Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Let’s celebrate St. Patrick’s Day—everyone is Irish on that day. Right? Though Ancestry.com testing might not indicate I’m Irish, the influence of the Irish culture lives within me. I will claim to be Irish by association.   On March 17 my “Spirit” circle will celebrate by sharing our insights from our study of Celtic spirituality. It’s my turn to choose our topic, offer resources, and facilitate our conversation. I’ve wanted to discover the essence of Celtic spirituality and I found it resonates with who I am.   Spirituality is a way of expressing who we are and how we live out what we believe. A central wisdom of the Celts is that all life is sacred and God is always with us, in us, all around us in the ordinariness of our lives.     The great discovery for me is how Celtic spirituality is so similar to Dominican spirituality. Celts have monastic roots. They pray always, not enclosed in a monastery but live in community wherever they are. Contemplation and stu...

Settling-in can be an unsettling process.  Three weeks into a new ministry, a new community and living in an unfamiliar city, I’m far from feeling grounded.  I’m still trying to establish my routines, navigate interpersonal dynamics and negotiate the ins-and-outs of everyday life.  Big, new beginnings like these can be bittersweet reminders of how I remain a deeply flawed and insecure person.  There’s no lens like major life change or being unsettled to clearly view my fears, my sense of entitlement, and my need for control—this is the gift of itinerancy. Nevertheless, I sense a calmness and confidence settling-in.  I’m finally finding the time to take a breath and appreciate all the potential that this newness has to offer.  Moments like these are the closest we come to having a clean-slate—and they become what we allow them to become.   A supportive, justice-minded community, a life-giving ministry with solid, competent colleagues, a monu...

Sifting through my clothes and belongings for the umpteenth time gets old and frustrating.  My attempt to strategically pack for yet another move is a struggle.  I’ve gotten quite good at it and each relocation involves shedding a fair amount of “stuff”.  But I focus a lot of attention and thought on sorting-out what I like, what I might need, what I should get rid of, what’s easy to pack, what needs to find a good home and what will be saved and stored.  There’s a seeming dissonance between the vow of poverty and this process of meticulously inventorying and prioritizing lots of belongings.    And then I ponder the prioress’ recent letter about itinerancy—the Dominican call to itinerancy and the different ways that we are each sent.   The forced itinerancy of our sisters in Iraq, for example.  Those ready to “journey to a new place of encounter” in great and difficult ways.  Small nudges like these help me maintain perspective ab...

I’ve been joking lately that I am becoming a very good Dominican: between visits to friends and family and getting ready for another move, I’ve taken itinerancy to a new level! All this travel brings to mind a favorite poem by Jan Richardson, called “For Those Who Have Far to Travel: An Epiphany Blessing.”   The first two stanzas read: If you could see the journey whole you might never undertake it; might never dare the first step that propels you from the place you have known toward the place you know not. Call it one of the mercies of the road: that we see it only by stages as it opens before us, as it comes into our keeping step by single step. How true!   I could scarcely find better words to describe my journey into religious life.   Many times I have longed to see just a little further ahead; yet I realize that if I could have seen the whole picture perhaps I wouldn’t have dared to take the first step.  ...

Typically I’ve conceptualized my life as a linear progression of the places I’ve called home—it’s been a convenient way for me to catalogue my experiences and gauge my personal growth.   As I’m wrapping up my first year of Candidacy and preparing to move on to the next steps in my discernment, I’m noticing a subtle shift in that perspective.    A growing awareness of the Sinsinawa Dominican focus on relationship has influenced how I view these various epochs of my life—including this most recent one as a Candidate.   There’s a vast network of relationships associated with each of these places which I’m realizing provides a much richer lens for thinking about my past.   In fact, it was those relationships that actually defined my experiences and led to my personal growth—the geographic locations, as much as I loved them, were just backdrops.  As I contemplate the idea of “itinerancy” as a way of life, I no longer think that the defining factor is ...

John 14:2-4 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.   If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?   And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. These passages from John are particularly meaningful to me right now.   Before entering religious life, I had basically lived in one place near my tight-knit family.   In the last 2-1/2 years, I have moved six times… which means I’ve had to say my good-byes, but also my ‘hellos’, at least six times.   As difficult as the good-byes are for me, (and they are very difficult,) I am always surprised at how quickly the next place becomes ‘home’.   Yet the places and people I’ve lived with and loved along the way remain in the deepest part of me, too…..in one of those rooms. I am beginning to understand in a much more profound way that God truly dwells in each of us, in the deepe...

A long-awaited walk with one of my community members to the Lake this week gave me a glimpse of our slow-to-come season change.  I saw one tiny bush with buds and these tiny, daring crocuses.  Despite the fact that all this was seen wearing a heavy jacket and scarf, I was filled with hope and courage.  Warmth, birds chirping, green and flowers…it is not far off.  Dominicans are called to be hopeful, especially in times of change.  Saint Dominic founded our Order in the midst of what one would call today a HUGE paradigm shift.  Change offers us an opportunity to grow and to widen our understanding of God and God’s mission.  Dominicans are also called to be itinerant companions, which means we spend ourselves in one place always ready and willing to be called somewhere else.  Like these flowers, we bloom where we are planted, trusting that our lives will join with the whole ecosystem to bring God’s love to all.   Ho...