Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I am a dawn watcher. I like to get up early, when it’s still dark. I like to sit and watch the sky slowly almost imperceptibly lightening. It’s the quietest part of the day. Everything is waiting on this new dawn.   It’s different every day, every minute. Light hits clouds and color reenters the world. Today the horizon suffuses with oranges and pinks and the few wispy clouds turn violet. Everything is impermanent, in flux. The colors change all the time. The clouds mutate, coalesce, move on, disappear.   At last a deep orange lunette shyly appears and in rising transforms into a full bright circle of orange red light. The new sun sits on the horizon line for the merest few breaths before continuing its’ majestic rise into the sky of the new morning, What a gift.   We have been given the gift of a new day. A fresh start. A new beginning for ourselves, our earth for all living beings.   How will I use this gift of life today? What awaits me as I step out int...

On Memorial Day weekend this year hundreds of people     came to Sinsinawa Mound.     It was the first time for some, and home coming for many. The Chapel was filled with people, song and light reflected from richly colored windows.   People came from as far away as Washington, DC and Portland, Oregon to witness perpetual vows of Christin Tomy and Nicole Reich. It would take all the electronic space in the world to write all the wonders of the day, but best was being able to personally greet these two graceful women who had begun to discern a lifetime commitment to being Dominicans nine years ago. You might watch the ceremony yourself at  https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sinsinawa/portal.htm?eventId=690739&streamType=video Then pause and ask, “what stands out for me”? I especially love this question they were asked -- Through apostolic poverty, do you choose freely to live in Gospel simplicity and to be generous with the gifts of life, recognizing you...

The seed catalogs have arrived!  This sign of Spring never ceased to thrill me as a kid and continues to be exciting even today!  There is a joy in choosing seeds to plant in the earth, believing that by burying them in the dark loam, life and color and fragrance and even food will be the result. Jesus reminds us of that paradoxical truth in an honest, visceral way.  “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain.”  The seed must be planted, must be buried, must face an unknown future to ultimately find the nourishment and energy it needs to break open to the light it seeks.  This metaphor, offered for our reflection on this 5 th Sunday of Lent, never grows stale, never lets us off the hook in our need to reflect on the mystery of dying and rising in our own lives, in our Earth, in our universe.    This past year we have all learned something about dying; now we face new beginnings in a changed landscape.  H...

Holidays can be difficult for many people because of recent or past experiences of grief and loss -- experiences such as the death of a parent or sibling, job loss, loss of a home due to reduced or no income, health challenges and the fragility that comes with aging. Losses can also be anticipated ones that come with a serious diagnosis of a special someone. I know a lot of people who are experiencing some of those emotional challenges during this Christmas holiday season. And I know many survivors of loss who share their personal stories of breaking out into the light. Seems to me that each of them is experiencing her/his own Christmas story, as they continue to discover gifts and all that is waiting for them. In the mystery of all of our sacred stories, the light somehow breaks through. And somehow, with God’s grace and help from others, we can break out into the light. I have many Christmas (and other holiday) stories about light breaking in and me breaking out into the lig...

As our earth continues its journey around the sun, we experience shorter days of sunlight. Perhaps you notice a change within yourself. For some, this month of November herald's the coming of colder weather, barren trees, and long nights. So the changes are quite apparent. For me, November is a month of grace. This year November began with an interactive presentation with children at St. Luke's Parish. Connections were made between Halloween, All Saints' Day, Day of the Dead, and All Souls' Day.  Sharing stories of the lives of the saints like our founder, Samuel Mazzuchelli (November 4), Martin de Porres, OP (November 3), and Kateri Tekkawitha helped me realize more and more that all of us have the call and ability to become saints. It's in every one of us to be a light in our world. The light of Christ that is within me is real and tangible in a new way as I intentionally focus on Christ's light at my center. The practice begins with...