Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

  “Purchasing is always a moral and not simply economic act.”   Pope Francis.  Laudato Sí.  Paragraph 206   We are in the last week of the Season of Creation (September 1 - October 4).  Pope Francis has issued a message for this time.  In it he writes: “The disintegration of biodiversity, spiraling climate disasters, and unjust impact of the current pandemic on the poor and vulnerable: all these are a wakeup call in the face of our rampant greed and consumption.”     With the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, grocery shelves went empty of toilet paper and other basic necessities.   While some stockpiled, others were left without.  This is clearly an injustice.     As religious we are not exempt from falling prey to the culture of greed and consumption.  The temptation is real, to hoard.  Becoming a religious does not take away this temptation but in the company of o...

In April, Pope Francis issued a document referred to as an Apostolic Exhortation entitled:   Rejoice and be Glad .   The subtitle indicates his focus: “ On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World .” His goal in the letter “is to re-propose the call to holiness in a practical way for our own time…” He is writing to our global church.   For those of us living in and as a very secular culture the document is both a reminder of our call to holiness and some ways to get there.   He names five:     ** Perseverance, Patience & Meekness     ** Joy and a Sense of Humor     ** Boldness & Passion     ** In Community     ** In Constant Prayer Hopefully all of these both call you in your life and challenge you to grow in holiness.   Is there one that stands out for you right now, today?   Find out what Pope Francis says about all of these. To read the whole exhortation, fo...

Is anything really ordinary? It’s January and it’s raining and 50 degrees.   If you’re a sports fan, it’s an extraordinary season of playoffs and tournaments; if you’re a movie buff, it’s award season.   But what about “Ordinary Time” in our liturgical life?   In our daily life?   Is there really such a thing?   In the late ‘70’s the novel Ordinary People became a best seller – about a family who tried to appear ordinary but underneath seethed with suffering, fear, and loss.   How often do we say or think our day was “just ordinary” when, if we look closely, we could find all kinds of small ways that grace broke in.   In his homily on New Year’s, Pope Francis used a phrase that I think applies to all of us ordinary people who do ordinary things, but try to do them in faith, with the gospel as our guide.   Pope Francis said that it’s these everyday people, the ordinary people, who are “the artisans of the common good.”     Now there’s...

Some days ago, I completed and returned my absentee ballot because I won’t be at home on the day that my state holds its primary elections. Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by the continuing barrage of campaign ads and the unending media coverage of primary elections and caucuses leading-up to the July political conventions? The many political action committees and individuals who use enormous wealth to influence campaigns and elections make me wonder whether our “government of the people, by the people, for the people” still exists. My tendency toward cynicism was brought-up short in recent conversations with the two Dominican Sisters from Vietnam with whom I live in community. Both Sisters are college students. One Sister has received course assignments related to our US political parties and current candidates. Discussing an assignment with her, I realized how difficult it must be to understand all this political activity when a person has spent a lifetime in a country that fo...

Many years ago I came to realize giving up chocolate for Lent was not really helpful for anyone including myself.   I began to see Lent as a time to take up a good habit, to form a new way of being, and/or to learn something useful. At Pope Francis’ suggestion, I am giving up indifference for Lent.   And…I am trying to allow this to be a Spirit led process. Prayerfully, I am asking more questions of myself:   How am I indifferent to needs in my life, in my congregation of Sisters, in the Church, in the neighborhood, and beyond?   What are systemic evils that I choose to ignore?   What systemic evils do I need to do more than I am doing already?   What do I need to learn so that my indifference may be healed? Yes…healed! And will I be patient and trusting in the healing needed? One systemic evil the Sinsinawa Dominicans have called ourselves to face is our own internalized racism - not only personally but importantly as an inst...

Each month Pope Francis, as his predecessors also have done, calls the whole church to a particular prayer intention.   This month, he broke with the ordinary way of giving this news by sharing his intention by video.   And he was not the only “star.” At this link is the video. Please watch it before continuing to read this blog: http://www.romereports.com/2016/01/06/this-innovative-video-of-the-pope-is-causing-a-sensation#.Vo2dmHHLtXw.facebook Pope Francis’ intention for the month of January is that we will be part of sincere dialogue with women and men of good will across religious traditions.   Why? So that from our dialogue will come the fruits of peace and justice. For Dominicans – the Order of Preachers – as we continue to celebrate our 800 th Jubilee Year, this intention this has deep meaning.   Around the world we encounter, dialogue, befriend, minister to and with, people of all religious backgrounds and some with no affiliatio...

Pope Francis in the beginning of his papal letter on mercy states that, “Jesus is the visible face of God’s mercy.”  This Advent I have been reflecting and reading about what that really means.  Pope Francis has designated from December 8 th – November 20 th 2016 the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.  To me this begs the question what is mercy?  A few months ago I had a traumatic encounter with someone who publically insulted and lied about me.  I was very hurt that this person would think that way about me.  Yet I knew that mercy called me to love and more importantly forgive that person; not only for their sake, but for my own sake.  So that I could be completely free of the hurt that it had caused within me.  With the help of the Holy Spirit I am still working on forgiving that person.  My way of dealing with the pain was to pity the person.  I had thought that pity was being merciful; feeling sorry for the person becaus...

I walked into the locker room, my stomach in a tangle of excitement and trepidation.  It was my first swim practice as a high school freshman.  A girl sporting a swim t-shirt and a smile waved to me.  “Hi, I’m Kristin,” she said.  I laughed.  “I am, too!” Kristin and I quickly discovered that we had more in common than our names, and we became good friends.  Eventually we both entered religious life.  She entered a different Dominican congregation, and shortly afterward I came to Sinsinawa.  We gradually fell out of touch. At first glance, our lives look different.  She chose a congregation whose sisters wear full traditional habits all the time; I didn’t.  Her name has changed; mine is still Christin, with a “Sister” before it.  She taught in a Catholic school and is now studying philosophy; I live on a farm and promote care of creation.  To be honest, these differences often made me feel uncomfortable. Recently, our oth...

Like many people, I am fascinated by Pope Francis.  I know that he most likely won't change church doctrine.  However, I am drawn to his philosophy of encounter and living into the abundant joy of the gospel.  Our belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of this joy. In the days that he was in Cuba and the United States of America I remember feeling proud to be a Catholic and proud of the pope.  There have been few times in the past when I have felt this way and few times when I have felt like this about a pope. I know that Pope Francis and the church are far from perfect.  I know that there are many sins that the church have committed against those it has been called to protect and love.  In spite of this Pope Francis makes me want to experience that joy of the gospel that he so often speaks of.   He experiences people as opportunities of encounter were we are called to not look at our differences, but the way that we are ...