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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Namesake
“Lord, have mercy/ On my descendants/ For they know not/ What they do/ For they know not Who you are.” ~ “Pillar of Truth” by Lucy Dacus It’s been about four hours since the birth, and now that everyone is calm and happy and relaxing, I take a minute to steal away. I descend softly
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Walking into priesthood
The words came in prayer. And they shocked me. This is part of your priesthood. My priesthood? What priesthood do I have? It doesn’t make any sense. Yes, I am a Catholic sister who is deeply committed to Christ and the Church. Jesus is my center. But I have no desire to be a priest.
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Easter haikus
the ice drifted out fish, otter, loons released lake ripples broadly green gradually overcomes brown building up diversity’s wisdom awoke, rising, bold every budding leaf shows how justice demands change love is feeding others love is breakfast on the beach love
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It’s not our job to change people
Years ago, when I was learning how to be a teacher, some of my motivations were quite idealistic: I want to change the hearts and minds of youth, and therefore change the world!! Now, when I think back to the workings of my mind in those days, I almost want to scold my younger self,
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The ‘not yet’ but ‘already’ reign of God
What we are now; what we will be. What has not yet been revealed; what we already know. The First Letter of John speaks to our present identity and eternal destiny. “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we
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Call for creative communion
I nearly skipped the liturgy. I almost didn’t head out into the cold night. After two full and exhausting days at the Festival of Faith and Writing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, I wasn’t sure if I had any energy to interact with another person, especially any of my literary heroes. Yet, I made my
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Holiness is messy: “Gaudete et Exsultate” highlights
On Sunday, I stood in a Church parking lot with about a dozen teenagers preparing for confirmation. I held a pile of paper plates under my arm, a black marker in my hand. The youth all stood behind a line, listening to me as I described their task: moving as a team to another line
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King’s mountaintop is an Easter invitation for everyone
Happy Easter! And, blessed day of the martyrdom of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to you all! Rev. King was shot on this day, April 4th, 1968 — 50 years ago. He was only 39 years old. The night before he was killed he gave his final speech, a prophetic message of ringing with
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Death in Spring: two Holy Week meditations
As we enter into Paschal Triduum and the celebration of Easter, Messy Jesus Business invites you to experience this reflection from Sister Julia Walsh, first published in 2018. Death encounters On the first day of Spring, I awoke to a voicemail from a friend, her voice cracking with emotion as she said that her mother
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Lent’s inevitable disappointment and the constant turn to God
Praying with Fr. James’ Martin SJ’s Examen app recently, I heard the words, “Lent is drawing to a close. For Christians, that means not only is there some anticipation for the celebration of Easter, but also some inevitable disappointment about your Lenten spiritual practices …” “Inevitable disappointment.” The words froze me still. And completely validated
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The words of Oscar Romero for our Lenten conversion
Around here, deep in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, the signs of spring are starting to emerge — quite appropriately, since Lent means spring. The deep snow piles are gradually starting to shrink and reveal a little green life around their edges. Tiny buds are forming on tree branches. Buckets are lining paths, making more visible the
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So naive
“It [grace] strikes us when, year after year, the longed-for perfection of life does not appear, when the old compulsions reign within us as they have for decades, when despair destroys all joy and courage.” ~ Paul Tillich, “You Are Accepted” You have to be pretty naive to be a Christian in today’s world. This
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