There is an ancient story that is our common heartbeat. It speaks to us, deeply, quietly and simply; its whispers are heard in the rhythms of our ordinary lives, in between the rushing activity of our regular days. As we move together and alone, the power of this ancient story is known and felt in…
Episode 53 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More IN THIS EPISODE: In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with author, scholar, and translator of spiritual texts Carmen Acevedo Butcher about the messiness of spirituality, healing and relationship. Together they discuss the wisdom…
After my father died in 2020, I began to have dreams about him returning from the dead. Sometimes we found a way to revive him. Sometimes it turned out he hadn’t been dead at all. I once dreamed we had buried him by mistake, and I had to dig him up again. My brother and…
In this part of the world (here in the Upper Midwest, in the United States of America), it’s the season of decay. Decay is colorful, creative, expansive. Alive. When one walks through the woods in the crisp autumn air, one may notice a full rainbow of fungus speckling the path, the rotting logs and devouring…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
In the glow of the dawn light, I gaze at the green leaves thirsty for a fresh rainfall. I notice the longing of my heart in the quiet, the peace before another overpacked, life-to-the-fullest day. This is the time of year when I tend to reminisce, when my mind wanders back to the ease of…
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