Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

“God is the newest thing there is, the youngest thing there is. God is the beginning and if we are united to God we become new again.”     (Meister Eckhart) It has been another tough year!  Disparities in healthcare continue as we struggle still with a worldwide pandemic.  Our political scene shows no sign of rendering collaboration with justice anytime soon.  Voting rights, women’s rights, immigration, the death penalty, services for the homeless and hungry – so much is an uphill battle right now.  How do we not start 2022 exhausted, full of fatigue, and lacking compassion??? I think my answer is God.  The ancient, Dominican mystic, Meister Eckhart, called God the beginning and when we are connected to God, we get to start anew too.  I will sit with God each day.  I will soak in God’s goodness.  I will try to listen to God. I am full of hope and energy for 2022.  I trust in God’s love and jus...

In the Pax Christi USA   Guide Our Feet Into the Way of Peace: Reflections for Advent & Christmas 2021,  the reflection for Epiphany Sunday, January 2, tells a story about Robert Louis Stevenson. When he was a little boy, he “would watch the lamplighter walk through the streets…lighting each of the village street lights. ‘Look, Mother,’ he would say. ‘Here comes the man who punches holes in the darkness.’” What a great image for Christmas! In the Incarnation, God and a woman punched a hole in the darkness in birthing Jesus for the world. It’s a delightful idea to think of us, followers of Jesus, punching holes in the darkness as we do works of justice, when we help bring about reconciliation, when we bring peace and remain calm in the midst of the turmoil and division that swirl around us, when we express a spirit of joy even though the world offers so many reasons to be discouraged. In this season celebrating the coming of the Light of the World, let’s invite each other t...

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...

The motto of the Dominican Order is veritas…truth. We are truth-seekers. This week could be called a week of veritas, of truth-seeking. June 14 is Flag Day, a day celebrating the first flag resolution passed by the Second Continental Congress, made official later in 1949; a day regarded as one way to teach children about history. June 19, also known as Juneteenth, is the oldest known celebration honoring the end of slavery in the United States, the day when the Civil War ended and slaves were ‘set free’, even though people of color are still fighting for equality and justice. The problem I see is that our history has most often been taught through the lens of those holding power, through the perspective of white people. In our pursuit of truth, we must ask what history is  not  being taught? Who/what people are invisible in our telling of ‘history’? Whose very real and painful stories are not being told?  I wasn’t taught about white supremacy (except in relationship to Hi...

“Zoom” used to mean “move very fast in your favorite vehicle” Now we say “I am zoomed out”.  I attend more meetings and events now that I no longer get in my car to zoom from one meeting to the next.  I just push a few buttons on my computer.   Two ZOOMS one after the other were helpful to me as I work with others to advocate for changes in the criminal justice system.     Where does your passion for justice lead you?   There are so many worthwhile initiatives.     After my second ZOOM, I stayed on to talk with my coworker.  What do we need to do? Where should we go from here? Then my friend shared a poem from Martha Postlethwaite, which I share here:   Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life And wait there  patiently, until the song that is your life falls into your own cupped hands and you recognize and greet it. Only then...

I am a star gazer.  There is nothing more stirring than the summer night sky full of stars.   I relish in those rare opportunities offered to see the sky without artificial light.  Peering into the night’s sky, I am moved to wonder.   As Dominicans, God’s creation, at any time of year, calls us to reflect upon our vision.  How wide is my own understanding of God?   The American theologian, Ilia Delio, asked in her book,  Emergent Christ (2011) , “How deep is the divine mystery for us? (138)  Am I open to the interrelatedness creation invites?  Being willing to participate in the furthering of truth, beauty, and goodness, is co-creating with God.  Even in the midst of a pandemic, when we are locked down and missing so much, each day offers us a number of opportunities to share in and spread the generous giftedness through which all flourishes and grows.  We can actually turn ...

In my last blog, March 15, I wrote about my passion for being a life-long learner. Then my learning experience took a sharp curve with two pandemics—the corona virus and the 400 year deadly racism virus. The blatant killing of Mr. George Floyd on May 25, 2020 set the world on fire. We cannot and must not ignore the urgent cry for justice. Learning, for me, now focuses intensely on this deadly racism virus. Over the past two weeks our sisters shared articles, videos, took part in teach-ins and dialogs about “Where do we go from here?” (Oprah’s question).  Our congregation made a public statement expressing our outrage, sympathy, and solidarity with people of color. We stand on the side of justice for all. On June 8 th  Joan Duerst, OP wrote in her blog about ways she has engaged in action for justice now. Our congregation’s commitment to being anti-racist and multicultural has reignited our resolve. Learning is not always enjoyable. Bryan Massingale, SJ has put a “fi...

