Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Can it really be that the Advent Season has already come upon us while we have been waiting and watching – waiting for this horrible virus to die out, watching in horror as the numbers of people infected soar.  As we continue to wait and to watch.  I reflected upon the words “wait,” “watch,” and “alert.”  It seems to me that we human beings spend a good amount of time waiting.  As a child, I waited for my birthday, for Christmas, for my turn, for “hurts” to heal.  As the first born in a large family, I remember watching my mother wait for the arrival of the next child to be welcomed into the family.  We then were alert to that child’s first tooth, first steps, first day of school.  We hear in the Advent readings from the prophet Isaiah the Israelites waited for release from captivity in Babylon for 50 years.   That was a lifetime for most.   About 20 years ago, the Sisters in our congregation committed ...

In my last blog, March 15, I wrote about my passion for being a life-long learner. Then my learning experience took a sharp curve with two pandemics—the corona virus and the 400 year deadly racism virus. The blatant killing of Mr. George Floyd on May 25, 2020 set the world on fire. We cannot and must not ignore the urgent cry for justice. Learning, for me, now focuses intensely on this deadly racism virus. Over the past two weeks our sisters shared articles, videos, took part in teach-ins and dialogs about “Where do we go from here?” (Oprah’s question).  Our congregation made a public statement expressing our outrage, sympathy, and solidarity with people of color. We stand on the side of justice for all. On June 8 th  Joan Duerst, OP wrote in her blog about ways she has engaged in action for justice now. Our congregation’s commitment to being anti-racist and multicultural has reignited our resolve. Learning is not always enjoyable. Bryan Massingale, SJ has put a “fi...

Since May I have had the opportunity to visit four places dedicated to the history of African Americans in our country:   National Museum of African American History and Culture in DC, a small and powerful museum in Springfield, IL and finally while traveling back from community days a stop in Montgomery AL to see both The Legacy Museum (From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration) and The National Memorial for Peace & Justice (remembering all those who have been lynched because of the color of their skin). While I could not take pictures inside The Legacy Museum, I could at The Memorial and have included two with this blog.   Each pillar has a state & county on it and the names & dates of those people who were lynched.   In the museum, there is an interactive US map showing where all the known lynchings took place.   While the southern states dominated by numbers there are very few states that have none. Each of these places I have been these past m...