On a bright Sunday afternoon last month, my friend Ashley and I went to an “anti-militarist field day” outside the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It was organized by a group of recent college grads and was part of the Boeing Arms Genocide campaign. My desire to learn about anti-war efforts like these…
In this powerful episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with author and activist Kathy Kelly about her journey as a peace activist, how militarism doesn’t offer true security and how to ground ourselves in the fight for peace when we feel overwhelmed.
Sheltering in place during the coronavirus pandemic, I’m tucked away into my bedroom, where my time is defined by solitude and screens as I move between projects. Right now, I am working at my desk on various tasks: responding to emails, returning phone calls, setting up meetings. In the background, my radio hums quietly, the…
He went out and began to weep bitterly. – Luke 22:62 During the Gospel at Palm Sunday Mass, I noticed the emotions expressed by Jesus’ disciples – even when they failed to respond to the call to love and remain faithful. I wondered if I am faithful to Christ. I wondered if I am responding…
The present era of misinformation and manipulation in the media and politics calls us to seek out truth amid the noise, and to discover the prophetic voices that can help us follow the spirit through our complex realities. One the most powerful voices to guide our understanding is Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, former…
Wendell Berry speaks of the Kingdom of God like an economy in a way that totally burns in my soul and speaks to our world situation today. He describes four major principles of the Kingdom of God: Everything is included. Whether we want to be in it or not, all of creation is a part of…
As of the writing of this reflection, Witness Against Torture, The New York Catholic Worker, and Voices for Creative Nonviolence, among others, are in the midst of a week-long fast for the victims of the recent airstrikes and ongoing besiegement of Yemen. There we see, once again, one of the poorest countries of the world…
Happy Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day to all of you! What are you doing to honor the legacy of Dr. King today? Please, let us allow ourselves to be disturbed and transformed on this national holiday. This is not a day for sentimental history lessons. It is not a day to rest nor…
Happy St. Francis Day! In light of all that is making humanity hurt far and near—the evils of greed, economic inequalities, environmental destruction, endless war and gun-violence—on this ordinary and holy day, I find that my heart desires to emulate two particular aspects of St. Francis’ prophetic life from 800 years ago. I am praying…
Along with many people far and near, I have been terribly disturbed by images from the Syrian war recently. Appropriately disturbed. Early last week, I felt physically ill while I watched a news story about doctors and hospitals being targeted by airstrikes. Then, just a few days later, the images of Omran Daqneesh, the five…
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