Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

This Saturday we celebrate the Feast of St. Mary of Magdala – the first witness to the Resurrection, Apostle to the Apostles, and one of the patrons of the Order of Preachers.  Unfortunately, this preacher and faithful Christ-follower is one of the most misunderstood women in Christian history.   For centuries, Mary of Magdala has all too often been seen as repentant prostitute and public sinner – an image reinforced by artistic representations of her.   Books and movies like The Da Vinci Code which present her as Jesus’ wife add to the confusion. So who is the real Mary of Magdala? The Gospels describe her as accompanying Jesus during his ministry in Galilee and supporting the mission from her means.   She is at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion - in contrast to Jesus’ male follower who fled or hid. She is among the myrrh-bearing women who go to Jesus’ tomb early on Easter morning – and there she has a powerful encounter with the Risen Chr...

It's raining again today!  We are well over our average for this month and it's only half-over! Groan. However, I must tell you I live in a rain forest so rain is part of our life, but when the rainfall goes over the usual amount it causes us all to groan. We expect rain but we don't let it stop us from doing things. We have parades in the rain, children go out for recess in the rain, soccer and baseball games go on when it rains. We know which vegetables and flowers to plant and which ones will rot.  We adjust to what we cannot change and we make the best of what we have. But because of the rain and also the darkness of winter the people of Juneau have created a great sense of community.  More activities happen indoors and neighbors know each other better and look out for one another, especially when a need arises. With only 30 days of sunshine a year we could be a grumpy people and complainers. Instead, we truly rejoice when we have one of those rare sunny ...

Yesterday I traveled 50 kms by car, 35 kms by train, and more than 8000 kms by plane.  It took me just under 18 hours in fits-and-starts of waiting to board high-speed modes of transportation to arrive in Chicago.  That’s a stark contrast to the last month in which I walked 550 kms in 25 days—just over a half-marathon each day.  I’m struck by how different these experiences of travel were and how poignant the metaphor for moving through life. Each leg of my journey yesterday was meticulously planned based on exact arrival/departure times.  At the airport, I joined the elbow-to-elbow crowds of people waiting in line and avoiding eye-contact or personal interaction.  Airport lines have a way of blending stagnation with rushed anxiety to meet check-in deadlines.   I then spent hours in a tightly packed space moving at inhumanly high speeds to most efficiently arrive at a specific destination.  While flying, the only way to know where you a...

I can honestly say I have never experienced God as a gendered Being. God has always been a mysterious presence, a constant – sometimes loud, sometimes deathly still - powerful, loving presence that I could experience anywhere, everywhere.  Sometimes, I have experienced God as an absent presence, when I have longed to know God as a “being” that could be physically clung to.  Have there been times in your life when you absolutely wanted to physically hug God, to feel God’s tender caress? Have there been times when, truthfully, you just wanted to grab God by the ankles and never let go? Maybe that’s where community steps in – not to fill a void – but to stand in as the physical presence of God.   I am grateful for all of the many types of community into which God has either placed or led me – my family of origin, the four other women with whom I currently live, the broader Sinsinawa Dominican family, and the many people with whom I have worshipped, played and mini...

July is for picnics, fireworks and family.   In my youth, I felt God calling me to be part of a big family.   This July I am thinking of my family that includes: ·       -   a Chinese woman who we quizzed on civics questions, as she prepares for her citizenship interview ·       -   a friend who, with one of our sisters, is spending time making her Hogan in Navaho country more livable (We stayed home to dog sit.)          - men and women of EXPO (Ex Prisoners Organizing)      -  my blood sister’s family, where we share great stories of today and yesterday. A New York Times article Sunday, July 2 caught my eye.   “Wary When Alone With Worker of Opposite Sex? Join the crowd.” By Clair Cain Miller, who made the question come to life through a survey of 5,300 people. As a Dominican Sister who has made a permanent commitment to God through the gift of celibacy, I f...

Growing up in a farming community, we always heard the old saying “There’s no such thing as a happy farmer” – referring to the lack of rain or too much rain, lack of heat or too much heat – no condition was ever optimal!  I think we look at our lives like that, at times anyway, saying, “If I only had more time….” Or “If that person wasn’t in the picture it would all be easier…..or “if you would only see it my way…”  It might be easier never to admit to being happy, but it certainly isn’t healthier or wiser or even holier!  Of course we must acknowledge and embrace the difficulties, the stumbling blocks (or blockheads!) that seem to impede our path to joy – but it’s the how we integrate all of that tough stuff with a call to be happy that is the challenge.  One translation of the line from Paul’s letter to the Philippians 4:4 is “I want you to be happy, always happy in the Lord.”  Pie in the sky?  Impossible?  I think no...

Yesterday as I was on my way to Dubuque, I was aware of a train on the track that ran parallel with the highway.   At the end of the train was another engine.   How odd I thought remembering the trains from my youth.   I grew up in a small town having multiple train tracks and trains traversing the town many times during the day.   Our home was situated a block away from intersecting tracks.   Needless to say, we were often stopped on our way to or from somewhere by a train.   We looked for the caboose because that marked the end of the train.    Eventually, train cars were redesigned and cabooses were no longer needed on the trains; and I missed them.   Cabooses had 2 jobs -- to mark the end of the train and more importantly, to provide stability for the train – keep it on the tracks. I began musing about the connection between cabooses and an upcoming gathering we call Community Days. Community Days has several purposes, includin...