Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Preparing to leave water in the desert for travelers   How do we live today as citizens of our global village?  How do our decisions and choices create or hinder a future for others?  Some of our state governments have decided that our newly arrived brothers and sisters can be treated like chattel and loaded on buses or planes to be dropped off in cities all over the country.       What are Dominicans called to do when we witness injustice?     Can we use our voices to bring the oppressive practices to light, such as writing editorials to local papers or joining GET OUT THE VOTE campaigns?     Can we join with others to eliminate suffering?     Can we offer time and energy as volunteers at respite sites?     How will this suffering of our brothers and sisters enter into our prayer?     We have a line in our Constitution:   “Present to God’s people whose hopes and sufferings are our own, w...

I’ve been thinking about edges lately. The edge of night and the new day. The edges of land and water and all the life forms that find home at the edge. Are you walking by the edge of a road? Are you on the edge of a decision? Are you between this and that? We all walk the edge between what is and what is not yet.   How are you navigating those edges? These places of transition and transformation? Such liminal spaces, full of beauty and possibilities.  Can be scary. The edge of the proverbial cliff springs to mind. Can be lonely.   My own physical edges have grown much more rounded than sharp, thanks in some way to the pandemic.   And perhaps also thanks to Covid I am now more appreciative of life living itself in me and inviting me to playfully explore the edge of all things.   Along which edges do you walk?   Isabel Rafferty OP Madison, WI

Several years ago one of our elder Sisters asked Sr. Ann Willits, OP this question:   Are we coming or going?   Ann was in the process of writing a presentation for an event as the Order of Preachers was celebrating our 800 th anniversary worldwide.  She said the question was just what she needed for her presentation. I have never forgotten this question and in times of transition it especially comes to mind.  For me this summer is a time of transition as I move from a long-time retreat ministry in Florida to my hope of developing an itinerant preaching ministry…and…moving back to the Chicago area. (Oh my – the artic vortex!) This time of transition is filled with the question – am I coming or going?  The only correct answer is: YES!  That little connector – “OR” --  belies the truth about transitions because these times in our lives include both. They include goodbyes and hellos, letting go and going forth, p...

Three years ago I began to journey with a Juneau-ite who was interested in exploring Associate membership in our congregation.  He filled out the initial questionnaire and downloaded the Associate Handbook.  We began meeting on a regular basis to go over the material in each of the chapters. After we finished working with the Handbook I asked him if he would like to begin the application process, but he wasn't ready for that step. Since I am the only Dominican of Sinsinawa he knew I made it a point to introduce him to anyone from our congregation who visited Juneau--at this point he has met 3-4 others.   We continued to meet periodically and had good conversations about the church, his faith life, and spirituality in general. During these conversations he never again brought up the subject of Associate membership, so one day I asked him where he was with a decision. He said he needed more time but to continue to check in with him, so this is what I have been doin...