Episode 72 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

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“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 Burhans

IN THIS EPISODE

This 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 GUEST

Molly 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.

(Molly wanted to give a special shout out to David Cheney, who runs the website catholic-hierarchy.com. David's volunteer work keeping track of diocese and bishop information is crucial to the land work that Molly is doing with the church.)

MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. 

Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.

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Episode 71 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

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“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 Burhans

IN THIS EPISODE

This 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 GUEST

Molly 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.

(Molly wanted to give a special shout out to David Cheney, who runs the website catholic-hierarchy.com. David's volunteer work keeping track of diocese and bishop information is crucial to the land work that Molly is doing with the church.)

MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. 

Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.

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Episode 70 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, 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 GUEST

Catholic 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.

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Episode 69 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, 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 GUEST

Mary 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.

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Episode 65 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 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 GUEST

Father 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.

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Episode 63 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

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“Prayer has to push you to do something outside yourself.” -Kristina Ortega

IN THIS EPISODE

For 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 GUEST

Kristina 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.

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Episode 62 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

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Afra Pourdad portrait

"Whoever is in front of us we are called to love." -Sister Christa Parra

IN THIS EPISODE

For 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 GUEST

Sister 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/micasaeudes

*Website for Centro Santa Catalina in Juárez: https://centrodesantacatalina.org/

*Sister Christa's page at Catholic Women Preach: https://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preacher/christa-parra

*Sister Christa's speech at Catholic Theological Union's 2016 graduation ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qgzYaYL5v0

MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. 

Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.

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Episode 61 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

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Afra 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 Claravall

IN THIS EPISODE

For 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 GUEST

Fr. 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/11

MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. 

Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.

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Episode 60 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

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"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 McCloud

IN THIS EPISODE

In 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 GUEST

Ralph 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-are

Ralph's writing on Lent: https://www.usccb.org/committees/catholic-campaign-human-development/lenten-reflections-director-cchd

MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. 

Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.

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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.

Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration on the Camino de Santiago

MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. 

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