Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

During October I had the chance to participate in the  Nuns on the Bus  project sponsored by Network, a Catholic social justice lobby founded by Catholic Sisters [Check out networklobby.org] This was the 6 th  cross-country bus trip led by Sr. Simone Campbell, the Executive Director of Network. This year the theme was promoting “reasonable revenue for responsible programs,” a response to the tax law passed in December 2017 that will have devastating effects on programs for poor and middle-income citizens.   I joined a group of 9 other Sisters and some amazing staffers for week 3 of a 4 week journey. During week 3, we traveled through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, and finally, Washington, DC.  We did lobby visits with legislators, held rallies in which local constituents spoke about their concerns, and had town hall meetings to help educate people about the tax law and how we can encourage the new Congress to change...

So many days of my life I get to show up with other Sinsinawa Dominicans to work on the pressing issues of the day! Here we are with 500 others at the Racial Justice Summit conference sponsored by our YWCA each year.   We listened, were motivated, and met others who are working in our area to overcome the racial disparities that exist in our city, our businesses, our prisons and etc. Sound heavy? It was interesting and fun as well. As a congregation we are able to contribute some of our resource to cosponsor events like these. The contribution made it possible and desirable for some of us to attend.   It is all part of the “contemplation and action” that is the basis of Dominican life.     When our prayer and study show us a need for social justice we will show up. Where is prayer and study leading you? Where are you showing up these days? Joan Duerst O.P. Madison WI