Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

What does it really mean to offer your day to God?  When I was a child I learned a prayer called the Morning Offering.  In that prayer I offered my whole day to God, my joys, my sufferings, my prayers and my works, all to the one who gave me the day in the first place.  I'm not sure I fully understood what I was saying but I do believe that praying this prayer day after day instilled in me a desire to do God's will.  So when at the age of 21 I heard the call of God so clearly that I could no longer ignore it, I sent in my application to the Dominican Sisters in Sinsinawa.  Once I made this decision I promised to try to follow God’s will in all that I do. I offer each day to God.  Some days are better than others.  During the days of loneliness, the times of challenges, the feelings of failure, I continue to offer these to God along with the joys, and acts of service and compassion I am called to do.  On some days I feel I have nothing to ...

I’ve been thinking a lot about ministry lately.  I’ve also been drinking a lot of coffee.  There are a lot of independent coffee roasters and retailers in Spokane, where I’m spending my apostolic year.  One is the “Supreme Bean”.  When I saw it, I was reminded of my childhood when I often wondered why people were called “human beans”. Human beans? Coffee? Ministry?   What’s the connection?   Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been very guilty of judging myself by how much or how little I “do” and by how well or how poorly I “do” it.   The truth is, we aren’t called ‘human doers’, ‘human dids’, or ‘human will do-s’. We are called ‘human beings ’.   Being is defined as “the state of existing; the most important or basic part of a person's mind or self.”   We can learn from the past, but we can’t ‘be’ there.   We can think of the future, but we can’t ‘be’ there.   We can only ‘be’ in the present. There’s the connection. ...