Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Happy New Year!   As I was praying this morning I kept wondering, “What happened to 2013?”  It must be a sign of getting old!  However, I suspect that all of us experience a too-fast pace of life and wonder where our time has gone.  I relate to Tanya’s blog from this week where she has promised herself more stillness, more silence in her life. Yesterday’s gospel was the prologue of the Gospel of John…”In the beginning…the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”   In one of the books I use for daily prayer Sr. Pat Kozak, CSJ, offered a reflection on the “unfinishedness” of our life.   Is there anything about 2013 that felt unfinished in your life?   Perhaps a relationship that cooled?   Some project you were working on that you just couldn’t seem to put together?   Things you hoped to do to help others that you just didn’t get to?   Well, the good news is that the Word, Jesus Christ, dwells among us.   And the unfinishedness of our lives can still be addressed.   Allow the Word to

Growing up, I remember hearing that how I bring in the New Year sets the tone for the rest of the year. I think of that old saying every New Years’ Eve. However, this is the first time I am intentionally choosing stillness and silence as my New Years’ Eve partners. Like many, my days and weeks are full. Busier than I prefer, at times. The other night, in the midst of band practice, I had an aha moment. It happened while the brass and percussion were working hard and the clarinet section had multiple measures of rest. In that rehearsal, I decided to design my personal 2014 musical score to include more measures of rest. I will begin this New Year fully awake in stillness and silence. In doing so, I hope to ‘set a tone’ for the coming year - paying attention to the instruments of God’s voice while noticing what is going on within me during my measures of rest. My commitment to an active and contemplative life as a sister supports this. Plus, I’ve always learned best when I am