Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

When is the last time you washed someone’s feet?  Or, had your own feet washed?  Or, in other words, when is the last time you made an effort to go out of your way to do something for someone?  When did you give of your time, your energy, your sustenance? I believe that as Dominican women, living in community, we have the opportunity to live Holy Thursday or wash the feet of one another every single day.  Each day is a chance to go the extra mile, say the supportive word, take the time to listen deeply, forgive, find the humor in a situation, move beyond our comfort zone, or just be ourselves together. I am convinced without a doubt that living in community has been and continues to be in the top three of my greatest, hardest, most joyful and meaningful experiences in life.  So, how will you wash another’s feet this Holy Week? Peggy Ryan, OP Whitefish Bay, WI

In my retreat ministry, we (the team) develop a theme and give our individual talks many times from September to June. Recently I did a “wordle” using the words from my main presentation.  The wordle process gives emphasis by size & color to the words in a document. Here is what my presentation looks like with wordle.  What do you see?  Perhaps this could be your Holy Week meditation. Roberta A. Popara, O.P. North Palm Beach, Florida

Everyone has a vocation, our first vocation is the call to love and belong to others.  This was the foundation of the Choice retreat weekend that I led last weekend.  Twenty five single Catholic males and females between the ages of 22-39 years of age discussed the idea of all of them having a vocation.  For many of them this was the first time they had heard of this concept, they thought that only priests and nuns had a real vocation.  The retreat helped them to realize that they also had a vocation and that married life and the single dedicated life are also very important vocations.   The young people shared their lives, their joys and pains with one another.  Some of them had many challenges in their lives and they realized that they needed the support of others who they trusted to help them through.  They heard of the importance of not allowing others to lead them to decisions that they were not yet ready or equipped to...

Living in Latin America now gives me energy to walk humbly and consider God’s life amidst differences.  The people of God here whom I know show me resilience for living each day.  We have been studying Canadian mining here in our area in Morelos and its negative effects on the environment.  Additionally we have been rehabbing homes of families living in low economic conditions.  These are two examples of extremes, a wealthy mining company looking for gold to sell and mothers and fathers hoping to have an adequate roof and bathroom for their small house. I trust God has called me here to Mexico to walk in faith and confidence and do the small works we are able to do for basic human rights of the people. A dignified house, a roof and a bathroom are basic rights. The open pit mining in Mexico is disastrous to the environment and thus we speak against it. God leads me as a Dominican to preach through this work for justice. What extremes are in y...

Are you aware of the “certainties” in your life? What can you really count on? We live in a time of remarkable change so perhaps “change” may be one of the certainties in your life. Living in a world of uncertainties we question, worry and doubt arise. Our trust and faith may be shaky. Last summer I participated in a retreat as a team member.  The particular theme was “Living in the Certainty of Grace.” resonated with me and has been an inspiration of three other retreats that I have led in the past six months. I realize that living in the certainty of grace enables me to move into an unknown future with hope. Grace is not a thing.  According to Karl Rahner “grace is the Spirit of God dwelling at the heart of our existence.” Elizabeth Johnson says: “Grace is the animating force of all of human history.”  And Miriam Brown, one of my Dominican sisters, says: “Grace is that in which we and all of creation “live and move and have our being.”  Grac...