Service on the Margins – Messy Jesus Business

Episode 67 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe:  Email | RSS | More

IN THIS EPISODE

In 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 GUEST

Franciscan 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 Center

MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is hosted by Sister Julia Walsh. 

Produced and edited by Colin Wambsgans.

Email us at [email protected]

BE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Twitter: @messyjesusbiz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness

SUPPORT US:

https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Episode 65 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Email | RSS | More

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.

Email us at [email protected]

BE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Twitter: @messyjesusbiz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness

SUPPORT US:

https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe:  Stitcher | Email | RSS | More

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.

Email us at [email protected]

BE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Twitter: @messyjesusbiz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness

SUPPORT US:

https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness

LISTEN HERE:

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe:  Stitcher | Email | RSS | More

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.

Email us at [email protected]

BE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Twitter: @messyjesusbiz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness

SUPPORT US:

https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness

LISTEN HERE:

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe:  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 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.

Email us at [email protected]

BE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Twitter: @messyjesusbiz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness

SUPPORT US:

https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness

LISTEN HERE:

Episode 51 of Messy Jesus Business podcast, with Sister Julia Walsh.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe:  Stitcher | Email | RSS | More

IN THIS EPISODE:

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.

Email us at [email protected]

BE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

Twitter: @messyjesusbiz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness

SUPPORT US:

https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness

LISTEN HERE:

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

LISTEN HERE:

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 Center in May 2020. That same year, she joined her congregation’s formation team, serving women who are discerning their vocation. In 2021 she co-founded The Fireplace, an intentional community and house of hospitality on Chicago’s southside that offers spiritual support to artists and activists. 

In addition to writing, serving as a spiritual director, companioning people who are discerning their vocations, facilitating retreats, and managing Messy Jesus Business blog and podcast, Sister Julia also volunteers at Kolbe House, the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Jail Ministry Center.

Sister Julia enjoys hiking, camping, watching movies, gardening, creating and taking in art, cooking, traveling and spending time with her community, family and friends. On a sunny day in Chicago she can be found riding her bicycle throughout the city and writing poetry about her relationship with God.

MESSY JESUS BUSINESS podcast is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski. In this special 50th episode, Sister Julia Walsh is the podcast guest and Charish Badzinski serves as host.

Email us at [email protected]

BE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness

Twitter: @messyjesusbiz

SUPPORT US:

https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness

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

LISTEN HERE:

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.

Email us at [email protected]

BE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness

Twitter: @messyjesusbiz

SUPPORT US:

https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness

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

LISTEN HERE:

IN THIS EPISODE:

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, with the death penalty becoming increasingly a geographical freak. Sister Helen continues her work, dividing her time between educating the public, campaigning against the death penalty, counseling individual death row prisoners, and working with murder victims’ family members. Sister Helen’s second book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, was published in 2004; and her third book, River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey, in 2019.

CONTEMPLATIVE MOMENT is a reading from Amos 5:12-15, 22-24.

MESSY JESUS BUSINESS is produced and hosted by Sister Julia Walsh, and edited by Charish Badzinski.

Email us at [email protected]

BE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness

Twitter: @messyjesusbiz

SUPPORT US:

https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness

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

LISTEN HERE:

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.

Email us at [email protected]

BE SOCIAL:https://www.facebook.com/MessyJesusBusiness

https://www.instagram.com/messyjesusbusiness

Twitter: @messyjesusbiz

SUPPORT US:

https://www.patreon.com/messyjesusbusiness