Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

About a year ago I shared a reflection about the practice of living mindfully. Here I am choosing to share more about how mindfulness has challenged me to live more compassionately. I look at life through the lens of compassion. What a difference this makes! The goal of mindfulness in its essence is to live compassionately. Each breath I take is an opportunity to consciously breathe in the love of our God, the Source of all life and love, and to intentionally receive that love and breathe out the gift of “loving-kindness” to self and others. My prayer intention for each day is that I may live compassionately. My awareness of being an instrument of compassion for our world has made a significant difference in my life.  At times I focus only on breathing in God’s love for me and sending that love out from me. Other times I breathe in God’s grace and send it to people I love, to those I may find difficult to love, and to places in our world in need of grace. On occasion whe...

Last week at the end of a particularly busy day, I remembered a task I still had to do.   Realizing it would take half the time to accomplish with someone else helping, I asked another sister from my house to join me.   “Of course!   I’ve got your back.” Just a few days later I left town but had some seeds germinating that needed to be watched closely.   A few sisters volunteered to keep an eye on them.   Not wanting to burden them, I tried my best to make sure everything was in place, but inevitably a problem arose with the lights.   One of the sisters took care of it and has been keeping me informed via texts: “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back!   You just enjoy your time away.” For me, like for many others, it isn’t always easy to take the vulnerable step and ask for help.   But whether or not I ask for it, my sisters show their love and support for me through their daily actions.   In big and little ways, they prove that they hav...