Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I saw rolling waves of youthful faces above a sea of Wisconsin red t-shirts, last week as I drove near UW campus.  It was the freshman class of 2017 coming to the Chancellor's Convocation for New Students. There was undiluted energy in their steps, but also concentrated security in their walking with one another.   I wonder what was in their thoughts. A new beginning? like Georgia wrote about in her last blog. Changing the world?  Will they come to ask the question that Tanya asked in her blog, "How do we continue to fight the systemic nature of oppression and injustice?" The sisters and associates that I meet with in circle, and in antiracism caucus groups each month are also  creative waves of life and energy. We come together no longer needing the security of youth but enjoying the strength and challenge that comes from being sisters.  When we come together, we often challenge one another to fight systemic injustice.  There ...

Happy Labor Day!  No matter how old I get the Labor Day weekend always reminds me of new beginnings; the start of a new school year after the more relaxed atmosphere of summer.  As a child getting ready for the school year I always went shopping with my Aunt Marie for a new pair of school shoes and then stocked up on all the required school supplies.  Everything felt new and fresh.  No matter the failures or misfortunes of the previous school year, September offered a chance for a new beginning. God offers us this same opportunity.  No matter our screw-ups, our poor choices, we always have the opportunity to begin again.  Jesus gives us the opportunity to drink deeply of the Living Water of the Holy Spirit.  This grace helps us to discern how our personal gifts can be used to build the reign of God in our fragile world.  Two of my good friends have left home this summer to answer the call to religious life.  To what is ...

Historical perspectives offered through celebrations of the 50 th anniversary of the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” and the release of Lee Daniels’ The Butler have prompted many conversations about racism, racial divides and a persistent call in this country for equality for all. I have been captivated by the old footage and freedom songs of the Civil Rights movement and the March on Washington. Voices from artists like Marian Anderson, Odetta and Mahalia Jackson will be heard throughout history and inspire prayer, as the human rights movement continues. “…Dere is trouble all over dis worl’….  I ain’ gwine lay my ‘ligion down….” “I’ve Been ‘Buked,” a Negro Spiritual sung by Mahalia Jackson just before Martin Luther King Jr’s inspiring “I Have a Dream” speech captures the essence of our collective call as women religious and people of God. There is indeed trouble all over this world. How do we continue to fight t...

At this moment, I am joyfully anticipating a week we have called “Sister Week.”  Once a year, my 4 biological sisters and I gather together to celebrate our sisterhood with each other.  After our first gathering, we said to each other, “We have to do this every year.  We don’t know how long we’ll have each other on this earth.”  Though each year’s hostess usually looks for a “fun” event or two in her geographical area, mostly we just enjoy each others’ company - playing games, sharing stories, teasing one another, offering support to each other through life’s challenges, and laughing a lot.  We have come to respect and honor our unique personalities.  Who would ever think that 5 babies coming from the same parents and same culture could be so different from one another?  Fortunately, we have all worked through the sibling rivalry and jealousies from our childhood. My relationship with my biological sisters has prepared me well...