Messy Jesus Business: Recent Episodes
Sister Julia Walsh
~ Sr. Julia Walsh, FSPAABOUT THE TEAMJulia Walsh is a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration based in Wisconsin. A storyteller, poet, and community-builder, her ministry experience includes teaching, retreat facilitation, preaching, spiritual accompaniment, justice advocacy, and caring for people who are unhoused and incarcerated. Sister Julia is the author of two books including For Love of the Broken Body: A Spiritual Memoir and is the founder of Messy Jesus Business, a website and podcast that explores the messiness of modern Christianity. The author of numerous articles, her work has been featured on the BBC, Relevant Radio, U.S. Catholic, America, and National Catholic Reporter. In 2017 she received a Master’s in Pastoral Studies from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. Today she serves her Franciscan community as a vocation director and speaks to a variety of groups about topics such as creativity, contemplation, and Gospel living. Colin Wambsgans is a composer and sound designer living in Los Angeles. His original music often uses field recordings as a basis, and has been presented at Cafe Oto (London), exMus (Dallas), and several venues around Los Angeles, including The Hammer Museum, Music @ Boston Court, the wulf., and Dog Star Orchestra. For the theater, Colin was the sound designer for productions with LaMama (NYC), Chalk Rep (LA), Rogue Machine (LA), and Center Rep (Walnut Creek, CA). His film work includes original music for All Exchanges Final (2016) and Spoons (2024)and sound design for River Mama (2024) and While the Trees Sleep (2017), which was selected for the Edinburgh Film Festival and Canne’s Short Film Corner. He has worked on numerous podcasts, including original music for NPR’s “Embedded” and production and editing for “Messy Jesus Business”. He lives in Burbank, CA with his wife and kids.Mary Chuey Bishop writes spiritual nonfiction and speculative fiction and works as an editor, including for Messy Jesus Business. She lives, loves, writes, works, and worries from her home in Annapolis, MD. You can find her at marycbishop.com.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness
-Kaitlin CurticeKaitlin CurticeABOUT THE GUESTKaitlin Curtice is an award-winning author, poet-storyteller, and public speaker. As an enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi nation, Kaitlin writes on the intersections of spirituality and identity and how that shifts throughout our lives. She also speaks on these topics to diverse audiences who are interested in truth-telling and healing.As an inter-spiritual advocate, Kaitlin participates in conversations on topics such as colonialism in faith communities, and she has spoken at many conferences on the importance of inter-faith relationships. Kaitlin leads workshops and retreats, as well as lectures and keynote presentations, ranging from panels at the Aspen Climate Conference to speaking at the Chautauqua Institution and at universities, private retreat centers, and churches across the country.In 2020 Kaitlin’s award-winning book Native: Identity, Belonging and Rediscovering God won Georgia Author of the Year in the religion category. Native explores the relationship between American Christianity and Indigenous peoples, drawing on Kaitlin’s experiences as a Potawatomi woman.In 2023, Kaitlin released two books, first, Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day, which examines the journey of resisting the status quo of hate by caring for ourselves, one another, and Mother Earth, and second, her first children’s book called Winter’s Gifts: An Indigenous Celebration of Nature, which is the premier book in a series of four books on the four seasons coming out with Convergent, RandomHouse Books. Her second book in the series called Summer’s Magic was released in 2024.Besides her books, Kaitlin has written online for Sojourners, Religion News Service, On Being, SELF Magazine, Oprah Daily, and more. Her work has been featured on CBS and in USA Today. She also writes essays and poetry for The Liminality Journal and spends her time supporting other authors as they navigate the world of publishing. Kaitlin lives near Philadelphia with her partner, two dogs, and two kids.Find out more about Kaitlin at Instagram.com/kaitlincurtice, and The Liminality Journal on Substack.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
s the thing: I like being cozy and comfortable too. I believe in the power of sabbath, rest, and retreat. And, during the Advent season, I love lighting candles, singing along with cheery music, baking cookies, writing cards and notes, and visiting people I love. When I pray at home during the Advent season, I’m usually snuggled into a fluffy blanket. I have more than enough to eat, and don’t fear a raid, detention, or warfare. The calm and quiet is so ordinary, that I could easily take it for granted. If I am not staying awake, I could quickly cocoon into safety and avoidance.What is the nature of a soul that is waiting for the return of Jesus Christ? If we remain rooted in our faith tradition, Advent actions will move us from the sacred stillness to a spirit of bold generosity and compassion. We give up our plans and preferences for the sake of the other. I was reminded of this recently as I accompanied a couple people dear to me through surgeries and recoveries and then some Emergency Room visits. To be present and centered on what’s most important– such as compassion for another—I had to adjust and be flexible, changing the date of a podcast interview and the release of an episode.This may not be a radical act, but it was a great reminder for me about the need to be ready, open, and available for whatever newness Christ is sending. Photo by Duncan Shaffer on UnsplashAs we wait and prepare for the coming of Christ, let’s remember the faith of our ancestors who were resisting tyranny and oppression by staying devoted to nonviolent Christian love and accepting the cost of commitment. We even may need to expect persecution as we risk comfort for the sake of the other. Let’s give what we can to those in need. Let’s not worry about what we will receive, or the fruits of our efforts; let’s put our trust in God’s goodness. And then, awake to Christ already with us and with hope in the coming of Christ, let’s stay faithful to our mission to love. For more by this author and more about Advent, visit our web site.
Episode 98 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with timone davis. They explore naming what you see in people, the military, Christ's peace, inner paradoxes, asking the deeper questions, and much more.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available."When we are encountering another person, they're also encountering us. And I think that's something that we forget."-timone davistimone davisABOUT THE GUESTtimone davis is a cradle Catholic who was a “pewster” until she discovered that the uselessness of the Church was because she wasn’t giving anything of herself. After committing to getting involved, her life changed. Her first ministry was with the RCIA, where she not only welcomed others into the Church, but also revitalized her own spirituality.After working for the Archdiocese of Chicago as the coordinator of ReCiL – Reclaiming Christ in Life Young Adult Ministry, timone co-founded PEACE centered WHOLENESS with her husband Orlando, where they are blending clinical counseling and spiritual companioning.timone is an associate professor in the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago and an instructor in New Frontiers in Preaching Academy at Aquinas Institute of Theology. In her spare time, she serves as the Associate Convener of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium.timone's dynamic energy and deep spirituality enhance her brand of teaching that engages one’s spirit through the use of storytelling. No matter the occasion, timone's mission is to help others open their hearts and minds to the soul-saving power of God's Grace, Love and Mercy.*dr. timone davis uses lower case letters in the spelling of her name to indicate her willingness to embody the creedal assertion in John 3:30 in her everyday living. You can find dr. timone davis' preaching at her podcast, Skinny Thoughts on Christ's Peace.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 97 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Vincent Noth, executive director of the Kinship Community Food Center in Milwaukee. They explore faith, segregation, inequality, systemic racialized poverty, mystical experience, food as entry point to community, mutuality, accompaniment, and much more.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available."The gospel germinates in the brokenness of our lives. And when our lives, when our woundedness, is being cultivated and nourished with the other people around us, and when we can be authentic and messy....the Eucharistic life is flowing through us into one another."-Vincent NothVincent NothABOUT THE GUESTVincent Noth, a Milwaukee native, grew up attending public school on the northside. He has been the Executive Director of the Kinship Community Food Center (formerly Riverwest Food Pantry) since 2013. He has worked in Milwaukee’s urban service and nonprofit sector since 1999, as the Director of Programs for Summit Educational Association and as Pastor of the Youth and Family Ministries for Eastbrook Church. He served as a community and organization development consultant with the Peace Corps in Eastern Europe. He holds a B.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University and a M.A. in Religion from Trinity International University. Vincent and his wife Jessica have lived in the Riverwest-Harambee community since 2001.Learn more about Kinship Community Food Center at kinshipmke.org.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 96 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Michele Duane, OFS, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network (FAN). They explore secular Franciscanism, activism, the interests of government vs. the interests of gospel, Franciscan discernment, kinship, interior conversion, and much more.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available."If I had to use one word to say, you know, what is it at the root of the Franciscan tradition that that we can bring that's needed in the world today? The word I would use is kinship."-Michele DunneMichele DunneYou can find out more about Franciscan Action Network at www.franciscanaction.org and on Instagram @franciscannet.ABOUT THE GUESTMichele Dunne is a Secular Franciscan and executive director of the Franciscan Action Network (FAN). Before joining FAN, she worked for the U.S. Department of State and at think tanks including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She and her husband have two young adult children and live in Washington DC.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 95 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh. In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with author and podcast host Matthew Sitman. They explore conversion to Catholicism, the breadth and universality of the Catholic Church, humility and openness, cancel culture, Pope Francis, mercy, ideology, relationships, being a gay Catholic, ritual and wordless gestures, and much more.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available."We give ourselves excuses to dismiss people, to not see them, not see the reality of their lives. And that's just something I don't think we're permitted as Christians."-Matthew SitmanMatthew SitmanYou can find more of Matthew Sitman @matthewsitman on X/Twitter.ABOUT THE GUESTMatthew Sitman is a writer in New York City and the co-host of the podcast Know Your Enemy, a guide to the right by two leftists. Prior to writing and podcasting full-time, he was associate editor of Commonweal magazine for six years. He was received into the Catholic Church as an adult—this fall he'll have been Catholic for a decade.Listen to Matt and his Know Your Enemy co-host Sam Adler Bell talk about Pope Francis here.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 94 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with author and poet Cole Arthur Riley. They explore embodiment, resisting meritocracy, story, collective memory, letter writing, resistance, the tension between practice and belief, interiority, and much more.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available."I think we can ask ourselves, who benefits from us being disembodied in this country? Government leaders, the ultra wealthy who need us to work more and more and more for less and less wages. And I think you can ask a similar question about memory. Who in this country benefits from our forgetting? There are systems that have everything to gain from our disembodiment, just as there are systems that have everything to gain from this willful amnesia."-Cole Arthur RileyCole Arthur RileyYou can find more of Cole Arthur Riley on Instagram @blackliturgies, on Facebook @blackliturgist, and at her website, colearthurriley.com.ABOUT THE GUESTCole Arthur Riley is a writer and poet. She is the author of the NYT bestsellers, This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us and Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human. Her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Guernica, and The Washington Post. Cole is also the creator and writer of Black Liturgies, a project that integrates spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black literature, and the Black body.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 93 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Thanks for listening to Messy Jesus Business! We're taking our summer break after this episode. Look for new interviews in your podcast feed starting in late September 2025.In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Mary Kay McDermott about following the lead of the Spirit, Catholic Worker, intentional community, works of mercy, co-creation, singing into the liminal, the healing power of community song and dance, and more.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available."My great joy is to lead dances where five-year-olds and seventy-five-year-olds are all dancing together with big smiles on their faces, and looking each other in the eye and breathing together and feeling some synchronicity in their movements."-Mary Kay McDermottMary Kay McDermottFind Mary Kay McDermott's Substack here.ABOUT THE GUESTMary Kay has been a part of the Catholic Worker movement for the last 25 years. She has co-founded several CW intentional communities including the one where she and her family currently live, St. Isidore Catholic Worker Farm in SW WI. Over the past 10 years she has become passionate about and cultivated the skills for building community through dance, song, and movement that is accessible and inclusive for all. As an American folk dance leader/caller she enjoys leading contra, circle, and square dances that unite people of all ages and abilities. She leads a community singing group that sings joyful, diverse, easy-to-memorize songs in a no practice, no performance experience that boosts energy and enlivens spirits. In addition, Mary Kay teaches mindful movement yoga classes that blend breath and movement, and encourage relaxation and inner peace. In all of her modalities, Mary Kay’s overarching goal is to cultivate experiences where people feel a deeper connection to body, mind, spirit, and community.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 92 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Sr. Dr. Chero Chuma about privilege, racism, surrender, discomfort, mental health and homelessness, human dignity, radical hospitality, burnout, therapy, and messiness.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available."We are called to go beyond what we know or what we think our capacity is, knowing that within us...God who then created us will provide what we need."-Sr. Dr. Chero ChumaSr. Dr. Chero ChumaFind Sr. Dr. Chero Chuma's congregation at csjp.org.ABOUT THE GUESTSister Chero Chuma, CSJP, DNP, is a Sister of Saint Joseph of Peace and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). Sr. Chero is the Director for Vocations in the USA and has been involved in the healthcare field for over 22 years. She continues to serve as a per diem psychiatric provider at Seattle’s Crisis Solutions Center where she diagnoses and treats people with mental illness. Sr. Chero is a University of Washington graduate with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and a WWAMI AHEC Scholar. She is also a Seattle University graduate with a dual bachelor’s degree in nursing and theology and religious studies. She uses her education and experiences to educate many on matters of faith and mental health.