Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

For decades, the Sinsinawa Dominicans have been engaged in becoming an anti-racist institution.   This work offers us the opportunity to daily assess our privileges and commit ourselves to deepen our awareness of how our very lives and the institutions in which we operate perpetuate those privileges.   Recently, in a citizenship class I offer on Thursday evenings for Spanish-speakers, a guest speaker who recently passed the citizenship test came to share her experiences of taking the exam.   When asked if the class had any questions for her, several persons asked almost simultaneously, “Did you experience a lot of racism?”   Despite all my years of working on becoming anti-racist, this question woke me up once again.   First of all, as a white woman, I would never have to think of that question.   Secondly, the lens through which I look at life, at my daily experiences, has been shaped by the color of my skin.   I am always grateful for my m...

Already this month, two have written about experiences of the Dominican Sisters Conference Convocation.   This was/is my plan as well. My perspective comes as part of the planning committee.   We began our work more than 2 years ago and as it took form and focus, I came to the event excited and hopeful that those gathered would experience a deepening of our Dominican life and mission across 18 congregations of Sisters. We prayed, studied, celebrated, reconnected to friends and made new ones, we acted as one voice around the issue of Climate Change and blessed four Sisters who will be attending the global conference in Paris later this on this issue.   We did this in the context that as part of the Order of Preachers our upcoming 800 th Jubilee Year calls us to continue the Holy Preaching begun by St. Dominican and the early women and men who joined him. As the days have unfolded since the convocation, I hear from attendees how the experience continues to stir th...

Last week Mary Therese Johnson wrote about the Dominican Convocation that brought together nearly 400 Dominican Sisters and Associates.    In that crowd I met people that I hadn’t seen for years – all from San Rafael, California! One was my classmates, Maureen McInerny, who is now the prioress of the San Rafael Dominicans.   I met up with her at the last convocation we had three years ago.   Another was a friend from Fresno, California, (where I lived at that time) Margaret Diener.   We were both students at Dominican College (now University) in San Rafael. And another was a sister, whom I hadn’t known before, Sister Marie Sagues, who put me in touch with Sister Marguerite Stanka, O.P., librarian at Dominican College with whom I worked when I was a student there. Maureen, Margaret and Marie were all there in support of Pat Farrell, O.P., a San Rafael Dominican who is the current executive director of the DSC, sponsor of the convocation. Thes...

Like many people, I am fascinated by Pope Francis.  I know that he most likely won't change church doctrine.  However, I am drawn to his philosophy of encounter and living into the abundant joy of the gospel.  Our belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of this joy. In the days that he was in Cuba and the United States of America I remember feeling proud to be a Catholic and proud of the pope.  There have been few times in the past when I have felt this way and few times when I have felt like this about a pope. I know that Pope Francis and the church are far from perfect.  I know that there are many sins that the church have committed against those it has been called to protect and love.  In spite of this Pope Francis makes me want to experience that joy of the gospel that he so often speaks of.   He experiences people as opportunities of encounter were we are called to not look at our differences, but the way that we are ...

This past weekend I participated in a spirit-filled gathering of Dominican women from several different congregations. The focus was "PREACHING the WORD: the Dominican Imperative Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow."   The opportunity to be with over 400 Dominicans who are enthusiastic about our Dominican mission strengthens my commitment and broadens my vision. Joy is a tangible quality of our Dominican gatherings. We embrace friends and discover new ones. Laughter, song and smiles brightened the days. Our "market place" displayed the many different ways that Dominicans are preaching the Word with their lives. In the "market place" I was at a booth that display ed what Dominicans are doing to support Dominicans in ministry among the native/indigen ous peoples. The organization is called Las Casas, named after a Dominican who, after a conversion of heart, ministered diligently on behalf of native/indigenous people over 500 years ago. Las Casas organizatio...