Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

In a previous blog posting, I mentioned a Study Circle that was formed to embrace and walk with one of our newest members in the Congregation.   The next topic of study is Community – one of the four pillars of our life.   The others are prayer, study, and ministry.   During the preparation for this week’s gathering, I contemplated both the materials provided for our study and my own experiences of having lived in communities.   Many nuggets of wisdom regarding community were quoted in the study materials, but the one that most resonated with me was an article from our Constitution which says: “ When values and goals are held in common, gifts nurtured, mistakes forgiven,  and when persons are consistently and warmly loved, we grow together toward  the ideal set forth by Fr. Samuel [our founder].” Reflecting upon that statement, I realized that this is truly my experience of life-giving communities; and like you, I have had many engagements ...

Shore of Green Bay During my retreat this year, I had the immense privilege of walking in the footsteps of our founder, Father Samuel Mazzuchelli, a 19 th -century Italian Dominican Friar, whose first mission as an ordained priest was in the Upper Midwest territory of the U.S.   In 1831, he traveled to Green Bay.   As a missionary, Fr Samuel lived among the people.   He learned their cultures, including their languages.   He listened to those he served.   While in Green Bay, he opened a school for the Native American population.   He wrote spiritual works in the Winnebago and Chippewa languages.   He continually wrote to Congress and President Andrew Jackson about the treatment of the Native peoples. Today, my sisters and I are still trying to walk in the footsteps of this remarkable, joyful Dominican.   We try to be one with those with whom we share mission by sharing in their daily lives.   We open ourselves up to new cultures and ...

“Let us wake up then, open our eyes in apostolic charity, and if we are called, set out for any place where the work is great and difficult.” That statement by our founder, Samuel Mazzuchelli, has challenged me lately. Ministry with victims of domestic violence has been both life giving and energy sapping.   At times, I feel like Alice – not of Wonderland but of the Looking Glass.   Every day I am impelled to look into a mirror and claim what I see; to acknowledge some of my internal reactions to people I’ve met, situations I’ve encountered, and to the culture in which I find myself - a culture so different from my own experience and one that is negatively impacted by the effects of racism, poverty and white privilege – including my own.   This work, while so necessary, is painful for me.   Honestly, sometimes, it just seems too great and too difficult.   A friend recently suggested that perhaps the great and difficult work I am being called to is...

We say that the one constant in life is change.  We may not be sure of many things, but one thing that we can be absolutely sure of is change.  In religious life we like to call this transition.  I think it has a nicer ring to it.  However, it is the same thing- change.  I remember when I first entered religious life I dreaded the idea of change, yet it is part of religious life and also part of being Dominican.  It is with this itinerant spirit that Dominic founded the order and was himself itinerant. Over the years I still don’t like change much.  I like to be in control and for change to happen one has to let go of control, of the known and the unknowns.   I am still learning not to dread it as much.  In my eleven years with the Dominicans of Sinsinawa I have probably moved about six times already, and I am sure there is more to come.  One of the many things that have drawn me to this courageous group of wom...

This past week marked a significant anniversary for me and those who entered with me. On September 7, 1966 I journeyed by train from Minneapolis to Sinsinawa, WI. My life opened to new possibilities and many blessings. The years have flown by! These past 3 weeks my ministry has been with my 97 year old father. He recently was in the hospital and then a rehab center. Now he is at St. Therese Senior Living Community in the “Towers” in his own apartment for the past 20 years. However,” his life is taking a turn as he will now go into assisted living at St. Therese in the “Terraces” right next door. Being a member of the Dominicans of Sinsinawa is truly an on-going blessing. “Leaving home” does not require “leaving family.” I am supported by the Dominican community with love, prayer, and encouragement to be a compassionate presence for my father and my siblings. My heart overflows with gratitude. As I witness Dad I am amazed at his acceptance of the next phase of his long li...

Quoting (as nearly as I can remember) one of our wise Dominican Brothers, “Sometimes we can’t see the picture when we’re standing inside the frame.” I experienced that the afternoon of the 2 nd full day of our annual Community Days gathering of 400+ Sisters and Associates.   As uplifting and hopeful as the days were for me, (and they were,) I found myself caught up in the machinations – the nuts and bolts - of issues about which conversations were taking place, and which were very necessary.   I looked around me, watching everyone hunched over, heads together, the buzz of conversation filling the air, and wondered, “What am I doing here? Why , again, did I leave my family, my friends, my job, my house, my car?” At that point, I stepped outside the frame and surveyed the scene through a different lens.   And I quickly remembered.   I remembered that what I left for was Mission … to work with like-minded women and men who wanted to fulfill God’s Mission, to b...