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 91 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Michael Poffenberger about activism, contemplation, interiority, right relationships and the true self, vulnerability and control, transformation, wholeness, and much more.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available."Transformation happens not because of our force of will to change ourselves. It happens because of our capacity to witness ourselves with honesty in prayer and then be healed by God."-Michael PoffenbergerMichael PoffenbergerABOUT THE GUESTMichael Poffenberger holds the tension of the and. As the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC)’s executive director since 2014, Michael sees CAC as uniquely positioned to support inner work for those seeking to build a more just and humane world. A graduate of Notre Dame, Michael served previously as the executive director of Resolve, where he worked alongside religious and civil society leaders to build peace and aid war-affected communities in Central and East Africa, and co-founded the Crisis Tracker. He believes that transforming consciousness can solve many of today’s challenges, and seeking that truth in his own life led him to the work of CAC. Michael lives this mission beyond CAC as the board chair for Invisible Children, in supporting movements for peace and collective liberation, and as a dad to his daughter Madeleine. In his contemplative practice, he asks himself, “What can the world look like when love is awakened?” That’s the vision he holds for all touched by CAC— that love is both who we are and where we are going.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 90 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.(We had some issues with Elena's microphone during recording, our apologies! -Colin)In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Elena Segura about Evangelicalism, conversion, social justice, the radicalness of Mass, immigration reform, silence, and more.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available."Evangelization is just being who you are."-Elena SeguraLearn more about Elena Segura's work here, and join her in saying a rosary every Wednesday during Lent for immigration reform.Elena SeguraABOUT THE GUESTElena Segura leads a national initiative of the Archdiocese of Chicago to develop and implement Pastoral Migratoria, which she founded in 2008 as an immigrant-led ministry for service, justice, and accompaniment in parish communities. Pastoral Migratoria is based in the methodology of Aparecida, whose main architect was (now) Pope Francis. Chicago area participants include 200 Hispanic lay leaders across 40 Hispanic parishes. The Dioceses of Stockton (CA) and Kansas City–Saint Joseph (MO) launched their pilot programs last year. Ten dioceses interested in starting this ministry took part in the inaugural Instituto Pastoral Migratoria in Chicago in July 2018. The goal is to create a national network. Since the 2005 inception of the Catholic Campaign for Immigration Reform, Elena directed the archdiocese’s local Immigration Ministry, facilitating formation of pioneering networks of 200 priests, 54 religious orders, and immigration liaisons in 124 native-born congregations. Elena began her career organizing grassroots responses to problems facing her community in rural Peru.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
A Special Episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreAfter chatting with Lisa Hendey at RE Congress, Sister Julia had impromptu short interviews with some Congress attendees who passed by the FSPA booth. We heard a few of these voices last week, and this mini special episode has six more.Sister Julia and Doctor Peter JonesYou'll hear from Robert Ellsberg, Andrea (from Ontario, California), Dr. Peter Jones, Janice England, Father Tony Ricard, and Sister Rose Elsbernd, FSPA.Check out our archive of podcasts here!MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 89 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.This special episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast was recorded live at RE Congress 2025. In this episode, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Lisa M. Hendey about CatholicMom.com, blogging and podcasting, unconditional love, the importance of questions, the Chime Travelers, belonging and hospitality, and more.We also hear mini interviews with Mariana Lacouture, Anthony Deosdade, and Emilia Sury. Look for an episode featuring more mini interviews from RE Congress in the coming weeks!Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available.When we really, authentically say, 'Yes, God, I'm giving you my life,' fasten your seatbelts because you will not believe the places that you will be taken and what will happen."-Lisa M. HendeyLisa M. HendeyABOUT THE GUESTLisa M. Hendey is the founder of CatholicMom.com and the bestselling author of I'm A Saint in the Making, among other books. She has journeyed around the globe to hear and share messages of hope and encouragement. Her Chime Travelers series for kids is read and studied worldwide in homes, schools, and churches. A frequent TV and radio guest, Lisa also hosts podcasts and speaks internationally on faith, family, evangelization and technology topics. She has traveled worldwide with non-profits to support their humanitarian missions. Lisa and Greg Hendey worship and live their story in Los Angeles, CA.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 88 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Rev. Ricky Manalo, CSP, about faith and culture, vocation, liturgical music, what worship is, AI, what it means to be human, and polarization and unity.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show is available. I define [worship] as any kind of response that we might have to something or someone holy....worship could take place anywhere. It could take place when I'm going for a walk in Manhattan or I'm in the subway and I notice someone who's in need of help."-Rev. Ricky Manalo, CSPRev. Ricky Manalo, CSPABOUT THE GUESTRev. Ricky Manalo, CSP, Ph.D. is a Paulist priest, a composer, theologian, and author. He is the recipient of the 2020 Distinguished Catholic Music Composer of the Year Award by the Association of Catholic Publishers, and the 2018 Pastoral Musician of the Year Award by the National Association of Pastoral Musicians. He studied composition and piano at the Manhattan School of Music, theology at the Washington Theological Union (WTU), and liturgy, culture, and sociology at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), Berkeley, CA. Currently, he is serving as Chairperson of the Paulist Initiative on Polarization.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 87 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Dr. Ann Garrido about having difficult conversations, discerning truth, and trust.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show can be found here.I think what is essential for bridging difference is that both persons have a deep, deep commitment to truth, to trying to pursue what's true. So if both people in the conversation, regardless of how different they are, are entering into the conversation trying to figure out what's true and willing to renegotiate what they hold at any particular point in time if they figure out what's more true, I think the conversation always has the potential of going places. -Dr. Ann GarridoDr. Ann GarridoABOUT THE GUESTAnn Garrido is associate professor of homiletics at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri, where she previously directed the school’s Doctorate of Ministry in Preaching program. She is the author of multiple books, including the award-winning Redeeming Administration, Redeeming Conflict, and Let’s Talk About Truth. Her newest book is Redeeming Power. She travels nationally and internationally helping communities talk about the topics they find toughest to talk about—conversations that always involve questions of truth. She lives with her husband outside Atlanta, Georgia.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 86 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.In the return of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Fr. James Martin, SJ about his vocation, the raising of Lazarus, pilgrimages and Jesus' parables, and Fr. Martin's experience at the Synod.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreA transcript of the show can be found here.Oftentimes people think [a call to vocation] really needs to be this kind of dramatic, you know, falling on your knees and having this light from heaven, you know, like Saul on the way to Damascus... But I think that the more common way that it happens is that it's an understanding a desire that is within you that that is a holy desire, to be coming from God. -Fr. James Martin, SJFr. James Martin, SJABOUT THE GUESTFather James Martin, SJ, is a Jesuit priest, editor at large of America, consulter to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication and author of many books, including the New York Times bestseller Jesus: A Pilgrimage and The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything. He is the founder of Outreach, a Catholic news and opinion site for LGBTQ Catholics. Father Martin's latest book, Come Forth will be released in paperback February 2025.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
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 | DownloadWith this episode, we're beginning our winter break. We'll see you again in late January! From all of us here, thank you so much for listening. Have a blessed Advent, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!Subscribe: Email | RSS | MoreMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced, edited, and original music by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 85 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | More"Sometimes [conversion] just felt so hard to do. I had so many questions and I had so many doubts and it was conveyed to me by more than one person that It shouldn't be this hard, but I look back and I'm actually really grateful for it, for how much I had to wrestle with my adoption and my parents language and what liturgy means now and with our embrace of death.All these things that I carried with me culturally as the daughter of Chinese immigrants had to be reexamined in my conversion. They didn't fit into what my life as a Catholic was turning into. I would do these things that felt antithetical to the way my parents raised me...And I had to maybe not revise those things of my past and those things of how I grew up, but I had to, I guess just reconcile them in a different way and say, yes, where I come from makes me who I am today.It all comes with me, but I can look at it differently."-Melody GeeTopics Discussed:Immigration experienceConversion to CatholicismRitual, routine, and liturgyDiscomfort The messiness of prayer and communityEmbodiment of faithBalancing different culturesEmbracing conflictResisting perfectionismName Drops:JesusThomas MertonRonald RolheiserOliver BurkemanGreg BoyleSaul/PaulBooks Mentioned:the BibleWe Carry Smoke and PaperNew Seeds of ContemplationMelody GeeABOUT THE GUESTMelody S. Gee is the author of We Carry Smoke and Paper: Essays on the Grief and Hope of Conversion (University of Iowa Press, October 2024), which explores the cultural costs of religious conversion. She is also the author of three books of poetry: The Convert’s Heart is Good to Eat, The Dead in Daylight, and Each Crumbling House. She is the recipient of Kundiman fellowships in poetry and fiction, a Sustainable Arts Foundation Award, and an Artist Support Grant from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis. Born in Taiwan and raised in Cerritos, California, Melody is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of New Mexico. She has taught writing at Purdue University, Southwestern Illinois College, and St. Louis Community College, and currently works in renewable energy communications. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband and daughters.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 84 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | More" Once they enter our [Humanitarian Respite Center for immigrants along the border], the very first thing that I asked is, "Como estas?" How are you? And it's for the very first time that someone that has been through so many difficult times, you know, and fear for their lives and their children, not having anything to eat sometimes, probably sleeping in the grass in the ground and really finding themselves with their feet all blistered for all the walking they did and their shoes torn and they walk without shoes and they end up with us in very poor conditions... it's for the very first time that they see someone say, how are you?And it's like they matter. You can start seeing in them the transformation in their faces. I hear them say like, Thank you God for taking care of me and bringing me to this safe space, you know. This is what for me is the Rio Grande Valley and the border in South Texas with Mexico."-Sister Norma Pimentel, MJIN THIS EPISODETo donate to or volunteer with Sister Norma, click here or scan the QR code below.Topics Discussed:Sister Norma's vocationartimmigrationborder controlcouragea punishing vs a loving Godthe breadth of Spiritualitybeing presentmaking connectionsexploitation of immigrantsdignityprotesting the sale of armsbeing a disciple of Jesustrusting/surrendering to GodName Drops:JesusPope FrancisMother Teresa of AvilaMosesBooks Mentioned:the BibleTime MagazineSister Norma Pimentel, MJABOUT THE GUESTSister Norma Pimentel has become one of the most recognized leaders in our nation today. As Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, she oversees the charitable branch of the Diocese of Brownsville, the second largest Catholic Diocese in the United States. Sister Pimentel has over twenty years of experience in providing oversight to a diverse set of ministries and social services in the Rio Grande Valley such as homeless prevention, disaster relief, clinical counseling, pregnancy care, food assistance, and humanitarian relief to immigrants.In 2014, during the influx of immigrants entering the United States through the Southern Border, Sister Pimentel with the support of the local community established the Humanitarian Respite Center, providing a safe space for immigrants to rest before continuing their journey to other parts of the United States. Ten years later, the Humanitarian Respite Center has become the largest respite center in our country, welcoming over half a million immigrants in the course of ten years. More than just providing immediate humanitarian care, Sister Pimentel has become a voice for immigrant families reminding us that they are not numbers but rather human beings who should be respected and treated with dignity.Sister Pimentel holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Pan American University, a master’s degree in theology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, and a master’s degree in pastoral counseling from Loyola University in Chicago. She also holds over five honorary doctoral degrees from some of the most prestigious universities in our nation such as the University of Norte Dame.Furthermore, known as the Pope’s favorite nun, Sister Pimentel is also an artist whose paintings have captivated numerous audiences.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 83 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | More"I think so many of us are holding anxiety and grief and despair in our bodies all the time. And we're not letting it out....We don't have spaces for rituals around grief."