The sisters and I are finished with eating our dinner, but remain seated at the table. I am sharing from a vulnerable place, telling a story about my struggles, growth and the challenge of being a healthy and balanced human. Then, our conversation is interrupted by a strange, loud squawking noise coming from the topContinue reading “Reconfiguring my discipleship”
Tag Archives: Pope Francis
Holiness is messy: “Gaudete et Exsultate” highlights
On Sunday, I stood in a Church parking lot with about a dozen teenagers preparing for confirmation. I held a pile of paper plates under my arm, a black marker in my hand. The youth all stood behind a line, listening to me as I described their task: moving as a team to another lineContinue reading “Holiness is messy: “Gaudete et Exsultate” highlights”
Be perfect
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 ofContinue reading “Be perfect”
Death comes for us all, Oroku Saki
“Death comes for us all, Oroku Saki, but something much worse comes for you … for when you die, it will be without honor.” ~ Master Splinter, to the Shredder, in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie” (1990). At the climax of one of my favorite films, the 1990 cinematic masterpiece “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,”Continue reading “Death comes for us all, Oroku Saki”
More good news related to being messy
Ever since the birth of this blog nearly six years ago each discovery of Christian content elsewhere—stuff that also emulates the tone Messy Jesus Business aims to assert—has been a little thrill for me. And by “tone Messy Jesus Business aims to assert” I mean that in this forum we (myself and the Rabble Rousers) tryContinue reading “More good news related to being messy”
Walking for mercy, walking for justice
This week’s guest blogger, Michael Krueger, first met Sister Julia while working as a dishwasher at St. Rose Convent during his undergraduate years at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Inspired by those sisters and a Franciscan education he is an affiliate with the FSPA and, in La Crosse, was coordinator of Place of GraceContinue reading “Walking for mercy, walking for justice”
French braiding my way to a holier Lent
I am trying to teach myself how to French braid hair. As the mother of two daughters, one of whom was able to donate 10+ inches of hair at age three (with pigtails to spare), I feel that mastering this skill now is a savvy investment in my future time management. My first attempt atContinue reading “French braiding my way to a holier Lent”
Mercy-ing as a form of resistance
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 tuneContinue reading “Mercy-ing as a form of resistance”
Pumped for Pope Francis in the USA
This afternoon Pope Francis will arrive in the USA! Even though I can’t go the East Coast to greet him, I am very excited! During these first few weeks of school I have been doing different things with my students to get us all pumped up for his visit to our country. (I made the localContinue reading “Pumped for Pope Francis in the USA”
Gleanings from “The Francis Factor”
Question from the audience: I am a rich Christian. What should I do? Shane Claiborne (smiling hugely): Ha! If only Jesus had said something about that! Sometimes I feel that if only Jesus had left some concrete teachings, a pattern of life to follow and a community of believers to hold on to, itContinue reading “Gleanings from “The Francis Factor””