Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

At a recent parish event, I joined with others in experiencing an evening of Mexican dancing.   It was a magical night, with a cool breeze and the setting sun adding to the delight.   A common parking lot in a broken-down neighborhood was turned into a beautiful and plush theatre.   In these dances, we witnessed the ancient rituals and social traditions of a people put to music and movement. Together, as a group, we were moved to a profound joy.   We crossed boundaries and traversed understanding to experience our common humanity.   We became one. In any experience of sharing in another culture, Dominicans are called to preach truth.   It is up to us to name the communion we share as God’s family.   The gospel leads us to proclaiming where God is found.   No walls could possibly be built.   No group of people could possibly be asked to “go home.”   We are united and called to be brother or sister to each other. What cultural exp...

An understanding I learned rather early (in the 1950’s) is the meaning of the word catholic (small ‘c’) as universal.   In fact, in the creeds Roman Catholics ordinarily pray, we use the small ‘c’ catholic. What my first teachers got across to us in our young lives is how wide and broad and deep the church is in the world. We learned the Church held together a global community. In time, I have also sadly learned, that as a Church, we still have lots to learn.   In the US, racism is a sin we still cannot rid ourselves from and so blacks and browns and, yes, whites suffer – in different ways.   This is true not only in the wider society but also among members of the US Catholic Church. The recent horrifying massacre at a gay bar in Orlando, Florida reminded me of another group that is the source of hatred in my country and even, for some, in the Church.   LGBTQ are God’s children loved into being and capable of manifesting God’s love.   Yet this universal a...