Blog Archive
Contemplating the messiness of Christian life
The Messy Jesus Business Blog is an ecumenical Christian gathering of musings about what it means to live the Gospel today. A variety of contributors offer prayer, poetry, book reviews, creative nonfiction and prose about what it means to live a life of faith in our complex, modern times.
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Ivan Ng: The Journey from Pride to Christian Humility
Episode 51 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Stitcher | Email | RSS | More IN THIS EPISODE: In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Ivan Ng during her visit to Singapore for the International Conference on Cohesive Societies in September 2022. They explore Ivan’s conversion to becoming
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Little Winter Flower
Soon after I turned 24 last winter, I went on a weekend hermitage. I stayed in a solitary cabin in rural Illinois, remote and full of bare trees, ice, quick, glittery sunsets and freezing temps at a retreat center, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph. My first day there, I spent a long afternoon
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Prison reform and COVID-19
Quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic forced many of us into involuntary confinement and isolation. The painful experience reminded us that humans are social animals who long to be free — free to move about, associate, make choices and form bonds. For the two million Americans who are currently incarcerated, quarantine merely extended the punitive logic
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The spirituality of dumpster diving
I started dumpster diving because of free boxes. I live on the edge of Hyde Park, an affluent neighborhood surrounding the University of Chicago on Chicago, Illinois’ south side. My boyfriend and I used to go for neighborhood walks and stop to pick through curb-side boxes, often left by students moving out of their school-year
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Vita ex Morte
Loss. It’s a strange word. It implies that you once had a thing and now, not only is it gone, but you can no longer find it. Last night I lost my mom. And yet, is she lost? Is she even gone? My mom was a powerhouse of a woman, and now, she’s gone. Truth
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A Recipe for Spiritual Reckoning
When the pandemic first began a few years ago, I remember one meme, in particular, that said something like, “We finally have an internationally recognized reason to slow down and look inward. But instead of doing that, we’re all learning how to bake sourdough bread.” The message in the meme resonated with me, and I
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John the Baptist, Patron of Justice
As a teenager, I discovered Oscar Wilde’s “one-act play, Salome”, a retelling of the story of John the Baptist’s beheading by Herod Antipas. I was intrigued to discover that Wilde’s play is a Gospel story. In the Gospel account, Herod’s wife, Herodias, is angry at the prophet because he has preached against her marriage to
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Simple Thoughts on Small Things
Moments like this kindle sparks of life in me: pausing meal prep to watch birds gathering on the feeder I hung outside the kitchen window; keeping a field book handy so I can learn their names; discovering that the new birds showing up, those who look both like and unlike cardinals, are not a different
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Parish Communities: Reflections of Heaven on Earth
Heaven is uncomfortable for me to think about. Sometimes talk about heaven juxtaposes Earth as an evil, tainted place and our bodies as temptations to be subdued until the day when our souls are finally freed. I have long preferred to accept heaven as a mystery beyond my understanding and focus instead on the call
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Letter to Lady Clare from an imperfect Franciscan Sister
August 11, 2022 Dear Lady Clare, As an imperfect Franciscan Sister, I extend my gratitude for the inspiration and care you provide to me and my Franciscan family on this, your feast day — 769 years since you died in that humble abode at San Damiano, outside the walls of beautiful Assisi, Italy. I am
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A Story of Our History: Trauma and Systemic Racism
Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Meg Earsley, who celebrates the anniversary of her first vows on Aug. 7, is currently ministering in Bolivia and serving with the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis. Sister Meg is sharing her Bolivian journey of Jesus business, which we all know is sometimes messy, in her photo/reflection blog “Wanderings and
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Jesus Is Here, Whether You Like It Or Not
It is hot as I walk across the grass. Really hot, with a heat index of 108 degrees, and the humidity is oppressive. Heavier than the heat are the thoughts in my own mind. Grief, pain and depression mix with this pervading sense of loss. I’m sad because of the chaos which is our world
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