-Lydia Wylie-KellermannIN THIS EPISODEIn the latest episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh FSPA chats with Lydia Wylie-Kellermann, editor, activist, mother, and author of This Sweet Earth: Walking with our Children in the Age of Climate Collapse. They discuss Lydia's early influence from The Catholic Worker, and what it's like to live an embodied life of faith. "We don't know what life's going to be like for future generations," Lydia says, "but what is it that we want them to have in their bones to be able to summon when they need it?"The two also discuss the two pulls of creation and resistance, resisting perfectionism in the messiness of discipleship, and the wildness of Scripture. Lydia suggests, "Think about discipleship being committed to not political boundaries, but who are the people who are fed by the same water." Name Drops:JesusLaura AlaryDietrich BonhoefferVincent HardingThe Two Loops theory of changeTopics Discussed:Catholic Workerjustice and faithstorytellingembodied faithcreation and resistanceraising childrentechnologycommunityresisting perfectionismwatershed discipleshipbeing creaturescolonialismBooks Mentioned:the BibleThis Sweet Earth: Walking with our Children in the Age of Climate CollapseLydia Wylie-KellermannABOUT THE GUESTLydia Wylie-Kellermann is a writer, editor, activist, and mother. She is the director of Kirkridge Retreat and Study Center and author of This Sweet Earth: Walking with our Children in the Age of Climate Collapse. She is the editor of The Sandbox Revolution: Raising Kids for a Just World. Lydia’s writing has appeared in Sojourners, Geez Magazine, and various Catholic Worker papers. She lives with her partner and two boys in Bangor, Pennsylvania.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 82 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | More"I think when we're playing we're participating in the playfulness of God."-Mark LonghurstIN THIS EPISODEIn the latest episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh FSPA chats with Mark Longhurst, author of the newly released book, The Holy Ordinary: A Way to God , a member of a new monastic community, and "ordinary mystic." They discuss Mark's journey from a young Evangelical to UCC pastor to social justice ministry, and eventually to mysticism. "I would say that my journey is just one of constant failure and suffering," Mark says, "and then finding greater depth and God's presence in the midst of it."Mark and Sister Julia discuss the old beliefs they have had to "unlearn," including atonement theology, and the peace and playfulness found in growth. They also delve into integrating contemplation and mysticism into an "ordinary" life, and different styles of parenting. Name Drops:JesusRichard RohrDostoevskyHildegard of BingenJames BaldwinMirabai StarrDC TalkMichael W. SmithJars of ClayPearl JamCelticsCommunity of the IncarnationTopics Discussed:Evangelicalismmysticismmainline Christianitycontemplationdeconstruction and reconstructionatonement theologyparentingplayfulnessdiscipleshipmessiness of Gospel livingBooks Mentioned:the BibleThe Brothers KaramazovThe Holy OrdinaryOrdinary MysticismMark LonghurstABOUT THE GUESTMark Longhurst is a writer and “ordinary mystic.” He is a member of the new monastic “Community of the Incarnation” and works as the Publications Manager at the Center for Action and Contemplation. A former pastor, he served United Church of Christ churches for ten years and worked as a faith-based social justice activist in the Boston area for ten more. A graduate of Harvard Divinity School, and a longtime yoga-practitioner, he runs two Substack newsletters at marklonghurst.substack.com. Mark lives in western Massachusetts with his family.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 81 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | More"A culture of encounter is something we have to be very intent on practicing, and so I'm excited about an economics that creates many of those opportunities for encounter."-Elizabeth GarlowIN THIS EPISODEIn the latest episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh FSPA chats with Elizabeth Garlow, economist and cofounder of the Francesco Collaborative, which invites individuals to critique economic structures and invest using their whole spiritual selves. Elizabeth discusses her early Capuchin influences and her interest in Focolare. "I had a sort of hunger to have a different kind of conversation about who we are as human beings," she says, "how we meet our needs, what kind of systems can we create?"Sister Julia and Elizabeth talk about the damage that can be done by our current economic structures. "Our economic structures are intertwined with problems of disconnection and loneliness," Elizabeth says. Elizabeth also discusses the challenging ways we can move forward to help create a more just world. "Money in many ways is energy, " she says. "It's flow. It is not something that we are slaves to as the Gospel...teaches us."Name Drops:Natalie FosterPope FrancisMia BirdsongFr. Richard WardMarjorie KellyFr. LebrayMorgan SimonNich RomeoZacchaeusTopics Discussed:Franciscan spiritualityCapuchin communityFocolare MovementEconomy of CommunionEconomy of Francescohow we spend and investethic of enoughnessfinancial discipleshipINE InstituteBooks Mentioned:Laudato SiLaudate DeumThe BibleLiving City MagazineHow We Show UpReal ImpactWealth SupremacyThe AlternativeElizabeth GarlowABOUT THE GUESTElizabeth Garlow is drawn to the spiritual dimensions of our shared work to build a new economy. She co-founded the Francesco Collaborative, which was in part inspired by the kinds of spaces she longed to be a part of as an investor: one that invites us to show up as our spiritually rooted selves, with deep vulnerability, care for one another and a commitment to critique the structural problems of our economy and dream about our role in its transformation.Through her work, she supports protagonists of transformation drawing on lineages of faith, spirituality, and wisdom to ask questions like: “what is enough?” and “what does a practice of finance and investing fit for the needs of our time look like”? These questions are in part drawn from her formation in the Focolare Movement's Economy of Communion initiative, where enterprises seek to embody a relational economy paradigm. Elizabeth previously co-led impact investing for the Lumina Foundation, served as a policy advisor with the Obama Administration, and co-founded a Detroit- based organization, Michigan Corps, to invest in local entrepreneurs through crowdfunding and innovative forms of patient capital. She studied political economy at Kalamazoo College, completed her graduate work in public policy and economics at Princeton University, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in 2019. Elizabeth lives in Michigan, where she is enjoying getting reacquainted with Michigan’s Great Lakes and apprenticing with urban farmers in Detroit.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 80 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | More"I think it goes back to humility, you know, just being willing to genuinely listen to the other side."-Kelly MoltzenIN THIS EPISODEIn the latest episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh FSPA chats with Kelly Moltzen. They discuss Kelly's early Franciscan influences and how they affected her decision to study health disparity and food justice as a lay Franciscan. "Everything is connected," Kelly says, "and the way that we treat our environment is going to have direct impacts on your health." They also discuss efforts to depolarize our communities, and the work of Braver Angels. The work of reaching out to those who think differently is difficult, but necessary. "I think it's important that we don't get caught up in group think," Kelly says, "that we all are able to seek things out for ourselves."Name Drops:Shane ClaibornePope FrancisThich Nhat HanhFr. Richard RohrImmanuel SwedenborgSimran Kit SinghJohn Duns ScotusTopics Discussed:Franciscan spiritualityintentional communityfood justiceenvironment/ecologycommunion and interconnection with creationdepolarizationinterfaith workappreciating differenceshumilityspiritual entrepreneurshipBooks Mentioned:The Irresistible RevolutionLaudato SiThe BibleThe Mystic HeartThe Light We GiveKelly MoltzenABOUT THE GUESTKelly Moltzen is a co-founder and convener of the Interfaith Public Health Network, which inspires people of faith to be agents of change in transforming communities into ones that promote health and well-being for all. She is a Registered Dietitian, has her Master’s of Public Health, and is a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. She is serving as a co-chair of the Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation commission of the Franciscan Federation, and is part of the core group of the Intergenerational Eco-Justice & Spirituality Network which is supported by the Franciscan Federation. Kelly was a 2021-2022 Abrahamic House fellow, and a 2022 Rockefeller-Acumen Food Systems Fellow. Her Rockefeller Food System Vision Prize proposal, Faith Communities Leading the Way Towards Healthy, Sustainable Food Systems, reached the semi-finalist stage. Kelly has worked to address health disparities in the Bronx with Bronx Health REACH for 14 years, and is also supporting the Chief Impact and Sustainability Office of Church World Service as a consultant, helping to promote faith community engagement in the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 79 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | More"Discipleship...ought to begin with the idea of being in that relationship of sort of Christ-like care and ministry for other people regardless of what they deserve."-Rev. Benjamin J. DueholmIN THIS EPISODEIn the latest episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh FSPA chats with Rev. Benjamin Dueholm. Rev. Benjamin tells Sr. Julia of his encounter with St. Augustine's Confessions at an experimental college in California, and how it, among other things, led him to becoming a Lutheran pastor. They discuss the paradox of the universal and the personal, and how technology has changed the way we live in community. Rev. Benjamin compares church ministry to a Sunday dinner, and speaks about mission drift of the Gospel in some churches. "My task as a preacher," he says, "and to some extent as a writer, is to make Christ contemporary...but the truth is, it's a scary thought to think that OK, God is talking to me right now."Rev. Benjamiin DueholmABOUT THE GUESTThe Rev. Benjamin J. Dueholm has served as the pastor of Christ Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Dallas, Texas since 2019, after previously serving churches in and around Chicago. His writing on religion, politics, and culture has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Christian Century, and the Dallas Morning News and has presented at the Cambridge University "Religious Diversity and Secular University" workshop and the Valparaiso University Institute of Liturgical Studies. Passionate about supporting the formation of leaders for the church, he has taught worship and preaching at the University of Chicago Divinity School and serves on the committee guiding candidates for ordained ministry in north Texas. He is the author of Sacred Signposts: Words, Water, and Other Acts of Resistance (Eerdmans, 2018). He lives in Texas with his wife Kerry and their three children. You can find more of him at benjamindueholm.substack.com. MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 78 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreForgiveness is a process, not a product."-Kaya OakesIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh FSPA chats with Kaya Oakes. Their conversation goes into the issues and ideas about forgiveness that Kaya explores in her new book, Not So Sorry. To her, forgiveness is often an expected act that doesn't include avenues for processing. Kaya discusses "restorative justice as a model for a collaborative kind of forgiveness that I think is closer to what Jesus was talking about." Later in the podcast she adds, "it's like him saying give yourself time and space to decide what God's calling you to do."Sister Julia and Kaya also talk about Kaya's breast cancer. She talks about the frustrations of the process of diagnosis and treatment, as well as how dealing with a serious medical need requires more than just individual action. As Kaya says, "you don't survive cancer without a community."Kaya OakesABOUT THE GUESTKaya Oakes is a journalist and author of many books, most recently, "Not So Sorry: Abusers, False Apologies, and the Limits of Forgiveness," as well as "The Defiant Middle: How Women Claim Life’s In-Betweens to Remake the World,""The Nones Are Alright," and "Radical Reinvention." You can also find her on her Substack and on her last guest appearance on the Messy Jesus Business Podcast. She teaches writing at UC Berkeley. Her work has received multiple awards, with her essays and journalism appearing in The Guardian, Slate, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, and On Being. She was born and raised in Oakland, California, where she still lives. Find her on Instagram @kayaoakeswrites, or on X @kayaoakes.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 77 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreYou actually have to decide to believe... recognizing that just because you decided doesn't mean it comes easily, but you have to work at it."-Br. Cyrus Habib, SJIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh FSPA chats with Cyrus Habib, SJ. Cyrus tells Julia that though his previous life was full of accolades, including studying in England, going to law school in the U.S., and being elected to office in the State of Washington, it could leave him feeling empty. But certain parts of his experience, like helping underserved children or talking with spiritual leaders, would make him "feel this closeness of God." Cyrus talks about how praying the Examen helped him find "when I was being prophetic, which doesn't mean standing on a mountaintop... it's any time I'm living the gospel in a way that pushes me towards growth... and hopefully also leads the way for others." He also tells Sister Julia about his experiences with cancer and loss and how he hopes they can be "a part of holiness, when my wounds are open to your wounds, and we can actually [have] the wounds as a site of encounter."Br. Cyrus Habib, SJABOUT THE GUESTCyrus Habib is a Jesuit Scholastic, educator, spiritual director, and former politician who served as the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Washington from 2017 to 2021. He is both the first and only Iranian American official to hold statewide elected office in the United States. He is a graduate of Columbia University, Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and Yale Law School.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 76 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreEven with your presence, you preach"-Sr. Xiomara Méndez Hernández, OP, BCCIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh FSPA chats with Sister Xiomara Méndez Hernández, OP, BCC. Sister Xiomara tells Julia about growing up in the Dominican Republic and becoming a fashion designer before being called to join the Adrian Dominican sisters. "They showed me poverty in my own country," says Sister Xiomara. "When I saw these intelligent, beautiful, well educated women giving their life for people they didn't know, it blew my mind." Her experience with the centrality of Dominican preaching helped Sister Xiomara in her years as a chaplain. "A chaplain is a call to be a compassionate and sacred and loving presence of God...when we are visiting a person who is suffering, we are meeting the person when the person is the most vulnerable. So how can we go and preach to them with our words? By listening."Sr. Xiomara Méndez Hernández, OP, BCCABOUT THE GUESTSister Xiomara (See-o-mara) Méndez Hernández, OP, BCC, an Adrian Dominican Sister, is originally from the Dominican Republic. She is the Executive Director of Dominican Sisters Conference – DSC. Previously, she ministered for 10 years as a Hospital Chaplain at Loyola University Health System in the Chicago area; St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in Henderson and Las Vegas, Nevada; and more recently at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, FL where she was the Spiritual Care Manager. She has had diverse ministerial experiences in the areas of preaching, catechesis, directing retreats, Spanish-English Medical interpreting, liturgical dancing, performance, and high fashion teaching. Sister Xiomara holds a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Studies from Catholic Theological Union – CTU in Chicago, Licentiate on Industrial Arts with a Major on Fashion Design, and is a Board Certified Chaplain with the National Association of Catholic Chaplains – NACC. Before she became a religious sister, she was a fashion designer in her native country. She currently lives in Miami, Florida.