Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Close your eyes for a moment and consider women of spirit you know and love, or have known and loved.   They may be members of your family, or teachers, or high school and college friends.   I had a few occasions recently to think about women of spirit who have inspired me – and thousands of others! We Sinsinawa Dominicans recently celebrated the 25 th anniversary of our Associate program.   At the closing ritual, we stood in a circle, hands on one another’s shoulders and sang with gusto “We are standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before us/We are stronger for their courage/ We are wiser for their words…”     The faces of so many women floated across my mind’s eye, faces made beautiful by lives lived with passion, love, and courage. Then just this past week I went to our Motherhouse in Sinsinawa to attend the opening of our Heritage Center.   It tells the story of our founding sisters, and displays artistic and photographic treasures from o...

In January, I was in Mexico at CCIDD (Cuernavaca Center of Interfaith on Dialogue Development). I was blessed to be there with students from Dominican University (DU) and Edgewood College.   Through my participation in the program, I learned about Mexico’s economics, Immigration, the human right to access water/food and peace/justice issues.   I also had a personal encounter with the poor, a person with a face and name I will remember, my friend/brother in Christ, Isidro.   He is an Indigenous artisan who lives in the Mountains of Guerrero, who makes baskets to provide for his family. On my return trip to the US, I kept reflecting on Jesus’ message to give to the poor.   My heart ached as I pondered the question “how can I remember and give to my brother Isidro (the poor) daily?”   Isidro’s beautiful basket is a daily reminder in my room that Jesus calls each of us to give to the poor and do more when possible. One example that comes to mind is the DU student...