had been fed, the dishes were done. Finally, it was...