Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I am standing on the shoulders of the ones who came before me  I am honored by their passion for our liberty  I will stand a little taller, I will work a little longer  And my shoulders will be there to hold the ones who follow me   A few years ago, I would have never have imagined being alive today to see the many challenges of almost these two years.  However, I can still categorically say that I am filled with deep gratitude for the many things in my life, especially for life itself, good health, family, sisters, and friends.  Things and people that I may have previously taken for granted.     The chorus of the above song by  Joyce Johnson Rouse ,  aka “Earth Mama,” beautifully describes the gratitude that I feel for the ones who  have gone before me.  I know that I am alive and well at this challenging time in life for a reason and for a purpose.  I am here to have life and to live it...

“God is the newest thing there is, the youngest thing there is. God is the beginning and if we are united to God we become new again.”     (Meister Eckhart) It has been another tough year!  Disparities in healthcare continue as we struggle still with a worldwide pandemic.  Our political scene shows no sign of rendering collaboration with justice anytime soon.  Voting rights, women’s rights, immigration, the death penalty, services for the homeless and hungry – so much is an uphill battle right now.  How do we not start 2022 exhausted, full of fatigue, and lacking compassion??? I think my answer is God.  The ancient, Dominican mystic, Meister Eckhart, called God the beginning and when we are connected to God, we get to start anew too.  I will sit with God each day.  I will soak in God’s goodness.  I will try to listen to God. I am full of hope and energy for 2022.  I trust in God’s love and jus...

One hundred years from now, I hope people will remember this about our community: We were people who spent our lives advocating for the rights of women, people of color, native peoples, immigrants... all the while treating each person we encountered with profound dignity.   Carol Fox, OP

  The Quest Never Loses Its Savor   Who was this young student-sister whose final essay in English comp at Rosary College she titled “The Image of Man in Western Civilization” (Sister Julie said, “Let Christopher Dawson do this.”) And whose final paper for her MA she titled “Man in Search.” (inclusive language had not yet been invented.)   It could only be the daughter of a mother and father, Third Order Dominicans, whose daily reading as she grew up was publications like  America ,  Commonweal ,  Integrity , and  The Catholic Worker . Not that I understood a word of it--though I did try, once…   But I did catch the Dominican quest-bug, even as we children crouched near the radio for “Nick Carter Master Detective” and “The Shadow” while our parents went off on Sunday afternoons to Marquette Poetry Teas and meetings of the Thomist Association they started for the theological education of laity.   Thus, I found myself, three years after my sist...

One hundred years from now, I hope people will remember this about our community: that we used our talents and time to reach out to people in need. Sheila Griffin, OP 

When I was a sophomore in high school a sister invited me for a walk, and we sat down together at a shrine of the Sacred Heart. She began to talk about her relationship with Jesus and shared her deep faith with me. Later she continued to invite me for more walks and her sharing encouraged me to want to know Jesus as a person in my life. This eventually opened me to the desire to become a religious and give my life to God.     Helen Marie Raycraft , OP

Three songs describe the discovery of my call to religious life. In grade school: "No, No, a Thousand Times NO!" In high school: "Going My Way?" In college: "You Are My Sunshine." The idea of a religious vocation was always in the back of my mind, but I never "wanted to." Shortly before college graduation, it became "I want to WANT TO."   I had been taught that we should develop whatever talents God has given us. Early in my life, I liked music and mathematics the best.  I enjoyed being able to keep them in my studies.  I attended Catholic schools, taught by Ursuline Nuns (8 years) and Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters (8 years).  Prayer was a daily routine at first but became more important to me as the years progressed.   It will not be the same in someone else's call to serve God. One of our popular hymns these days says it all:  "Will You Come and Follow Me?"   Sr. Rosa Rauth

When I entered the Novitiate, conformity, uniformity were the themes of the day. No casting of the eyes. Hands under scapula. Little sleeves had only one purpose, not to be used for dusting pianos! Particular friendships were frowned upon. It was 1902, no, 1964.   The rolly polly pope, John XXIII, had just opened the doors of the church to experimentation and ecumenism. What a breath of fresh air it was for many of us.    Time has changed us. Seasons have nurtured our vision to embrace a global world deepening Cosmically our Contemplative spirituality.   Our soul's field has and is being tilled and composted by pandemics of every sort. Sexism, racism, inequality, politics, lies, cover ups, climate change, division and abuse rage while the Institutional Church remains almost mute.   As Sinsinawa Dominicans, we have taken visual and active stances against these wildfires of rage and displaced power.   Now it is time for harvesting. Just as Vatican II opened d...

