Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

This week is a very special week in our congregation because two of our sisters are making their final, or perpetual, profession.  This is a most joyous event, but also a solemn one.  We are filled with joy that God has chosen them to join us for the rest of their lives, but we also stand in awe at their courage in this time of uncertainty. Since I live with one of these sisters, I have been personally involved in her discernment process, and because of this, I have reflected on my own commitment made more than 50 years ago. What a gift and a grace it has been in my life, and I pray that our two sisters will always see this as gift, too. Our whole congregation joins together in asking God's abundant blessings on them.   Marie Lucek, OP Madison, WI

Many things to think about, pray about these days. People are sharing the abundance of their gardens-- a large butternut squash, wonderful tomatoes, gallons of maple syrup. “ Bless us O Lord and these thy gifts.” Grateful thoughts come to us as we share an evening meal together. Then we share the wake service of a sister or the talk on the Doctrine of Discovery from our sister, Christin. We ponder together what struck us and what we are to do now. What a blessing to share Dominican community. Where are you being called now--compassionate care for others, joyful singing making hearts glad, teaching a child to read? Each of us is called , vocatur, vocation. As we grow in vocation so also does our vision. In the Sinsinawa community new visions have moved us to take on new commitments together. We have spoken together in corporate stances. RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERSHIP 2021 ANTI-RACISM 2020 CLIMATE CHANGE 2018 JUST IMMIGRATION REFORM 2013 HUMAN TRAFFICKING 2008 AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY 2002 I...

These February days in Wisconsin are pretty cold!  I imagine it was just as cold during February nearly 170 years ago when a small group of young women made a decision with significant implications.  They decided to remain together in their small, fledgling community. They were all novices: Sisters who had not yet made vows. They were young: the oldest was 32 years of age; the youngest, 17 years.  Seven months after their fateful decision, four of this group remained to make their first vows together. These four young women, Margaret, Mary, Judith and Ellen, took new names and became our “cornerstone” Sisters: Clara, Ignatia, Josephine and Rachel. The word, “cornerstone”, means a feature on which a particular thing depends or is based.   Together with the Dominican priest who founded our Sinsinawa Congregation, Samuel Mazzuchelli OP, these women launched a project that continues today.    The qualities that we recognize in these Cornerstones are ...

It has been almost two years since my congregation's General Chapter in which Sisters gather to set the direction for the next five years and to elect leadership to enable us to move in that direction. What comes from the Chapter are Enactments mostly directed to leadership to take on and help Sisters to accomplish.   But one Enactment was to the Sisters directly to gather among themselves using the practice of contemplative study in order to decide together what issue they want to work on. With so many needs among the people where we serve as well as global issues and care of the earth, how do we choose?   It is the call to contemplative common study that will assist each group which calls for each Sister to both bring the issues they are passionate about and a deep listening heart to the others with whom she will decide on an issue and how to proceed. This work include prayer, study, listening, leadership and willingness to let go and follow - all together! If y...

The little things in life make the big things work—and vice versa.   Sometimes I look around in my small community and notice how many little things get done—seemingly without organization.   I’ll be in the kitchen getting my breakfast, and I notice that “someone” has bagged up the garbage and left it at the back door.   A little later, “someone” else has quietly taken the bag out to the trashcan in the alley.   “Someone,” me, in this case, empties the dish washer while waiting for my oatmeal to cook. These tasks are very little things, but in a smooth-functioning community, they just “happen.” My local community consists of a disparate crew of four Sisters from different congregations and nationalities, of different ages, and with different jobs.   What makes us notice and deal with the little things, I think, is that we share values—including sincere care for another.   Yes, we do our jobs, and one or another of us also volunteers at a food pantry, h...

When I am in a large group I prefer to be in the background.  It's not that I don't want to be involved, but I don't like the focus of attention to be on me.  All of this changed last month when I went to our motherhouse to celebrate my jubilee.  For three days twelve other sisters and I were the focus of attention as we gathered with family and friends to celebrate our jubilees.  As I began to read the overflowing abundance of cards and well-wishes I received I realized that the focus was not so much on me personally as it was on the witness of 50 years of living a life of faithfulness and dedication to God, the Giver of all our gifts.  What we were really celebrating was all the good accomplished through us by our Creator. After that realization I stopped thinking about being in the spotlight and joined in celebrating with gratitude the presence of God in our lives during these past years and the many blessings and graces we have each received. ...

In the course of daily living during these days, the topic uppermost in my thoughts and actions is Jubilee.  I am one of the coordinators of the Mound Jubilee celebration.  What it comes down to is sort of like being on a team of wedding planners.  There are many details to attend to before we welcome our Jubilarians and their guests in a couple of weeks. In the midst of this, I’ve been thinking about and praying with the Jubilarians.  These 13 women who have shared sisterhood for over 50 years will have the gift of gathering together where their journey began, sharing and remembering stories, and re-connecting after having been separated geographically by their ministry locations.  I am even more aware of my own journey and the path where God has led me.  I am graced! Do you remember the joy of celebrating a family 50 th wedding anniversary? How did God speak to you in that experience? Is God calling you to sisterhood with us? Anne Su...