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.

Search and Explore our 15 years of Content

Our Final Post

  • 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…
    Read More

Justice
Prayer
Environment
Family
Non-Violence
Franciscan life

Features

Podcast

Explore Podcast Episodes

What’s Trending

Read More

  • Alternative Economics: Take Some, Leave Some

    “People always treatin’ me like a trash can.” This was a common chorus of a friend of mine, Crete, before his death a couple…

    READ MORE
  • “Good Inside”: A restorative Christian approach to parenting and beyond

    By Emily Cortina

    Read More
  • Death comes for us all, Oroku Saki

    By Steven Cottam

    Read More
  • How to be holy AND messy

    By Sister Julia Walsh

    Read More

Explore…

Justice Prayer Family Environment non-violence Franciscan life

Equity and Justice

Read More

  • Alternative Economics: Take Some, Leave Some

    “People always treatin’ me like a trash can.” This was a common chorus of a friend of mine, Crete, before his death a couple…

    Read more

  • Just sandals and a walking stick

    By Sister Julia Walsh

    Read More
  • Australian crime drama removes plank in my eye

    By Sister Sarah Hennessey, FSPA

    Read More
  • Scapegoating Eve

    By Rebecca Bratten Weiss

    Read More
  • The myth of the self-made person and the true demand of discipleship

    By Sister Julia Walsh

    Read More
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

Read More
  • 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,”…
    Read More
  • 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…
    Read More
  • Fr. Roger Lopez, O.F.M.: Free, Good, and Helpful Grace
    Podcast: Play in new window | Download Episode 75 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe:  Email | RSS | More Lord, help me to love just like…
    Read More
  • Just sandals and a walking stick
    Note from Sister Julia: A version of the following text was written for my coursework in my Introduction to New Testament course at Catholic Theological Union where I am a part-time student. The assignment was to…
    Read More
  • Why contemplation is messy
    I’ll admit it. Even though I am a Franciscan Sister, I sometimes struggle with prayer. I mean, how am I supposed to contemplate when I’m busy and the world is…
    Read More
  • 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…

Let’s Connect 

Subscribe and get thoughtful email messages from us