Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I love water. I love to be by it, on it and in it. Perhaps it’s a genetic predisposition but I find my soul just resonates in the presence of water. It can be smooth as glass, white capped, whipped by wind or tidal waves, large and small with their regular rhythm resonating along a shoreline. I love water’s many presentations and how it interacts with the ever changing light. I am a swimmer. After over a year of not swimming I am gratefully fully vaccinated and have found a local pool where I can book a lane for lap swimming. So, I am thrilled to be back in the water.   It’s a saltwater pool and I have been going early at the beginning of each new day.    I love the interchange between air and water as I move the earth and fire of my body through these precious elements. St Catherine of Siena said, “As the fish is in the water and the water is in the fish, so I am in God and God is in me.”   What a wonderful metaphor for the experience of being enfolded, submerged in...

Early Morning Exercise Class In these last days of October, we see that the Holy Spirit is closer than we can ever imagine.  The feasts of All Hallow’s Eve (October 31) and All Saints (November 1) remind us of the thin veil between life and death, body and Spirit, heaven and earth. As Dominicans, we are called to persistently strive to live in that space that keeps the Spirit alive in us, in order to share our experience of God with others.  In this desire for unity, we are constantly challenged to let go of any polarity that separates body and soul, Spirit and life.  We strive to reflect God’s beauty.       I have found that exercise, whether it is a dip in the pool, a long walk, or an early morning exercise class brings me to a deeper awareness of this call.  Rumi, the 13th  century  Persian poets says, "Just as the water reflects the stars  and  the moon, the body reflects the mi...

I checked the calendar and yes, it’s true, Lent is just a couple of days away! How do you prepare for it?   I had a dear friend who always said, “I HATE Lent” and I don’t quite think that is the attitude I want!   But Lent can turn into a negative if we focus only on what we can’t do, or shouldn’t eat, or have to “give up.”   This Lent, the Motherhouse community is focusing on two sides of Lenten discipline – fasting AND feasting.    Some examples on the prayer card we each received:   “Fast from wanting more; Feast on being thankful…Fast from anger; Feast on patience…Fast from gossip; Feast on silence…Fast from discouragement; Feast on hope.”    None of these are any easier than before, but by reminding me, challenging me and all of us, to feast as well as fast, I face Lent with a different perspective.   The origin of the word Lent is connected to the word for spring.   Can you make this holy season a spring time experience for...