Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

So many days of my life I get to show up with other Sinsinawa Dominicans to work on the pressing issues of the day! Here we are with 500 others at the Racial Justice Summit conference sponsored by our YWCA each year.   We listened, were motivated, and met others who are working in our area to overcome the racial disparities that exist in our city, our businesses, our prisons and etc. Sound heavy? It was interesting and fun as well. As a congregation we are able to contribute some of our resource to cosponsor events like these. The contribution made it possible and desirable for some of us to attend.   It is all part of the “contemplation and action” that is the basis of Dominican life.     When our prayer and study show us a need for social justice we will show up. Where is prayer and study leading you? Where are you showing up these days? Joan Duerst O.P. Madison WI

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...

I was in the hospital this week.   It was only a brief stay but the lasting impression was that everyone was so NICE !   (It probably helped that it was the hospital where I had done CPE and was a chaplain!)   It’s a teaching hospital so they are accustomed to students coming and going.   Still, I was impressed as an “outsider” this time by the competence of everyone and their friendliness. I appreciated the chaplain visits I had, including the one from Gary, who is older and who I have known for years, and who is from the Evangelical Free Church of America, and Lars, an Episcopal student, who felt intimidated by me.   I was older, a Dominican and an experienced chaplain, after all.   But he did fine and their prayers for me focused on all the right things.   So one of the things I loved about CPE were all the denominations that were present. The mix was great, and we were all able to learn from one another.   (There weren’t any other rel...

"Whenever the divine favor chooses someone to receive a special grace or to accept a lofty vocation, God adorns the person chosen with all the gifts of the Spirit needed to fulfill the task at hand."  St. Bernardine of Siena I came across this quote recently and I thought it would be a good one for me to keep on hand during this year that has just begun. When I am chosen to lead a group or undertake a project I often have to deal with my fear, especially the fear that I don't have the skills to do what has been asked of me or that I will fail. At times like these I am thinking only of my limited, human abilities.  This quote reminds me that if I am chosen then I don't have to rely only on my own gifts, but that God will give me all the resources that I will need.  But I must be open to God's grace and to trust that I will receive all that I need to accomplish the task I am given. Then I can proceed with great confidence! Fear, begone, and let God's g...

Selfies have become a popular way of taking photos.  Even Pope Francis poses for selfies!  Last Sunday into Monday the four of us Trini Sinsinawa sisters met as usual for our monthly meeting and, voilá, we too posed for a selfie!   But really, we met to 'take' a more important kind of selfie.  Being the start of a new year, we met to self reflect on the past year on a personal and communal level.  We let the four pillars of Dominican life guide our musings.  Our meeting was very revealing and like selfies some things we saw about ourselves, as individuals and as a community we were happy about, and some things we wished were different.   Photos don't lie.  They reflect back to us who we are, what we look like on the outside.     I was grateful that this time of self reflection, also honestly reflected back to us how we were doing on the 'inside' in the areas of prayer, study, community and ministry.  Having seen where we we...

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...