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 75 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreLord, help me to love just like you, ... in that prayer, I'm invoking God's grace."-Fr Roger LopezIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh FSPA, enjoys a conversation with Fr. Roger Lopez, O.F.M. Fr. Roger talks about what drew him to the Franciscans once he decided to "take God off hold" and enter into the priesthood. "The invitation is to be 'lesser'... that's following the person of Jesus," he says. Later, Fr. Roger goes into how grace, freely given from God, can help us in acts of compassion and connection, some of them extraordinary. "With God's grace, being open to it, it's achievable," he explains. "When we're dealing with people we don't like, or information we don't like, that's where we have to ask God for help." This grace helps us connect, but it requires us to let go, Fr.Roger adds. "It's messy... but it's totally worth it."Fr. Roger Lopez, O.F.M.ABOUT THE GUESTFr. Roger Lopez, O.F.M. is a solemnly professed priest with the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscan Friars) of the newly established Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, where he serves as a Provincial Councilor full-time. His prior assignments were in secondary education, college campus ministry, and hospital chaplaincy, and he served as a youth high adventure chaplain, and in soup kitchens, street ministry, and RCIA.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 74 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreThings are gooey and God is in the goo. And thank God that God is in the goo."-Sister Susan Francois IN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh FSPA, enjoys a conversation with Sister Susan Francois CSJP. Sister Susan shares about her vocation story and how she journeyed from being an ex-Catholic working as an elections officer to a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. "I always knew I wanted to make the world a different, a better place," Sister Susan says. "And I always thought that government would be my path to do that. And I tried that, and it wasn't enough." Sister Susan shares insights on the meaning of common good and the power of Catholic social teaching, changes occurring in religious life, and the role of chaos in collective transformation. As a leader, Sister Susan has become a bit of an expert of praying in the chaos. "The universe came out of chaos. God created us out of chaos. It's a creative moment. That's where God is. So I'm really encouraging myself and others to embrace the chaos and to find our way to take care of ourselves and care for each other, but also to not be afraid of [chaos] and to try things," Sister Susan exerts.Sister Susan FrancoisABOUT THE GUESTSister Susan Francois CSJP is the Assistant Congregation Leader and Congregation Treasurer for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. She has served in Congregation Leadership since 2015. Sister Susan is an author, writing for Global Sisters Report and other publications on religious life and social justice. She previously ministered as a social justice educator and advocate at the lntercommunity Peace and Justice Center in Seattle, Washington. Sister Susan presently serves on the Boards of All Africa Sister to Sister Conference, Investor Advocates for Social Justice, Holy Name Medical Center, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace Charitable Incorporated Organisation in the United Kingdom.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
A Special Episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: | Stitcher | Email | RSS | MorePhoto by Ales Maze on UnsplashIN THIS EPISODEFor this special time of year, we present to you this Easter contemplation episode of Messy Jesus Business Podcast. Sister Julia shares some thoughts about the joy of the resurrection and reads from John 20:1-9. You can find the translation she uses here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/20We hope this short meditation can help connect you with the wonders of Easter and the Resurrection!MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Original music and sound design by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
Episode 73 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with guest host, Rev. Adam BuckoPodcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreFor Love of the Broken Body book coverIN THIS EPISODEIn the latest episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, guest host Rev. Adam Bucko interviews Sister Julia Walsh FSPA about her new spiritual memoir, For Love of the Broken Body. Their conversation explores the story of the accident that shaped Sister Julia's experience as a novice with the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. She speaks about how she felt called to share her powerful story. "In alignment with my vow of poverty, I felt like I couldn't keep this story to myself," Sister Julia admits. Rev. Adam and Sister Julia also explore how brokenness is a normal and sacred part of being human and how all people can give who they are for the sake of the common good. They explore vocational discernment, vulnerability, Sister Julia's experience in finding a publisher for the book, the messiness of maturing in faith, trusting in God, and sharing life in community. Download a free reflection guide to accompany Sister Julia's memoir, For Love of the Broken Body, here. ABOUT THE GUEST HOSTFather Adam Bucko has been a committed voice in the movement for the renewal of Christian Contemplative Spirituality and the growing New Monastic movement. He has taught engaged contemplative spirituality in Europe and the United States, and authored Let Your Heartbreak be Your Guide: Lessons in Engaged Contemplation, and co-authored Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation and The New Monasticism: An Interspiritual Manifesto for Contemplative Living. Committed to an integration of contemplation and just practice, he cofounded an award-winning non-profit, the Reciprocity Foundation, where he spent 15 years working with homeless youth living on the streets of New York City, providing spiritual care, developing programs to end youth homelessness, and articulating a vision for spiritual mentoring in a post-religious world. He currently serves as a director of The Center for Spiritual Imagination at the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, New York, and is a member of “The Community of the Incarnation,” a ‘new monastic’ community dedicated to democratizing the gifts of monastic spirituality and teaching contemplative spirituality, in the context of hearing and responding to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth. Adam leads The Buddhist-Christian Community for Meditation and Action along with his wife, Kaira Jewel Lingo, a Buddhist teacher and former nun in the community of Thich Nhat Hanh.ABOUT Sr. JULIA WALSH FSPASister Julia Walsh FSPASister Julia Walsh is a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and part of hercongregation’s formation team, serving women who are discerning their vocation. Along with another Franciscan Sister, she co-founded The Fireplace, an intentional community and house of hospitality on Chicago’s southside that offers spiritual support to seekers, artists, and activists. She has an MA in Pastoral Studies from Catholic Theological Union and is a spiritual director and secondary teacher. As a creative writer, educator, and retreat presenter she is passionate about exploring the intersection of creativity, spirituality, activism, and community life. A regularly published spiritual writer, Sister Julia’s work can be found in publications such as America, Living Faith Catholic Devotional, and Living City. She hosts the Messy Jesus Business blog and podcast and is the author of FOR LOVE OF THE BROKEN BODY (Monkfish, March 2024).Rev. Adam Bucko with Sr. Julia Walsh FSPAMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness
A Special Episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Email | RSS | MorePhoto by Ryan Cheng on UnsplashIN THIS EPISODEDuring this sacred season of Lent, we invite you to pause and contemplate God's loving presence in the midst of the mess. As we offer our breath and our bodies to God, as we pray, fast and give alms — how might our Lenten practices allow others to be fed? The Scripture in the mediation is Isaiah 58:5-12.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Original music and sound design by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 72 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | More“We have to understand the environment and appreciate it, both aesthetically and scientifically --as well as historically. And so it means taking all of the modalities of exploration and understanding that God has given us and bringing those together.” -Molly BurhansIN THIS EPISODEThis episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast is the second of two featuring Sister Julia Walsh’s conversation with Catholic cartographer Molly Burhans.In this episode, Burhans and Sister Julia explore the mess of restorative land practices and using data for good. Burhans shares how her team was the first to make a global projection map of Catholic Church jurisdictions since 1801. Sister Julia asks Burhans to comment on what stewardship means to her and what Catholics are meant to be doing in movement spaces related to land justice. They also discuss the complexities of Catholic identity and devotion in a messy Church whose structural sins have caused injustice and abuse. Regarding persisting in faith, Burhans encourages, "we have to be brave. And if we are the kingdom of God, we can build it. And I'll map it, if you need any help."ABOUT THE GUESTMolly Burhans is an award-winning Catholic environmentalist, cartographer and social entrepreneur. She is the founder of GoodLands, an organization whose mission is to mobilize the Catholic Church to use its landholdings for environmental and humanitarian good. Burhans was the chief cartographer for the first unified global map of the Church, which premiered at the Vatican in 2016. She was named one of Encyclopedia Britannica's 2022 “20 Under 40,” is a winner of the Sierra Club’s EarthCare Award, a U.N. Young Champion of the Earth, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and an Ashoka Fellow. Molly is a visiting professor at Canisius College and adjunct professor of urban design at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. In 2021 The New Yorker published a profile of her entitled How a Young Activist Is Helping Pope Francis Battle Climate Change.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 71 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | More“There's always a freedom, though, that I feel... even if I was totally wrong about everything, I have full faith that Christ and God still love me and are still there.” -Molly BurhansIN THIS EPISODEThis episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast is the first of two featuring Sister Julia Walsh’s conversation with Molly Burhans.In this episode Burhans, a cartographer, shares the intertwined stories of how she came to find her Catholic faith in her twenties while developing a love for maps and the power they hold for social and environmental change.Together Burhans and Sister Julia explore how Burhans' appreciation for life and living brought her to environmentalism through a passion for regenerative land usage. Her love for the planet and devotion to the Catholic Church led her to look for something that wasn’t yet there — institutions devoted to conservation within the global Catholic Church. She then tells the incredible story of how all these interests — her faith, cartography and environmentalism — brought her into what was almost a cold-call to the Vatican in an attempt to inspire the usage of the Church’s landholdings for good. ABOUT THE GUESTMolly Burhans is an award-winning Catholic environmentalist, cartographer and social entrepreneur. She is the founder of GoodLands, an organization whose mission is to mobilize the Catholic Church to use its landholdings for environmental and humanitarian good. Burhans was the chief cartographer for the first unified global map of the Church, which premiered at the Vatican in 2016. She was named one of Encyclopedia Britannica's 2022 “20 Under 40,” is a winner of the Sierra Club’s EarthCare Award, a U.N. Young Champion of the Earth, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer and an Ashoka Fellow. Molly is a visiting professor at Canisius College and adjunct professor of urban design at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. In 2021 The New Yorker published a profile of her entitled How a Young Activist Is Helping Pope Francis Battle Climate Change.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Revisiting Episode 17 from December 3, 2020.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreAuthor Shane ClaiborneIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business, originally released as episode 17 from Dec. 3, 2020, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Shane Claiborne, a best-selling author, speaker and activist. They discuss what it means to be a peacemaker while living in one of the world’s most heavily armed countries and a monumental gun death toll. “Violence is one of those demons that goes back to our very foundations in our country,” Claiborne says.Claiborne says the U.S. has 5% of the world’s population, but almost half of the world’s guns, and poses the question, “What would Jesus, the Prince of Peace, be saying right now?”Sister Julia and Shane Claiborne also discuss the importance of remaining joyful and hopeful, even when surrounded by the pain of the world.“I like how Karl Barth said we need to read the bible in one hand, but we need to hold the newspaper in the other… so that our faith doesn’t just become a ticket into heaven and a license to ignore the world we live in, but our faith should actually fuel us to want to change the world,” Claiborne says.In addition, they discuss the importance of community and the messiness that comes from the Christian veneer of perfection.“A lot of the times we sort of act like the church is a country club for saints, rather than a hospital for sinners.” Claiborne says honesty can help manage the resulting mess. He remembers walking into a church where greeters wore shirts that said, “No perfect people allowed.”“If that was greeting every person coming into every church, it would give you a sense of reality, like this is a home for you even if you don’t have it all together… our wounds are not our liabilities, they are our credentials.”He adds, “Honesty can show this Gospel is not for the Righteous, but for the sinner.”FOR MORE INFORMATION:Learn more about the Red Letter Christians movement, headed by Shane Claiborne, by exploring their website.To read more about how Shane Claiborne’s work influenced Sister Julia, see the 2015 Messy Jesus Business blog post: A Visit to The Simple Way.ABOUT THE GUESTShane Claiborne is a prominent speaker, activist and best-selling author. He worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia. He leads Red Letter Christians, a movement of folks who are committed to living “as if Jesus meant the things he said.” Claiborne is a champion for grace which has led him to jail advocating for the homeless, and to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to stand against war. Now grace fuels his passion to end the death penalty and help stop gun violence.Claiborne’s books include, “Jesus for President,” “Red Letter Revolution,” “Common Prayer,” “Follow Me to Freedom,” “Jesus, Bombs and Ice Cream,” “Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers,” “Executing Grace,” his classic: “The Irresistible Revolution,” and his newest book: “Beating Guns”. He has been featured in a number of films including, “Another World Is Possible” and “Ordinary Radicals.” His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Shane speaks more than a hundred times a year, both nationally and internationally. His work has appeared in Esquire, SPIN, Christianity Today, TIME, and The Wall Street Journal, and he has been on everything from Fox News and Al Jazeera to CNN and NPR. He’s given academic lectures at Harvard, Princeton, Liberty, Duke, and Notre Dame.Shane speaks regularly at denominational gatherings, festivals and conferences around the globe.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Interview with Shane Claiborne edited by Charish Badzinski.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.
