Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Attending a number of significant celebrations during the last couple of months has both buoyed me up and made me think about the role of celebrations in my life.  My older brother died on May 11; his wake and funeral were held a week later.  In mid-June, I attended the first profession of one of our novices, and a week later I returned to the Mound for a morning ceremony expressing gratitude toward the out-going leadership team and the afternoon installation ceremony of our new leadership team.  Last weekend, I was back at the Mound to celebrate with our 50- year Jubilarians. As are the wakes and funerals of our Sisters, my brother’s wake and funeral were celebrations of his life.   Dozens of details from the grandsons who carried his casket to the young granddaughter who played taps at his grave reflected the good life Tony had lived. In common with many ordinary good people, he and his wife concentrated on raising good children.   They, in turn, have con...

These past several weeks have been an extended time of family celebration - a time truly representative of what religious life, Sinsinawa Dominican life, and life, in general, is about. A time of honoring the cycle of life and the family that makes that journey with us.   The Celebration of my first profession of vows on August 2 came on the heels of a huge family reunion that we call Community Days.   These distinct yet intertwined joyful events had as bookends goodbyes said to two of our beloved Sisters - Florus Castle and Jean Brennan.   As I sought the mercy of God and of all, Florus and Jean had fulfilled their profession promises, ‘even unto death’.   What an extraordinarily graced cycle of birth, life, death, and birth into new life! During these sacred celebrations, my family experienced the truth that they were not losing a sister (or mother) but are now loved by and part of a much bigger family… a family of Sisters, Brothers, Associates, Mound brot...