Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

The title for my blog offering this month is an adaptation of Jesus' request to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane to stay awake with him.   I am not Jesus, who was entering into his Passion, but we know that many people in our world face the terror of crosses just as profound as his. I have written here before about the Iraqi Dominican Sisters and Friars whom I have known for many years and of their lives filled with terror even as they care for those who are also devastated. August 6 th  will be the second anniversary of the invasion of the Nineveh Plain of northern Iraq by Daesch (ISIS) and the exile of so many to the Kurdish area, Jordan and beyond.  The US Dominican Iraq Coordinating Committee (I am a member) has invited all to join in a nine day novena of prayer and solidarity for our family in Iraq.  It starts July 29 and concludes on August 6 th  the Feast of the Transfiguration. Here is the novena in English: http://domlife.org...

The summer of 2014 Daesh (ISIS) swept through the northern part of Iraq.   Dominicans Sisters and Friars, fleeing with their neighbors, have done heroic ministry among their people even as they suffer their own displacement. For this blog entry I am sharing a portion of the Easter letter from the Prioress of the Iraqi Dominican Sisters sent to me and others here in the US.   She writes: "... As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man…and they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "He has risen! He is not here." Mark 16: 5-6   Dear Sisters, Brethren and Friends,   It is great to hear the good news about Jesus’ resurrection. But if we were to think about the place from where the good news is announced, we would be a bit surprised. The women came into the tomb, and they saw a young man sitting there. Important things happen inside the tomb.   The community that announce the good news is surprisingly in the tomb. The sam...