Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

This has been an unusual and interesting week.  I was called upon by two acquaintances to accompany them to pre-op, surgery and post op appointments, tasks usually taken care of by family members. I have spent quite a bit of time in hospital or surgical waiting rooms.  It’s been a special time to read and reflect.  It also caused me to remember similar events when I was a younger sister.  One woman invited me to be her labor companion.  Unfortunately, I was getting ready to leave town, and so my ministry partner enjoyed that privilege.  Another time, I drove a neighbor to the hospital and sat with her as she filled out the registration form.  “Who should we call in case of an emergency?” She put down MY name. “What is your relationship?”  “Sister” she stated.   Those events confirm me in my call to be a religious sister.  By saying yes to the call to be a Dominican sister, I ...

For the last several years, (since I began getting old) I have been enrolled in a continuing education program for seniors, sponsored by the University of South Alabama. I have enjoyed classes in Art History, Music History, and History. In addition to classes in genealogy, birding, and local aquatic life, my favorites are often those classes centered on poetry and fiction. This quarter I’m taking a class on the Southern Gothic writer, Flannery O’Conner. I love her. Her works and books about her take up an inordinate amount of space on my bookshelves. So you might imagine that I looked forward to enjoying a chance to delve deeper with other Flannery fans. The professor, an Episcopalian priest, and I seem to be about the only people in the class who really appreciate her writing.  I’ve figured out that one of the stumbling blocks is a lack of understanding of the concepts of Grace and living out what we call a Sacramental Life. Those two elements live at the heart of my life...