The song that best describes my call to religious life is   Amazing Grace . I never felt I had a call to religious life, despite some Ursuline and Dominican Sisters having suggested it to me. So how did I end up here?  First, I had started a novena to the Mother of Perpetual Help because they always did that novena at my church, Holy Names in Omaha, NE.  My intention in making the novena had nothing to do with discerning religious life but was to ask for help in finding me a job because I was just graduating from college at the University of Omaha with a degree in Home Economics and a minor in Education. I was praying to the Blessed Mother to help me find an appropriate job.  As I waited for the bus to “the U”, a young man passed me at the bus stop. He could see that I was going to the University, and I could see by the stack of books in his car that he was, too. He offered me a ride so I wouldn’t have to take the bus. One morning, he had his car radio on, and I...

The day I professed my final vows I remember so clearly. It was Thanksgiving Day in 1965 in the church in Janesville, Wisconsin – St. John Vianney Parish. I had taught in the school for five years and was given the opportunity to affirm my vocation in that parish. Our Provincial, Sister Regina Kelly, OP, received my vows. My family, my Dominican community, and the parishioners celebrated with me. The parishioners provided a reception after the Mass. It was a most memorable day for me, and I remember it every Thanksgiving Day. Lynn Lisbeth, OP 

When I was in first grade in Oak Park, IL, I was first attracted to the Dominican Sisters who lived across the street because of their smiling faces and cheerful dispositions. These attitudes continued inside the classroom and beyond. It occurred to me that the joy that came from those sisters may have been a sign of God’s call to me. 60 some years later, here I am! I stayed this long because, no matter what has happened in my personal or communal life, that joy never diminished. Mary Margaret Pazdan, OP

I suppose one reason I entered religious life was that I had a sister (Sr. Dominicana Dwyer), an aunt, and a cousin who were Sinsinawa Dominicans and another cousin who was a Racine Dominican.   I was always getting in trouble in school. Always in detention. So, when one day I came home and announced that I was going to enter the convent, everyone was surprised and said I wouldn’t last. But I did. This is to where I was called and in 2021, I am celebrating 67 years professed as a Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa! Catherine Thomas Dwyer, OP

A song that represents my call to religious life:  “God has chosen me…”Without God’s call, I wouldn’t be here.   cf; God’s call to Samuel (1 Samuel 3). Listen and respond.    Geri Kline, OP

  “Whatsoever you do to the lest of these you have done to me.” Matt. 35 “Yours are the hands through which Christ blesses all the world. ...Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” Teresa of Avila I have tried to live out my religious life following these two quotes, realizing they are addressed to lay folks as well. In 100 years from now, I hope people will remember the Sinsinawa Dominicans for doing this, responding to the needs of the day with courage and love, strengthened by living the 4 pillars of the Dominican order (prayer, study, community and mission) and knowing that we have each other's back. Stella Storch, OP

When we can’t understand the behavior of another, and perhaps judge them without knowing their situation, we may find it helpful to get to know them and understand them by walking in their shoes. That’s not easy to do. My home and ministry is at the Mound and Villa at Sinsinawa. The ages of the sisters range from 31 to 100 (with most in their 80s). The life experiences of our sisters are awe-inspiring. I have imbibed their wisdom as they tell their stories. We are changing in many ways and I am learning how to accept what’s going on in me and the sisters I love. Some of our sisters are mentally sharp while others are becoming more forgetful and even mixed up. Hearing and sight losses have greatly affected how they perceive what’s going on.  A key belief our sisters share is that “at the heart of everything is relationship.” A way to be in relationship is to be able to enter into the world of the other. I’m learning more about dementia and how to live in the world of ...

