Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

In May I started a new ministry.  A number of our sisters are at an assisted living facility which is not connected with our congregation.  How do you keep strong and ongoing connections with them? Well, I am one of five "caregivers", who visit 5 or 6 sisters once a week.  Though we are called caregivers our main purpose is to get to know these sisters, to see if all their needs are being met, to enjoy conversations together, and to have a few laughs. When this assisted living facility had to go into lockdown because of COVID cases we could not visit in person, but had to resort to calling.  When the restrictions on visiting were finally lifted we found out how much our presence has meant to the sisters we visited. They were overjoyed to see us!  However, we also discovered that we were just as happy to see them again.  In today's lingo I would call this a win-win situation, but also an example of the importance of connections, especiall...

One would think that this extended time of sheltering in place might teach me more about patience. However, I am finding that once again my garden is teaching me about taking time. One instance of this was planting my cucumber seedlings outside too early. I was so eager to get parts of my garden in that I placed my light-grown cucumbers in the soil before they were strong enough to deal with the outdoors. Hmmm…back to planting more cucumbers beneath my grow light. I have begun to see this grow light to be like grace in my life. Aren’t we all invited to settle in and let the Light of God’s time nurture us and invite us to grow stronger in love, patience, listening? I have also discovered another value of God’s Grow Light. Rather than chide myself about my impatience, I was able to grin and know I can keep on learning and rest assured that God’s Grow Light is ever with me.   What teaches you about gently watching your patience and presence grow? What do you know about God’s Grow Ligh...

As I was preparing to celebrate World Water Day, ahh that precious gift, I came across an article about a special river in Tibet that flows through hidden caverns and then eventually becomes a 3,00+ miles river in India.     That is a long trek.   It reminded me of this ‘sheltering in place ‘waterfall’  so many of us have experienced this past year.  What is this sheltering river we have floated on and in?  What and how does it flow in my/your hearts?     I have slowed down a whole lot this year.  I now take time to notice more and feel more deeply.  I walk more slowly and walk longer distances. Sheltering in place has invited me to do more quiet listening and to savor and pause.  I am less likely to jump to a conclusion.  I can even simply let myself be curious without having to formulate an answer.     Needless to say, this did not happen magically.  I have foun...

There she was On the ground Hurt Frightened Vulnerable. I took her in my hands She clung to my finger Breathing, resting. There I was Talking to her Stroking her breast, her back Feeling her wings. Are you hurt? How can I help? Silence Presence Ministering Being ministered to. Connection Compassion Love. A while passed. In humble adoration. Then she turned her head Looked me straight in the eye And flew away. A bird in the hand… A word of God. Broken, Spoken, Received. With Gratitude. “This is  the season for letting our prayer be inspired anew  by closeness to nature, which spontaneously leads us to give thanks to God the Creator. Saint Bonaventure, that eloquent witness to Franciscan wisdom, said that creation is the first “book” that God opens before our eyes, so that, marveling at its order, its variety and its beauty, we can come to love and praise its Creator (cf.  Breviloquium , II, 5, ...

Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Annunciation Every year, it’s the same: the intensifying liturgical readings, the weekly lighting of another candle, building anticipation. For all its predictability, Advent is my favorite season. It never ceases to awaken something that lies dormant deep within me. But why? After all, I already know what’s waiting at the end, so why go through the annual charade of suspense? For starters, it’s the way that Advent invites me to practice patience and presence before rushing headlong into parties and presents. It’s the balance between darkness and light, and the reminder that the former is every bit as important as the latter. It’s the silence and the longing. It’s because each Advent takes me deeper into the mystery of a God who loves us enough to meet us on our turf, becoming human so that we might come to know God. It’s the already-not-yet paradox of Advent: even as we stand in awe of past and present incarnation, our souls long for a union w...

A dear parishioner, invited me to bless her home.  She said that she wasn’t sleeping well and she kept misplacing things.  It didn’t help her peace of mind to have been told that a house nearby was reputed to be haunted!  Not withstanding this, or the fact that the woman was in her eighties and lived alone, or even that I showed symptoms of the same ‘maladies’, I gladly consented to her wish.  When I arrived at her home she promptly sat me down and, 2 1/2 hours later, we were still conversing!  The house blessing seemed secondary to the blessing that my presence and companionship brought to her.  In fact, when we did get around to the blessing of the house, it took all of 10 minutes.   The experience got me thinking that to be a blessing isn’t only about what we do for others but also about who we are for them: a presence, a listening ear, a companion, available and willing to go the extra mile.   This dear older woman indic...

One surprise of religious life, for me, has been getting to sit with sisters who are dying – that very sacred time of keeping vigil. Sitting with a couple of our sisters recently caused me to reflect more deeply on what it actually means to “vigil” - to stay awake, pay attention and to simply offer a constant presence to the one approaching that very thin veil between this world and the next.   To vigil is to sit with love and gratitude in the presence of Grace. If true, then aren’t we called to vigil every single day? At the sound of the wind, the rain, children’s laughter and bird songs, we are called to vigil, to pay attention with a posture of gratitude. At the brilliance of a starry night sky, the glow of the moon, in the warmth of the sun, we are called to vigil with a posture of gratitude. Yet we are also called to vigil in solidarity with those among us clinging to the margins of society, people who are dying - physically, mentally, and spiritually - as a res...

I’ve been thinking a lot about ministry lately.  I’ve also been drinking a lot of coffee.  There are a lot of independent coffee roasters and retailers in Spokane, where I’m spending my apostolic year.  One is the “Supreme Bean”.  When I saw it, I was reminded of my childhood when I often wondered why people were called “human beans”. Human beans? Coffee? Ministry?   What’s the connection?   Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been very guilty of judging myself by how much or how little I “do” and by how well or how poorly I “do” it.   The truth is, we aren’t called ‘human doers’, ‘human dids’, or ‘human will do-s’. We are called ‘human beings ’.   Being is defined as “the state of existing; the most important or basic part of a person's mind or self.”   We can learn from the past, but we can’t ‘be’ there.   We can think of the future, but we can’t ‘be’ there.   We can only ‘be’ in the present. There’s the connection. ...