Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

One month ago I started my pastoral ministry practicum at the correctional facility where I have worked part-time for almost three years. I meet individually with inmates for “spiritual care” sessions and co-facilitate two groups: an anger management group with the men and a grief group with the women. I am very excited about this opportunity! A lot of life happens before and beyond the iron gates, electronic doors, and concrete walls. There is also much suffering. The details of our personal stories may be different but we are more alike than not. I identify with their feelings of loss, grief, remorse, and anger toward injustices that occur in the world in which we live, including the criminal justice system. The inmates help me become more honest, compassionate, and present in the moment. We also find occasion to laugh and work together to put dreams in action toward a brighter tomorrow. Five days a week I encounter God beyond steel bars and concrete. Will you help me pray for all o...

I am chewing on the question: “How we (vowed religious) are different from say, the consecrated virgins, other than we have a congregation to fall back on? In today’s gospel, April 20, the people ask Jesus for a sign that they might believe in him. The desire today as well, seems to be for outward, external signs-dress, way of prayer. For me vocation is relationship. I explained Dominican life to the 5th grade as a desire to “tell the word about Jesus” like St Dominic did; and to do that with others that like each other so much we call ourselves brothers and sisters. Our Order- our club is also called a family. The energy of this “band of sisters” changes lives: those we serve as well as our own. In a parish prayer group, someone asked me was it hard to leave behind things like sex and a family. I answered that I did not feel so much like I was leaving behind as much as I was moving toward something that my heart sought. Happy seeking, Sr. Mary Mc Nulty OP

This past weekend we had a fundraiser for the ministry I direct. We did a Fun Run and it was a great success. I was amazed at the number of people who came simply because they wanted the tee shirt which stated “I Run with Nuns”! Now initially I was not crazy about the title but the more I think about it the more I like it. I do ‘run with nuns’. And they are wonderfully made persons. The nuns I run with are so genuine and are so committed to the Gospel. They take great joy in serving the People of God. They teach, the console, they preach, they administer, they listen, and they give. Indeed what a neat group of people to be running with. It is these women who renew my faith in God and who renew my commitment as a vowed religious. We are not perfect. Sometimes in the run we stumble but we help one another get up and continue on in the run. Want to run with nuns? Sr. K. C. Young