Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

July is for picnics, fireworks and family.   In my youth, I felt God calling me to be part of a big family.   This July I am thinking of my family that includes: ·       -   a Chinese woman who we quizzed on civics questions, as she prepares for her citizenship interview ·       -   a friend who, with one of our sisters, is spending time making her Hogan in Navaho country more livable (We stayed home to dog sit.)          - men and women of EXPO (Ex Prisoners Organizing)      -  my blood sister’s family, where we share great stories of today and yesterday. A New York Times article Sunday, July 2 caught my eye.   “Wary When Alone With Worker of Opposite Sex? Join the crowd.” By Clair Cain Miller, who made the question come to life through a survey of 5,300 people. As a Dominican Sister who has made a permanent commitment to God through the gift of celibacy, I f...

I sometimes cry at Hallmark ads because I am moved by the concentrated dose of love portrayed..  For the same reason I shed tears at weddings and wedding anniversaries.  Interestingly, I had a similar experience when the Madison area sisters gathered to celebrate 50th and 60th year anniversaries of religious profession of five area sisters. At the celebration we laughed and cried as we told stories on the jubilarians.  The light in the eyes of sisters as they told stories on one another reflected the Spirit.  It is God's Spirit that draws all together in love. Christian couples look outward on family, friends and the world with an extension of their unique love.  Sisters, each called in a special way to love the friends of God, shine a collective love on the world whenever they gather. Those gatherings are sacraments of God's love in a concentrated form. Whatever way one loves is a gift of the Spirit.  As the author of I Corinthians w...