Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Well, Minnesota isn't that far north but this winter seemed like the North Pole and it isn't over yet!   These past   three months here have been unending snowstorms, ice and arctic temperatures.   Needless to say, winter has become oppressive!   So, how to "survive" winter or deal with the strain it creates in our lives is a powerful question for many of us. I was lucky-my family invited me to Arizona for a week. The highlight of my trip included hiking in Sabino Canyon in Tucson, one of the most unique and beautiful desert canyons.   My sense of the Sacred came alive as I viewed the rugged, mountainous landscape, the desert trees and flowers in the canyon valleys.   I experienced   how nature connects me to the Divine deeply within and restores my sense of wholeness. Finding ways to restore our energy and spirit regardless of where we live, weather conditions and other life stressors is essential in our lives.   Where do you go and wh

In his book, The Holy Longing , Ron Rohlheiser leads his reader to a deeper understanding of spirituality in the context of the daily struggles we experience … with faith, with the Church, with our own understanding of our place in the world, with our deep longing for right relationship with God, and with our need to initiate, to act .               In her book, When the Heart Waits , Sue Monk Kidd leads her reader on a journey to a spot where we can nestle – to an understanding of waiting as a holy, sacred action.             Lately, I’ve been feeling like the child of a marriage between these two books.   While I’m trying to be fully present to my life as a 1 st year novice, I’m also longing to be in the world, to act, to help in whatever meager way I can.   A longing to dive in headlong, bellowing like Tarzan! There is so much need…             And yet I can also sense, in a very palpable way, the fruits of contemplation, of listening, of waiting as God speaks to and works