Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Pope Francis in the beginning of his papal letter on mercy states that, “Jesus is the visible face of God’s mercy.”  This Advent I have been reflecting and reading about what that really means.  Pope Francis has designated from December 8 th – November 20 th 2016 the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.  To me this begs the question what is mercy?  A few months ago I had a traumatic encounter with someone who publically insulted and lied about me.  I was very hurt that this person would think that way about me.  Yet I knew that mercy called me to love and more importantly forgive that person; not only for their sake, but for my own sake.  So that I could be completely free of the hurt that it had caused within me.  With the help of the Holy Spirit I am still working on forgiving that person.  My way of dealing with the pain was to pity the person.  I had thought that pity was being merciful; feeling sorry for the person becaus...

Advent is always a special time for me. The spirit of this season, expressed through the scriptures, deepens my sense of hope and living fully the present moment. For about a year now I have been practicing mindfulness. For me Advent is a call to live mindfully as we are encouraged to “Wake up!” It is a time of hopeful waiting. This past Wednesday, I received a call from my brother that Dad was not doing well. I live in the Chicago area and Dad lives in the Minneapolis area.  Dad is 98 and living in assisted living with Hospice care. Naturally, I thought this was his special time for passing into life after life to join Mom and three of my siblings and many other loved ones. That night I had a dream that had a significant message. In the dream I remember singing “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard what God has ready for those who love him.” When I awoke the message in my heart was “Dad is experiencing a very important waiting and we cannot even imagine how magnificent i...