Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

My birthday falls on June 14 th —the same day this blog falls due. Our lives are made of up a series of sometimes minor and sometimes significant dates.   Because we’re the conscientious sort, most of us try to attend to the first type of date and pay attention without giving too much significance to the latter.   I keep lists, for example, of things I should get to on any day—from sending an anniversary card to getting to an appointment.   I suppose I consider my birthday among the significant dates.    (I’ve forgotten the dates of my graduations; I’d forget most other dates if I didn’t have them written down.)   My folks always made a minor fuss about our birthdays:   Mom made a cake on that day. Since my birthday fell in June, we often went on a picnic.   I remember that the water was always a bit cold for swimming but I went in anyway. As adults, we may feel that we should put away childish things such as caring about our birthdays....

This past weekend, I participated in a special Mass and reception to mark the closing of one of our community’s high schools in the Chicago area.  Queen of Peace High School opened fifty-five years ago and about 15,000 young women were educated there.  Due to declining enrollment and related financial challenges, it is not feasible to continue to operate the school. The closing event was bittersweet: alumnae were saddened to see the school close but grateful for all that the school had meant in their lives. One of the many aspects of life at Queen of Peace High School that touched me most was the deliberate effort to empower each student become a “Woman of Peace”. The school environment emphasized “being peace” and “bringing peace”. An annual award was given to the student who best exemplified this quality. I was inspired as I read the words and phrases used to describe those students awarded in this final year: dedicated to building community; treating others with ...

I feel like a stinky sheep.  My mind is blank, my spirit dry, and I’m late submitting this blog. Yes, I feel like a stinky sheep. Baa. In times like these I’m reminded of the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-17). A shepherdess leaves ninety-nine of her flock in search of the one that was lost.   Finding it, she lifts the bleating lamb over her shoulders and carries it back to town, inviting friends and neighbors to join in her jubilation! (Jesus was addressing this parable to a group of men so, naturally, he used a male shepherd in the metaphor. He just as easily could have referred to a shepherdess, to someone like Rachel, Leah, or Rebekah or many other women of that time who were shepherdesses. But I digress.) A shepherdess or shepherd holding a sheep close to the body risks rubbing her or his scent onto the sheep, which could lead to rejection by the rest of the flock. We can rejoice in the truth that Jesus the Good Shepherd never rejects anyone. Rather, he mar...

One joy of blogging on Catherine’s Café is reflecting on the other blogs.   So here goes it! Have you participated in any cultural exchanges lately? I enjoyed celebrating the 5 th anniversary of a local pastor, who not only is a great preacher, but also a recently elected judge in juvenile court. “Children must not be shackled when they come to this court!” he recently declared. The pastor who gave the sermon at the event is another great preacher, who preached that the preacher also must heal his/herself of his/her own pain and sin.   “Preach till the chains fall off! He proclaimed in his black preaching cadence with his Lutheran pastor soul. How are you aware of God's presence in your life? As I participated in the above service, I let the beat of the drums and the harmony of the hymns penetrate my heart and soul.   (I am not good at clapping and so my body kept still).   But God was there.   It was a God moment as I sat there 2.5 miles from whe...

Within the past several days alone, I have had a conversation with a single mom of 4 who has been newly diagnosed with physical and mental limitations that render her unable to work and worried; one with my biological sister about the controversy over the removal and relocation of Confederate monuments in New Orleans; one with a resident in a correctional facility who will likely face homelessness when he is released; one with a fellow coworker of color about unconscious bias and a situation that happened at work; and another this past weekend involving sister-friends about our Dominican identity as preachers in the 21 st century. These are just a few. There is so much going on these days and so much to talk about, including some things I am taking a break from! The past several weeks and months have been particularly full of questions and serious conversations that deserve deep listening – conversations of the heart. I am grateful for the people with whom I have had them. Some...

This weekend I was blessed to gather with a group of Dominican sisters- those who are in temporary profession and our companions.  It was a rich weekend, full of heartfelt prayer, genuine sharing, and plenty of laughter. Our weekend was enriched by some unexpected guests - a mother duck and her 13 offspring who were living in the courtyard of the convent where we were gathered.  Throughout our weekend, we would spot the ducklings waddling after their mama, bathing in a small water bowl, and having their fill of the birdseed that had spilled underneath the feeder. The ducklings were the center of attention!  Their wagging tail feathers and small peeps brought smiles to our faces all weekend, and their activity consistently drew passers-by to pause at the windows and watch a while. These little ones, by their mere presence, inspired happiness.  They invited anyone who glimpsed them to slow down and delight in their presence.  It was an invitation I ...