Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I believe with all my being I was called by God to Religious life and to a life of prayer. Prayer has always been a regular/consistent part of my life.  As I got older prayer became what I desired, not what I should or ought to do. I favored published prayers for a while and overtime an intimate prayer life developed. My Grandmother was a great spontaneous prayer, so I borrowed some of her phrases and made them mine.   I believe my prayers are conversations with God therefore, I look/wait for a response. Sometime the response is a change in attitude, a feeling of calm or questions.    I believe God’s call was not only a call to Religious life but also an invitation to a closer relationship with God.  My prayer life has grown as a Sinsinawa Dominican and my relationship with God continues to grow through daily prayer.    Pat Rogers, OP Glendale, WI

I just got back from a regional meeting in Orlando.  Twice a year in various parts of the country, our sisters and associates gather for what we call regionals. These are times when we come together for pray, conversation, congregation business, and relaxation together.   This fall our regionals are focused on preparing for our Chapter, which is a meeting that happens every five years, where we make decisions together, set a direction for ourselves and elect new leaders.   So, while there is usually business to be done and we to do that, for me, it's connecting with my sisters and the associates that feeds my soul. I love being part of this group, Dominican sisters and associates of Sinsinawa, whose focus is on mission.   These days there's a lot of chaos as we move into an unknown future.   We don't all agree on where and how we want to go, yet we listen to one another and work toward a decision that we all can live with.   And what I always know is t...

One morning I heard a priest at Mass on T.V. saying that loneliness is a gift from God.  My first reaction, he must be crazy!   However, the more I thought about it I became convicted. Living alone has never been something I ever had to deal with before, because I have always lived with other people, beginning with my family, then a roommate and then communities in religious life.  It was never something that I thought I would ever have to experience in my life for a prolong period, especially after entering religious life. However, I here I find myself alone since the beginning of this year.   It got me thinking about aloneness and loneliness- what's the difference? In Luke  5:16  it says, "Jesus often withdrew into lonely places and he prayed."  Does this necessarily mean that he was alone or lonely?  I believe yes to both.  I also know that you can experience aloneness and loneliness in the midst of a crowd.  The tru...