Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Even after over 2 weeks have passed, I am still savoring the joy of the Jubilee celebration. During the weekend close to the feast of the Most Holy Rosary, those of us who have been professed for 50 (Golden), 40 (Ruby), 25 (Silver) or 15 years (Crystal) gathered with family, friends, and the Mound community of Sisters to commemorate our professions. We participated in beautiful liturgies, shared a bounteous meal, and visited with each other, family, and friends. Due to everyone’s generosity, each of us received a large gift bag filled to overflowing with cards, notes, and other momenta. Even after 2 weeks, I am still opening and reading messages in cards and basking in the love of each sender.  I remember saying once or twice, that we need to tell each other how much we appreciate each other before the remembering service after our death. The notes the Sisters have written to me do just that.     As Dominicans of Sinsinawa, we say, “Relationship is at the heart ...

Where I dwell, I witness Creation's resources being shared. Deer, rabbit, squirrel, sandhill, oriel, frog and me. Turkeys strut. Red wings and mourning doves eat from the same table. Wild flowers, grasses, weeds and trees converse in the wind. Fireflies blink to the starlit sky.  Diversity, thankful for the other's gift, enabling all to live. Together we pray and converse, sharing the collective wisdom. Unknowingly or perhaps knowingly, we weave a tapestry that reveals the Devine's portrait! Without God's presence Eden's Garden in the Cosmic  womb would not exist.   How do you contribute to the Community's tapestry? Will you join the sisterhood?   Caroline Sullivan, OP DePere, WI

At this moment, I am joyfully looking forward to a week of vacation with my youngest sister.     I live in Wisconsin and she in Florida.     Though we are 6 years apart in age and have very different personalities, we have come to be each other’s best supporter.     She called me last night to ask a couple of questions that could easily have been answered when I arrived, but I think she, like me, just wanted to connect in anticipation of my arrival.     Though she as hostess looks for a “fun” event or two in her geographical area during our visit, mostly we just enjoy being with each other - sharing stories, teasing each other, offering support to each other through life’s challenges, and laughing a lot.  We have come to respect and honor our unique personalities and life choices.     My relationship with my biological sisters (there were 5 of us growing up together) has prepared me well for being sister with my nearly 300...

One of the joys of being in Washington DC is the international diversity.  This diversity includes the men and women religious studying at Catholic University.  I’ve formed an intimate, ad hoc Dominican community of sisters.  We gather periodically to break bread and share about our lives.  Raghad Saeed is an Iraqi Dominican earning her PhD in nanophysics.  Lien Do is a Vietnamese Dominican earning her  Licienciate for Canon Law .  I am a Sinsinawa Dominican lobbying for social justice on Capitol Hill.   Each of us is here without family or other members of our congregation.  Our personal histories are dramatically different.  Our ministries are totally unalike.  We live in very different local community contexts.   In our daily lived experiences we don’t have much in common. But we have a common bond in our Dominican charism and our conversations are rooted in sisterhood.  Each time we gather the conver...

As we celebrate the 800 th anniversary of the Dominican Order, I find myself over and over again noticing the many reasons why I feel so fortunate to have been called to this life.   Last evening I had one of those moments of recognizing one of the graces and being filled with gratitude.   I was having dinner with a group of six other Dominicans from five different Congregations: Dominicans of Amityville, Peace, Sinsinawa, Sparkill and Bui Chu, Vietnam.     Some I knew well while others were acquaintances.    We came together as sisters who share in the same mission and way of life.   We knew without articulating it that prayer, study, community, ministry, preaching, justice and searching for the truth are important to each one of us.    They are essentials of our lives as Dominicans.    We each had a desire to know one another better.    In hearing each one’s experience, ideas, and opinions, we stretched one an...

Today our country of Trinidad and Tobago goes to the polls to elect a new government for the next five years.  I really feel challenged because even now I don't know for whom to vote and I really would like to exercise my franchise to vote.   Next year our congregation will also be meeting to elect a new leadership team.  Then, I would also be exercising my right to vote.  Yet my feelings in this regard are totally different.  I feel confident about our election process.  I am willing to cast my vote and have no qualms about which of our sisters will be in that pool of sisters discerning leadership.   What's the difference?  I think it's trust. I don't know that I can trust the people who are campaigning for leadership of our country.  There is such a long history of failed promises... On the other hand, I trust my sisters.  We share a common mission and way of life.  We are related to each other by bonds of affect...

At this moment, I am joyfully anticipating a week we have called “Sister Week.”  Once a year, my 4 biological sisters and I gather together to celebrate our sisterhood with each other.  After our first gathering, we said to each other, “We have to do this every year.  We don’t know how long we’ll have each other on this earth.”  Though each year’s hostess usually looks for a “fun” event or two in her geographical area, mostly we just enjoy each others’ company - playing games, sharing stories, teasing one another, offering support to each other through life’s challenges, and laughing a lot.  We have come to respect and honor our unique personalities.  Who would ever think that 5 babies coming from the same parents and same culture could be so different from one another?  Fortunately, we have all worked through the sibling rivalry and jealousies from our childhood. My relationship with my biological sisters has prepared me well...