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…
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa is well known for his work opposing apartheid and facilitating reconciliation and forgiveness after the fall of South Africa’s apartheid regime. In “The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World,” Archbishop Tutu and his daughter Mpho defined forgiveness as “the capacity to make a…
Episode 4, season 5 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. “Everything is a spiritual experience, and has the opportunity to provide meaning for you.” -Gary Jansen LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, public speaker and author Gary Jansen talks with Sister Julia Walsh about…
I was in another Zoom meeting with my friend, another Catholic sister who is a professor on a college campus. Together we were lamenting the extreme polarities in the church and society. Rubbing our foreheads. Sighing. Praying right out loud: God, help us. Together we were bemoaning how the tensions impact our freedom to love…
My most vivid memories of elementary school are from second grade. I had spiked hair (I’m not sure if it was cool back then or not), lost many of my baby teeth (earning a special certificate with each one) and played lots of playground football games. However, these were not my most important or formative…
Hypocrisy. According to Google, it’s “The practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform; pretense.” It’s a dirty word; the worst of insults in religious circles. Why, then, do those who consider themselves clean of heart, hand and tongue seem to so relish the taste of…
We pray in the dark during these Advent days while we wait for the coming of the Light, of love enfleshed. The darkness is everywhere and impacts each of us. We encounter pain and violent words, messages and behavior when we pay attention to the news, when we share in our neighbor’s pain, when we tune…
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