Blog Archive
Contemplating the messiness of Christian life
The Messy Jesus Business Blog is an ecumenical Christian gathering of musings about what it means to live the Gospel today. A variety of contributors offer prayer, poetry, book reviews, creative nonfiction and prose about what it means to live a life of faith in our complex, modern times.
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When You Don’t Want to Look Back (and the Examen that meets you there)
I wake up at 4:20 a.m. Unable to get back to sleep, I brush my teeth, make a cup of coffee, and curl up in a rocking chair in the living room. My cat sits nearby. Christmas tree lights illuminate the dark room with a warm glow. The day before, I attended my kids’ Christmas…
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2 Prayers for this season
Emmanuel,The choirs sing peace on earth while the festive crowds feast and dump waste into bins. Meanwhile migrants are offeredthe opposite of welcome, The planet needs healing, Violence and conflict rage and Many people are without the basics:Food, shelter, water, warmth, love.Forgive us for how we have wandered Far from the meaning of your glorious Incarnation, from the simplicity and purityof your love…
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Detachment and a relational economy
Our relationship with the stuff of our lives can be complicated. Look around the space where you are sitting. Whether it is an office or public space or bedroom, what fills the room? Where is it all made? Who made it? What are the stories that come with the stuff of your space? Depending on…
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The holy urgency of hospitality
Recently I spent several weeks out of town, as a guest in the home of some of my friends. A family member had a major surgery and it was a privilege to be present during the recovery. I decided to walk to the local Catholic Church and attend daily mass – nothing too unordinary for…
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Lest we feast unto our own judgment
I sometimes joke that I want to start a cooking blog where, instead of telling the same formulaic stories about “my grandmother used to make this cake,” or “my family discovered this stew on vacation,” I situate my recipes in dramatic fantasies and thrillers. Who wouldn’t want to try the cake I made for my…
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There are no words
“There are no words,” she tells me. As she sits on the couch across from my chair, she nevertheless fishes for the box of tissues to curb the tears and salvage some words from the inner devastation she experiences. As a social worker and psychotherapist, this is familiar territory for me. What makes this time…
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Courageous countercultural choices inspired by St. Francis
This weekend, throughout the world, Franciscans will gather to celebrate the feast of our founder, St. Francis of Assisi. On Friday evening we’ll pray in holy spaces and remember his Transitus, his holy death. On Saturday we’ll gather for Holy Mass and celebrate his whole life, and the influence that he has had and continues…
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A long hope for a just peace in Israel and Palestine
My heart is torn in two by the situation in Palestine and Israel. Every day the situation sounds more dire and I feel more helpless. In seeking for some clarity I reached out to my former Quaker campus minister at Guilford College, Max Carter. He lived and served in the Palestinian West Bank in the…
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Resources for Resistance
In this part of the world it’s back to school season, a time to take inventory of supplies, arrange schedules, and restart routines. Although I’m not a teacher nor student right now, my work in vocation ministry has also put me in planning mode and I feel the crunch of time ticking away, eating up…
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Jesus says, set them free
On Saturday August 16, 2025, hundreds gathered for Mass outside Alligator Alcatraz in protest of reported harsh conditions for the hundreds of immigrants held at this remote detention center in the Florida Everglades. During his homily, Fr. Frank O’Laughlin advocated for “Liberty to the oppressed,” echoing Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of his public ministry.…
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The signs of these times
You know how to judge the appearance of the sky,but you cannot judge the signs of the times.–Matthew 16:3 The smog is thick, the water murkyEach day moods are shifty Now we wonder if clarity is mythIs consistency a scam Strategic plans fell out of fashion Chaos creeps like cancer Maybe the era of fairnessAged out…
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Kent Monkman: Telling the truth through art
In the gospels, Jesus tells us to go into the world and spread the good news. This desire to convert non-Christians was distorted by popes and many Catholics in the 15th and 16th-centuries. The doctrine of discovery, papal bulls that legitimized colonization, were written with lots of religious justification. In June, I went to an…
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