Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Recently, our household, two sisters and two women, who hope to become associates,  circled together for a study session. Reading, " Being Dominican and Renewing the Face of the Earth" by our sister, Kaye Ash, started the conversation. A question from it stays with me: " Do our mourning and our deep gladness meet our world's deep hunger?" So many things to mourn! What are you mourning?   Racism in the aftermath of Michael Brown?   Denial of climate change?   Indifference to mass incarceration? (those are some of mine). What a gift to be able to share questions! What a blessing to be able to set aside time to study! No doubt each of us was born to study or else why would one of a child's first words be " why ?" My questions become more complex and more necessary as I seek not only to know why but also to know how to make a difference.   Study helps me to see a pathway through my questions, and also to frame new ones. Dominican wom...

Advent has begun, a time to hope, a time to reflect and a time to prepare for the coming of Christ.    My Advent check-in is to ask myself how is Christ present in my life and what do I need to do for a deeper relationship with Christ?   I begin Advent with a heavy heart because of the pain and anger I see in people around the world: Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo (United States) and the 43 students abducted in Ayotzinapa, Guerrero (Mexico), the people of Iraq and the Ebola deaths in Africa.   As a Christian, I am called to see every person as a human being, beyond stereotypes of race, class, religion, status, illness, and to see all people belong to one human family.     In paraphrasing Sofia Nelson, when we fail to see a person, as not human, we justify dehumanization.    The Gospel calls me to see everyone as sisters and brothers in Christ.      “Todos Somos Ayotzinapa,” we are the people of Ayotzinapa, we are one hu...

My Friday tweet for November 21 st :   #TGIF #Gratitude   For one minute name what you are grateful for - people, places, things, seen & unseen. Go! ~~Breathe In~Breathe Out~~ Even when life’s current happenings may be tough, there is always room for gratitude.   If you take up my challenge, I suspect that one minute won’t be enough time to even name the tip of the iceberg of what you are grateful for. Here are some of the “gratitudes” that came to me right now: by name - my Sisters, friends near and far, ministry colleagues, freedom to vote, those who come for spiritual direction, my spiritual director, places I have traveled to and the people I met there, and many other people, places…and at the end…chocolate! A lot can be named in 60 seconds. What will another minute bring? Already ideas flood my spirit. Gratitude is the work of the Holy Spirit. In the US, we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, so gratitude get a chance to be center stage.   Yet to ...

This is the season of giving thanks!!   On Saturday those of us who had been in membership ministry during the past twenty-six years gathered to honor and thank our secretary, (who was with us over all those years) Mary Ellen Schonhoff, as she retired.  Over those years, she knew all of the women who were welcomed into the congregation during those years while also working with 50 of us who were involved in the ministry!  That’s a lot of people!! It was touching to hear and read the many tributes to Mary Ellen in the memory book that the current Relationships for Mission team put together – that’s what membership ministry is known as today in our congregation.   Through it all, the many changes in name and personnel Mary Ellen was gracious and present to every person.   She understood that this ministry is about relationship and held the office together over all those years. Ritualizing significant moments in our lives is important.  How have yo...

A few weeks ago we turned our clocks back an hour.  That meant we had an extra hour.  What should I do with that extra time? One of the assignments I gave my class of high school students one year was to write an essay on whether or not they would like an extra hour added to their day, and if so, what would they do with it.  After they thought about it almost the entire class concluded they did not want an extra hour added to each day.  They thought they would probably only waste this added hour. What I learned from reflecting on this question is that time is a gift, and that God has given me enough time to do whatever God has intended for me. I don't need another hour, except for that one day a year when daylight savings time ends.  The time I have each day is sufficient and I hope I use well the time I am given.  The extra hour?  I can't even remember how I used it. What are your reflections on time? Marie Lucek, OP ...