Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Recently I was on a team of women preparing to give an ACTS retreat for 17 women.  ACTS stands for Adoration, Community, Theology, and Service. We spent two months in preparation, forming a giving, loving community among ourselves. Then for two and a half days we gave these women a true gift of love, always thinking of them first and putting our own needs in the background. During our preparation time we were focused on making this an experience of God's loving presence in the women's lives, so it seemed nothing was too difficult for any of us, small hurts were quickly forgiven, and all needs were met with a joyful willingness and a generous spirit. After the retreat ended we tried to keep the same loving spirit, but the focus was different.  But, why should it be?  Isn't this a focus for our everyday lives, too?  Forming this small community gave each of us a concrete experience of what is possible if we keep our focus on God's presence among...

This lent I found myself with the happy task of retreating 5-11 year old students.  Class by class I welcomed them, a total of over 500 boys and girls!    I taught them about prayer and with the different levels I did a different type of prayer.  As we prayed they shared their lives with me.  The five year old boys prayed for things like fireman trucks, iPads and cellphones!  The six to seven year olds prayed for help in their studies, and one for his father to get the money to finish building his home.  The 8- 9 year olds  praised and thanked God for their families, and refreshingly, for the environment, for oxygen and for their hearts, their lungs and their brains. The 10 -11 year olds asked forgiveness for lying, kicking each other, not listening or paying attention and for calling each other names, among other little 'transgressions!'  For all of them a highlight was making a prayer flower on the petals of which they wrote their ...

One of the many blessings of my novitiate year has been the opportunity to attend various lectures at Aquinas Institute.   One series, which ended last week was titled “Backpacking With the Saints”, presented by Belden Lane, a recently retired professor of Theology at St. Louis University.   A couple of weeks ago, he “took us to the desert” with Martin Luther.   The desert is the place where I must go, literally or figuratively, to shed all that is truly unimportant or inconsequential in my life; to shed my false self, in order to reveal my true self, the person God created me to be.               This Lent, I’m trying to ‘shed’, rather than ‘give up’.   For me, shedding involves removing something unwanted - hopefully permanently - whereas ‘giving up’ seems more temporary, for some reason.   And in the shedding, I’m creating space where I can accept more of God’s grace, more love.   The more I ...

This past week Tom died. He was a remarkable believer in others and in community.  He brought people together.  He loved invigorating conversation and preaching.  He helped initiate sanctuary in my former parish.  His life was remarkable as was the way he chose to die.  At home with two of his adult children his breathing became more and more labored.  They asked their Dad if he wanted an ambulance or to go to the hospital.  His reply:  “No, I do not think so.  I think I will practice dying.”  15 minutes later he surrendered his life over to our Gracious God. The phrase ‘practice dying’ has stayed with me for the past 10 days.  What am I invited to die to?  How might I practice this?  This Lenten season has brought an awareness of my own willfulness.  More often than not, this willfulness is putting myself forward.  We are reminded during these 40 days to learn to let go.  So for my d...

As I write this I realize that Lent is about half-way over.   Usually I make a lot of resolutions that I end up not keeping so this year I decided to concentrate on two things:   1) To be faithful to the Lenten retreats Sister Geri and I give to parishes; 2) Since I will be making a big move in my ministry this year to begin the process of “divesting” of all the things I do not need to take with me as I move to our Motherhouse in Sinsinawa, WI.   I have to say the first resolution has gone very well; the second is much more of a challenge.   All of us have too much stuff!   I can justify having things because I “need them for my ministry.”   But the truth is the more stuff we have the more complicated life becomes!   This Sunday’s Gospel is the story of Jesus’ healing of the man born blind (John 9).   All of us have blind spots – perhaps mine is thinking I need “things” in order to minister to people when all I really need is to reach out in ...

Dear Lent, After reading Roberta’s correspondence with you, I decided to follow her lead.   We’re almost halfway through our time together, and I must admit… it’s taking me a little longer to warm up to you than I would like.   I greeted you this year as I typically do, with an enthusiastic brainstorm session resulting in about twelve ideas for resolutions.   However, after reflecting on our encounters in previous years, I thought it wise to choose just one.   This year, my resolution centers around fasting from mindless activities (especially technology-related!) in order to “feast on” real, deep, intentional time with others and in prayer. I expected that once I gave up certain activities I would find it so much easier to do the things that matter, but I’ve found myself just as distracted and “busy” as ever.   It turns out the conversion I need is an inner one, and that takes a little longer than a few weeks.   You’ve been hard on me th...