Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Over the last week, I have been asked if I will be spending Thanksgiving with family. I have said yes, though it will not be with biological family.  This Thanksgiving I am scheduled to be with residents (moms/babies).  The residents will be spending Thanksgiving with the Sisters and me.  Both are excited to have dinner together. One of the residents whose family is not the U.S. told me family for her is those with whom she is with and those who care for her.   Matthew 12:46-48 comes to mind, where Jesus witnesses the relationship change of family. Someone tells Jesus his mother and brothers are outside waiting to speak to him.  Jesus tells this person “whoever does the will of my Father are my mother, brothers, sisters.” So this Thanksgiving, as I look around at the different faces at the dinner table these are my family.  As Dominicans, we believe at the heart of ministry is relationship.  This Thanksgiving I am thankful fo...

As we begin this week of Thanksgiving, I am asking myself about the giving part of Thanksgiving.  I remember making hands in kindergarten that were meant to represent our giving. Last Sunday we watched as a poor widow gave out of her sustenance to comply with church obligations.  I believe Jesus was calling our attention to this offering in order to point to unjust ecclesial practices; not to indicate the obvious of an old woman’s holiness.  Today, we hear Saint Paul remind us that the only true sacrifice is the one Jesus makes; a total gift of self. As Dominicans, we must constantly ask ourselves if the giving of our lives is allowing us to be truly transformed.  How are we being changed, stretched, made whole (read holy)?  Does my ministry happen from that inner space of abandonment?  Does my study lead me to a greater understanding of the other?  How is my prayer touching into my deepest longings?  Gratefully, we are not a...

A year ago a young woman in her first year of college had a very simple idea. . .that went viral.  So much so that it is something that is now part of my ministry.  Katie North decided to post tear-away signs around her campus with the title:  Take What You Need . Here’s a bit more about her idea at this site. A colleague heard about this idea, created her own poster and sent it to me.  Besides her original, I have made additional posters with different words – just hang them by my office door.  The tabs disappear.  It seems people are taking what they need:  hope, understanding, peace, healing, joy, gratitude, forgiveness. . . What do we truly need in our lives today– not tomorrow – right now?  Is it to be loved?  To be courageous?  To have hope?  To offer hope?  Or??? What do you need – today?  Risk asking for it.  God knows even before we ask but companions on our life journey are not...

Have you ever invested yourself in a situation, a project, a work goal, a person?  Hmmm, as I write this, it strikes me that this is what Jesus did.  Then, when you are disappointed or dismayed what did you do?  Upset the money changing tables in the Temple?  Different forms of discouragement can surely come with a passion for ministry.  Recently, one of the women I have worked with for two years went out and used heroin again.  Gosh did my heart plummet!  I had so wanted her to make other choices.  Despite my enduring affection for, her she made her choice.  I have danced with all of these mixed feelings in prayer these past weeks.  I was feeling down and sad about this.  Then I read a line of Thich Nhat Hanh: ‘ To meditate well, we have to smile a lot.’  In smiling I found myself (yes, again) realizing that all is in God’s hands.  I suspect that as Jesus reviewed his day after upturning the tables at Temp...

I travel a lot in my ministry.  Over and over again, I experience gracious Dominican hospitality!!  I have come to believe it’s an expression of who we are and the way we regard others.  Although I struggle to describe it, I know when I’ve experienced it.  A week ago when I was in Jacksonville, Florida with my Dominican Sisters, I clearly experienced it. Here’s what I know about it from that experience as I reflect on it now.   Hospitality is more than opening your home to someone; it means first opening your heart. It starts with a generous and welcoming heart that reveals  an openness to others.  These sisters welcomed me into their world, just as I am, with no strings attached. I felt at home there even though I was not. Here’s what else I observed.  Hospitality demands making space in our busy lives for others. It requires availability and attention, flexibility and spontaneity, adaptation and selflessness. Hospitabl...