Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

In the Northwoods where I live it is starting to be the season of Fall – my favorite season. I love the chill in the air and the crisp leaves on the ground, but most of all I love the colors of the trees as they change from green to brilliant red or yellow. Often, as I’m driving along a wooded area I see green, green, green, and then a splash of red. Only one branch has turned red on an otherwise green tree. How does this happen? This phenomenon speaks to me of Mother Nature’s sense of humor and sensitivity to our human appreciation of surprises. People can be like trees, too. We can rub shoulders with someone day after day and never really notice their gifts until, all of a sudden, they do something or say something that is so thoughtful that it leaves us almost breathless – like a splash of red in the midst of green. I am challenged to pay attention to these otherwise ordinary moments and let my mind and heart be open to the new story that I’m being told. What or who has surprised yo...

Although autumn isn’t happening here in Texas yet, I know that up north fall has come with all its splendid colors.  I have often reflected how trees change their colors from the green of spring and summer to the golds, reds, and browns of fall, then let go of their leaves, one by one.  It’s a beautiful image of our life and death.   Fall is a season of letting go. This last week five of our sisters went home to God.  Each of them, Meg, Jessica, Philip Mary, Dorothea, and Pat, led wonderful lives of prayer and service.  Each of them was unique and reflected God’s image in different ways.  Each of them was loved.   So, as we are now in the process of saying goodbye to each of these lovely sisters, celebrating all the seasons of their lives, we thank God for each of them and rejoice at the many colors of their letting go.   LouAnne Willette, OP Austin, TX

I’m someone who loves autumn, who revels in cool temperatures and “jeans and sweater weather,” who savors the deep blue of an October sky and colors of leaves in the changing light of shortening days.  I love autumn because it signals change, and I believe that we need change.   Whether we want to admit it or not, we grow because of change.   Change challenges us, whether it’s colder weather or a new idea.   As autumn changes give us diversity of colors, the gift of ephemeral beauty, so the changes we experience give us opportunities to rethink, re-evaluate,   re-wonder. Life lived in community, with women of shared values but diverse opinions, with those of shared faith but diverse insights, is life lived in the paradox of “stable changes.”     From the thermostat setting to what’s for dinner, to quirky senses of humor and musical tastes, the differences are always there, but layered through all that diversity are the deepest realities...