Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Making a lifetime commitment in today’s time can seem like a very daunting and frightening thing to do.   In a world where everything is instance and commitments made, many times do not last forever.   I was faced with this reality of making a lifetime commitment about three weeks before I was due to make my final profession of vows.   Doing this would mean that I would be vowing obedience which included poverty and chastity “even unto death.” I had to question myself and ask if I was really ready to make this huge commitment.   In my mind and heart I went over what this really meant for me.   No marriage, no children, no sex, not having my own money, living with others I would not necessarily choose to live with.   These were some of the things I was letting go of.   Then why did I want to make this commitment?   I freely wanted to make this commitment firstly, because I felt that this is what God wanted for me and that God knew me bet...

This week we start the season of Advent. Every year I commit to set aside more time for quiet prayer during this season of anticipation and waiting and every year it doesn’t happen. Holiday celebrations get scheduled, last minute shopping looms and the everyday details of life need to be attended to. As I approached the season this year a couple different quotes have taken up long-term residence in my head… “What good is it that Jesus was born 2,000 years ago if he is not born now in your heart” (Meister Eckhart) and a song we sang at a previous parish “let me be your Bethlehem”. This year my intention is to reflect throughout the day how I am being Bethlehem for God. How am I preparing for God to touch the world through me? I know that readiness will not come overnight which is why we are given a whole season to prepare. But actually, God already is using me to touch the world…so my preparing will just be to become a clearer vessel. What are you doing to prepare in this se...

Today is the Feast of Christ the King, the end of our liturgical year.  For us as Americans the idea of a king ruling over us is not something to which we can relate.  But if we look at the Gospel reading (Matthew 25: 31-46) we can see that what we are being called to is the building of God’s reign here on earth.  We do this by feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, clothing the naked, etc.  All over the world faithful Christians are doing such things – participating in the ministry of service.  We create a more just, peaceful world when we work and speak out for justice. This past weekend Sister Geri and I conducted a retreat for the catechists of St. Leo Parish in Murray, KY.   Eighteen young men and women came together to nourish their spiritual lives as we end this liturgical year and prepare for the beginning of Advent.  Every Sunday they give their time and talent in love and faithfulness to h...

The older I get, the more I realize that there are very few, if any, coincidences in our lives.  This is the way God works. I think back to when one of my brothers was dying of cancer and I came back to Iowa from California to visit him. Not until I arrived did I realize that I would care for him the last week of his life and be present as he journeyed to heaven.   God gifted me with this deeply moving and holy experience while also helping my brother. I watched “The Blind Side” last evening with a friend and was moved once again by this powerful story when a black homeless teenager and a white wealthy family transform each others’ lives. I don’t know if any of these people had faith in God but they certainly allowed themselves to change and be changed. It was no accident that these people came together. Our lives are not ours alone. We have been given certain strengths and abilities in order to share what’s best about ourselves with others. Often we do not know how we ...

Sr. Lystra Long made final profession ten days ago. Today she is wearing a T-shirt that says on the front: “I Love religious life” and on the back: “and believe in its future.” Do you love what you are doing? Do you believe that what you are doing has a future? Lystra is the youngest professed member of the congregation. Her enthusiastic “yes” to religious life is a shot-in-the arm for all of us. But you know what? Our sisters who have been professed for years and years also do that for us. Their continued “yes”, their enthusiasm for the life to which they committed so many years ago, all of these say: I love religious life… and I believe in its future. For Lystra’s profession sixteen sisters and one associate from the US were present to support the six of us Trinidadian sisters and our associates. They brought greetings, and prayers and love from all the sisters, especially our ‘retired ‘sisters. The energy was palpable. It was saying ‘We love religious life and we believe in its f...