Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

We do not use this word too often. Yet we have a holiday which celebrates this ‘old’ word that describes our more common work. Why have a day to celebrate ‘labor’? Might it be so we might know the dignity associated with what we do?   There is labor at our birth. There is labor when we learn and study. There is labor when we choose to live out and act on our commitments. There is labor when we pray/meditate. What is the Spirit teaching me in these works? There is labor in relationships. What do each of this ‘labors invite you and I to ponder.   Of late the work in relationships has been much on my mind and heart. Sheltering in place during Covid has given me time and opportunity to reflect on how I show up for relationship with others and with myself. In pondering this I have been laboring to know the Holy, the Sacred in others and in myself. I have needed this reflective work of bowing before this Mystery of whom others are and who I am. It is indeed a laboring of being more ...

The pandemic has distinctively changed my perspective on life. I find blessings that I used to take for granted and welcome new learnings. Relationships have strengthened and new ones formed. My spiritual life is deepening as well.   Each summer for the past 20 years I have participated in a retreat entitled  Nurturing Life’s Blessings . Last year we had a “virtual” retreat and I missed being together, in person, in a place that is  extra  holy ground at Siena Retreat Center in Racine, WI.    This summer we gathered at Siena Retreat Center. What a difference! We adapted to the new protocols for safety and also appreciated being together. The gifts of nature and being with others truly nurtured my spirit. I celebrate this sacred time. Being on the team and creating the rituals for each day expands my love of life. I am also privileged to companion women on their journey and learn from them. The Spirit’s presence was palpable.   Lake Michigan graces the ...

I’m spending the summer at our Camp WeHaKee in northern Wisconsin, far from my home in Austin, Texas.  The setting is gorgeous, and the camp is full of the laughter and struggles of girls as they navigate new relationships as well as develop new skills in such things as teamwork, arts, music, horseback riding, sailing and archery.  While there are still some Covid protocols in place, we have been able to enjoy seeing one another in person again, sharing meals outside and singing our favorite camp songs.  I am especially impressed with the camp counselors, young women mostly college age, who bring energy, enthusiasm, and many talents they can share with their campers Surely,  This is holy ground; we’re standing on holy ground, For our God is with us, and where God is is holy.   LouAnne Willette Austin, TX

During the past 15 months, in addition to family calls, I called four people on a regular basis.  This was important for me, as I hope it was for them, because our ministry has always been relationship-based.  But a phone call is not as satisfying as a face-to-face visit.  So with great joy I celebrated when I became fully vaccinated.  Now I could have real visits from others who were fully vaccinated.       Last week I was able to invite two different people to my home. What a thrill it was to prepare lunch for one and breakfast for the other. This is something I have truly missed.  There is something very special about inviting someone to your table, sharing conversation, sharing your home, and being present to one another in a face-to-face visit.  In preparing for my guests' arrival I try to think of what would be the best way to show I am happy to see them and that I treasure their presence.  This helps me to focus on them and n...

At the beginning of 2021 unlike other years, I did not bother to make any resolutions.  As I thought that my main goal this year was ‘operation surviving COVID-19.’  My thinking at the time was what is the point of resolutions or goals in a time of COVID-19.  I must say that this way of thinking has changed for me as I have come to make some semblance of peace with the fact that COVID-19 will be here for at least the rest of this year or more.  Does that mean that I put my life on hold and not work on the areas I need to grow in and not to set the goals that I need to achieve?  Well of course not!   COVID-19 to me has been the great eye opener.  It has helped underlined to me the importance of relationships, the importance of something as big or small as a touch or a hug.  I am a hugger.  I can hug strangers and it is not a problem.  I miss hugging.  Unfortunately for me and other li...

Birthdays and the end of the year for me is always a time of review and reflection of the year past and looking forward to new things in the year to come.   The year 2019 have been an exceptionally great year for me, in that my ministry challenges me to become a better version of myself.  I am in a ministry that I am passionate about, because hopefully I am making a difference in our archdiocese.  My ministry challenges me frequently to bring forth gifts I didn’t even know that I possessed.  I think it is truly ironic that a ministry, that at first, I didn’t want, I am now passionate about and I am told I am very good at it.  I tend to believe it when one of the persons is the archbishop among others who tell me this.  God really works in mysterious ways. Relationships are truly vital to me and to who I am as a person.  I lost one of my dearest friend and sister this year, she saw the good in me, she saw my gif...

Often, a day spent in D.C.—living in a diverse community of 14 and working on Capitol Hill—feels like a multi-chapter chronicle.  Life hasn’t felt this full, ever.   Any given day is rife with interpersonal encounters and dynamics.  I’m almost always engaging with others or navigating relationships and interactions between them.  Multiple encounters with strangers—scheduled and ad hoc—add a delightful element of surprise to a day.  I often show-up at special, powerful events—whether intentionally or by happenstance.  I attend meetings with a variety of people—I may know some of them and I might know the reason we’re meeting (but not always).  Several circles of people welcome me as a member.  I could spend time in multiple locations throughout the District in very different environments in a day.  There’s also a constant buzzing of political intrigue and activity that’s consuming “the background”.  At the end of the day, I’m ...

