Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I was a first year novice in our Collaborative Dominican Noviate in St. Louis when Hurricane Katrina passed through New Orleans and the levees failed. Hundreds of thousands of us will always remember where we were when Katrina hit. We were shocked and devastated. And, it wasn’t just the levee system that failed residents (including my family) in the city I call home. I remember my Noviate community, including the two novice directors, who prayed with me and were sources of comfort for days, weeks and months following. They sat with me through my tears of grief and rage. I remember calling friends, who knew the city I knew, and crying together as we looked at images on tv and news web pages. As New Orleans and our country acknowledge the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, thousands offer prayers, support and help for all who were directly and indirectly affected by flood waters and system failures. Many continue to show up to help rebuild. Prayers, compassionate presence...

I recently spent a weekend with people I hadn’t seen for many years!   And it was wonderful!! When I graduated from college I spent a year as an Extension Lay Volunteer.    My roommate, Terry, had just graduated from a college in Philadelphia and we met briefly when she and her parents made a trip to California (where I lived at the time). The year was 1968.   We spent six weeks (for orientation) in Chicago, and watched   on TV as the Democratic Convention unfolded.   Then we boarded a flight for New Orleans!   There I came face to face with the struggle for Civil Rights.   The schools were facing a Federal Injunction – either integrate or don’t open.   I saw signs that said “white only” and “colored only” and I had my first (and only!) encounter with the Ku Klux Klan!! Many things have happened since then – both in my life as well as that of New Orleans.   The biggest being my life as a Dominican, and Hurricane Katrina and ...