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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Being Catholic on Indigenous Peoples’ Day: We need to do more
In hope, in prayer, we find ourselves here … I sang these words with a chorus of climate and Indigenous activists on a humid June morning in front of the White House. In hope, in prayer. The words became a refuge, an embodied cry that gave me courage as my timid self stood steady, as…
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Paul Engler: The Mess Calls for Community
Season 4, Episode 7 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. “We have to acknowledge that social change is collective action.”-Paul Engler LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Paul Engler, author, activist and community organizer. They discuss his call to…
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Life in the Spirit: Starting a new community and trying to prevent burn out
I’ve been thinking a lot about my devotion to the Holy Spirit. As a vowed Franciscan Sister, I publicly committed to obeying the Spirit’s nudges, whispers, pulls and invitations. This means I am committed to living life according to God’s will, not my own. Like it or not, God’s way is always better than my…
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Tessa Bielecki: The Mystery and the Mess
“Let yourself be broken. Let yourself suffer. Cling to Christ through it.” – Tessa Bielecki Season 4, Episode 6 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Tessa Bielecki about pain and the healing process: how…
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All Shall Be Well in Time of Pandemic
Are you overwhelmed? Do you feel yourself wanting to retreat from reality? I am with you, my friend. War, violence, refugees, the pandemic, climate catastrophes, fires, floods, droughts, division, racism and just solid injustice floods our senses and our hearts to the point of overwhelming despair. As I think about the heartache and horror, I…
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Ellen Salmi van Cleef and Joshua van Cleef: Missionaries Rooted in Presence
“The mess and the beauty are really tied together.” – Joshua van Cleef Season 4, Episode 5 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Ellen Salmi van Cleef and Joshua van Cleef about how they…
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Caring a Hair for the Birds of the Air
Since I began homeschooling my children last year, I’ve felt compelled to raise them as amateur naturalists. We take walks together as a family. I casually acknowledge the lifeforms we pass if I happen to know their names, trying not to intrude too much on our experience by making it sound like a lesson. “Hello…
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Sister Nicole Trahan: The Mess as a Grace
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Sister Nicole Trahan about inclusivity and equity in the Church, privilege and the importance of imagining new ways to share power.
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What’s So Ordinary About Ordinary Time?
As summer winds down and school years begin, we still find ourselves in Ordinary Time. Officially, Ordinary Time received its name because these days are ordinal, that is, they are numbered. At Mass on Sundays, you will often hear the priest say that it is the Sunday of such-and-such a week in Ordinary Time. All…
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Sister Tracey Horan: Love Without Borders
“There’s nothing that I wouldn’t give to just tear that wall down.” – Sister Tracey Horan Season 4, Episode 3 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Sister Tracey Horan about her journey from being…
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Spiritual flexibility in times of abundance and VUCA
Over a week ago I celebrated a milestone: my 40th birthday. In the days since, my life has been a whirlwind of joy, labor, celebrations and commotion. I drove hundreds of miles, celebrated my younger biological sister’s 35th birthday, celebrated my Franciscan Sister Meg’s first profession of vows and her birthday, helped empty a house…
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Devouring Love
Jonah is an interesting prophet. Most of us know the story of Jonah and the whale, but we often forget the other half of Jonah’s story. Jonah heads to Nineveh, finally surrendering to God’s will. He takes a three-day tour of the city, proclaiming that God will destroy them in three days. There is no…
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