Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Since early childhood I loved to learn. I was an over achiever so I put forth a lot of effort. Learning provided meaning and purpose in my life. I connected learning with school so I have a love for education.  When I entered the Sinsinawa Dominicans and became a teacher I felt right at home. I’m grateful for the educational opportunities I’ve had. After my teaching degree I went on to receive two masters and certification. What blessings these experiences have been. Beyond formal study, Dominicans are life-long learners. In fact, study is an essential part of our charism. The longer I live the more I realize the many ways we learn. Learning has become a way of life that enriches me with meaning and purpose. Living at the Mound I have so many opportunities to study and learn. Mealtime is a great source of learning. The sisters provide a wealth from their life experience. There are many different study groups, mini-courses, prayer groups, book clubs, seminars and regu...

Today over lunch a Sister asked me why I joined the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters.   I responded as I always do: the Sisters here laughed and hugged more than anyone I’d ever met.   They were so down to earth, so human, and so joyful .   Being around them made me feel at home, brought out my own joy, and left me wanting to be a part of their life and mission. The Sister I was with listened knowingly, because like many around here it was the joy that first drew her, too.   She then shared a fresh way of understanding an individual’s attraction to the charism (or spirit) of a community. Charisms are like magnets, she said, and individuals as well as communities have them.   Vocation happens when my little charism magnet and the big charism magnet of the community are attracted to each other.   It might be a mystery, and it’s different for each person, but somehow we just know the attraction is there. I continue to discover if and how my little magn...

I’ve always loved shoes!   When I was younger I thought they needed to be high heels…   Now I realize that they don’t, and I can look for other things that I want.   I go beyond comfort (which is a given ).   Last week I was out shopping and I saw a pair of shoes that met all my expectations.   They were both comfortable and soft .   They were RED, and, best of all, they were on SALE!   I had to have them!! Not only that, but in the past week I’ve found plenty of things to wear them with.   Needless to say, I absolutely love my new red shoes!   They’re perfect for the nights I am at the hospital as chaplain.   They’re quiet and lightweight, easy to slip on and off.   And I can even wear them when I go to a Wisconsin State Prison, which I will this week.   As I sit in a circle with others I’ll notice their shoes.   They do not have the luxury of shopping, as I do.   And many of them cannot afford to buy the at...

I’m taking a Vows class at Aquinas this year with one of the topics being on charism.  In Finding the Treasure , Sandra Schneiders calls charism “a grace given for the sake not only of the recipient but also and primarily for the upbuilding of the Church.” In addition to the Dominican charism, rooted in the four pillars of community, prayer, study and ministry, there is one that is more particular to Sinsinawans, summed up in Fr. Samuel’s exhortation, “Let us set out for any place where the work is great and difficult, but where also with the help of the One who sends us, we shall open the way for the Gospel.” I may not encounter the same physical hardships that Fr. Samuel and our founding Sisters did, but the work of opening the way for the Gospel can still be challenging, still often great and difficult.  The way seems key – a channel through which Gospel truths and values flow freely from one person, one group, to another and back; a channel tha...