Every year as Christmas approaches, I remember Howard Thurman’s reflection about the challenges laid down like a gauntlet by the arrival of Jesus in our world.  When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the Kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among people, To make music in the heart. We know the truth of this. Even while we celebrate with family and friends and colleagues during this season, we are aware underneath it all that our world is hurting:  refugees are without homes and welcome, people are starving in spite of abundance, our border with Mexico is a place of fear and violence for asylum seekers, politicians have forgotten their responsibility for the common good, our beloved Earth suffers from our refusal to ...

How do you say “Thanksgiving”? “THANKSgiving” or “ThanksGIVING”? According to an article in  Mental Floss , if Thanksgiving, which is thoroughly an English word, actually behaved like an English word, the stress would be on the first syllable. (Think of words like SEAfaring, BABYsitting, HANDwriting, ALMSgiving, etc.) Linguist John McWhorter believes a shift to stressing the second syllable of Thanksgiving is reflective of the way our view of the holiday has shifted, that we “don’t truly think about Thanksgiving as being about thankfulness anymore.” I don’t know if I buy that…the word has always been “ThanksGIVING” for me and about gratitude. Maybe it’s a Midwestern thing.  However you pronounce it, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for the grace and abundance in our lives. In these turbulent times, it’s often easy to overlook our abundance and focus on scarcity and what we think we need. I am reminded of this quote, attributed to a variety of people:...

I just finished reading  At Play in the Lions’ Den: A Biography and Memoir of Daniel Berrigan  by Jim Forest (Orbis Books, 2017). Daniel Berrigan, SJ has been a hero of mine for a long time because of his intrepid dedication to the cause of peace and non-violent resistance. Recalling his example reminded me about the importance of “showing up” to oppose whatever militates against the Gospel in our time. “Showing up” means acting even when it is inconvenient or frightening. Action on behalf of justice can be crushing if undertaken by one person, but a group can make it possible to be courageous and to persist when opposition is strong. Participating in communal action for justice can be truly joyous. There’s another kind of showing up that is more muted but is an expression of the love and caring that we have for those who are near and dear to us. It is definitely a high value in the Sinsinawa community that we go the extra mile (often literally) to attend wakes and fu...

“What if at the Apple store, as part of the display, we saw a photo of the factory worker who made the iPhones?” This question was posed in class by one of my Clarke undergraduate students as we discussed Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si , (On Care for Our Common Home) and the social and ecological impacts of consumerism.   “Yeah, and what about clothes?”   Another student chimed in.   “We see the label that says ‘made in El Salvador,’ or whatever, but what does it mean?” We live in an interconnected world.   When we get up each day, we may put on pants made in Haiti and a shirt made in Bangladesh. Then for breakfast we eat a banana grown in Costa Rica and drink coffee from beans grown in Kenya.   That’s three continents before we even step out the front door! Yet, as my students astutely noted, it’s easy to be oblivious to these connections.   It’s easy to find the bargain and not ask questions about the people and systems behind our pu...

My first night at the Sinsinawa Mound as a candidate, Sisters Rose and Yvonne invited me to join them in working a spherical jigsaw puzzle in the community room.   The three of us ordered the pieces and carefully fit them together. As we worked each evening, the Republican and Democratic National Conventions were on television. We heard many words about American identity, war and peace, justice, and visions of society as it is and ought to be. As we worked the puzzle and listened to politicians’ speeches, I thought of an idea from the Jewish tradition: tikkun olam , Hebrew for “repairing the world.” In an inter-religious dialogue group, a Jewish friend once explained tikkun olam as works that promote justice and restore broken relationships. Ordering the puzzle pieces, fitting them in and slowly watching the continents and oceans appear felt like a fitting metaphor for what we are called to do as people of faith: to bring unity out of fragmentation. The Constitutions...

How do we mend the gaps and reweave the fabric of our society? That is the question at the center of this summer’s Nuns on the Bus tour/pilgrimage which covered more than 2,400 miles to meet with individuals, families, and communities in 13 states, 23 cities, and both the Republican and Democratic conventions. Being a part of this endeavor has been the most profound experience of my life and I am sad to leave this loving community of sisters.  We grew together as we gathered for prayer each morning and cried listening to the stories of ordinary people who cannot make “ends meet” because of lack of transportation, low wages and no affordable housing. Along with the great suffering and growing inequality in our country, we met people who inspired us with their commitment to peace and justice.  In Terre Haute, a convent has been turned into a homeless shelter for women and local houses have been donated and rehabbed where these women have begun a new life surrounded by supportiv...