Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

This week some of us in initial formation had the opportunity to spend a week at the motherhouse of the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic , a global missionary congregation based in New York.   It was an honor to spend a week with these women, especially because of the unique Sinsinawa connection: when the Maryknoll congregation was just beginning, sisters from Sinsinawa moved to New York to assist them in its foundation. I found myself drawn to photos of their foundress, Mother Mary Joseph: she has a jolly smile on her face in almost each one.   She was clearly a woman who valued a good laugh!   In describing qualities that should mark a Maryknoll Sister, she finished with “the saving grace of a kindly humor.” It’s easy to see the Sinsinawa connection in these words!   Humor and laughter are not only qualities that drew me to my sisters; they’re also important components of a healthy spiritual life.   They’re reflections of the deep joy that comes from a life rooted in God.  

Two sisters reminded me this past week that I am called to be a life long student. I stopped in to see Sr. Margaret.   We greeted one another and before I could start a conversation, she asked me to wait. She slowly began to speak in Spanish and was able to complete a whole sentence.   A few years ago, she told me she hoped one day to converse with my parents in their Spanish language culture.   Sr. Margaret started learning Spanish in her 90s in spite of her vision impairment. I visited Sr. Catherine next.   She told me she was learning how to use her new IPAD.   This was a birthday gift from her nephew “to stimulate her intellect.” She asked if I could show her how to take pictures and email them to her family so she could keep in touch with them.   As I walked her through each step, she would write them down. Sr. Catherine just celebrated her 100 th birthday in May. These two sisters are life long students and they share and use what they learn to be in relationship wi