Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Everyone has a vocation, our first vocation is the call to love and belong to others.  This was the foundation of the Choice retreat weekend that I led last weekend.  Twenty five single Catholic males and females between the ages of 22-39 years of age discussed the idea of all of them having a vocation.  For many of them this was the first time they had heard of this concept, they thought that only priests and nuns had a real vocation.  The retreat helped them to realize that they also had a vocation and that married life and the single dedicated life are also very important vocations.   The young people shared their lives, their joys and pains with one another.  Some of them had many challenges in their lives and they realized that they needed the support of others who they trusted to help them through.  They heard of the importance of not allowing others to lead them to decisions that they were not yet ready or equipped to...

Living in Latin America now gives me energy to walk humbly and consider God’s life amidst differences.  The people of God here whom I know show me resilience for living each day.  We have been studying Canadian mining here in our area in Morelos and its negative effects on the environment.  Additionally we have been rehabbing homes of families living in low economic conditions.  These are two examples of extremes, a wealthy mining company looking for gold to sell and mothers and fathers hoping to have an adequate roof and bathroom for their small house. I trust God has called me here to Mexico to walk in faith and confidence and do the small works we are able to do for basic human rights of the people. A dignified house, a roof and a bathroom are basic rights. The open pit mining in Mexico is disastrous to the environment and thus we speak against it. God leads me as a Dominican to preach through this work for justice. What extremes are in y...