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…
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…
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…
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…
A 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 see you again in late January!…
Images by Julius Scholsburg, courtesy of Kino Border Initiative I recently moved to the borderlands. It is a graced, gritty place — far away from the snow-covered landscape that is lit up so beautifully this time of year; the landscape that I left behind about a month ago. I am now centered in Ambos Nogales…
by Jon M. Sweeney Let’s set the scene, briefly. This took place toward the end of his life, when Francis of Assisi had already visited Bethlehem in the Holy Land, and had seen the Sultan in the Nile Delta; he had already witnessed his religious order “moving on” past his initial inspiration and leadership (in ways…
My Dear Friend, When I woke up on Christmas morning, I thought of John 1:5. It was a rare gift for me to have only one thought, not plagued by a system of worries and threats and to lie awake — even for a short time — with just this one thought. “The light shines…
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 rushing activity of our regular days. As we move together and alone, the power of this ancient story is known and felt in…
We missed the first Sunday of Advent. While we’ve missed nearly every Sunday mass for the last two years, this one felt particularly discouraging. Maybe because the day before I was heard on more than one occasion saying, “I’m going to go to mass tomorrow if anyone wants to join me,” verbally attempting to hold…
St. Francis loved Christmas. He loved it so much that in the little village of Greccio, Italy, on a craggy hillside in 1223, he reenacted the nativity. He was not really a big words, intellectual guy. Francis liked to jump in with his whole heart and body. So the story goes that he invited the…
How do you pray? Do you pray with hands folded? Do you air out your words on the line? Do you clip them down one by one, and then let them dance in the breeze until they smell fresher, lighter? Do you tell yourself stories of meaning and mystery? Do you let the metaphors dance…
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