Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I am growing in appreciation of both sacred space to pray alone and sacred time to pray together. Before community prayer each day I walk in the neighborhood.   My Dominican prayer group (three sisters and two associates) meets for prayer each day at 7am. In one part of the prayer, a short current writing from indigenous peoples is read. Those writings have made me more conscious of the carved image, a five-minute walk away on the shore of Lake Monona.  The statue was carved from a storm destroyed hackberry tree in 1991 by Harry Whitehorse of the Ho Chunk people and bronzed by the community to preserve it in 2009. The carving is named “Let the great Spirits soar”.  It is adjacent to another image formed by people 10,000 years ago who gathered by the water and built mounds in the shape of animals in which to place the human remains of their beloved dead.  So in my sacred prayer space along Lake Monona, I have become aware that I am accomp...

When I first began my journey as a Dominican of Sinsinawa, I learned that prayer, which had always been a force in my life, is one of the pillars of Dominican life.   Now prayer takes as many forms as there are people.   One form of prayer which became very powerful for me this past week is Community Prayer, specifically gathering together as a community to pray for an explicit purpose.   One of our co-workers Scott suffered a stroke a little over 3 weeks ago.   Scott is also a member of group of us who eat lunch together daily.   Scott and his family have been in my thoughts and prayers nearly every minute since learning of his stroke.   On Monday at 12:15 pm Mound sisters, co-workers, and guests came together in our Gathering Place to pray for healing for Scott and his family.   We learned in his wife’s journal on CaringBridge website she invited their extended family and friends to join the Dominicans in prayer at that time wherever they happe...