Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I love New Year’s Eve!!   For many years now it has been a very reflective day for me.   I love to honor the past year and prepare for the next by remembering the joys and sorrows, people and places, accomplishments and challenges of the year.    I am always amazed by what I learn in the process. Here are some questions that I use.   You may want to change some of them or start over and write your own.   1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year? 2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened? 3. What was an unexpected joy this past year? 4. What was an unexpected sorrow? 5. Pick three words to describe 2015. 6. What were the best books you read this year? 7. With whom were your most valuable relationships? 8. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally? 9. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually? 10. In what way(s) did you grow physically? 11. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships w...

Growing up, I remember hearing that how I bring in the New Year sets the tone for the rest of the year. I think of that old saying every New Years’ Eve. However, this is the first time I am intentionally choosing stillness and silence as my New Years’ Eve partners. Like many, my days and weeks are full. Busier than I prefer, at times. The other night, in the midst of band practice, I had an aha moment. It happened while the brass and percussion were working hard and the clarinet section had multiple measures of rest. In that rehearsal, I decided to design my personal 2014 musical score to include more measures of rest. I will begin this New Year fully awake in stillness and silence. In doing so, I hope to ‘set a tone’ for the coming year - paying attention to the instruments of God’s voice while noticing what is going on within me during my measures of rest. My commitment to an active and contemplative life as a sister supports this. Plus, I’ve always learned best when I am ...