Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

On Labor Day I labored to create more useful spaces in my bedroom.     The box containing books “saved to read” had been covered with a colorful afghan and many items     “To read some time” were stacked on top. Now the box is gone and “the books to read”     face me with their inviting titles visible. I found out the day after Labor Day is called “National read a book day” What a great coincidence!     I am reminded that an essential element of Dominican life is STUDY. I pledge to create a sustainable study time in my day, my week, my life. Now I am studying methods of forgiveness proposed by Robert Enright. In addition, I am reading  No Future without Forgiveness  by Desmond Tutu.  Even my fun book (light reading before bed) is  All the Forgivenesses , a novel by Elizabeth Hardinger.  All this study is helping to prepare some input time for the religious leader caucus of MOSES (Madison Organizing in Strength, E...

  “Whatsoever you do to the lest of these you have done to me.” Matt. 35 “Yours are the hands through which Christ blesses all the world. ...Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” Teresa of Avila I have tried to live out my religious life following these two quotes, realizing they are addressed to lay folks as well. In 100 years from now, I hope people will remember the Sinsinawa Dominicans for doing this, responding to the needs of the day with courage and love, strengthened by living the 4 pillars of the Dominican order (prayer, study, community and mission) and knowing that we have each other's back. Stella Storch, OP

Are you awake to the  sacrament of the present moment? What a gift to really live in the NOW! That’s all we have. The more I choose to practice mindfulness, I am able to “wake up” and welcome each day with a grateful heart. What a privilege to assist our sisters in these uncertain times as we learn to “be” and live more fully in the present moment. Together we are “waking up” to this day, discovering the sacredness of each moment.    Brother David Steindl-Rast shares a simple practice  that leads to grateful living. He encourages us to:           Stop!  Be present. . . awake. . .alert . . .aware!   Look!  Gain perspective. . .let go of judgment. . .be open. . .live in awe!      Go!  Cultivate a sense of possibility. . .deepen your appreciation for life. . .             be creative. . .make a difference!   Brother David’s “A Network for Grateful...

This week the university where I minister is celebrating graduation.     And, it is also the week in which the United States celebrates Mother’s Day.     I saw so many ties between these two events in the past few days.  Students remembering and praising their mothers (and fathers and other family members) for the love and support they received.   Gratitude, study, and the sharing of life with another are examples of what we are called to as followers of Christ.  It is dates like graduation and Mother’s Day that remind us of the gift and privilege that is ours when we pass on what we receive.   When we allow the hope and grace and goodness that we are filled with to overflow onto and into the lives of those around us.  The Catholic Worker Founder, Dorothy Day, said, “the best things to do with the best things in life is to give them away.”   This past week I saw such great examples of what our lives can...

Let’s celebrate St. Patrick’s Day—everyone is Irish on that day. Right? Though Ancestry.com testing might not indicate I’m Irish, the influence of the Irish culture lives within me. I will claim to be Irish by association.   On March 17 my “Spirit” circle will celebrate by sharing our insights from our study of Celtic spirituality. It’s my turn to choose our topic, offer resources, and facilitate our conversation. I’ve wanted to discover the essence of Celtic spirituality and I found it resonates with who I am.   Spirituality is a way of expressing who we are and how we live out what we believe. A central wisdom of the Celts is that all life is sacred and God is always with us, in us, all around us in the ordinariness of our lives.     The great discovery for me is how Celtic spirituality is so similar to Dominican spirituality. Celts have monastic roots. They pray always, not enclosed in a monastery but live in community wherever they are. Contemplation and stu...

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...

For the last several years, (since I began getting old) I have been enrolled in a continuing education program for seniors, sponsored by the University of South Alabama. I have enjoyed classes in Art History, Music History, and History. In addition to classes in genealogy, birding, and local aquatic life, my favorites are often those classes centered on poetry and fiction. This quarter I’m taking a class on the Southern Gothic writer, Flannery O’Conner. I love her. Her works and books about her take up an inordinate amount of space on my bookshelves. So you might imagine that I looked forward to enjoying a chance to delve deeper with other Flannery fans. The professor, an Episcopalian priest, and I seem to be about the only people in the class who really appreciate her writing.  I’ve figured out that one of the stumbling blocks is a lack of understanding of the concepts of Grace and living out what we call a Sacramental Life. Those two elements live at the heart of my life...

At a celebration of the Eucharist recently I was paying less than strict attention to the words of the first reading until I heard “and women of some influence”… who “threw in their lot” to help Paul and Silas (Acts 17:3-4).  I wondered who these women were and how did they influence? Who did they influence?  And how did they find the courage to use that influence to promote this startling new message?  I think we are all capable of being women of some influence – even when we think we make no difference at all. An act of kindness, paying attention to one who rarely receives any, the risk of speaking truth, the commitment to study, the courage to face fear and self-doubt – those are acts of influence like the tossing of a pebble in a pond.  As national and world news fills us with painful words and images, we are challenged to use our influence for the good.  As Rilke wrote, “I live my life in ever widening circles that reach out across t...

It has been almost two years since my congregation's General Chapter in which Sisters gather to set the direction for the next five years and to elect leadership to enable us to move in that direction. What comes from the Chapter are Enactments mostly directed to leadership to take on and help Sisters to accomplish.   But one Enactment was to the Sisters directly to gather among themselves using the practice of contemplative study in order to decide together what issue they want to work on. With so many needs among the people where we serve as well as global issues and care of the earth, how do we choose?   It is the call to contemplative common study that will assist each group which calls for each Sister to both bring the issues they are passionate about and a deep listening heart to the others with whom she will decide on an issue and how to proceed. This work include prayer, study, listening, leadership and willingness to let go and follow - all together! If y...