Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

The Community's Cup is overflowing with Divine Cosmic Presence! You and I, along with all life, are privileged to sit and sip together around its rim.   Hand-picked leaves of compassionate love, forgiveness and inclusion have been seeped together to create this brew.   Really smell life's aromas.   Feel their textures. Taste their flavors. See similarities and differences in this ONE Cosmic Cup of Tea.   Eighty-five of us from twelve different countries (Nigeria, Spain, Philippines, Canada, Jamaica, Kenya, USA, Iraq, Lebanon, Belgium, England, Australia) attended an English boarding school, in Southern England. We slept, played, prayed, talked and ate together.   When Tea Time came around, each of us excitedly brought out our prized treat packages received from home to share at table.   As Sinsinawa Dominicans I believe we live on the rim of this Cosmic Cup, looking outward and looking inward. Grounded in Contemplative Wholeness. I personally imagine the Co...

During these COVID-19 days, in our Motherhouse dining room, we are sitting at tables of two so that we can social distance.     One of the results of this is that we are able to have great one-on-one dialogues with our Sister diner.     Today at breakfast I had a notable conversation with another Sister I did not know well.     I asked her what was new in her life.     She responded she had watched the movie “Les Miserables” yesterday.     I inquired what she liked best about the film.     She said – forgiveness.     She recounted that one of the main characters who had injured so many people could not accept the forgiveness offered to him.     Ultimately, he took his own life.       Lately, it seems that the theme of forgiveness is running through so many recent Scripture readings in the liturgy and references to our Constitution.    When referring to Community, our Constitution say...

Easter is such a tender day.  Children remember the eggs and chocolate bunnies, but as we mature we learn that Easter begins with remembering death and suffering before we remember forgiveness, mercy, new life and love. Today I am remembering my Polish Grandma, Magdalene. Who came to the US with adopted parents, her own parents having died in a flu epidemic.   Sometimes I would sit with her for afternoon coffee.   Of course, we always had a cookie or a piece of cake to share as well.   She taught the art of welcoming.   “It doesn’t matter what you have, always treat the visitor with kindness.   If all you have to offer is a piece of bread and a cup of coffee, offer that,” she would say. Our community has been so blessed to welcome to our house, not far from where Grandma and I shared coffee—people from China, Peru, and Colombia, --people of Lakota, Navaho, and Mohican nations, people who are African American, Turkish, and of course people like ours...

Potting around in the garden could prove risky if one is not properly attired.   Inevitably, I would return from the garden with a thorn in my finger, more that a few injections of formic acid from ants resulting in swollen fingers.  Not to mention numerous scrapes and scratches from thorny branches. These garden creatures resent my intrusion into their space, and so up comes these various defense mechanisms. So I have taken to wearing gloves and long sleeved shirts and I cover myself with a generous amount of insect repellant, organic if you please! So what's the lesson there you must be saying.  I am just guessing (smile) that it is the same with us in our human relationships!   It helps to wear gloves of forgiveness and compassion, long sleeves of loving kindness and to cover ourselves with a generous amount of patience! The season of Lent is a good time to 'shop' for these if we don't have them already. Have a blessed Lent. Gail Jagr...

So, I had the students who came on retreat dream about a world where peace prevailed.  What might that world look like?  And they, with crayons and colored pencils began to create that world together.  In their world they did not litter, they shared their snacks with each other, they went to church and some even spent time meditating in beautiful natural surroundings!  In the discussion that followed these 12-year-old kids came to understand that peace takes some doing! That peace began with each of them, one small act of peace at a time.  They recognized that they had to leave behind old habits that did not bring peace and begin to form new habits of love, care and consideration for themselves, for earth, for each other and for God who is our peace.  The reality of Easter with its renewed hope and promise of new life, of deep peace and joy, takes us beyond the violence and hatred around us, to a place where we can dare to dream of a different re...

 Last week I was sharing our beliefs about forgiveness with a group of women.  One woman was quite distressed when she came in and when sharing began we found out why.  She had just called her daughter-in-law who had hung up on her.  This hadn't happened before and she wasn't sure what she should do next. The other women gave her some suggestions:  don't call back immediately, but wait until both can process what happened. Wait a few days and then bring her a freshly-baked cake.  Wait and then ask for the Holy Spirit to guide her in the words she chose.  Pray for her daughter-in-law that she will open her heart to receive forgiveness. In all of our suggestions the key word was  waiting.  When we have wronged someone we decided it's best not to offer an apology immediately but to wait until the moment seems right.  Forgiveness doesn't happen instantly; it needs time and prayer, and it especially needs God's grace.  Have...

Forgiveness For all who struggle with forgiveness, we pray.    Let us know healing. Forgiveness: It decreases stress It brings peace It liberates the soul It is divine. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Pray It Forward....Forgiveness

Pope Francis in the beginning of his papal letter on mercy states that, “Jesus is the visible face of God’s mercy.”  This Advent I have been reflecting and reading about what that really means.  Pope Francis has designated from December 8 th – November 20 th 2016 the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy.  To me this begs the question what is mercy?  A few months ago I had a traumatic encounter with someone who publically insulted and lied about me.  I was very hurt that this person would think that way about me.  Yet I knew that mercy called me to love and more importantly forgive that person; not only for their sake, but for my own sake.  So that I could be completely free of the hurt that it had caused within me.  With the help of the Holy Spirit I am still working on forgiving that person.  My way of dealing with the pain was to pity the person.  I had thought that pity was being merciful; feeling sorry for the person becaus...

Last weekend I had the privilege of leading a weekend retreat with young people in their twenties and thirties.   It was an emotional time for many of us who had to hear the various heart-wrenching stories of some of these young people and the various ways that they have dealt with these life changing events and still continue to do so.   The weekend was a time for them to take stock of their lives and see if they were satisfied with where they were presently in their lives and if they happy with the person that they were becoming.   I am always amazed by the resilience of the human spirit.   Even though they were going through their own hell, they were still willing and able to try and reach out to others who were also hurting. Due to the magnitude of the hurts some were unable to be able to reach the place of forgiving the perpetrators.   Forgiveness for some is a journey; it is not an overnight event.   Jesus was able to forgive his perpetrators...