{"id":3945,"date":"2013-10-03T16:35:26","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T21:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=3945"},"modified":"2026-02-27T08:06:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:06:54","slug":"being-a-beautiful-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2013\/10\/03\/being-a-beautiful-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"Being a beautiful mess"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Guest Blogger: Sarah Hennessey FSPA<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usually when people find out I\u2019m a Catholic sister there follows some basic assumptions. Some people wonder where I\u2019ve put my \u201cblack get-up\u201d or habit, my wooden ruler and my stern look. More stereotypes than assumptions, I\u2019m still surprised how often these come up. Behind these images are the ideas that I must be a teacher, I probably pray all day and I most certainly could lead the rosary at a drop of a hat. Actually, I work in a parish, my day integrates prayer, ministry and social time and, as a convert, the first time I was asked to lead the rosary I immediately Googled \u201chow to pray the rosary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catholic sisters do not (and maybe never have) fit the narrow boxes that popular culture wants to put us in. I\u2019m sure this is true for most people and whatever stereotype clings to them. Individuals are always gloriously unique and rarely fit neatly into categories. One assumption about Catholic sisters remains most insistent: that in some way I live a holier than average life and enjoy a special intimacy with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recently published, lengthy interview that Pope Francis gave intrigued me in many ways, no more strongly than in his first few sentences. They appear in the Sept. 30 issue of America<\/i> magazine and the article \u201cA Big Heart Open to God\u201d by author Antonio Spadaro, S.J.<\/a> He describes the beginning of his interview: \u201cI ask Pope Francis point-blank: \u2018Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?\u2019 He stares at me in silence. I ask him if I may ask him this question. He nods and replies: \u2018I do not know what might be the most fitting description…. I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.\u2019\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not false humility or a way to avoid answering the question. I am a sinner. That\u2019s how I know myself most intimately and raw, honest and real. That\u2019s how God knows me and loves me still. God loves me in my most broken places and that is true holiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Hart, a Catholic singer-songwriter from Nashville, performed a concert at our church this weekend. It wasn\u2019t a distant, stiff performance; instead, she shared her life and faith so honestly she made us stretch beyond our comfort zones. We couldn\u2019t sit back and observe. We were changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better Than a <\/i>Hallelujah, one of the songs she wrote, (recorded by Amy Grant and nominated for a GRAMMY award), shows this truth of God meeting us in our brokenness. As Sarah sang, \u201cBeautiful, the mess we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God loves a lulluby
In a mother’s tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God loves the drunkard’s cry
The soldier’s plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refrain<\/b>
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The woman holding on for life
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tears of shame for what’s been done
The silence when the words won’t come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refrain<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better than a church bell ringing
Better than a choir singing out, singing out<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refrain<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Better than a Hallelujah sometimes)
Better than a Hallelujah
(Better than a Hallelujah sometimes)<\/p>\n\n\n

[youtube=http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kTFlo5Zu8ro]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know I find God when I am at my worst. Sarah Hart\u2019s song reminds me that God doesn\u2019t view me through my own lens of fear and shame. God knows I am a sinner. And God\u2019s mercy still reigns. \u201cBetter than a Hallelujah sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Guest Blogger: Sarah Hennessey FSPA   Usually when people find out I\u2019m a Catholic sister there follows some basic assumptions. Some people wonder where I\u2019ve put my \u201cblack get-up\u201d or habit, my wooden ruler and my stern look. More stereotypes than assumptions, I\u2019m still surprised how often these come up. Behind these images are the...","protected":false},"author":7668253,"featured_media":25435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[115341],"tags":[27412,20786359,214,401,112332,104576,3785,154615063,196002970,15224025,12529,19989],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-3945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equity-and-justice-equity-and-justice","tag-authenticity","tag-catholic-sisters","tag-christianity","tag-faith","tag-holiness","tag-humility","tag-love","tag-pope-francis","tag-pope-interview-in-america","tag-sarah-hart","tag-sin","tag-stereotypes","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Screenshot-2026-02-27-at-9.05.40-AM-scaled.png","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

Being a beautiful mess<\/a><\/blockquote>