Episode 70 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA, enjoys a conversation with Kerry Alys Robinson, CEO and President of Catholic Charities USA, who shares that witnessing the joy and faith of Catholics serving others in her childhood sparked her own inspiration and desire to serve behind the scenes in pursuit of the common good. “True leadership is service,” says Kerry. “It is a disposition of other-centeredness.” Expressing her passion for Catholic Social Teaching, she addresses the realities of wealth gaps and classism and how injustice can divide the people of God. Responding to the needs of the people of God, Kerry emphasizes, requires not competition but charity and justice. “Generosity is humankind's birthright,” says Kerry about the call to kindness, both to oneself and to others. Together she and Sister Julia explore the messiness of diversity, polarization, judgment and how a life of service and prayer require openness to the other. Says Kerry, “Everything belongs and is interconnected.”ABOUT THE GUESTCatholic Charities USA President and CEO Kerry Alys Robinson is a noted expert in Catholic leadership and philanthropy and only the second woman and second layperson to lead the U.S. Catholic Church’s domestic humanitarian work. In the past year, the nationwide Catholic Charities network served more than 15 million people in need. For decades, Kerry has served the church and its mission to alleviate human suffering. Most recently, she was an executive partner at Leadership Roundtable, which since 2005 has promoted excellence and best practices in the management, finances and human resource development of the Catholic Church. She was the group’s founding executive director. Prior to that, Kerry served as director of development for Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale University, leading a $75 million fundraising campaign to expand and endow the chapel’s ministry and construct a Catholic student center. A member of the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities and FADICA (Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities), she has been an advisor to and trustee of more than 25 grantmaking foundations, charitable nonprofits and family philanthropies. She served for 15 years on the national committee for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Campaign for Human Development. Robinson is an accomplished writer and speaker and wrote the prize-winning Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy and a Spiritual Call to Service. A graduate of Georgetown University and Yale, Robinson is married to Dr. Michael Cappello, professor of medicine and public health at Yale University. They have two children, Christopher and Sophie.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 69 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA, talks with Mary J. Novak, executive director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice in Washington, D.C. Mary shares life experiences that proved her power to serve and respond to human suffering. They get into the mess of human oneness and the necessity for collaboration in response to existential threats like the climate crisis and the fragility of democracy. Their conversation explores the Catholic tradition to “meddle in politics,” voting rights and why it’s essential for us to focus on strengthening democracy. In answer to Sister Julia’s question, “are we called to imagine new systems?” Mary responded, “We all need structures in our lives for us to flourish. Maybe there’s a better way for us to put democracy together, but much is still working right.” Mary added that “this is an evolutionary moment, and so how do we keep showing up and how do we surround ourselves with community? Democracy is about participating.”ABOUT THE GUESTMary J. Novak is the sixth executive director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, and the first lay leader to guide the organization founded by Catholic Sisters 50 years ago. She is also an associate member of the Congregation of St. Joseph. Mary’s experience as an organizer and activist as well as a trauma-informed lawyer, educator, chaplain and restorative justice practitioner informs her ability to integrate all aspects of the organization to advance NETWORK’s mission. These experiences have also inspired her to initiate a shared leadership model for the first time in NETWORK’s history. Together the leadership team is positioning NETWORK for the future, strengthening relationships with partners who serve the common good, and ensuring that the NETWORK community flourishes in the shared pursuit of justice. A graduate of Santa Clara University Law School and Washington Theological Union, Mary also studied theology and spirituality at Santa Clara University. Prior to leading NETWORK, Mary served as associate director of mission integration and a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. Mary served as Catholic Mobilizing Network’s founding board chair and is currently chair of the advisory board for the University of St. Thomas Law School’s Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 68 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of the Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA, talks with Vincent J. Miller, the Gudorf Chair of Catholic Theology and Culture at the University of Dayton. Vincent shares how his studies awoke him to the harm technology and consumption can lead to; the impetus that, in order to explore deeper questions, changed his course from engineering to theology. Regarding consumer culture, Vincent says that although every material good has an origin story, “the world we live in makes us see certain things and hides other things from us.” Sister Julia and Vincent also explore how, even though awareness can be painful, global and relational consciousness is part of what it means to be Christian. They delve into the sorrow and horror of war, climate crises and environmental destruction, and how the spiritual response is to be centered in relationality, to respond to calls to love and hope. “We’re called to be part of the community of creation, and we’re called to realize the pain we’re putting onto creation,” Vincent says, adding that because of the brokenness of our planet, people and systems, we are meant to “embrace the blemished world and learn to love there."ABOUT THE GUESTVincent Miller is the Gudorf Chair in Catholic Theology and Culture at the University of Dayton in Ohio. He is the author of Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture and editor of The Theological and Ecological Vision of Laudato Si’: Everything is Connected. He lives with his family in Dayton and is a regular contributor to America Magazine and Commonweal Magazine. Vincent has been featured in many publications as well as television and radio programs that include The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Guardian, Il Foglio, CNN, NPR, BBC, the O’Reilly Factor and Mongabay.Vincent Miller’s article on the Oregon fires in Commonweal: https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/tears-ashesMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 67 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Email | RSS | MoreIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA, talks with Sister Laura Nettles, the Executive Director of Mission and Social Justice at Viterbo University. Sister Laura shares her vocation story and how she came to know her call to be a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration. They discuss the relational and communal charism of Franciscanism as well as the charism of FSPA: being Eucharistic presence to others. Sister Laura shares the importance of Christian action and outreach combined with an openness to the complexities and struggles for social justice. They get into the danger of bias and why it's essential to stay open to learning and knowing different perspectives, and how Christians are called to conversion. “Conversion in the Franciscan sense about just going inward and looking at yourself and reevaluating always what do I know and what don’t I know … We are not static, we are always changing,” says Sister Laura.ABOUT THE GUESTFranciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration Laura Nettles is the Executive Director of Mission and Social Justice as well as an associate professor in Religious Studies and Theology at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Currently she is a Ph.D. candidate (ABD) in Moral and Systematic Theology at the Chicago Theological Seminary, researching topics within the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition, Catholic Social Teaching and the inter-textual connections between Medieval Franciscans, Jews and Muslims. Most recently, Sister Laura has been exploring the connection between Christianity, Catholicism and racism. She regularly teaches courses in introductory Christian theology, World Religions, Franciscan theology, Catholic Social Teaching and Womanist, Mujerista and Asian feminist theologies. Sister Laura is also the author of multiple articles and book chapters and speaker of topics like Franciscan theology and spirituality.In addition to her ministry of education, Sister Laura serves the congregation in the ministry of justice and peace, primarily as a member of the FSPA Anti-Racism Team, missioned to authenticate unity in diversity by fostering the growth of FSPA into an anti-racist community and organization that dismantles racism through prayer, witness, study and action. Sister Laura also serves as co-chair of the La Crosse Interfaith Shoulder to Shoulder Network, a group dedicated to the eradication of islamophobia.Viterbo University's Sister Thea Bowman CenterMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 66 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Stitcher | Email | RSS | MoreIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Father Carl Gales, pastor of Our Lady of Africa Catholic Parish in Chicago, Illinois. They discuss Father Carl’s journey into the Catholic Church and priesthood, his previous career as a concert pianist and the messiness of leadership and service in the Church. They explore the importance of managing expectations and one’s own temperament in service of the Gospel. Father Carl shares the creative and contemplative process that he utilizes to prepare to preach and invite the community to apply the teachings of Jesus to their lives. They also touch on how the Catholic Church could develop into a more inclusive Church that decenters whiteness. “The richness of Blackness needs to be acknowledged, affirmed, cherished, nourished and sustained by us all,” says Father Carl, emphasizing that Blackness is not an add-on. It is essential for each person and be their authentic selves within the Christian community.ABOUT THE GUESTFather Carl Gales, SVD, was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, where he began his musical studies. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s Degree in Piano Performance from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. It was there that he converted to Catholicism.After working as a director of liturgy and music for several parishes, Father Carl began to discern the priesthood. In 2014 he entered seminary formation with the Society of the Divine Word. After missionary work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Fr Carl professed Final Vows and was ordained into priesthood in May 2022. He is currently the pastoral administrator of Our Lady of Africa Parish in Chicago.Our Lady of Africa in Chicago's Facebook pageMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadEpisode 65 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | MoreIN THIS EPISODE:In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Fr. Greg Boyle, director of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, CA. They discuss Fr. Greg’s journey into being a Jesuit priest who serves gang members and the mission of Homeboy Industries. Homeboy Industries is the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world, welcoming thousands through our doors each year. Homeboy is centered in its principles that “everyone is good (no exceptions)” and “we belong to each other (no exceptions.)” Fr. Greg shared how the Gospel of Jesus Christ motivates him to build a community of “cherished belonging” that welcomes and honors the wholeness of each person who is encountered. Sister Julia and Fr. Greg explore how Christians go to the margins to be changed, not to reach people or succeed, but try to be helpful. Sister Julia asks about the tension of running a successful nonprofit and being faithful to the Gospel call to be on the margins of society. They also get into the value of storytelling for moving minds and hearts, the importance of having healthy images of God and what Church and holiness mean.ABOUT THE GUESTFather Greg Boyle is a Jesuit priest and native Angeleno. From 1986 to 1992 Father Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights, then the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles in a neighborhood with the most gang activity in the city. In 1988 Father Boyle, along with parish and community members, started what would become Homeboy Industries. Homeboy employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, and provides critical services to thousands of men and women who walk through its doors every year. Father Boyle is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion; 2017’s Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship; and 2021’s The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness. He has received the California Peace Prize and been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, President Obama named Father Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics.https://homeboyindustries.org/MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness
Episode 64 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Stitcher | Email | RSS | More"Sometimes it is at the prophetic edge you can see the Holy Spirit breaking through and allowing a new thing to happen” - Ellie HidalgoIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of the Messy Jesus Business Podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Ellie Hidalgo, co-director of Discerning Deacons. They discuss Ellie’s journey into ministry and how she discovered the relevance of listening and storytelling in building the reign of God. They explore the relevance of the Catholic Church today and what it means to be an active member: "Being Catholic is not a passive thing."Ellie also shared about her journey to the Amazon and Bolivia to witness the leadership of Catholic women in remote places. Together she and Sister Julia explore how vital and relevant good listening is in building up the reign of God and fostering the strength of the Church, narrowing in on their shared enthusiasm about the upcoming synod and the power that listening to the people of God ought to have for all. Ellie notes that Christians are called to "Understand the power that listening has and what it does to unleash people’s gifts for ministry … unleash people’s hope, it helps stitch people’s lives back together, it helps us to not be afraid of entering into the messiness of people’s lives.”ABOUT THE GUESTEllie Hidalgo is co-director of Discerning Deacons, a project that engages Catholics in the active discernment of our Church about women and the diaconate. Ellie is active in the global synod process, helping to animate 350 sessions that reached 9,000 people in the listening phase. She has traveled to the Amazon region of Latin America to accompany women engaged in prophetic ministry. Ellie has a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and to St. Phoebe, who served as a deacon in our early Church, alongside St. Paul. She served for 12 years as the pastoral associate at Dolores Mission Church in East Los Angeles, a Jesuit parish known for its advocacy of immigrants, restorative justice ministries, faith-based community organizing, and for being the home parish of Homeboy Industries. Ellie graduated with a Masters in Pastoral Theology from Loyola Marymount University and received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2020 she returned to Miami to live closer to her Cuban American family. In 2023 Ellie received the Robert M. Holstein Faith Doing Justice Award from the Ignatian Solidarity Network and the St. John XXIII Award for keeping alive the vision of Vatican II from the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests.Learn more about Discerning Deacons here: https://discerningdeacons.org/MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
A Special Episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.
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IN THIS EPISODE
We're in between seasons on a break but are offering a special epidode featuring five Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, who are in the same community as Sister Julia.
Featured are Sisters Corrina Thomas, Meg Earsley, Janet Fischer, Paulynn Instenes and Karen Kappell.
Sister Julia asks each Sister three questions:-How did you know you were called to be an FSPA?-What does discipleship mean to you?-What is messy about being a modern Franciscan sister?
Learn more about the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration: www.fspa.org
Look for our new season to drop in September 2023!
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.
Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.com
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Episode 63 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More“Prayer has to push you to do something outside yourself.” -Kristina Ortega IN THIS EPISODEFor the latest episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia is in conversation with Catholic educator and inclusivity advocate Kristina Ortega. Their conversation explores prayer and spirituality, advocacy, being women in the Catholic Church, and the value and neccessity of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs in Catholic education. Kristina also talks about how her own Mexican heritage is essential to her own experience of being Catholic.Kristina admits that being a woman in the church is experience of joy but also can be frustrating. She sees this in the girls’ Catholic schools where there is a “stained-glass ceiling.” To counter this she teaches a theology that allows her students to say “I see myself.”When talking about doing DEI work at a Catholic School, Kristina makes connections to incarnational theology. As she says, to protect the image of God and honor the dignity of the human person, all people need to be honored for who they are and according to their culture, socio-economic status and gender identity. The church can do strenthen this part of its mission, Kristina says, by allowing more lay leadership.ABOUT THE GUESTKristina Ortega was born and raised in Los Angeles and is the product of 18 years of Catholic school. She has a BA and an MA in Theological Studies from Loyola Marymount University and has taught in Catholic high schools since 2001. She is a Minister of Liturgical Movement in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and serves on two of the planning committees for the LA Religious Education Congress. Kristina is currently the Coordinator of Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Mayfield Senior School in Pasadena, CA. She has contributed a chapter to a book forthcoming in Summer 2023, "Creating Spaces for Women in the Catholic Church." Outside of ministry, Kristina is a docent at La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, a Mexican-American art, culture, and history museum in LA. She and her family are members of Dolores Mission Parish in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness LISTEN HERE:
A Special Episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | MoreCalifornia Lilacs near Brown Mountain dam, La Cañada Flintridge, california. photo © Colin wambsgansIN THIS EPISODEFor this special time of year, we present to you this Easter contemplation episode of Messy Jesus Business Podcast. Sister Julia will lead you through a some thoughts on what Jesus's rise from the dead means for us, and includes a reading from Matthew 28:1-10. You can find the translation she uses here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/28We hope this short meditation can help connect you with the wonders of Easter and the Resurrection!MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Original music and sound design by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
Episode 62 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | MoreAfra Pourdad portrait"Whoever is in front of us we are called to love." -Sister Christa ParraIN THIS EPISODEFor this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh chats with an old friend, Sister Christa Parra, IBVM. Sister Christa shares her vocation story and how she became a Catholic Sister. Though she served in Peru before joining the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and went to Catholic Theological Union, her desire to serve people where they are led her to accompany the people at the US-Mexico border, specifically in Ciudad Juárez. “I want to be able to live with the people and be involved in their daily lives, and to sit with them in their struggles and their joys," says Sister Christa.Sister Christa also tells some of the tragic stories happening to women and refugees in Juárez (and a warning to listeners: many of these stories contain terrible violence and suffering). But always, Sister Christa tells us, the humanity of the people living there, Mexican and refugees, shines through. Also, Christa tells Julia that while she and her fellow workers give the refugees a chance to regroup before the next stages of their journeys, but they also form a community with each other and become a family.Sister Christa adds, “When our families come to us all we can do is love them, provide them basics, and also to learn from [them] because our siblings teach us how to accompany.”ABOUT THE GUESTSister Christa Parra is a member of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is part of an intercongregational intercultural community in El Paso, Texas and a third generation Mexican-American from a small border town in Arizona. A graduate of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, she earned a Master of Divinity and Certificate in Hispanic Theology and Ministry in 2016. She loves serving our brothers and sisters in Christ and presently does so through a pastoral accompaniment role at a shelter in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.To donate directly to Sister Christa and the IBVM's ministry in Ciudad Juárez:https://ibvm.us/support-us/make-a-gift/general-donation/Under the "Designation Tab" choose Ministry FundUnder "Leave a comment" type "Migrant Ministry in Ciudad Juarez"To learn more about and donate to Annunciation House in El Paso go to: https://annunciationhouse.org/Facebook page for Casa Eudes in Juárez: https://www.facebook.com/micasaeudesWebsite for Centro Santa Catalina in Juárez: https://centrodesantacatalina.org/Sister Christa's page at Catholic Women Preach: https://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preacher/christa-parraSister Christa's speech at Catholic Theological Union's 2016 graduation ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qgzYaYL5v0MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
Episode 61 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | MoreAfra Pourdad portrait"Every time I've been raw and vulnerable before God, I've been surprised at how Jesus has responded to it." -Father Justin ClaravallIN THIS EPISODEFor this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh chats with Father Justin Claravall, SJ, Associate Pastor of Dolores Mission Church. Justin talks about his path to the Jesuits and how Saint Ignatius led him to a closer understanding of Jesus and God. He also talks about his prayer practice, and how he approaches it by "being real... with myself before God and noticing God being real with me."Later, Julia asks Justin about Dolores Mission. They talk about the joys and hardships of many of the parishioners. Justin delves into the two on-coming problems of gentrification and youth engagement, focusing on the idea of how to organize people for long-term health of the community. Paradoxically, as Justin points out, this organization goes hand-in-hand with the mess of people's lives.Julia and Justin also talk about the relationship between art and justice, focusing on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s idea of a "soul force" and the idea of God as a creator. He urges people to be frank about where they are in the mess of their own lives: "If you don't like the mess... tell Jesus about it!"ABOUT THE GUESTFr. Justin Claravall, S.J., is an associate pastor at Dolores Mission Church in Los Angeles, CA. During his Jesuit life, he taught religion in prisons and high schools, and led faith sharing groups for teenagers and young adults. He currently accompanies his parish school, participates in the Ecclesial Base Communities and Social Justice Committee, and tries to make time for more art.Dolores Mission's website: https://www.dolores-mission.org/Dolores Mission's Facebook page, where Sunday masses are live-streamed: https://www.facebook.com/DoloresMissionChurch/Father Justin's video essays on prayer and the pandemic on Jesuits West: https://www.jesuitswest.org/stories/fr-justin-claravall-sj-praying-during-the-pandemic/Chapter 11 from St. Paul's letter to the Hebrews, which comes up in the interview: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/11MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
A Special Episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | MoreOasis of Mara, Twentynine palms, california. photo © Colin wambsgansIN THIS EPISODEThough Holy Week will be here soon, the Lenten journey continues. We invite you to take some time in prayerful contemplation of this season with Sister Julia in this special episode. This meditation includes a reading from Isaiah 58:5-12 and a poem previously published on Messy Jesus Business in 2022 entitled "Death Poetica" by Sister Julia. You can find the poem here: https://messyjesusbusiness.com/2022/03/02/death-poetica/MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Original music and sound design by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
Episode 60 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More"Jesus teaches us that differences aren’t deficits. Because a person is in poverty or struggling… that doesn't make them any less human.” - Ralph McCloudIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh chats with Ralph McCloud, Director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. They dig into some of the fundamental concepts of the Campaign's work, especially what it means to have a preferential option for the poor, and the difference between fairness and justice. Ralph talks about the limits of charity and how fear and racism can prevent engaging with the poor, even if, as he says, "Working with low income communities is... very rarely neat."Julia asks Ralph about how he deals with criticism thrown at him, and how he sees the messy balance between living the Gospel and being a part of a divided Church and society. As Ralph adds, "If we prioritize our way of life, our comfort, our income, our ideology, all of these above the call that says love one another, all of these above worshiping and following Jesus, ... that can throw you into a society that is as polarized as the one we find ourselves in right now."ABOUT THE GUESTRalph McCloud is the Director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (or CCHD), the domestic anti-poverty program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. CCHD works to break the cycle of poverty by helping low-income people participate in decisions that affect their lives, families and communities and by educating people on poverty and justice. Ralph has served as the national director for fifteen years.Prior to working at the USCCB, Ralph worked as Division Director of Pastoral and Community Services in the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas. While in this position, Ralph served four terms on the Fort Worth City Council from 1997 – 2005 and 3 terms as Mayor Pro Tempore.He currently serves on the board of the Catholic Mobilizing Network. Ralph is a member of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Washington DC where he serves on the Finance Council and is a lector.He has served as President of the National Association of Black Catholic Administrators and as a board member of both the National Black Catholic Congress and the Roundtable Association of Social Action Directors. Also, he chaired the County Homeless Commission and was named Tarrant County’s First Racial Reconciliation Award Winner by the Tarrant County Community of Churches. He is also the recipient of the State of Texas Courage Award from the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. In 2009, he was awarded the History Maker Award from the Archdiocese of Atlanta in 2009 and Catholic Charities USA’s Martin Luther King Keep the Dream Alive Award in 2010. In 2017, Ralph was awarded the Bishop John Joseph Keane Medallion from the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America and the Harry A. Fagan Award by the Roundtable for dedication and commitment to social justice in 2018.The main site for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, where you can find out more about its mission and projects: povertyusa.org/More information about the CCHD: https://www.usccb.org/committees/catholic-campaign-human-development/who-we-areRalph's writing on Lent: https://www.usccb.org/committees/catholic-campaign-human-development/lenten-reflections-director-cchdMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.
Episode 59 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More"One needs to be looking for Christ in the world, not for the mistakes the world makes about Christ.” - Phyllis ZaganoIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with scholar, author and lecturer Dr. Phyllis Zagano about her faith journey and the role of women in the Catholic Church. They discuss synodality in the Catholic Church and women in the diaconate. Plus they get into the mess of power, advocating for change and living a life of faith, joy and prayer. Zagano noted, “My bishop asked me not long ago, ‘do you get up at 5 in the morning to write?’ And I said ‘no, I get up at 5 in the morning to pray.’”ABOUT THE GUESTPhyllis Zagano is an internationally acclaimed Catholic scholar and lecturer on contemporary spirituality and women's issues in the church. Her award-winning books include Holy Saturday: An Argument for the Restoration of the Female Diaconate in the Catholic Church (First Place, 2001 Catholic Press Association and 2002 College Theology Society), Women & Catholicism: Gender, Communion, and Authority (Second Place, 2012 Catholic Press Association), Women Deacons? Essays with Answers (First Place, 2017 Catholic Press Association), Women: Icons of Christ (Second Place, 2021 Catholic Media Association) and Women Religious, Women Deacons: Questions and Answers (Paulist Press, 2022). Her newest books are: Elizabeth Visits the Abbey (Clear Faith Publishing, 2022), a novel for young people about a twelve-year-old girl whose aunt, the abbess of a large abbey in Ireland, tells her about the history of women in the Church; and Just Church (Paulist Press, 2023), which reviews Catholic social teaching and modern synods in relation to current and prospective ministry by women.Her writing is widely translated — her best-selling On Prayer: A Letter for My Godchild is in Indonesian, Spanish and Italian as well as English — and she edited the Liturgical Press' "Spirituality in History" series.Zagano belonged to the 2016-2018 Papal Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women. Winner of two Fulbright awards, her biographical listings include Marquis Who's Who. Her professional papers are held by the Women in Leadership Archives, Loyola University, Chicago. She holds a research appointment at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York.Phyllis's personal webpage at Hofstra University: https://sites.hofstra.edu/phyllis-zagano/Her author page at Paulist Press: https://www.paulistpress.com/Author/Default.aspx?AuthorId=162911Phyllis's monthly column for Religion News Service: https://religionnews.com/category/just-catholic/Phyllis's guest columns in National Catholic Reporter: https://www.ncronline.org/authors/phyllis-zaganoMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
Episode 58 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More"We’re shaped … and affected by what we love, what we care about, what we pay attention to, what we admire.” - Robert EllsbergIN THIS EPISODE"Our faith is rooted not in maxims, but in a narrative," shares publisher and editor-in-chief of Orbis Books, Robert Ellsberg, in his conversation with Sister Julia in Episode 58 of the Messy Jesus Business Podcast. Other topics explored in the discussion include the meaning of holiness, the communion of saints and the mess of being a Christian disciple.Robert’s own narrative has been a movement to peace and a path to spiritual writing that brought him to Dorothy Day, the Catholic Worker Movement and Sister Wendy Beckett; to the ethos of authorship about the lives of saints and their perspectives of the presence of God in all of us. Their humanity, partly through all the difficulties and happy accidents that gave them powerful presence in our lives, has been Ellsberg’s inspiration to write, in order to "spread... these seeds of mindfulness and compassion and awareness."ABOUT THE GUESTRobert Ellsberg is the editor-in-chief and publisher of Orbis Books, where he has worked for 35 years. He spent 1975-80 working with Dorothy Day at the Catholic Worker, two years as managing editor of the paper; and he has edited Day's selected writings, diaries, letters, and other work. Robert has written and edited 25 books, including six books on saints and holiness. For over 10 years he has written a daily entry, "Blessed Among Us" for "Give Us This Day" (Liturgical).Robert's most recent book is Dearest Sister Wendy…A Surprising Story of Faith and Friendship.Dorothy Day's Selected Writings, edited by Robert: https://orbisbooks.com/products/dorothy-day?_pos=4&_sid=e6af7dd2e&_ss=rRobert's essays in America Magazine: https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/robert-ellsbergFollow Robert on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertEllsbergMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
Episode 57 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More"Readers complete a text. And so storytelling is a collaborative activity.” - Liam CallananIN THIS EPISODE“The act of listening is a very powerful one,” begins Liam Callanan in conversation with Sister Julia Walsh as her guest in Episode 57 of the Messy Jesus Business Podcast. Liam is an author, journalist and teacher who declares passion for writing, collaborating, Rome “and … the mess!” Their conversation encompasses the community and connections that can come to fruition in the collaboration of listening, something he experiences in the celebration of mass in the Catholic Church. “... you’re seeing other people lift up their voices and their hearts to God, and that’s a powerful expression in community. It’s all about sitting in the pew and turning to the person next to you and saying ‘welcome’ … a very powerful, active witness for me.”Liam also shares his perception from the contextual container people put him in as a Catholic writer, an identity through which he finds opportunity for welcoming and mutual listening. “There’s no box that doesn’t have an opening. You just have to unseal it,” says Callanan.ABOUT THE GUESTLiam Callanan is a novelist, journalist and teacher. He is the author of The Cloud Atlas, and his nationally best-selling novel, Paris by the Book, was translated into multiple languages and won the Wisconsin Council of Writers 2019 Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award. He is also the 2017 winner of the George W. Hunt, SJ, Prize, awarded by America Magazine and the St. Thomas More Chapel and Center at Yale University. Liam’s work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, Slate, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle, and he’s recorded numerous essays for public radio. He has taught for the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and currently is a professor at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Liam lives in Milwaukee with his wife and daughters. His most recent novel, When In Rome, will be published by Penguin Random House in March 2023.Check out Liam's website here: https://www.liamcallanan.comLiam's essays in America Magazine: https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/liam-callananMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
Episode 56 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More"Community extends beyond just a group I belong to... we need to extend that belonging to fellow human beings, no matter who they are." –Teré MayaIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh gets into the mess of community with Sister Teresa Maya. She and Julia discuss the ways that embracing the messiness of life and the Church sometimes means doing awkward things, like going to mass in a language you don't speak. Teresa also delves into the idea of encuentro--what happens when we come together and how it's bigger than any of us when we're separate. Later, Teresa speaks about her life as a historian, and how history can recover what we've lost in the pursuit of perfection. Other covered topics include how religious life is not going to look like it has in the past, how diversity can enrich spiritual life, and how discipleship is like dance.ABOUT THE GUESTSister Teresa Maya is a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio since 1994. Her education ministry has spanned several decades: she has served as teacher, history professor, administrator, and speaker. She has passion for formation of ministers for Hispanics/Latinas/os in the United States. She has a commitment to life-long learning and a strong conviction in the future of consecrated life. Sister Teresa got her B.A. at Yale University, her M.A. at the Graduate Theological Union at Berkeley and the Ph.D. in El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City. She served fourteen years in the leadership of her religious institute and on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) presidency from 2016-19. She currently accompanies other religious congregations as facilitator and consultant.Teresa's recent Advent video for Catholic Women Preach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Y6nzYRSowMMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
Episode 55 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More"We all will be affected by climate change... can we learn how to understand each other as shared participants in this project of being on earth together?" –Dorothy FortenberryIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh gets into the mess of creative writing amidst the climate crisis with playwright, screenwriter and essayist Dorothy Fortenberry. Dorothy tells about how she found her career and what it's like to be a Catholic in a television writer's room. She also speaks about the importance of having children even in the face of climate change, and how being pro-climate means being pro-humanity. Dorothy and Sister Julia also explore how creating is a connection both to the Spirit and the unknown. Other topics include trying to be a disciple of Jesus in a community as big as the Catholic church, handing out copies of Laudato Si' in Hollywood, and how recycling is like prayer.ABOUT THE GUESTDorothy Fortenberry is a playwright, screenwriter, and essayist. Her plays include: PARTNERS (Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Humana Festival), THE LOTUS PARADOX (Warehouse Theater), SPECIES NATIVE TO CALIFORNIA (IAMA Theatre), GOOD EGG (Red Fern Theatre), CAITLIN AND THE SWAN (The Management), STATUS UPDATE (Center REPertory), and MOMMUNE (Chalk Rep). As a television writer and producer, she has worked on “Extrapolations” (upcoming for Apple TV+), “The 100” (the CW), and “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu) for which she received multiple Emmy nominations, the PGA Award, and two WGA Awards. She also writes essays for publications including Commonweal, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and Real Simple and likes to talk on podcasts, especially Know Your Enemy. She is the 2021 laureate of the George W. Hunt, S.J., Prize for Journalism, Arts & Letters for outstanding work in the category of fiction writer or dramatist.Dorothy's piece on climate change for America Magazine: https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2021/10/27/climate-change-catholic-church-tradition-laudato-si-241710Her essays for Commonweal: https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/users/dorothy-fortenberryAnd her essay about going to Church: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/half-full-grace/Dorothy's Twitter: @dorothy410berryMESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
Episode 54 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More"Imagine if we ripped the roof off to make accommodation for the vulnerable... to make them able to get close." –David DaultIN THIS EPISODEIn this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh gets into the mess of spirituality with scholar, professor, and radio host David Dault. Their conversation explores David’s path into Christianity and later Catholicism. David shares about his evolving and complex relationship with the Church, both in its beautiful messiness and resistance to change. David also talks about his desires for the Church to become more radically open to those outside the mainstream including the neurodivergent. Other topics discussed include radical discipleship as radical honesty, learning from different faiths and traditions, and how living the Gospel isn’t like gym class.ABOUT THE GUESTDavid Dault hosts the weekly radio show Things Not Seen: Conversations about Culture and Faith and co-hosts The Francis Effect podcast with Fr. Daniel P. Horan and National Catholic Reporter editor Heidi Schlumpf. He edits The Commonweal Magazine Podcast, The Deacons Pod for the Paulist Fathers, and produces podcasts for clients across the country through his company, Sandburg Media. He is Assistant Professor of Christian Spirituality at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago. David is the author of the forthcoming books The Covert Magisterium (Lexington) and The Accessorized Bible (Yale). He lives with his family in Hyde Park, on Chicago's south side. His website is https://www.daviddault.com/.MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. This episode produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.Email us at messyjesusbusiness@gmail.comBE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusinessTwitter: @messyjesusbizInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusinessSUPPORT US:https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusinessLISTEN HERE:
Episode 53 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.
