Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I live in a wonderful neighborhood.  Our convent is on a block full of diverse families.  On any given day, you can walk down the street and listen to Spanish, English, or the beautiful Spanglish of neighbors who have their hearts and souls in two worlds.  Children on bikes, an elderly couple holding hands as they walk to the store, or teens clumped together in a pack all on their phones are common sightings.  However, what really stand out for me at this time of year are the flowers.  Some potted, some lining the sidewalks deeply planted in the earth, and others mixed in with veggies or fruit growing in gardens.  There are dainty roses and bright petunias.  Germaniums, daisies, and peonies.  My favorite is the sweet smelling jasmine. There are amazing lilies reaching for the sky.  As Dominican women, committed to a gospel way of life, I believe it is our call to find beauty and faith.   The abundance of flowers in...

Saying ‘yes’ to religious life has resulted in additional opportunities to say ‘yes’ in a variety of other situations and circumstances.  I think that’s probably true for each of us, whatever our life’s call. Several months ago, one of my sisters asked if I would ride along when she drove Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, OP from the Mound to Chicago. Saying ‘no’ would not have been the end of the world for anyone involved. Saying ‘yes’, though, resulted in an unexpected gift, the chance to meet another sister from a different branch of the Dominican family tree. Sister Pauline Quinn started the prison dog-training program in 1981, a program now being used in prisons across the United States and around the world.  You can read more about her ministry, which includes aiding victims of trauma through her Pathways to Hope program, at http://www.bpofcourage.org .  Tonight, with the sisters with whom I live, I watched “Within These Walls”, a movie based on the inspir...