Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Saying “yes” has been pretty easy for me, (although the call to religious life later in life mystified and puzzled me. For a while, no response made sense…until ‘making sense’ didn’t matter.) I’ve been reflecting on my ‘yeses’ lately, wondering if some were offered too easily; spoken sincerely but without depth of thought; offered with good intentions but with a failing memory of how the proverbial Road to Hell is paved. There are so many urgent needs in the world today that require a compassionate response – by someone, by anyone, by everyone. Saying ‘no’ seems implausible, cold, unkind, the antithesis of an authentic call to religious life; to any authentic life, really. Yet I am discovering that within every ‘yes’ is often an unspoken ‘no’.  Every ‘yes’ proclaimed contains a benefit, but also a cost; one that can dilute the impact of the ‘yes’.  It might be burnout, frenzied living, a sense of superficiality - of spreading oneself too thin. We simply cannot do ...

Is anything really ordinary? It’s January and it’s raining and 50 degrees.   If you’re a sports fan, it’s an extraordinary season of playoffs and tournaments; if you’re a movie buff, it’s award season.   But what about “Ordinary Time” in our liturgical life?   In our daily life?   Is there really such a thing?   In the late ‘70’s the novel Ordinary People became a best seller – about a family who tried to appear ordinary but underneath seethed with suffering, fear, and loss.   How often do we say or think our day was “just ordinary” when, if we look closely, we could find all kinds of small ways that grace broke in.   In his homily on New Year’s, Pope Francis used a phrase that I think applies to all of us ordinary people who do ordinary things, but try to do them in faith, with the gospel as our guide.   Pope Francis said that it’s these everyday people, the ordinary people, who are “the artisans of the common good.”     Now there’s...

The title of this reflection may lead you to believe I am musing about the sunlight that has peeked through the cold, cold winter days of freezing rain, sleet, snow, and heavy clouds.  Though this pattern has described the last several weeks of the weather we’ve experienced lately, I am really contemplating a conversation I encountered with several of my Dominican sisters during breakfast recently. A couple of sisters shared stories about difficult times (dark, dark days, weeks, months, and even years) from their early lives in the congregation.   Though I didn’t share my own story at that particular time, I understood the pain and anguish those sisters must have undergone. As we continued pondering those experiences, one sister noted that the suffering did, in fact, make us stronger, gave us wisdom, and in the end enabled us to be who are today – powerful, durable, intelligent, prudent, hopeful women of faith able to share the “Good News” of Jesus with those who wi...

Attending Taize Prayer on January 1, 2018 If you live in the Northern Hemisphere and anywhere in the Midwest, this has been a very cold winter.  Cold is good for lots of reasons.  Our Earth needs the cold of winter.  And, as Dominicans, it is our calling to bring love and joy and hope to cold places.   Here are just a few ways I have experienced the warmth of my Dominican Sisters during this chilly winter season: Early morning cups of coffee with my Crowd (that is nun language for another sister who entered the same year you did) Phone calls in which other Sisters and I have shared our hearts and souls Trips to the gym Being welcomed home A FB message inviting me to more communication An invitation to Taize Prayer Warm hugs Sharing dessert Fun notes in the mail Sharing clothes New Year’s Eve Prayers together Phone calls What about you?    Where are you finding love and joy and hope in this season? Peggy R...

It has been almost two years since my congregation's General Chapter in which Sisters gather to set the direction for the next five years and to elect leadership to enable us to move in that direction. What comes from the Chapter are Enactments mostly directed to leadership to take on and help Sisters to accomplish.   But one Enactment was to the Sisters directly to gather among themselves using the practice of contemplative study in order to decide together what issue they want to work on. With so many needs among the people where we serve as well as global issues and care of the earth, how do we choose?   It is the call to contemplative common study that will assist each group which calls for each Sister to both bring the issues they are passionate about and a deep listening heart to the others with whom she will decide on an issue and how to proceed. This work include prayer, study, listening, leadership and willingness to let go and follow - all together! If y...

So much nostalgia and warm fuzzy feelings come into play during this season of Christmas. It is all good because they have to do with relationships, with the joy we get from giving, with our gratitude at what God has done for us. One especially unforgettable Christmas for me was my first Christmas in the novitiate. I was dwelling on past Christmases with family and getting not only nostalgic but homesick. We went to chapel a half hour before Midnight Mass began, and the first thing I noticed was the Nativity window that was lit up with a special light. Then the music started. One of our sisters played the harp and another played the violin. Being in the midst of such awe and beauty, I almost felt I was in heaven. I came into contact that night with the true meaning of Christmas and the utter awesomeness of what the birth of Christ means for all of us. A Blessed Christmas to each of you! Do you have a treasured memory of a special Christmas? If so, what made it speci...

My life at the Mound and Villa is unique. Each day is different and yet meals and prayers are regulars that everything revolves around. Every night I connect with my two sisters on a 3-way call. We each share about our day. My sister Elaine says to me, “You are getting older yet your life seems to be fuller. Shouldn’t you be getting ready to retire?” They both comment about all my social “engagements.” Before I came here I knew that my life would be different, however I didn’t realize the many blessings I would experience each day. The Isaiah readings during this season of advent have new meaning for me here. On this “holy mountain” we call the “Mound” I know a peace-able kingdom.   Our co-workers and sisters are often reaching out to each other, offering support and wisdom, prayers and affection. We had an opportunity to come together for a retreat day during which Ann Willets invited us to reflect on the Mound-Villa community as an “Advent Village.” The sharing revealed ...