Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Is there a word that can express how we feel as we witness war and horrific destruction in Ukraine? Our hearts break as we watch the endless flow of refugees into the surrounding countries – and our hearts are moved by the welcome they are receiving. We are so grateful that they are being received and cared for, and we worry about their futures.   Can we also get in touch with another reality - the lack of welcome of refugees from Syria and Africa into the countries that border the Mediterranean?  And in our own country, the treatment of asylum seekers from Central and South America, Mexico, Haiti, and those from Muslim-majority countries? Could it be that we fear those who do not look like us or believe as we do?   I read recently that the Cheyenne believe that the Great Spirit gives each person a certain number of words at birth. When the last of those words is spoken, the person dies.* In this turbulent and frightening time in our world, if we had one more word to...

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 ...

Every year has its stories, and this year, 2015, is no exception. Each day we are confronted with the ongoing struggle of the Syrian and Iraqi people.  They who have practiced their Christian faith peacefully forever have been driven out of their homeland by Muslim extremists and find themselves begging to be let into other countries.  The operative word is extremists, for all of us know peace-loving Muslims. We’ve been exposed to many extremists this year.  All we need to do is look at the presidential candidates!  In the year 2016, we can hope that life will return to more familiar ways.  My parents were refugees from a brutal genocide.  Meanwhile, we must ask, no, we must beg, that refugees be admitted to this country once again. Ruth Poochigian, O.P. Madison WI