Gospel living is messy.

Christian discipleship is a life of struggle, as we advocate for social justice, live simply, serve others, practice contemplation and live in community. Welcome to the mess.

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  • How to be holy AND messy
    To contemplate the sacredness of messiness, start with the natural world. Step into the forest and study the rotting logs. Examine the erosion. Notice the tiny and the grand, how transformation and evolution have designed the landscapes, and the simple and small. See the surrender of one creature to another, the wildness of complete metamorphosis…
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  • “Good Inside”: A restorative Christian approach to parenting and beyond

    By Emily Cortina

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  • Death comes for us all, Oroku Saki

    By Steven Cottam

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  • They have guns, but we have flowers—a modern beatitude

    By Sister Sarah Hennessey, FSPA

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Justice Prayer Family Environment non-violence Franciscan life

Equity and Justice

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  • They have guns, but we have flowers—a modern beatitude

    The beatitudes have been called Jesus’ version of the Ten Commandments. They sum up the heart of his message, point us in the right…

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  • The awkwardness of being a long-distance aunt

    By Sister Julia Walsh

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  • Australian crime drama removes plank in my eye

    By Sister Sarah Hennessey, FSPA

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  • Scapegoating Eve

    By Rebecca Bratten Weiss

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  • Detachment and a relational economy

    By greg little

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ENVIRONMENT

  • Preserving Dangerous Memories 

    Maura Rocks

NON-VIOLENCE

  • Rules for a messy and holy creative practice 

    Cassidy Klein

FAMILY

  • The invisible, embodied holiness of parenting

    Emily Cortina

Prayer and Spirituality

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  • Death comes for us all, Oroku Saki
    “Death comes for us all, Oroku Saki, but something much worse comes for you … for when you die, it will be without honor.” ~ Master Splinter, to the Shredder, in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie” (1990). At the climax of one of my favorite films, the 1990 cinematic masterpiece “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,”…
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  • Ellen Salmi van Cleef and Joshua van Cleef: Missionaries Rooted in Presence
    Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Spotify | Email | RSS “The mess and the beauty are really tied together.” – Joshua van Cleef Season 4, Episode 5 of…
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  • Vita ex Morte
    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…
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  • The beauty of brokenness
    An old building in disrepair, collapsing toward the ground. A rusting, defective car, stuck in layers of mud. Shattered glass. Melting candle. Cracked eggshells. Chipped ceramics. The sight of the simplest…
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  • Yo Soy Una Guadalupana (I Am A Guadalupana)
    Posted by guest blogger, Sister Sarah Hennessey A Story of Marta “I’m nervous because I’m here illegally.” Marta held out her arm for a blood pressure check. The nurse in the free clinic and I quickly reassured her that everything was confidential and she had nothing to fear. Marta continued, “I’m nervous because I am illegal…

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