Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

As our melting pot of a country celebrates Independence Day, I’m celebrating a reunion with two of my sisters from the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate (CDN) – Christina Atienza, OP of the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael and Bea Tiboldi, OP of the Dominican Sisters of Peace.   Together with two women who have since been beckoned by God to other life paths and with our two Directors, Joye Gros, OP (Peace Dominican) and Megan McElroy, OP (Grand Rapids Dominican), we shared space, experiences and an unforgettable year together in St. Louis in 2013-2014.   The seeds sown then have sprouted into deep bonds of affection, friendship, sisterhood and a life-long family connection!   Our little St. Louis family is a representative slice of both the larger Dominican family and the United States.   We are intergenerational, inter-congregational, and inter-cultural.   I was the oldest novice and a mother.   Bea (pronounced “Bay-uh”), originally from Budapest, Hung...

I was a first year novice in our Collaborative Dominican Noviate in St. Louis when Hurricane Katrina passed through New Orleans and the levees failed. Hundreds of thousands of us will always remember where we were when Katrina hit. We were shocked and devastated. And, it wasn’t just the levee system that failed residents (including my family) in the city I call home. I remember my Noviate community, including the two novice directors, who prayed with me and were sources of comfort for days, weeks and months following. They sat with me through my tears of grief and rage. I remember calling friends, who knew the city I knew, and crying together as we looked at images on tv and news web pages. As New Orleans and our country acknowledge the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, thousands offer prayers, support and help for all who were directly and indirectly affected by flood waters and system failures. Many continue to show up to help rebuild. Prayers, compassionate presence...

A year ago, shortly after beginning my itinerant Dominican journey, I ran across a passage from Ephesians about being rooted and grounded in love, and wrote a post about it. Two weeks ago I moved again, this time to the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in St. Louis.   This year I join two novices and two co-directors from other Dominican congregations across the country.   At our opening prayer ritual, my ears perked up as I once again heard the words being read: “May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love…” What timing, to hear these words almost exactly one year later!   Kelly, Chuc, and I (the 2014-2015 novices) mingled soil from our various motherhouse grounds and planted small succulents that we’ll keep in our chapel throughout the year.   They will be reminders of our own growth, nurtured by soil from the holy places we’ve begun to call home. As we begin our novitiate journey, I’m glad that little ...

During Advent, the Sinsinawa Dominican family invited everyone to join them as they sat with the question, “How will you let the light in?”  In what ways and in what spaces were we individually and collectively willing to allow the Good News of Christ’s birth, the Good News of the Gospel, into our hearts and lives? I thought that was a terrific reflection.  I suspect those who pondered it can name ways they consciously chose to “let the light in”.  Now, after crossing the threshold of this New Year, it seems to me that our challenge is to keep that flame burning within our hearts while allowing its light to shine without .  Our challenge now is to nurture our God-light while allowing it to illumine the dark places of our world, to give hope to the poor, the imprisoned, the physically and spiritually hungry, the refugee and immigrant, the lonely, the suffering, the marginalized.  Our work is in the world, so badly in need of the hope of...

I could relate to Joan Durst’s post last week.   These short, dark, cold December days make me tired.   Usually when a dreary mood hits me, God quickly reminds me of the many gifts in my life.   I have a family I wouldn’t trade for the world and friends to match.   I have a warm bed, food in my stomach and a roof over my head … all shared in community with a group of really fine women here in St. Louis in the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate. The other day, I went to the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.   The first exhibit I encountered was a very simple yet very profound one titled, “I Was A Soldier”… a photographic journal by St. Louis photographer Jerry Tovo.   Mr. Tovo’s stark, larger than life, black and white portraits are of men and women who have faithfully served our country but now count themselves among the 200,000 veterans who are homeless on any given night.   Another 1.5 million veterans are at risk of homelessness. ...