Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

During these days, I find myself in the midst of Advent waiting -- waiting to hear good news, longing and hoping for good news.   Again, it seems all we hear and read are horrific stories of people’s inhumanity to other people.   I keep asking myself, “How can a person do that to another human being!”   How can a group of terrorists kill over 140 school children in Pakistan?   How can …?   (The list goes on and on.) How do those individuals live with themselves? During a meal conversation with a sister friend, we spoke of so many sufferings we have witnessed over the past few months.   Our conclusions, if you can even call them that, were several.   Violence begets violence.   Someone in the cycle needs to stop and say no more -- no more violence, no more killing, no more hurting another.   Our faith tells us the deceased are with the living God.   Our hope leads us to believe those left behind mourning their loved ones will find co...

As I considered my offering for the blog this month, I also have been pondering this beginning of the Year of Consecrated Life.   Looking at the blog for this month, I was grateful to see Kathy Flynn, second year novice, has also written about it.   So I follow in her blessed footsteps. Because of an event that I will be leading for the religious of the Diocese of Palm Beach for this special year, I have been reading the documents related to it.   But for this gathering I have also taken time to look at the mission statements for all the congregations represented where I minister. Each congregation of Sisters has its own way of expressing who they are and how they desire live God’s mission in the world.   The process of collecting and reading each of these has truly touched my heart.   It also caused me ponder again the mission statement of my congregation:              We are Catholic Sisters pr...