Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

As we step into the practices and  opportunities of this Lenten season I am aware that a whole year has gone by in our Covid reality. My nature appreciates solitude and my own company, but I do so miss my sisters. Even though I know they are close by and that I have lots of zoom and FaceTime opportunities, like millions all over the world I miss all the in person gatherings. My closest companions these days are the birds that flock to the seeds I put on my balcony. I have Chickadees, Cardinals, Woodpeckers , Juncos, Finches, Sparrows, Mourning Doves and the occasional Bluejay. I have learned  lots from these feathered ones this year.   How to take just what I need. How to share. How to take turns. How to stay  alert. How to just BE.   I think most of all they remind me of my own place in the great scheme of things. Like them I am but one expression of this sacred diversity of life. The birds, the trees, the lake awaken me to my small unique p...

I could never have imagined back in March that here, in August, we would still be sheltering from the virus. A necessity to protect each other.  It has changed how I register time. I used to look at my calendar for the whole week or month. Now I am much more cognizant of each separate day. I am aware of the blessing of life anew each morning-of the challenge to do my best each day - to love in the light of the Gospel and when I fail I ask forgiveness and start afresh with the morning light. FaceTime and Zoom have become necessities, as we stay connected while physically distancing.  The sisters I live within our complex meet formally twice a week on zoom to pray and connect. And right now our annual gathering of the Congregation is being conducted via Zoom.  Not what any of us would have wanted, as we yearn to gather, to greet each other in person. But for now - the little mosaic of zoom squares allows us to see and hear, conne...

It has been such a strange Lent Everything seems turned on its head. I have been home for four weeks  socially distancing. Privileged to have a home in which to stay safe. I have been out for a solitary walk each day noticing as the signs of Spring begin to show themselves. Robins come to my balcony,  still the juncos and chickadees and woodpeckers and purple finches and nuthatches. I’ve seen green creeping into the tops of trees, buds  barely visible, yet all waiting. I have been trying to focus on what is important.  Staying connected through FaceTime.  Praying with our sisters via Zoom.  Trying to connect with and teach my students online. It’s still surreal.  Watching the liturgies streamed from our mother house Praying for their safety and for all who are working so hard to support us during this pandemic. No end in sight. We wait. We all wait as we move through these holiest of days. We wait in expectation...