Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

During these Easter days, the lectionary offers stories of Jesus’ followers after His resurrection.  In the Acts of the Apostles, we hear about apostles who gave witness.  I have reflected on this word after a conversation with a friend who saw a shooting on Chicago’s South Side where she is in ministry. A “witness” is one who courageously speaks spiritual truth.   A “witness” – in the legal sense – is someone who sees a crime happen and gives testimony.   After hearing my friend describe her experience, and as I reflect on my own ministry with immigrants, I wonder if these definitions of “witness” aren’t mutually exclusive.   If we seek to be in authentic relationship and accompany those on the margins, we will hear personal accounts of violence, or we may even see acts of violence with our own eyes.      With our feet firmly planted on the ground of this real-world injustice, we aspire – like the early Jesus-followers – speak truth an...

As a Dominican I am growing in awareness that I am called to witness to a community of faith and love.  This week I was home alone.  One member of our household was at the White Privilege Conference in Kansas City and another was the dog sitter a few miles away at our friend's house.   In a way it was nice to leave dirty dishes in the sink, have TV on or off completely at my own choice and eat whenever I felt like it.  We did pray together and for one another by phone at 7 am each day.   There will be joy when we are all together once again.  We will listen to each other’s adventures and rejoice in what each of us learned while away. Jesus calls us to love one another and to even wash each other’s feet when needed.   We believe He is risen, indeed, and has sent God’s spirit to walk with us in the way of faith and love. What a blessing it is to witness to the world by being community of faith and love. How can we g...