Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Yesterday, at a gathering of some members of my crowd – current and former, I was truly overcome with sheer joy and gratitude at being together and experiencing again the goodness of these women I have known and loved for so many years. As we shared stories, I was so moved at how we have not been afraid of the kinds of questions posed by Liz Sully in her preaching on this Sunday’s gospel.  What's our heart quotient? How's the hosting of love going? Where are we serving up compassion? Are we really present to the wounds, our own and others? What's our healing touch availability? Is the listening ear in desperate need of hearing aid? Where are we exercising the power of the word, individually and communally? How is justice in action being manifest?   Today I continue the celebration of gratitude that began yesterday. Before I climbed out of bed this morning, I said to myself the words of e.e. cummings, the only poem I know entirely by heart: “I thank you God for most this ama...

These days we see a lot of people wearing masks or, as we say, face coverings. I am intrigued by the variety of designs I see. They seem to come in all shapes and sizes, just like the people themselves. I’m also noticing that sometimes I don’t recognize the face behind the mask. That can be embarrassing. All I see are the eyes peering out from under the fabric. This experience reminds me of how much we human beings count on our eyes to communicate with each other. I see laughing eyes and sad eyes and curious eyes and blank stares. Did you ever notice how you can tell just by their eyes that a person is smiling? Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:22 that “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “Shakespeare went on from there to describe eyes as “the windows of the soul.” What’s behind your wind...