Sister Julia Walsh, Messy Jesus Business founder and podcast host, is now a contributor to Living City magazine published by Focolare Media. The July/Aug. 2023 issue includes “A Complicated Patriotism,” an article written by her. Future issues of Living City magazine will include more of Sister Julia’s authored works. Focolare Media is a ministry of…
Last month, as Chicago and other Midwest cities made headlines for smoky skies, I donned my mask and headed outside. A certain sadness, much like the haze, enveloped me. I wondered whether the tears in my eyes were from the smoke or for the smoke, and what it meant. By the end of June, Canada…
For decades, there was a stigma around women eating out alone. In 1964 the New York Times published a piece about how single women were not always well received at restaurants and how other women were too self-conscious even to try it. Now many women are discovering that eating out alone isn’t shameful. It can…
A Special Episode 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 We’re in between seasons on a break but are offering a special episode featuring five Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, who are in the same community as Sister Julia. Featured are Sisters Karen Kappell,…
Joyfulness is one of the things I most admire in other people; perhaps one of the main marks of an authentic Christian life. I gravitate towards people who exude joy, and I aspire to do the same. Unfortunately, despite what feels like a long road of seeking to build a joyful life, the emotional ups…
On May 30, Joan of Arc’s feast day — also the day she was burned at the stake in 1431 — I watched the great 1928 silent film, “The Passion of Joan of Arc,” for the first time at the historical Music Box theater in Chicago. The silent film was accompanied by an original 80-minute…
Again I am standing in a pew, among strangers and friends. I am facing an altar on which bread and wine were just transformed to the body and blood of Jesus Christ. There are warm vibrations between the people and the pews, a powerful presence in the room. Candles glow. Stained glass windows are shimmering….
I often hang out with idealistic Christians. People in my circles want to get back to the roots of the Gospel, to emphasize justice and liberation over condemnation and exclusion. It can feel so exciting to find other people who care about these things. Sometimes, though, I realize, with a jolt, that I’m not on…
I remember sitting between my fellow Catholic classmates at an evening student mass in my first year at a Jesuit University. The Jesuit offering the mass confidently explained, to us eager young Catholics, that by attending and participating that night, we were showing ourselves to be different from our peers who were forgoing the opportunity…
Since the lifting of Title 42 on May 11, United States’ news outlets have bombarded us with conflicting and confusing accounts of its repercussions at the US-Mexico border. The best reports tell stories of adults, youth and families with young children, giving us a glimpse into the challenges faced by those seeking to enter. These…
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