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IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with author, scholar, and translator of spiritual texts Carmen Acevedo Butcher about the messiness of spirituality, healing and relationship. Together they discuss the wisdom Brother Lawrence and the relevance of his message for today. They also get into the mess of contemplation and the human experience. And, they talk about sacredness of words and the ordinary and how religious devotion ought not to be transactional.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Carmen Acevedo Butcher, Ph.D., is an internationally acclaimed speaker, author, educator, poet, and translator of spiritual texts. Her dynamic work in spirituality and the power of language has garnered interest from various media, including the BBC, Religion News Service, and NPR’s Morning Edition, Georgia Gazette, and Dante’s Old South, among others. From a young age, she immersed in the presence prayer. With degrees in medieval studies and a linguistics background, Carmen brings history to life, making its wisdom accessible and useful to us for healing, growth, peace, and actively loving others. She is the award-winning translator of classics such as Practice of the Presence (Broadleaf) by Brother Lawrence, The Cloud of Unknowing (Shambhala) by Anonymous, and Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader and A Little Daily Wisdom with medieval women mystics (Paraclete Press). A Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year and Fulbright Senior Lecturer, she currently teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, in the College Writing Programs. Learn more about Carmen and her work at www.carmenbutcher.com.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
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Episode 52 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.
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"Christ is The Way and whatever is in the way is The Way." - Sister Eileen McKenzie
crosses on the camino de santiago. April 2017. photo by julia walsh FSPA
IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with another Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, Sister Eileen McKenzie. Their conversation explores the complexities of the call to Christian life and the challenges of working for justice. Sister Eileen also shares her insights about what Catholic religious life is becoming, the meaning of religious vows and the struggle to be Christ-like as we become instruments of Truth and healing. Sister Eileen also shares about the lessons she learned about messiness while walking the Camino de Santiago, saying that "Christ is The Way and whatever is in the way is The Way."
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Sister Eileen McKenzie, who has ministered as a nurse, researcher, and acupuncturist, is concluding a term of service as the FSPA community as president. Her ministries have taken her throughout the United States and West Africa, and for the past 15 years, she has been centered in the upper Mid-west, serving in St. Paul, Minnesota, and more recently La Crosse, Wisconsin. She founded FSPA Community Acupuncture and was a founding member of Integrative Therapies of La Crosse, a collective of holistic practitioners dedicated to making their services affordable and accessible for people in the region from 2010 to May 2020. She has a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a master’s degree in traditional Chinese medicine and has completed a predoctoral fellowship in clinical research. Sister Eileen has devoted time and energy for many health, justice and mission service-oriented organizations both locally and internationally, and is particularly interested in the intersection of social justice and healing movements. She is enamored by Franciscan spirituality and an ardent discerner of Pope Francis’ call to create cultures of encounter.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
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Episode 51 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.
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In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Ivan Ng during her visit to Singapore for the International Conference on Cohesive Societies in September 2022. They explore Ivan's conversion to becoming a Catholic Christian, the Focolare Movement and Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (H.O.M.E) as well as the messiness of Gospel Living.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Ivan Ng is a Catholic convert of 28 years and a member of Focolare Movement which strives to fulfill Jesus last wish on the Cross that may all may be one (John 17:21) through living the Gospel in their daily lives. Married to his beloved wife, Alve, and the father of three adult children, Ivan retired from his banking career seven years ago and now volunteers with different marginalized communities including migrant workers, lonely elders and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Ivan says his motivation to serve these groups is to love Jesus in the least (Matthew 25:40) and to have a positive impact on others. In return he says that he receives hundredfold for whatever he gives, as Jesus promised.
Ivan Ng at HOME in Singapore
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
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Episode 1, Season 6 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.
"When you are in a place of paradox, you're on holy ground."
- Sister Julia Walsh
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IN THIS EPISODE:
In this very special episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh takes on the role of podcast guest, and gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the conceptualization of Messy Jesus Business Podcast. Podcast editor Charish Badzinski serves as host for this episode, and together she and Sister Julia explore the lessons of the past 49 episodes, and what it means to say yes to the mess. Sister Julia explains how the program got its start and its name. She also gets the chance to respond to the questions she frequently asks her guests, including offering her thoughts on what radical discipleship means to her, and what she thinks is especially messy.
During this episode, we also hear from past guests who pop in to in the join the celebration, as well as podcast listeners who share what listening to Messy Jesus Business means to them. And lastly, Sister Julia gives a sneak peek into possible future topics she'd like to explore in the next 50 episodes.
Please note that the Messy Jesus Business team is taking a break over the summer to plan the next 50 episodes, and the podcast will return with fresh content this fall.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Sister Julia Walsh is a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and part of a new generation of Catholic Sisters. She’s often writing and podcasting about the messiness of following Jesus and being Catholic and doesn’t hesitate to ask important questions. She can often be found visiting jails, leading retreats, companioning spiritual seekers, advocating for peace, teaching about social justice, praying in the chapel or camping in the woods. Sister Julia has been frequently featured in the media, and is widely published.
Julia Walsh grew up on a goat farm in a small community in Northeast Iowa with her parents: Kevin and Elsie, and three siblings. She attended college in Iowa, starting at Wartburg College in Waverly, then ultimately transferring to Loras College to discern her vocation. While a student at Loras in Dubuque, Iowa Julia studied abroad in South Africa and realized her passion for social justice, equality and Gospel living.
In 2003 she graduated from Loras College magna cum laude with a BA in History, Secondary Education and Catholic Studies. After graduation Julia interned with the Iowa Catholic Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, and then moved to California and joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. As a Jesuit Volunteer, Julia worked with young parents and their children transitioning from homelessness to healthy interdependence at Waking the Village/Tubman House in Sacramento, California. Her experiences in South Africa, as an intern with the Iowa Catholic Conference and in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps helped her to develop her passions for Gospel-centered systemic change.
In 2006 Julia entered the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, (FSPA) based in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She entered the novitiate and received the name Sister in 2007. She professed first vows in 2009 and perpetual vows in 2015.
Sister Julia began her teaching ministry at Catholic high schools in Chicago where she lived and served from 2008 to 2012. In 2012, Sister Julia moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin to be closer to her community’s motherhouse and minister at Aquinas High School, where she served as a theology teacher until 2016.
In the fall of 2016, Sister Julia joined the staff of Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center on Trout Lake in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, where she presented programs and retreats and served as a freelance writer. In August 2017, Sister Julia graduated from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago with a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies.
Sister Julia returned to Chicago in August 2019 and became a certified spiritual director though the Claret...
Season 5, Episode 9 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
"Going barefoot connects me to the Earth, which connects me to the whole." - Sister Roselyn Heil
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IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with "Nature Nun" Sister Roselyn Heil about energy, oneness, and the physics of spirituality.
"Everything is energy," says sister Roselyn. "All energy is light."
They also talk about why Sister Roselyn loves going barefoot, how it connects her with the Earth and helps energy flow. They also explore how time functions differently with God, and the sacredness of the here and now.
"When life gets hectic and I get caught up in the chronological, I take a deep breath and go into the now, to the core of what is here," sister Roselyn explains.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Sister Roselyn Heil grew up on a farm in Marathon, Wisconsin with eight sisters and three brothers. She made first vows with the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in 1970, left after nine years, and returned in 2004. She is a graduate of Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, with a bachelor's degree in teaching/social studies and she also holds a master's degree in Culture and Creation Spirituality. She has served as a Liturgist, a National Park Interpretive Ranger, and as a Chaplain. She currently serves as a Pastoral Associate at St. Mary's Parish on the Bad River Ojibwe Reservation in Odanah, Wisconsin.
CONTEMPLATIVE MOMENT is John 16:12-13.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.
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Season 5, episode 8 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
"There's an emptiness...there's a hole we are perpetually trying to fill....and the hole is God."
-Brother Matt Wooters
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IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Brother Matt Wooters about how he became a Jesuit, and his work in vocations.
"I think sometimes people think...in vocation work, we're in sales. And I'm really not interested in selling anything," Br. Matt explains. "I believe that everyone has a vocation, I don't believe everyone has a Jesuit vocation. And so my job is to accompany young men to see where their vocation might be, even if it's not with us."
They also discuss how discerning a religious vocation works today. "I think a vocation is a combination of your skills...your best self, where is the need in the world, and what's something you can't not do. So it's something you keep thinking about," he says.
They also discuss swimming, how it is a form of prayer for Br. Matt, and how he has integrated his passion for swimming into his vocation. Finally, we talk about the mess of showing up, and how commitment means we have to show up even when the going gets tough.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Brother Matt Wooters is a native of Washington, DC. He joined the Jesuits in 2012 after graduating from John Carroll University. After college, he served for two years with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Belize. He holds graduate degrees in Social Work and Theology from Saint Louis University and Santa Clara University, respectively. Br. Matt has spent most of his life working with people experiencing homelessness, migrants, and those struggling with addiction. He is an open water swimmer, a podcaster, and a lover of stand-up comedy.
CONTEMPLATIVE MOMENT is taken from Suscipe, a prayer from St. Ignatius of Loyola.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.
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Season 5, Episode 7 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
"We have more than one calling, depending on the will of God."
- Judith Valente
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IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with authors Judith Valente and Brother Paul Quenon about their motivations behind the book they most recently co-authored. They discuss callings, how it's possible to have several and how each of them came to know their respective callings.
They consider what it means "to be," and how vastly that differs from our productivity-focused culture, which Judith says she knew all too well when working as a journalist, where the idea of simply being was a foreign concept. "More, more, better, better. You gotta work all the time you've got to be plugged in all the time," she explains of the mindset.
That raises the question: what then, is success?
Brother Paul weighs in, "I think success is to be authentic; to live according to your true self, which is...to be a child of God."
Top L-R: Judith Valente, Sister Julia Walsh. Bottom: Brother Paul Quenon.
Judith, Brother Paul and Sister Julia also explore the inherent messiness of living in community, how the pandemic has served as a spiritual teacher, and how Thomas Merton influenced both of them and the way they live their spirituality.
ABOUT THE GUESTS:
Brother Paul Quenon and Judith Valente are co-authors of the books: How to Be: a Monk and a Journalist Reflect on Living & Dying, Purpose & Prayer, Forgiveness & Friendship; and The Art of Pausing: Meditations for the Overworked and Overwhelmed.
Brother Paul entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky in 1958 at the age of 17, where Thomas Merton was his novice master and spiritual director. He sleeps under the stars each night and is an avid hiker and hill climber. Br. Paul is the author of the award-winning book In Praise of the Useless Life: A Monk’s Memoir....as well as nine collections of poetry. He is also a sought-after and inspiring speaker.
Judith Valente is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism and is the recipient of many awards for her coverage of faith and culture for national PBS-TV’s Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. A former staff writer for both The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, she has been a contributing correspondent for Chicago Public Radio, and her articles appear in U.S. Catholic and National Catholic Reporter. Judith is the author of four previous spirituality titles, she is a lay associate of the Benedictine monastery Mount St. Scholastica, and she speaks and leads retreats on living a more contemplative life and discovering inner wisdom. You can read more about her at her website: judithvalente.com/.
Copies of Judith Valente's and Brother Paul Quenon's books may be purchased at Gesthamani book store .
CONTEMPLATIVE MOMENT is a reading from Psalm 46.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.
