Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I spent Saturday and Sunday at the Mound celebrating with sisters who are themselves celebrating 25 and 50 years of service and membership as a Dominican of Sinsinawa. It gives me such joy to celebrate our lives together as sisters.   I go there to “work” but I gain so much more than I give.   I always come home from the Mound with renewed energy! Even though we are so individual and different, we are of one mind and heart. We are able to discuss issues of justice, issues with the church and issues relating to politics all with an open mind. Maybe I should say most of the time with an open mind! We give each other hope in a church and a world struggling for hope and for peace of mind. And we leave, having expanded our thinking. Over the weekend we meet families of our sisters, we laugh together and we have fun. We break bread together and we celebrate Eucharist. We visit our older and infirm sisters who pray every day for us. What a grace ...

As a newcomer to this community and blog space, I originally thought the best way to contribute would be to reflect on the many daily blessings and those challenges life continues to shower on/throw at me as a Sinsinawa Dominican candidate.   Events of the past weekend though, have taken me to a deeper contemplative space where I found the spirits of St. Dominic, Father Samuel, Catherine and so many other holy Dominican women and men quite alive, extremely well, and dancing up a storm! July 14/15 was Jubilee weekend, a celebration of the lives and ministries of 22 amazing women.   It was my great honor and privilege to help serve these holy servants, our sisters, and their guests. Last year at this time, I was in the initial stages of formally discerning a call to religious life with the SDs.   I helped serve at the July, 2011 Jubilee but, quite frankly, remember very few other details, except that it was hot, there were a LOT of people with JOY to match th...