Rest easy, friend. (Tanya and Dillon at Camp We-Ha-Kee)   Today is Sunday. Morning routine: woke early, made coffee, took a shower, and settled into my prayer corner, ready to enter into contemplative silence. God had other ideas regarding structure. I was sad, missing my Dominican  sister and friend, Tanya Williams, who had herself settled into God’s loving , eternal embrace just a few short days ago. Tanya was so vibrant, so full of life, her personality and integrity so large, that her absence feels both surreal and impossible. So, rather than contemplative silence, I opened my computer to email correspondence to/from Tanya that began in April, 2011 when I was discerning a call to religious life. Tanya quickly became a friend who was willing, even eager, to explore with me  matters of faith and justice and ‘late r- life’ transformation and call . Her email are full of wisdom and wit and perspectives that challenge me even to this day. They also reflect p...

So much nostalgia and warm fuzzy feelings come into play during this season of Christmas. It is all good because they have to do with relationships, with the joy we get from giving, with our gratitude at what God has done for us. One especially unforgettable Christmas for me was my first Christmas in the novitiate. I was dwelling on past Christmases with family and getting not only nostalgic but homesick. We went to chapel a half hour before Midnight Mass began, and the first thing I noticed was the Nativity window that was lit up with a special light. Then the music started. One of our sisters played the harp and another played the violin. Being in the midst of such awe and beauty, I almost felt I was in heaven. I came into contact that night with the true meaning of Christmas and the utter awesomeness of what the birth of Christ means for all of us. A Blessed Christmas to each of you! Do you have a treasured memory of a special Christmas? If so, what made it speci...

My life at the Mound and Villa is unique. Each day is different and yet meals and prayers are regulars that everything revolves around. Every night I connect with my two sisters on a 3-way call. We each share about our day. My sister Elaine says to me, “You are getting older yet your life seems to be fuller. Shouldn’t you be getting ready to retire?” They both comment about all my social “engagements.” Before I came here I knew that my life would be different, however I didn’t realize the many blessings I would experience each day. The Isaiah readings during this season of advent have new meaning for me here. On this “holy mountain” we call the “Mound” I know a peace-able kingdom.   Our co-workers and sisters are often reaching out to each other, offering support and wisdom, prayers and affection. We had an opportunity to come together for a retreat day during which Ann Willets invited us to reflect on the Mound-Villa community as an “Advent Village.” The sharing revealed ...

Yesterday as I was on my way to Dubuque, I was aware of a train on the track that ran parallel with the highway.   At the end of the train was another engine.   How odd I thought remembering the trains from my youth.   I grew up in a small town having multiple train tracks and trains traversing the town many times during the day.   Our home was situated a block away from intersecting tracks.   Needless to say, we were often stopped on our way to or from somewhere by a train.   We looked for the caboose because that marked the end of the train.    Eventually, train cars were redesigned and cabooses were no longer needed on the trains; and I missed them.   Cabooses had 2 jobs -- to mark the end of the train and more importantly, to provide stability for the train – keep it on the tracks. I began musing about the connection between cabooses and an upcoming gathering we call Community Days. Community Days has several purposes, includin...

As Dominicans, we talk a lot about connections and relationships; and connecting is so much a part of us that most of the time, we don’t even think about it.   Recently, someone asked me what I’ve been doing lately; and I realized how much of my time had been spent connecting with others.   I respond to a lot of emails. I regularly forward useful information or contacts to former colleagues and students.   I check in on Facebook every so often.   I share daily meals, prayers, and conversations with the Sisters with whom I live.   I send a lot of notes, letters, get-well, sympathy, and birthday cards.   I’m often on the phone as well. None of that is surprising since relationships matter to Dominicans. Maintaining connections is part of what we are. But this also made me think: as my wise sister-in-law used to tell her growing children, prayer is an on-going conversation.    She’d tell them that they had to keep that connect...

A couple of weeks ago, some of my co-workers and I noticed that we were working with more international clients than usual; clients from different countries, primary languages, cultures and traditions, and professional experiences. As a job counselor, this presents many unique opportunities and challenges. Imagine, also, the hundreds of stories and relationships that ensue. In addition to native born US citizens (mostly from the north Midwest), I am currently working with clients from Egypt, India, China, Uganda, Somalia, Cameroon, Syria, Mexico and Brazil. In the course of my working relationships, I am gifted with stories about families, dreams and goals, values that influence decisions, present hardships and concerns, and more. My world view and heart expand every day. The stories I hear bring realities of others into my own. Some days, like this past Friday, I am moved beyond words to tears. Through all of these experiences, I become better at my work and in personal relat...