Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

It is 9:30 in the morning. Feet shuffle in. Chairs are moved, making space for anyone who comes. All are welcome. The whir and beep of a medical device sets a steady beat. Wheelchairs slowly enter bearing the gifts. It is not the wine and bread they bear but the gifts that are the people they carry. A priest shuffles in and prepares for Mass. It seems to me that the real vestments worn this morning are the cloth of bandaged stubs of legs now gone, braces that steadfastly support atrophied limbs, a helmet that protects a fragile brain, and the quiet chatter and acceptance of each person present for each person present…and the smiles, even through pain. Residents, staff, friends – all the same and all uniquely special in God’s eyes. This is Eucharist in a skilled care facility. This is the Eucharist Jesus calls us to – a circular, horizontal Eucharist. We are called to be bread for each other, to be drink for parched souls and for lives so often lived in loneliness and exclusion, to b...

At our motherhouse the Sisters gather three times a day for communal prayer: Morning Prayer, Eucharist and Evening Prayer. Most of those who are there are retired. Many are quite frail, but there they are, three times a day. We sit facing each other “choir to choir” and I love to look at their faces, worn and wrinkled, but alive with the joy and peace that are the fruits of their years. Some can hardly see or hear, but they come. Many are leaning on walkers or canes, but they come. They come because they are faithful to what they promised long ago. They are faithful to their profession of obedience to a way of life that will someday be culminated by the jubilant encounter face to face with the God who called them.  This communal prayer is built on the private prayer of each of these holy women. In the cloister of their rooms, in the sanctuary of nature, in the silence of the chapel, each one has had her unique encounter with her Creator. Each one brings her precious experience...

At a celebration of the Eucharist recently I was paying less than strict attention to the words of the first reading until I heard “and women of some influence”… who “threw in their lot” to help Paul and Silas (Acts 17:3-4).  I wondered who these women were and how did they influence? Who did they influence?  And how did they find the courage to use that influence to promote this startling new message?  I think we are all capable of being women of some influence – even when we think we make no difference at all. An act of kindness, paying attention to one who rarely receives any, the risk of speaking truth, the commitment to study, the courage to face fear and self-doubt – those are acts of influence like the tossing of a pebble in a pond.  As national and world news fills us with painful words and images, we are challenged to use our influence for the good.  As Rilke wrote, “I live my life in ever widening circles that reach out across t...

One of my ministries at the parish where I work is to coordinate the Food Pantry.   It is a daunting task to organize this service.   But even more overwhelming is to sit weekly with families who do not have enough food to eat three meals a day.   Just this past week, a dad said to me, “Sister, I have gone without dinner many a night this past month so my kids could eat.”   I immediately thought of the words of Christ spoken during the Eucharist, “This is my body given for you.”     Christ is truly risen and present in the love we share with our sisters and brothers in need.   As Dominicans, our role is to serve and to address the systemic issues behind hunger wherever we find ourselves.   What choices do I need to make so others can have what they need?   How do we join with others to create new systems of just distribution of resources? And, how about you, where are you encountering the risen Christ today? Peggy Ryan, OP ...

The other day, three friends that I had grown up with came over from Milwaukee to have lunch with me.   We had great fun reminiscing about those days.   Two of them are now married, soon to celebrate their wedding anniversary.   We met up at our class reunion – itself an event!!   The old place isn’t what it once was, which I guess is how life evolves…   We laughed about our teachers, the rules of the institution and the antics of kids in our class.   And we showed each other pictures.   (One of them accompanies this article.   That’s me, the youngest of the three, with my mom about two years after my dad died.) Remembering is an important activity.     We need to do it so we can dwell in who we once were, giving thanks that we have become the person we are.   Remembering is what we do at every gathering of believers when we read the stories of our common past in the scriptures.   And giving thanks is what believers...

“Vamos a la mesa del Señor…”   “Let us go to the table of the Lord…” Since the middle of April, I have been working at a food pantry.   An unused church was converted into a pantry to address the needs of the hungry in the area.   I love the idea that this food pantry was once a church where believers came to celebrate the Eucharist and participate in the other sacraments of our faith.   Where we once went to receive the Eucharist, we are now acting as the Body of Christ.   St. Thomas Aquinas, a 13 th century Dominican, once said:   “"The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signifies Love, It produces love.”   Here at the Holy Family Food Pantry, we become Christ’s love for others.   I believe this is what life is all about. And, you, what is life about for you? Peggy Ryan, OP Waukegan, IL                               ...