Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

My life is rich. Dominicans are grounded in prayer, study, ministry, and community. I am grateful for all the ways I am enriched through these essentials of our life together. Presently I am engaged in ministry as a spiritual companion, retreat facilitator, care giver, and a hospice volunteer. I also minister with our sisters as a manager of our Westchester Apartments in Illinois. I am living our Dominican mission of proclaiming the Gospel as I preach and teach with my life. I am participating with others in the building of a holy and just church and society. I am so aware that the four essentials are interconnected.  There is a wholeness to my life. My experiences as a Dominican are deepened through prayer, study, community, and ministry.  I realize that these are not unique to professed Dominicans. Our life together is grounded in these essentials and we consistently and intentionally reflect on how we live these out.  I am able to faithfully ...

. "Rest Easy.  Your reservation has been confirmed."  Coming across this saying led me to reflect upon my ministry at the Divine Mercy House, a Christian maternity home for single expectant women. I remember being asked “what kind of ministry interests you?”  My first thought was “women and children,” I didn’t know in what role or area.  I knew trusting in God, all would come to light when it was time.   How did I know this? It is trusting in God that led me to enter Religious Life. When I read Jesus’ call to Matthew “Follow me” (Mt 9:9-13), I think of my vocation call.  I, like Matthew, didn’t know where this would lead.  In  time, I learned to be patient and to trust…God will provide the confirmation you are where Jesus has called you to be. I have been called and blessed to journey with, single women who have chosen life for their baby and need help during this sacred time of life.  I wish I could say I found my ministry, but it...

In the life of any community there are different seasons.  For our Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, this is a season of the celebration of dreams becoming reality. It's my privilege and joy to be celebrating with them.  For years, our Sister Glenda Rodriquez dreamed of inviting Trinidadian women to join her community, the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa. Ten years ago tomorrow Archbishop Gilbert officially blessed and opened the House of Discernment in St. Joseph.  Since that time Trinidadian women have discerned a call to Sinsinawa Dominican life and today three of them are finally professed members and one is in temporary profession.  The dream of our Sister Glenda Rodriquez became a reality! Our Sister Gail Jagroop had another dream....to create a retreat center.  On Saturday, our house in St. Joseph, formerly known as the House of Discernment,   will be officially rededicated as Dominican WELLSPRING, a retreat center.  Archbishop ...

Did you read about the Nuns on the Bus tour this summer?  (see NunsontheBus.org). As I reflect on this amazing tour through nine states, I marvel at the passion and gospel transparency of women religious all over this land.  It brings to mind an ancient question, first asked by God to Cain, "Where is your brother?". "Where is your sister?" Ultimately the question wants to know, how is your life, how in my life, do I assume responsibility for others?  How do I treat each of the sisters with whom I live?  How do I respond to the student who does not turn in his homework for the third day in a row?How do I pray for our brothers and sisters in Syria?  How does the fact that I have a roof over my head and food on my table make a difference to someone who does not? Sr. Simone Campbell, the nun behind the Nuns on a Bus Tour, recently declared, "I am my Sister's Keeper!". I am too!  What about you? Peggy Ryan, OP Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

“What plunges have you taken in your life?”  “What incredible things have you seen because of the plunges you’ve taken.”  These were the questions given to participants of Sinsinawa’s recent Health Summit to ponder and sleep on overnight.  They sent me to a review of my life journey! The first significant plunge that came to mind was entering the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa.   At 18, I left home and everyone and everything that was familiar to me. I was both excited and terrified about what lay ahead. I could never have imagined the incredible things that I’ve seen because of that plunge and all of the subsequent plunges to which it has led.   I’ve seen: ·       Our world is so much bigger and more complex than I ever recognized growing up in Peoria, Illinois; ·       God’s gifts in the beauty of the natural world that surrounds us and of each person in whom the divine ...

Some of the most interesting people I know live in Wisconsin State Prisons.  I’ve learned many things from them, including this: “They may be ashamed of who they were, but what is important, what really matters, is who they are now and who they want to be.”  And that’s just as it is with all of us, isn’t it? This is a reminder to me of so many things I never would have known, so many people I never would have encountered, so many institutions I had never even noticed or known anything about before I took the risk of going inside the walls. Like many, I went inside with all kinds of preconceived ideas. I first went into a maximum security prison for men about four years ago.  Since then I’ve been inside eight prisons, for men and for women, many times.  Sitting in a circle with them, I never know what they have done in the past, unless they choose to reveal it.  I’ve learned to listen carefully to what they have to say, and to trust the...

When I was young, my family would watch Wonderful World of Disney on Saturday or Sunday nights.  At least once a year, we would see Peter Pan – the real one, with either Mary Martin or Sandy Duncan playing Peter.  I was enthralled.  It was real, I knew it was real and when it ended, I knew I could fly!  No one could tell me otherwise.  So when the movie ended, my Mom moved away any breakables and shoved the coffee table out of the way … because Kath was ready for takeoff!  I would stand on the couch, flapping my arms as fast and as hard as I could.  At just the perfect moment I would jump up and off the couch, arms still flapping … and I would land on the floor.  But not before hanging in mid-air for a second, maybe two.  I would try again, flapping my arms harder and jumping higher until the perfect moment when I would jump up and off the couch, arms still flapping … and land on the floor.  But not before a second, maybe tw...