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.

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"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 Poffenberger

Michael Poffenberger

ABOUT THE GUEST

Michael 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.

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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.

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"Evangelization is just being who you are."

-Elena Segura

Learn more about Elena Segura's work here, and join her in saying a rosary every Wednesday during Lent for immigration reform.

Elena Segura

ABOUT THE GUEST

Elena 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.

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A Special Episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

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After 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 Jones

You'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.

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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!

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A 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. Hendey

Lisa M. Hendey

ABOUT THE GUEST

Lisa 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.

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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.

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 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, CSP

Rev. Ricky Manalo, CSP

ABOUT THE GUEST

Rev. 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.

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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.

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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 Garrido

Dr. Ann Garrido

ABOUT THE GUEST

Ann 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.

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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.

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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, SJ

Fr. James Martin, SJ

ABOUT THE GUEST

Father 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.

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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.

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With 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!

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MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. 

Produced, edited, and original music by Colin Wambsgans.

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Episode 85 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

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"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 Gee

Topics Discussed:

Immigration experience

Conversion to Catholicism

Ritual, routine, and liturgy

Discomfort

The messiness of prayer and community

Embodiment of faith

Balancing different cultures

Embracing conflict

Resisting perfectionism

Name Drops:

Jesus

Thomas Merton

Ronald Rolheiser

Oliver Burkeman

Greg Boyle

Saul/Paul

Books Mentioned:

the Bible

We Carry Smoke and Paper

New Seeds of Contemplation

Melody Gee

ABOUT THE GUEST

Melody 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.

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Episode 84 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

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" 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, MJ

IN THIS EPISODE

To donate to or volunteer with Sister Norma, click here or scan the QR code below.

Topics Discussed:

Sister Norma's vocation

art

immigration

border control

courage

a punishing vs a loving God

the breadth of Spirituality

being present

making connections

exploitation of immigrants

dignity

protesting the sale of arms

being a disciple of Jesus

trusting/surrendering to God

Name Drops:

Jesus

Pope Francis

Mother Teresa of Avila

Moses

Books Mentioned:

the Bible

Time Magazine

Sister Norma Pimentel, MJ

ABOUT THE GUEST

Sister 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 [email protected]

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