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Season 5, episode 6 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
"I found the courage somewhere to take the step, and once I took the step, it was reaffirmed."-Sister Jenny Wilson
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IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Sister Jenny Wilson about how she became a Sister of Mercy and her life-changing experience of service in Guyana. They discuss God's call to us to surrender, and how God provides the grace for us to do so. And they explore what radical discipleship means to Sister Jenny. "In a way, it's getting out of bed every morning. It's getting out of bed with that enthusiasm."
They talk about the mess of being an educator during a pandemic, and the collective shift we are experiencing as the pandemic's effects continue. "I have a different perspective because I come at most things that I do as a sense of call," says Sister Jenny. "And I think many people, they don't use that language, but they're kind of moving towards that in their lives."
Lastly, they consider how it is radical, messy and countercultural to live a life of service and contemplation.
"In some ways I love people and I care about people so much that embracing that messiness in myself and in others is what makes my call real," Sister Jenny explains.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Sister Jenny Wilson is a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. With a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a master's degree in Education Studies, she has worked with homeless women and children as a social worker and presently is a theology teacher at Mount Mercy Academy in Buffalo, New York. She also serves as the diversity, inclusion and equity coordinator and cross country and track coach at Mount Mercy Academy.
Before entering the Sisters of Mercy, she completed two years as a Mercy Volunteer corps member in Guyana, South America. She travels there yearly to work with Mercy Volunteer Corps.
Sister Jenny loves the outdoors, traveling and exploring new places and cultures.
CONTEMPLATIVE MOMENT is a reading from Luke 6:36-38.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.
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Season 5, episode 5, of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
Photos by Scott Langley.
"We are called to create, where nothing exists." - Sister Helen Prejean
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In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Sister Helen Prejean, who is known for her work to end the death penalty. They discuss how Sister Helen became a minister to Pat Sonnier on death row, which led her to work for justice.
"A fire began to burn in my heart," she says.
Sister Julia and Sister Helen also talk about how the Gospel calls the Church to be among the poor and on the margins.
"To engage in social justice means you're going to...take on the sufferings of people who are voiceless and made to suffer. And you're going to undertake systemic change," Sister Helen explains.
Sister Helen also talks about how storytelling has a power to change hearts and minds, and the true meaning of justice. "Justice means that everybody's got a fair shake, and they've got equal access to liberties and freedom and a way to have a livelihood and a life."
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Sister Helen Prejean is known around the world for her tireless work against the death penalty. She has been instrumental in sparking national dialogue on capital punishment and in shaping the Catholic Church’s vigorous opposition to all executions.
Photo by Scott Langley.
Born on April 21, 1939, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she joined the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1957. After studies in the USA and Canada, she spent the following years teaching high school, and serving as the Religious Education Director at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in New Orleans and the Formation Director for her religious community.
In 1982, she moved into the St. Thomas Housing Project in New Orleans in order to live and work with the poor. While there, Sister Helen began corresponding with Patrick Sonnier, who had been sentenced to death for the murder of two teenagers. Two years later, when Patrick Sonnier was put to death in the electric chair, Sister Helen was there to witness his execution. In the following months, she became spiritual advisor to another death row inmate, Robert Lee Willie, who was to meet the same fate as Sonnier.
After witnessing these executions, Sister Helen realized that this lethal ritual would remain unchallenged unless its secrecy was stripped away, and so she sat down and wrote a book, Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States. Dead Man Walking hit the shelves when national support for the death penalty was over 80% and, in Sister Helen’s native Louisiana, closer to 90%. The book ignited a national debate on capital punishment and it inspired an Academy Award winning movie, a play and an opera. Sister Helen also embarked on a speaking tour that continues to this day.
Sister Helen works with people of all faiths and those who follow no established faith, but her voice has had a special resonance with her fellow Catholics. Over the decades, Sister Helen has made personal approaches to two popes, John Paul II and Pope Francis, urging them to establish the Catholic Church’s position as unequivocally opposed to capital punishment under any circumstances. After Sister Helen’s urging, under John Paul II the catechism was revised to strengthen the church’s opposition to executions, although it allowed for a very few exceptions. Not long after meeting with Sister Helen in August of 2018, Pope Francis announced new language of the Catholic Catechism which declares that the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person, with no exceptions.
Today, although capital punishment is still on the books in 29 states in the USA, it has fallen into disuse in most of those states. Prosecutors and juries alike are turning away from death sentences,
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
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IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, public speaker and author Gary Jansen talks with Sister Julia Walsh about everything from the supernatural to the spirituality of the seemingly mundane.
"The fact is that we're spiritual beings. We have a body. We have a soul. They're intertwined," Jansen explains, "so everything is a spiritual experience, and has the opportunity to provide meaning for you."
They discuss books, how they helped him discover his vocation and feel drawn to God. And they consider the reality of embracing a life of suffering when we choose the spiritual path.
They also talk about the mess of forgiveness, how it's truly difficult and the lessons the difficulty of that journey can teach us.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Gary Jansen is a public speaker and author of several books, including the multi-award-winning "MicroShifts," "The 15-Minute Prayer Solution," "Station to Station," "Life Everlasting," and the memoir: "Holy Ghosts."
Jansen has appeared on A&E, the Sundance Channel, the Travel Channel, Coast to Coast AM, CNN.com, and NPR. His writing has been featured in the Chicago Sun-Times, USA Today, Huffington Post, Thrive Global, Angelus, and Religion Dispatches.
Jansen worked at Penguin Random House for 25 years where he was the editor on several New York Times bestsellers. He is now the executive editor of acquisitions at Loyola Press.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.
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Episode 3, Season 5 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
"The spiritual life is a journey in discipline." - Dr. C. Vanessa White
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In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Dr. C. Vanessa White and Sister Julia Walsh talk about what healthy spirituality looks like, the importance of balance, and the value of knowing who one is so we can offer our authentic selves.
"The spiritual life is a journey in discipline; in making choices. and you can make choices that are life giving or you can make choices that sap you of your life," Dr. C. Vanessa White explains.
Those choices can reveal the mess of ministry, in particular when it comes to balancing that ministry with care for loved ones and ourselves. That's why it's so important to rest, Dr. White explains, and in her words, "Revive and renew, so you can do."
They also discuss what it means to have hope, even while fatigued by the realities of the global pandemic, and how that hope can be found by changing our focus.
"We are so busy focusing on the negative that we miss that God's grace is present in the midst of that. And we need to connect with that; it will help us journey through that time," Dr. White explains.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Dr. C. Vanessa White, D. Min., is Associate Professor of Spirituality and Ministry at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and Associate Director of the Master of Theology program at Xavier University of Louisiana.A professed Secular Franciscan for more than 30 years, her articles and essays have appeared in New Theology Review, U.S. Catholic, AMERICA, National Catholic Reporter and CNN.org. She is co-editor of the book, “Songs of Our Hearts and Meditations of Our Souls: Prayers for Black Catholics." (St. Anthony Messenger Press), is a contributor to the Black Catholic Studies Reader (David Endres, editor, CUA, summer 2021) and to the Wisdom Commentary series volume on Luke, 1-9 (General editor, Barbara Reid, Liturgical Press, 2020.) She is an advisor for the Fetzer Institute’s Study of Spirituality in the Americas published in 2020 as well as consultant to the USCCB’s Subcommittee on Certification for Ecclesial Ministry. A former convener for the Black Catholic Theological Symposium, she considers herself a womanist practical theologian whose research is focused on the intersections of spirituality and praxis and is attentive to issues of discernment, health, women’s spirituality, diversity/intercultural dialogue, leadership development, spiritual and ministry formation, spiritual practices, lay ministry, adult faith formation and issues pertinent to the lives of Black Catholics.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.
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Season 5, Episode 2 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
"Little by little, you can make a difference in people's lives."-Adrienne Alexander
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IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh talks with Adrienne Alexander about her family's faith beginnings and how she got involved in politics, social justice and the labor movement. They talk about progress, how it can be slow, yet worthwhile.
"I play a lot of defense in my job, but it is incredibly rewarding when you do have those wins that steel you for the next 10 years," Adrienne says.
They discuss labor negotiations and the mess of lobbying for justice.
"Solidarity is something that's kind of counter-cultural, especially in American individualistic society when everybody's just...trying to personally get ahead," Adrienne explains.
Sister Julia and Adrienne also take a look at the labor issues of 2022, including the fight for fair wages, and the importance of protecting essential workers and immigrants who are most vulnerable to risk. And they explore how Adrienne finds hope in the midst of messy politics.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Adrienne Alexander has worked at AFSCME Council 31 since 2010 and currently serves as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. She serves on the boards of the Catholic Labor Network and Arise Chicago, a nonprofit organization that works at the intersection of faith and workers' rights. Adrienne is a graduate of Agnes Scott College, a small, women’s college in Georgia, and earned her Master's degree in Public Policy from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Chicago with her husband and two daughters, where they attend St. Benedict the African.
Contemplative Moment is adapted from the Prayer for Labor Day.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.
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Season 5, Episode 1 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
"I want to dignify and honor the real emotions that kids have, whether it's joy or grief."- Jennifer Grant
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In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with author Jennifer Grant about how the call to serve can be both internal and external, and the importance of staying focused on the spirit of the call and the work itself.
They discuss how writing about faith and the mystery of God for children has helped Jennifer have fresh eyes when looking at God's work in the world.
"I'm not interested in complicated theology...but I am interested in sparking kids' curiosity about the divine and I am interested in learning more about myself and where God is working in the world," Jennifer explains.
Lastly, they explore how nature can bridge divides among humanity, even in times of polarization.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Jennifer Grant is the author of six books for adults, including, "Love You More: The Divine Surprise of Adopting My Daughter." Her latest, "Dimming the Day," features reflections on nature as night falls. She has also authored a number of children's books. In addition to writing books, Jennifer works as an editor and editorial consultant, and curates the "Faith and Food" page for CompassionateChristianity.org.
Jennifer received her master's degree in English literature with concentrations in fiction writing and critical theory from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She is a member of the 2030 Collaborative's Faith-Based Coalition for Global Nutrition, a founding member of INK: A Creative Collective and she serves on the board for gendernation.org.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.
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Season 4, Episode 10 of Messy Jesus Business, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
"When I say everyone belongs, everyone belongs."
- AnaYelsi Velasco-Sanchez
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IN THIS EPISODE:
In this episode of Messy Jesus Business, Sister Julia Walsh talks with AnaYelsi Velasco-Sanchez about how she found her way to Christianity and justice work. They talk about creativity and social change, how they can inspire conversations in movements and how art can be therapeutic. And they explore how imitating Jesus could actually cause discomfort and division in the short term, yet the end goal is unity.
"We need to focus on systems just as much as we focus on relationships," AnaYelsi explains.
Sister Julia and AnaYelsi also discuss the mess of decolonization, how it requires community and intentionality. And they take a look at the importance of establishing radically welcoming spaces, welcoming those who resist and are uncomfortable, and offering warmth, kindness and love to invite others into the struggle with us.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
AnaYelsi Velasco-Sanchez (she/her/hers) is an IndoLatinx mujerista offering education, coaching, consulting, writing, and art––all intended to assist people in building an interlocking framework for justice. She is the founder of En Conjunto—a collective of people of color working independently at the intersection of justice and spirituality. She is also the cocreator of the Digital Dine-In Project: a virtual dining and learning experience bringing people together from around the world. She is an independent practitioner but partners as a co-coordinator with Liberation School South and serves on the boards of the Festival Center and Many Languages One Voice in Washington, D.C.
Contemplative Moment in this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast features A Prayer for the Reckoning.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.
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Season 4, Episode 9 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, hosted by Sister Julia Walsh.
"I go, and I think I'm bringing Church to them; Church is already there."
- Deacon Pablo Perez
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IN THIS EPISODE:
Sister Julia Walsh talks with Deacon Pablo Perez about how he became a deacon and chaplain at Chicago's Cook and Lake County Jails, after being a gang member himself.
"I was just as reckless as they were. I was just as broken as they were," Pablo Perez explains. "That's why I know that investing time in each of those young men...is worth it. Because if I changed, I know they could change."
Sister Julia and Deacon Pablo Perez discuss forgiveness and mercy, how our Church and society could promote these values, and the importance of truly seeing people who are incarcerated.
"Look at them the way the Lord looks at all of us," he says.
They also examine the mess of our criminal justice system.
"The whole environment is messy. It's a mess that no one wants to touch. It's a mess that no one wants to clean," Pablo explains. He encourages us, instead, to respond with compassion.
ABOUT THE GUEST:
Pablo Perez was born in Guatemala and came to Chicago when he was four-years old, then grew up on the north side of the city. He fell in love with jail ministry in the summer of 2006, when he served as a volunteer at Kolbe House, as part of his formation to become a deacon. He was ordained a deacon in February 2008. A former gang member himself, he now works in the Archdiocese of Chicago as the Associate Director of Kolbe House and Chaplain at Cook and Lake County Jails.
In addition to ministering in the jail, Pablo ministers at St. Bede the Venerable Parish on the Southwest side of Chicago, where he counsels couples and trains Eucharistic ministers and lectors. He has been married for 24 years and has three children: two adults and one teenager.
His story is told in the film, RESTORED: Stories of Encounter - Deacon Pablo Perez.
Contemplative Moment is an excerpt from number 16 of the Apostolic Letter Misericordia et misera.
MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.
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