Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

When the feast St Andrew was announced before morning Mass, bells went off inside me.  I suddenly remembered that it was on the evening of St Andrew I received the sacrament of Confirmation with other members of my sixth-grade class. It came to me that the bishop that confirmed us also commissioned building the Parish where I belong now.  I was smiling at this wonderful intersection when an older man, Tony, offered to walk me home so I would be “safe” on my long walk from the church to the sisters’ house where I live.  We both laughed, since it is about 50 feet away.   I learned that my escort had worked as a landscaper and had helped prepare the land where the Diocesan office now stands.  It is named for the same bishop! Tony talked about trees, and the gift of nature which provides us with clean air and nutritious soil.      I encouraged Tony to preach his truth. What truth are  we  called to preach these days?...

During October I had the chance to participate in the  Nuns on the Bus  project sponsored by Network, a Catholic social justice lobby founded by Catholic Sisters [Check out networklobby.org] This was the 6 th  cross-country bus trip led by Sr. Simone Campbell, the Executive Director of Network. This year the theme was promoting “reasonable revenue for responsible programs,” a response to the tax law passed in December 2017 that will have devastating effects on programs for poor and middle-income citizens.   I joined a group of 9 other Sisters and some amazing staffers for week 3 of a 4 week journey. During week 3, we traveled through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, and finally, Washington, DC.  We did lobby visits with legislators, held rallies in which local constituents spoke about their concerns, and had town hall meetings to help educate people about the tax law and how we can encourage the new Congress to change...