Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

"What will life look like in the future?" (Georgia's last blog.)   Sunday morning our Sister, Rose Marie Conway, may have been wondering the same. She knew she was living with cancer for the past couple of years. And she was living!     She planned time to connect with each person she met or had known. She would sit quietly with   a friend enjoying the beauty of a park or kayaking on Madison's lakes.   "I love you," she would say to each duck or bird on those excursions. And she put up her hands and blessed the water. " I love you," sparkled in her eyes as she greeted me or others. She participated fully in each gathering of sisters. On Sunday morning she was called to truly see future life. She died as she had lived with a peaceful smile on her lips.   Those of us who live in Madison gathered by her bed to pray with and for her. The picture that Sister Isabel had taken of Rose blessing the water was placed on the bed where Rose's body...

Over the last week, I have been asked if I will be spending Thanksgiving with family. I have said yes, though it will not be with biological family.  This Thanksgiving I am scheduled to be with residents (moms/babies).  The residents will be spending Thanksgiving with the Sisters and me.  Both are excited to have dinner together. One of the residents whose family is not the U.S. told me family for her is those with whom she is with and those who care for her.   Matthew 12:46-48 comes to mind, where Jesus witnesses the relationship change of family. Someone tells Jesus his mother and brothers are outside waiting to speak to him.  Jesus tells this person “whoever does the will of my Father are my mother, brothers, sisters.” So this Thanksgiving, as I look around at the different faces at the dinner table these are my family.  As Dominicans, we believe at the heart of ministry is relationship.  This Thanksgiving I am thankful fo...

On my mind these days is the church’s proclamation of the Year of Faith scheduled to start October 11, 2012, the 50th anniversary of the opening of Vatican II and end November 24, 2013, the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism. The church is calling us to conversion so that we will witness the truth. Then I put this together with the challenging issues facing LCWR and think of how much I need faith in a good and gracious God. Who has the truth? Our Dominican motto is truth. I think of the challenging issues facing families when the church talks about religious freedom and contraception. Where do our young people turn? I believe one of the primary statements from Vatican II was the primacy of conscience. I always go back to that as I seek truth and make decisions. These are hard times but others would say every time is a hard time, just different issues. I turn again in prayer to a good and gracious God. As we celebrate the opening of Vatican II, will the church l...

A couple of years ago when several of us were asked to write about our experiences of being a Dominican sister of Sinsinawa, the question posed for us to reflect upon was something like, “What is it about living  in community that gives you life and hope?”   That question popped into my mind, actually my whole being, this evening as we celebrated our first Sister Appreciation Night at the Mound. We began our prayer of celebration with The Servant Song.   I have sung that song many times in a prayer or liturgy service, but tonight since we were celebrating who we were to each other, the words of that song embedded themselves into my very being.  “Will you let me be your servant? Let me be as Christ to you? Pray that I may have the grace to Let you be my servant, too. We are pilgrims on a journey We are travelers on the road We are here to help each other Walk the mile and bear the load. I will hold the Christ light for you In the n...

Several weeks ago I was on a panel for vocations assembled by the teachers for the eighth grade confirmation class. There were six of us: a deacon couple, our parish youth minister, a religious brother and a few sisters. This was so that the students would meet different people, older and younger with different stories. Their questions mainly focused on our likes and dislikes and when if ever, did we have any fun. Vocation to them seems to be something we do. My bend was that vocation is more about a call to BE something or someone: not so much what you do but who you do it with. So the deacon couple spoke about their marriage as the fuel of the ministry and the youth ministers spoke about her finding support in the friend groups in the ministry. She said she and her husband, a teacher, support each other too. We religious talked about our community relationships and how we live together for our good and the good of our ministries. So in the end I...