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.
-
Fr. James Martin, SJ Returns: Pilgrimage and Parable
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadEpisode 86 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. In the return of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Fr. James Martin, SJ about his vocation, the raising of Lazarus, pilgrimages and Jesus’ parables, and Fr. Martin’s experience at the Synod. Podcast: Play in…
-
Staring into the Abyss
“They who fight with monsters should be careful lest they become a monster. Gaze too long into the abyss, and the abyss will also gaze into you.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil We all know the quotation. Like many of Nietzsche’s aphorisms, it has taken on a life of its own, and people…
-
Finding a Word for 2025
“One word.” It’s a newer trend to ring in a new year foregoing the traditional New Year’s resolution. Instead, you opt for a word or phrase that sets your intention for the coming year. Adventure, Inner Peace, Joy. You get the idea. It’s an alternative with some real benefits. Magellan Health says a focus word,…
-
Christmas 2.0: Fleeing in Hope
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the…
-
From History to Here: Honoring the Sacred Mystery of Time
I am writing this two days after the Feast of the Holy Innocents in the octave of Christmas in the year 2024. These words will be published days later when the octave is over and while I am away on a retreat, starting the spiritual exercises. The words will hang on this page for months–…
-
The Heartbeat of Christmas
Merry Christmas and blessings of the season from Messy Jesus Business! Please enjoy this piece from Sr. Julia Walsh, originally published in 2022. There is an ancient story that is our common heartbeat. It speaks to us, deeply, quietly and simply; its whispers are heard in the rhythms of our ordinary lives, in between the…
-
Special Podcast: Darkness and Light in Advent
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadA Contemplation Episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. Join Sister Julia in a special edition of Messy Jesus Business podcast as she reflects on what the darkness can teach us in Advent. Podcast: Play in new window | Download With this episode, we’re beginning our winter break. We’ll…
-
An Advent Reflection on Pigeons
This Advent, I’m reflecting on pigeons and finding an odd comfort in envisioning the Holy Spirit as a city bird. The violence of poverty in cities and the injustices in our world this year have me looking to these small and fraught creatures, surviving in the cracks of discarded places. In my neighborhood of Hyde…
-
Unexpected Signs of Hope
Marigolds have unexpectedly become a symbol of hope for me in this bleak moment where we find ourselves, as a church and as a country. Our little backyard garden didn’t do anything right this summer. Well, almost anything. For years, our little raised beds would generate pounds of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, garlic, and peppers. Our…
-
Sister Norma Pimentel, MJ: Courage at the Border
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadEpisode 84 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Email | RSS | More ” Once they enter our [Humanitarian Respite Center for immigrants along the border], the very first thing that I asked is, “Como estas?” How are you? And it’s for the very first time…
-
All You Touch, You Change
In light of a second Trump term, I’m turning to writers and artists who live their values through their art. I seek inspiration and sustenance and courage to do the same—to let words change me and live with integrity and touch this bruised and burning world with bare, loving hands. In 1934, T.S. Eliot visited…
-
Lydia Wylie-Kellermann: Embodiment and Environment
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadEpisode 83 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. Podcast: Play in new window | Download Subscribe: Email | RSS | More “I think so many of us are holding anxiety and grief and despair in our bodies all the time. And we’re not letting it out….We don’t have spaces for rituals around grief.” -Lydia…
Let’s Connect
Subscribe and get thoughtful email messages from us
You must be logged in to post a comment.