I don’t know about you, but this time of the year tends to be exceptionally intense for me.  Keeping the “wheels on” in everyday life in addition to preparing for Christmas leads me down the path of overwhelming.  During my daily commute to the Mound, morning reflection time, and before I go to sleep each night I am praying, “God, let me serve with joy, and let me know your peace.”  Fortunately, our good and gracious God, in infinite kindness has bestowed peace and patience upon me.   In addition, God has used both ordinary and exceptional events during Advent to remind me of what is really important.  One of those exceptional events occurred yesterday on Gaudete Sunday.  We were blessed with the perpetual profession ceremony of our Sr. Kathy Flynn.  What joy, peace, and excitement we experienced through the music, Word of God, preaching, and words of commitment during that ritual! In the program distribut...

In a little over two months, I will be making perpetual profession of vows as a Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa. Some have asked how ‘perpetual’ vows and ‘final’ vows differ. Technically, they don’t. Final and perpetual can mean the same thing. In reality, for me, there is a big difference in the sound, meaning, and intentionality of those words.   One definition of ‘final’ is “finishing, end, terminating”. (Kaput!) On the other hand, one definition of ‘perpetual’ is “never ending or changing”. (A fidelity to discernment.) For me, ‘final’ is harsh and linear in comparison to ‘perpetual’, which seems more integrated and whole, representing a dynamic and ongoing conversation with God, rather than, “At last, I’ve reached my goal. I’m outta here!” I think we are each called to live perpetually, rather than finally, to be constantly attuned to nuances in God’s voice, to where God is calling us, to what God is calling us, and to how God is calling us to do it…to how God is ca...

These February days in Wisconsin are pretty cold!  I imagine it was just as cold during February nearly 170 years ago when a small group of young women made a decision with significant implications.  They decided to remain together in their small, fledgling community. They were all novices: Sisters who had not yet made vows. They were young: the oldest was 32 years of age; the youngest, 17 years.  Seven months after their fateful decision, four of this group remained to make their first vows together. These four young women, Margaret, Mary, Judith and Ellen, took new names and became our “cornerstone” Sisters: Clara, Ignatia, Josephine and Rachel. The word, “cornerstone”, means a feature on which a particular thing depends or is based.   Together with the Dominican priest who founded our Sinsinawa Congregation, Samuel Mazzuchelli OP, these women launched a project that continues today.    The qualities that we recognize in these Cornerstones are ...

I never feel like I do a good job at being grateful.   I work with volunteers and I am always wondering if I adequately express my deep gratitude for each of them.   I have started a new practice this Lent.   I want to stop and make sure my thanks is not rushed or stuck in at the end of a task or an event.   I want to look the person I am thanking in the eye, sit with her or him, and take time to relate the importance of their presence and actions.   And, most importantly, I want my gratitude to come from a deep well within that knows God’s Providence.   The Dominicans of Sinsinawa have a saying:   “Providence can provide, Providence did provide, and Providence will provide.”   Gratefulness is expressed wholeheartedly when one believes that God is the source of every need.   Trust, openness, mercy, hope, joy – these are the characteristics of a grateful heart.   So, this Lent I am cultivating the practice of gratitude as a way of li...

Three years ago I began to journey with a Juneau-ite who was interested in exploring Associate membership in our congregation.  He filled out the initial questionnaire and downloaded the Associate Handbook.  We began meeting on a regular basis to go over the material in each of the chapters. After we finished working with the Handbook I asked him if he would like to begin the application process, but he wasn't ready for that step. Since I am the only Dominican of Sinsinawa he knew I made it a point to introduce him to anyone from our congregation who visited Juneau--at this point he has met 3-4 others.   We continued to meet periodically and had good conversations about the church, his faith life, and spirituality in general. During these conversations he never again brought up the subject of Associate membership, so one day I asked him where he was with a decision. He said he needed more time but to continue to check in with him, so this is what I have been doin...