Franciscan Life
Franciscan life is a love story — with God, with the poor, with the earth, with the stranger. Rooted in the spirit of Francis and Clare of Assisi, these posts explore what it means to embrace simplicity, kinship, and courageous countercultural choices in a world that constantly pushes the other direction. From returning land to Indigenous communities to the spirituality of dumpster diving to what the feast of St. Francis has to teach us today, this is a space for anyone drawn to the Franciscan way — whether you’ve taken vows or are just beginning to feel its pull.
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…