Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I hope that you are experiencing spring time in your spirit, as well as in the weather. Today I’d like to share an experience of discernment. I don’t want to share thewhat or why, but rather, the experience of entering into a process of discernment of a life issue. The dictionary meanings of discernment are: 1: to detect with the eyes: DISTINGUISH; 2: DISCRIMINATE;3: to come to know or recognize mentally. The third definition is what I've experienced. When you need to make an important life decision it is important to take the process seriously and be totally open to whatever might unfold... Tune into all of the external and internal stirrings... Be AWARE, turn up your antennae to those vibes and sensations. .. MEDITATE with an open heart and mind... Be willing to SHARE your discernment with those whose insight you value, as well as those close to you and those that may bring a totally different take on this... Be willing to LISTEN to those who might give you new insights and under...

I encountered this all familiar question once again. The next question is: are you happy as a Religious Sister? I find it funny because these are the same questions I have been asked over the past four years since I entered religious life. As often as I am asked, I still have to smile because it is always the same answer. “I’m a sister because God called me. I have said “yes” out of my own free will. Religious life is something I would have never envisioned for myself and it is the most glorious blessing and gift I could have received.” I usually receive the same responses “you are so young” and sometimes “but, you are pretty.” I happily share….. God does not discriminate on age or looks. We are all beautiful and beloved by God. These questions always provide me the opportunity to share how happy and content I am with my life and that it is not for the fainthearted. Like any other vocation, marriage or single life, it includes struggle and work. It is by prayer, a faithful community o...

In my many years in religious life I have been amazed at all the ways God continues to lead me. There are many forms of ministry and I have found that education has been rooted in my call to follow Jesus as a vowed religious. Since 2001 I have been serving as a mission educator and promoter for a missionary society. I find myself in classrooms, at catechetical conferences, youth gatherings, as well as presenter, retreat director, and writer. All are called by our baptism to stand on the side of those who are poor, dispossessed, and vulnerable. I have crossed borders intellectually, spiritually, and physically. My deep faith and dedication to Catholic social teaching principles fuels my ministry and enables me to connect with people of all ages who have a passion for mission and missionary endeavors here in the U.S. and around the world. Sr. Colleen Nolan, OP