Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Earlier this month, Sr. Toni Harris. OP talked about involvement in the democratic election process in our country for the sake of the common good.   Since she wrote that blog entry, she and I and more than 200 Sisters gathered to exercise our voice and vote at our General Chapter.   Chapters like this one occur every 5 years as we Sisters consider our future, especially the next 5 years.    Then we elect a Prioress and Council to lead us in the direction we said we want to go. Since we held this Chapter at our motherhouse, we were well cared for, including our snack times.   Since Sinsinawa is in Wisconsin, it was fun to see cheese curds make an appearance one afternoon.   And we had choices of three flavors. Chapter days were filled with choices, “ flavorable ” conversations, decisions, directions and then elections. We asked Sr. Toni Harris, OP to be our Prioress for the next five years.   She said: “yes.” This summer will be the installa...

Writing a piece for Catherine's Cafe is always a challenge for me. I am never quite sure what to write. I start to reflect on my personal prayer and experiences of the recent past. That's where I begin each time. I have been intrigued with a book entitled Mystical Hope: Trusting in the Mercy of God by Cynthia Bourgeault. Though I read it last year I decided to read it again. This time around, the message of the book has taken me so much deeper, especially since my dad's recent passing. So I was contemplating the notion of "hope" and "mercy," wanting to share some of the insights with you. Then I went to a gathering in celebration of our 800th Jubilee at Dominican University. Timothy Radcliffe, OP, previous Master of the Order and world-renowned speaker and author, was the keynote speaker. I had no idea what his topic would be. He began with these questions: What gives you hope?; How do you communicate that hope to others, especially the youth; a...

As I pondered what I would write about this month, much crossed my mind and heart.  In particular, this summer, I have been thinking about and praying for our Iraqi Dominican Family as the first anniversary of their night of terror (August 6) was observed this month. I am part of a US Dominican Committee whose focus is on the situation for the Iraqi Dominican Sisters and Friars and the people they are serving in displacement camps and refugee centers. We prepared and sent out a prayer for the anniversary and other ways to observe this time including an origami peace crane project. This latter project tied into the 70 th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki. A horror no one should ever repeat again.  The peace crane has become a symbol of hope in the face of terror and tragedy.  And yet more comes into this few August days.  One of our oldest sisters died on the eve (August 7) of St Dominic’s Feast Day – just as two women were receive...