Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Do you like going to meetings?   Recently, I spent two and a half days meeting with about 25 of our sisters about our congregation’s long range planning process, Boldly Together.   While I had not arrived eager to be there, within the first hour I found myself engaged in the process and energetic about it.   This switch happens for me often when I am a part of congregation meetings.   Although our congregation is dealing with diminishing numbers and an unknown future, when I come together with my sisters, associates and other partners in mission, I have great hope and energy for this future we are creating together.     I am so grateful that we are planning for a future!!    As we have the difficult conversations needed to understand the diverse perspectives in the room and as we talk about how we want to move into this unknown future together, there’s nowhere and no one else with whom I’d rather be.        Oh, it...

Pope Francis in one of his many addresses asked the question, "How can we proclaim Christ to a generation that is continually changing?" Being on retreat last week gave me much time to reflect on this question.  On my eight days retreat I encountered the great masters in Meister Eckhart, Catherine of Siena and Thich Nhat Hahn. To me they all seem to be answering that question of Pope Francis in their own way: detachment, love and compassion.  The daily readings from 1 John 4 also supported those attributes. How can I empty myself of all that is unnecessary and unite myself with God who's very nature is love? How can I be detached so that I can become who I was born to be?  To welcome Christ being born in me anew each day? I live in a world/generation that is continually changing, yet God remains the same, however, the ways that I encounter this God is always changing.  How do I take the time out of my busyness to recognize this God daily? "God is the sou...

This past December one of the world's greatest leaders was born into eternal life. Nelson Mandela left an indelible mark and I hope will continue to influence our understanding and living in a multiracial society. This coming weekend, we in the United States, will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King and his contributions to racial justice. I pause to ask myself "How do/will I honor the legacy of Dr. King and Nelson Mandela and make a difference with my life?" As a Dominican sister, committed to racial justice through Anti-racism work, I consciously choose to reflect on my life and our society through the lens of racist attitudes and behaviors and to continually engage in conversion that leads to racial justice. Through study, daily living, caucusing, prayer and contemplation I hope to also leave a legacy. The people of South Africa, Black and White, mourned the passing of their beloved Madeba. The singing and the dancing, the memorials and testimonies touched my...

Last Saturday we hosted a day of reflection for women titled "Seven Steps of Women's Spirituality" based on a book of the same name by Maria Harris. At the end of the retreat one woman said to the presenter "Oh Sister, I was so happy to get in touch with my womanhood...and to delight in just being female".   These women discovered that God can speak and minister to them in ordinary experiences like brokenness, friendships, love, work and death and especially in those like childbirth, motherhood and widowhood that only they as women can have.  They also appreciated the need to pause, rest and dwell on these experiences in silence, prayer and contemplation in order to be nourished and transformed by them.   They left feeling awakened and empowered to 'dance with the Spirit', to seek God right where they were in ALL of their day to day experiences and to be models and mentors for other women seeking a deeper walk with God.   How are you se...

During Advent, the Sinsinawa Dominican family invited everyone to join them as they sat with the question, “How will you let the light in?”  In what ways and in what spaces were we individually and collectively willing to allow the Good News of Christ’s birth, the Good News of the Gospel, into our hearts and lives? I thought that was a terrific reflection.  I suspect those who pondered it can name ways they consciously chose to “let the light in”.  Now, after crossing the threshold of this New Year, it seems to me that our challenge is to keep that flame burning within our hearts while allowing its light to shine without .  Our challenge now is to nurture our God-light while allowing it to illumine the dark places of our world, to give hope to the poor, the imprisoned, the physically and spiritually hungry, the refugee and immigrant, the lonely, the suffering, the marginalized.  Our work is in the world, so badly in need of the hope of...