Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

This past week a good friend was called to new life in God.     As one of Sister’s friends, I was invited to gather around the table with the Motherhouse liturgist and others who are involved in planning wake services and funeral liturgies for Sisters.     I felt honored to be called to participate in the design of the rituals celebrating the life of my friend.     This process was also very healing for me as I told story after story describing my experience of and participation in the life of Sister.  I think of her as a gentle woman, so peaceful, giving, and loving with the “too-numerous-to-count” first graders she taught to read and write. Sister masterfully instructed children in beginning mathematics.  There was no memorization of math facts in her classroom; she coached children how to arrive at answers through innovative exercises.  Most of all she loved, cherished, and affirmed each child.     As the shar...

Stories are among the great connectors, regardless of age, race, culture, or any other real or imagined difference between us. They ignite our imagination and can help us explore our past and present differently. For the past four months, I have had an opportunity to participate in the Catholic Sisters Oral History Project.   The purpose of this project is to capture stories about the lives of Catholic sisters in the United States. Each sister is paired with and interviewed by a female college student - the interviews are to be preserved in a digital archive in audio, video and written format. I was paired with a first year international student from Venezuela. Although she was to interview me, we sat together on multiple occasions asking each other questions out of pure curiosity. We exchanged nods of understanding and laughed a lot. Stories, storytelling, and questions of curiosity have a way of opening and connecting hearts. They help us find or re-di...