Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I am writing this on the feast of one of our most treasured Dominican saints, St Thomas Aquinas.  He remains, almost 750 years after his death, one of the most important and influential Catholic theologians. My love for him stems, in part, because he practiced a key Dominican principle - seek the truth wherever it resides. His writings present both sides of an argument or question. Thinking about Thomas got me thinking about words. Thomas wrote plenty of them. It was his ministry of study, contemplation and preaching. Yet at the end of his life, he considered them all "straw" compared to what he now understood about the truth of God's love. Our world could use more folks like Thomas Aquinas. I listened to the words of our President on Inauguration Day and found much beauty and truth in them. And yet, watching the t.v. news, many had a vastly different take. Where does the truth reside? Would Thomas' approach be effective in Congress? How abo...

Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent, I’ve been reading Rachel Remen’s book, My Grandfather’s Blessings .  Though I have read the book several times in the past, I am seeing the stories with new eyes because I am in a different place in my life’s journey.  The last chapter I perused described the entrance to Rachel’s home.  To enter her house, one first climbs a flight of steps seeing a gorgeous tree.  After turning to the left and ascending another flight of steps, the visitor passes through a rose garden unto a deck overlooking a breath-taking view of the city of San Francisco.  Only after another turn, this one to the right, does the guest encounter the front door to Rachel’s abode. You may be asking yourself why I am telling you about the entrance to this house.  I think the author’s illustration describes well my journey.  Before I embarked on this path to vowed membership with the Dominicans of Sinsinawa, I had had many lif...