Today is the feast of the Holy Innocents, for those not aware, the Holy Innocents are the children who were slaughtered by King Herod who, in his madness, was trying to make sure he killed the newborn King, by killing all male babies in the vicinity. It’s a horrible story. Joseph takes Jesus and Mary …
Category Archive: preaching
Dec
28
Nov
26
What Makes a Good Preacher?
I’ll admit I’m spoiled. We have what I consider great preaching in my parish. For the most part, I choose a parish based on the preaching more than any other element. While I enjoy good music and consider a welcoming atmosphere to be of paramount importance, I also want to hear good preaching more than …
Nov
19
When It Seems Like the Stars are Falling Out of the Sky
Here is a reflection from last night’s apocalyptic Sunday readings: Hey! What’s new? That can be a catch up line…But “what’s new” can also be scary. After all, who knows what day it will be when our world ends? The Mayans tell us that the world will end of December 21, 2012 at 11:11 …I’m …
Apr
16
Reflection: Doubting Thomas, Envy and the Mercy Of God
Here is my reflection for the 2nd Sunday of Easter:
Mar
04
Abraham’s Faith
Today’s first reading is one of my favorites. I know someone is thinking…”FAVORITES? God asks Abraham to kill his only son–why in the world would that be your favorite reading?” Well it is. And here’s why. First of all it’s a dramatic story where God seemingly asks Abraham to do something unthinkable. And the question …
Dec
29
A Unitarian on Faith Formation
Since the Unitarians are a creedless faith, The Rev. Peter C. Boullata took up the charge of hoping that they haven’t “institutionalized narcissism. He talks about the challenge to do faith formation in their denomination. I was both excited and troubled that they have some of the same problems that we Catholics do at times …
Dec
19
An Old Man’s Advent Dream
Deacon Bill Ditewig, one of my heroes, wrote possibly the most beautiful advent reflection I’ve read to date. Here’s a snip: Right now we have many Catholics who don’t even like to reach out and take someone else’s hand at the greeting of peace before communion. Those folks are really not going to like my …
Oct
17
Reflection for 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Caesar’s Imprint and God’s Imprint
Often I see two kinds of people on the UB campus getting in people’s faces: The first are: Radical Fundamentalists: Yelling at people things like “Have you taken Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?” The Second group are: Angry Atheists. They tell things like: “How in the world can you believe in the big lie? …
Oct
09
Could God Be All We Need?
Today’s Gospel tells the story of a King who invites people to a wedding for his son. But nobody comes. So he sends servants to invite them again. Not only do people not come this time, but some kill the servants. Then a final effort is made to have this party and they invite anyone …
About the Blogger
Mike Hayes is an author, commentator, Campus Minister and Spiritual Director. He founded the award winning BustedHalo.com in 2001 and wrote the book Googling God with Paulist Press in 2007. Mike is currently a Campus Minister at The University at Buffalo where he serves on the staff of St Joseph University Church. He is available for speaking engagements, retreats and personal spiritual direction.
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