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….
I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Recently I accompanied Catholic sisters, advocates, and survivors to Washington, DC in support of legislation that breaks the link between forced migration and human trafficking. In congressional offices we attempted to share the stories of families fleeing violence with members of…
Whose side are you on, Jesus? I ask, as he sits down across from me. I have been reading the latest news about Israel and Palestine, trying to avoid the pictures. Haven’t you seen any of the interviews I’ve given this week?, he retorts, wincing visibly. I immediately feel bad. Usually Jesus appreciates my sense…
For decades now, I have been riding this planet as she circles the sun. Decades now, I’ve desired to please. Please God. Friends. Housemates. Coworkers. Community. For much too long, I’ve tried to do what is right and satisfactory to those I’ve respected and admired; I’ve wanted to be respected and admired, too. If I…
Quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic forced many of us into involuntary confinement and isolation. The painful experience reminded us that humans are social animals who long to be free — free to move about, associate, make choices and form bonds. For the two million Americans who are currently incarcerated, quarantine merely extended the punitive logic…
Personal Freedom: freedom of the person in going and coming, equality before the courts, security of private property, freedom of opinion and its expression, and freedom of conscience subject to the rights of others and of the public. – Merriam-Webster Dictionary Personal Freedom: is it a real idea or an ideal made up that each…
Season 4, Episode 8 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. “Once we surrender into that place of the Divine…we’re moving in the waters of the holy.”-Beverly Lanzetta LISTEN HERE: IN THIS EPISODE: Sister Julia Walsh talks with theologian, author and teacher Beverly Lanzetta how she lives out her call to surrender…
Selma has been on my mind lately. With the passing of John Lewis, my social media feed has been flooded with photos of him standing at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, stories of his constant bravery and even videos of him dancing or crowd surfing. We have lost a legend. And my mind…
“Fundamentally prisons are not broken; they are designed to do something that is wrong.”
–Hannah Bowman,
Founder of Christians for the Abolition of Prisons
In episode four, Sister Julia speaks with guest Hannah Bowman about how Chrisitans are called to work for Prison Abolition.
Gazing toward the brightly lit horizon the other day, I noticed an expansiveness, an opening. Beyond what I could see was a mystery. Bigger than the dances of shadows and light, the frozen November snow and the clouds hanging out their hues of pink and gray, was the power of possibility, the rise of potential….
Sitting next to me in another hard, plastic chair is a good-hearted man wearing brightly colored scrubs — colors that label him as guilty of a crime. We’re in a florescent lit room inside the county jail: bare white walls and glass windows, a camera overhead. There are about a dozen of us in this…
The heavy metal door bangs behind me, the electric buzz locks the bolt in place. After a pause, another door buzzes and is unlocked, controlled by a police officer sitting near a video monitor in another room. I cross the florescent-lit linoleum and open the next heavy metal door, making my way through this threshold…
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