Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

One pillar of Dominican Life has been the focus of my thinking and praying recently. I am a very independent person and have grown up doing things for myself, so when I became sick and needed assistance in November I began to understand what community means. I had to rely on my sisters to lift things, pick things up off the ground and even take notes for me in class when I was not able to go myself. They willingly helped me but still let me to do what I could do, however small it was. Community means helping even when it is not convenient, but also allowing others to still do for themselves. When I went to the Mound this Christmas break I continued to expand what community means. I was blessed to lead some of the sisters in an art project and to witness their sense of accomplishment and pride when they had a number of completed projects in front of them. Over the next couple weeks I heard what the pictures were being turned into. Community means sharing the gifts I have and...

On your life journey, are you sometimes impatient of always being in process?   I am and o ver and over again, I’m called to listen to the advise of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ. “Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are, quite naturally, impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages.   We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability.   And that it may take a very long time. And so I think it is with you. Your ideas mature gradually. Let them grow. Let them shape themselves without undue haste. Don’t try to force them on as though you could be today what time will make you tomorrow. Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Believe that God’s hand will lead you. And accept the anxiety of feeling yourse...

To me the vow means holding all things in common. I might say "my car" but it was purchased by the congregation. It does not belong to me.  I live alone so I am the only one who drives this car but if I lived with other sisters I'd be sharing my car with others. Each spring I prepare a budget for the following fiscal year. I presently have a good salary and my paycheck is payable to the Sinsinawa Dominicans and deposited in my central bank account. What I need each month to live on remains in my account. The remainder is transferred to the congregation. The congregation paid for my education. I have insurance from my place of employment and expenses not paid by insurance come from our congregation medical account. I am expected to be accountable for the budget I submitted and had approved last spring. I also know if I have unexpected expenses the congregation is there to help me.  I know I must do my part but I also know the congregation is there for me.  We hol...

January 15 th - That was the day I received the Dominican habit and became a novice in a Dominican monastery here in Trinidad many, many years ago. I only spent five and a half years there, but what a blessing they were to me! I was only beginning my journey. God had many surprises in store for me along the way. He has for all of us. How is your journey? What surprises have you experienced along the way? I am now a Dominican sister of Sinsinawa. I made profession 5years ago, and final profession 2 years ago.   Twelve years ago I did not even know of the congregation except as the group to which Sr. Glenda Rodriguez, a Trinidadian woman, belonged. I don’t think I even knew the word ‘Sinsinawa.’    Then God surprised me. Today, at our mother-house another woman - Kathy Flynn- is about to be welcomed as a candidate for our congregation.   Our God of surprises is at it again. Kathy brings her own giftedness, her own journey. So do you. Chri...

We live in a fast-paced world.   It is no different for Dominicans who try to fit prayer, study, community, and ministry into each day.   Last October, I planted some garlic in my herb garden.   Every once in a while, as I am go about some daily task, I love to think – the garlic is lying dormant now…the garlic is in process!!!   When I pass this small plot on the way to school each morning, I smile just realizing that someday that garlic is going to be a super pesto sauce!! Multi-tasking in religious life needs to always involve bringing about new life…making something grow, change, offer hope.   Our tasks, no matter how big or small, must seek truth. And you, what is your multi-tasking accomplishing these days??? Peggy Ryan, OP Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

In the Constitution of The Sinsinawa Dominicans there is this passage noting among other responsibilities of our elected leadership this: To help the members discover, appreciate, and deepen the fundamental gospel values which motivate them. (45) Reflecting on these words speaking to our vowed life as Sisters I find a deep mutuality of our lives together.   The statement doesn't say "new members" - it says "members" - from First Profession to final breath. It speaks of our lives personally and communally.   It contains clarity of where we look for our Dominican life - the Gospel of Christ.   The words express movement, growth and hope in the future.   They remind us of the relationship of leadership with the Sisters. While it is directed to our leadership, we Sisters hear these words as profound reminders that our lives are for the sake of God's mission. If I am motivated in any way, am I motivated from the context of these words.   If I fin...