Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

As Dominicans of Sinsinawa we are committed to working for justice. One of our main goals is to become an antiracist, multicultural congregation. Many of us have participated in intense workshops sponsored by Cross Roads , an educational organization that supports and guides people and organizations that are striving to become antiracist. We made our formal commitment at our Chapter in 2000. Each month I take part in an antiracist caucus group. There are five of us in my group. There are probably 15 caucus groups with 5-8 participants. We’ve shared our own personal stories of racism and have been significantly changed in the process. We come to know in a deeper way the influence of racism in our American culture of white privilege. Each caucus group communicates its monthly dialog on the internet so we can all benefit from the wisdom of one another. Personally I continue to caucus because I want to and need to become more antiracist. It is not easy to admit that rac...

Leading retreats fills much of my ministry life.   I do this with a congregation of priests known as the Passionists - working with them at their Spiritual Center in Florida. The retreats we offer bring women and men from particular parishes each weekend for most of the year.   Our hope is that we are sending people back to their parishes nourished spiritually. Around this time each year, we – the retreat team – need to make a decision about the theme for the next season (which starts in September.)   While we bring ideas to the table, we also let them settle into our spirits – listening to the Holy Spirit for guidance. This year it seemed to come a little easier.   Together we heard a passage from the Letter of James read at Mass and afterward discovered several of us were thinking the same thing:   There’s our theme: “Draw near to God and God will draw near to you.”   (James 4:8) We also develop an image for the theme.   This ...

This poem by Mary Oliver speaks to me of the call to Dominican life and mission.   She says it so well….. When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it is over, I don't want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don't want to end up simply having visited this world. What amazing you?   Have you taken the world into your arms?   Or are you just visiting this world? Mary Ann Nelson, OP Madison, Wisconsin

At one time I was sent to teach in an alternative school in Omaha Nebraska.   Most students were Baptist, Pentecostal or no particular faith tradition, and so I became a Young Life Leader in order to share faith with each of them.   Since most of the students did not have their own or their parents' transportation, I would   round them up in a van and we would go off to our Young Life meetings which consisted of other leaders, mostly college age students,   and high school students of many Christian traditions and some of no tradition.   We sang lively songs, saw a fun skit, listened to one of the leaders give a witness talk about Jesus in his/her life,   prayed that we might understand God's love and call in our life, and then sent each other out to another week in high school life.   One of the songs   came back to me this week as I thought of last week's Gospel. "Go where I send you How will I send you? I'm going to send you...