Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Black sisters connecting with other Black sisters or sisters of color is never a given. But when you do connect, it is a hair letting down moment.  Knowing that you will be totally accepted no matter what degree, office, committee, or ministry position you held is the first hair pin drop. You stopped checking your expressions and emotions, and you got a break from the eggshells you often encountered. The first summer I attended the National Black Sisters’ Conference and saw over 100 sisters of African descent I immediately felt at home. Listening to other sisters’ stories of how they were able to be authentically Black and a SISTER was/is a healing experience. This annual event of checking into your roots is healing, rejuvenating, and the reasons why we keep returning and are still SISTERS.   Patricia Rogers, OP Glendale, WI

On the wall at the end of the Diamond Walkway connecting the main dining room with the Foyer at the Mound hangs a huge vertical poster showing prairie bluestem grass – a staple of the original prairie of this part of the country.     The poster is life-size – showing the 5 feet height of the blooming plant and the 8 feet depth of its roots!     Because of these deep roots, the plant is “protected from danger and disasters, like wildfires and drought.”     Wow is what I think every time I see it.     I never thought roots would go so deep….and that leads me to thinking about the roots that protect me from other dangers – like despair or cynicism, self-absorption or ennui, jealousy or indifference.     The deeper I sink my roots in the sacred mystery of God, “rooted in love,” as St. Paul says, the more I strive to deepen my roots in pursuit of truth through study and contemplation, I will find that I have what I need to lead me through the...