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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Women lead amidst the mess
I recently sat across my desk from one of the prophets of the #SaveAsylum movement. The leaders of this organization are an eclectic group of migrants, activists, church and community members from Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, who united in the past year to restore access to asylum at the US-Mexico border. The prophet in front
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Sister Mumbi Kigutha: Transforming Pain through Reconciliation
“Defining reconciliation for me is pretty simple, it’s restoring right relationships,” Sister Mumbi explains. But true restorative justice requires four pillars: peace, mercy, justice and truth.
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God is with us in all this hardship
when chaos storms Capitolsor your fragile heart and mindthe God of order restoresthe law of love remainswhen fatigue bends your body or your ambition, motivationthe God of rest renewsrestoration is comingwhen heartache breaks you downand you are crushed, cryingthe God of comfort holdsfeeling grief is holywhen fear is the fire that burns youand you are
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Father Adam Bucko: Every Day A Beginner
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Father Adam Bucko about contemplation, action, new monasticism and the messiness that permeates it all.
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The reality of the messy Nativity
I’ve said this before: the story of the Nativity lives in everyone’s heart. The story of the messy first Christmas is your story: you know what it is like to lose control, to deal with the unexpected, to put your life in danger for the sake of others, to be uncertain about the future and
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Music for Advent during a pandemic
Here we are. We’re in Advent … during a pandemic. Every year, holding out hope and waiting in the dark offers a profound spiritual power to me. During the darkest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, I am consoled by the candlelight while I prepare for Christmas and pray about opening my heart
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Thanksgiving Traditions for the Sake of the Common Good
I would like to take on some new practices that challenge the racist systems harming the United States, support a sustainable way of living on Earth and promote the common good.
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Hope in hard times is an element of our prophetic vocation
I’ve been catching myself singing and there’s a surprising theme to the songs. Considering the state of things, there’s a lot of reasons why silence might make more sense, why a somber state might be more appropriate than song. In recent weeks, the COVID-19 crisis has become so deadly that morgues cannot keep up. It remains
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November invitation
after all hallows eve & all saints, all souls i admit my longing for slowing, resting. i name my dreams and groan in prayer. “i sense an invitation in this season.” toss and turn grab the remote recheck the vote count the headlines recheck the heartaches recheck reality lost hopes, now hallowed: the mighty remain
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Hope, not fear, during power transition and other uncertain times
In less than a week, votes will be counted. In less than a week, we might know the results of the election. We may know who our new — or returning — elected officials will be. It seems to me that many of us are nervous — or terrified — about what is to come
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Making good trouble and the trouble with goodness
It’s Sunday and four-year-old P’s turn to pick the movie. The eight-week ban on “Frozen 2” has expired and so, to her older brother’s chagrin, that is what we are watching, again. I admit that, aside from the film’s flaws and how tiresome it is to watch it for the hundredth time, it is a
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Steven P. Millies: Our World Needs All Hands on Deck
In Season 2, Episode 2, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Steven P. Millies about the believer’s role in our highly-politicized ecosystem. We also dive down into the interplay of sin and polarities, the importance of trusting in Divine timing and our jobs as Catholics working on the assembly line on the project of building God’s…
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