Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Dominican Novice, Quincy Howard, and  Dominican Sisters,  Peggy Ryan and Kathleen Long  attending the Justice Posada in downtown Chicago I started out Advent with an article that asked the question, “What do you long for?”  Is it crazy that I long for a nation and a world where each are welcomed and given dignity and respect?  When I attended the Justice Posada in Chicago, Bishop Manz (he is the guy with hat on in the picture) reminded us in a talk that the story of the birth of Jesus includes struggle and difficulty.  Oppression, injustice, and greed are all part of the story. I believe the most important question is, “Where will you be this Christmas season?”   Are you in the streets marching?   Are you praying for peace and justice?   Are you working to make a difference?   How do you bring the Christ child to birth with your life? So, what do you long for right now?   Come join the Dominican S...

Historical perspectives offered through celebrations of the 50 th anniversary of the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” and the release of Lee Daniels’ The Butler have prompted many conversations about racism, racial divides and a persistent call in this country for equality for all. I have been captivated by the old footage and freedom songs of the Civil Rights movement and the March on Washington. Voices from artists like Marian Anderson, Odetta and Mahalia Jackson will be heard throughout history and inspire prayer, as the human rights movement continues. “…Dere is trouble all over dis worl’….  I ain’ gwine lay my ‘ligion down….” “I’ve Been ‘Buked,” a Negro Spiritual sung by Mahalia Jackson just before Martin Luther King Jr’s inspiring “I Have a Dream” speech captures the essence of our collective call as women religious and people of God. There is indeed trouble all over this world. How do we continue to fight t...