Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Music and singing have especially been such vital aspects of my life. My Mom had always said that I was singing and cooing even as a baby. I grew up in a parish on the South Side of Chicago in which I sang in the choir during my youth and teen years. I then went on to sing in three choirs at Queen of Peace and the Liturgical choir at Dominican University. So, when I arrived at Whitefish Bay, I had this constant feeling of emptiness. Something was missing, but I did not know what it was. Then, I joined All Saints Church in Milwaukee, and as I attended my first Liturgy, I heard their Gospel Choir... AND I WEPT! That is what I was missing, the music! I did not realize until that moment, that music fills my soul in such an indescribable way.   I just needed to sing. That experience reminded me of one of my favorite hymnals first sung by the Gospel Queen, Mahalia Jackson, His Eye Is on the Sparrow , which says "and I sing because I'm happy, and I sing because I'm free. His eye...

Pope Francis just announced 2015 as the Year of Consecrated Life. In a class I’m taking, I’ve been reading literature addressing the decline in numbers of women religious in the U.S. since the mid-60s, from a sociological perspective.   While many valid theories have been proposed, some empirical studies have focused on decreased numbers only, but not on what drives those numbers. Others have asked the question, “Why did you leave?” Why a woman chooses to leave religious life is as much a personal call from God as are her reasons for entering. Those reasons are so important, but they are also frozen in time. They are what they are. An equally important question, which seems more dynamic and visionary, is:   “Why do you stay?” I suspect that many women would respond differently to “why did you enter?” than to “why do you stay?” We evolve, our understanding of life and our place in it evolves, our relationship to God evolves… we simply are not the same people today th...