Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

Did you ever have “one of those days”?  When you think “ if one more thing goes wrong I’m going to…” Fill in the blank!  Recently I found myself stressing out about all the interruptions at work, growling at a driver so slow and overly cautious he/she braked driving UPHILL, and trying to smile at someone who walked in with “You’re not doing anything right now, are you?”  When this happens I remember the words of one of our wise women, who, when I was complaining years ago, said to me, “The interruptions ARE your work, often more so than what you think you are about.” Thank God, with those words, grace steps in.  Writer Ann Lamott  quotes a friend of hers:  “Grace is WD40 for the soul.”  When soul/spirit gets stuck, gets painfully locked in a negative place, grace appears and offers a way up and out.  It is stronger than any problem, more present than any deadline, more soothing than zooming along at top speed.  How do I know it is grace? N...

Here at Sinsinawa, we have been in community meetings for the better part of a week. As is true with any group, while we may agree on many things, there are always points of dissonance. I think that on the whole, we often view dissonance as a negative thing and tend to avoid it, minimize it, or make it into a source of division (just think of our current political climate!). However, a recent conversation with sisters gave me an image that helps me understand dissonance in a whole new way. Some of the most beautiful pieces of music are those with chords that include a note of dissonance. While they’re more difficult to compose and perform, songs with tight chord clusters are so much more interesting than standard major chords. (Listen to one of my all-time favorite examples of this  here .) Can’t the same be true in our interactions with one another? Sure, there are times when dissonance is just plain ugly and painful, especially when our root values seem to collide. But...

Last week I attended a retreat entitled “Jesus and the Women of the Gospels.”  The first session focused on the story of Martha and Mary found in Luke 10:38-42. It is coincidental (or maybe not so) that this was also the Gospel for the Sunday liturgy of July 21.  Both the retreat facilitator and the Sunday liturgy preacher opened up this story in marvelous ways for me. To recap the story, Jesus was invited to the home of Martha and Mary as he had been numerous times.  On this occasion, Martha was busy providing hospitality while her sister sat at Jesus’s feet – posture of a disciple.  Martha was not having a good day.  She was feeling pulled in many directions, frustrated, overwhelmed, jealous, and tired; and she couldn’t figure out why Jesus didn’t notice that she was stretched beyond her endurance doing this alone.   However, Martha also felt secure enough with Jesus to express her feelings.  Jesus l...

In one of her short stories, Barbara Kingsolver’s character, Great Mam, who is of the Bird Clan, asks the question, “Why are there state lines on the map if you can’t see them?”  What a great question.  Why do we label borders that are not there?   How do we decide who is a neighbor and who is not? How do we decide who is a sister or brother and who is not?   As Dominicans, we are called to offer our lives in community with a selflessness that mirrors that of Christ.  Who do we see?  How do we offer our gifts and talents?  What are our priorities?  Dominicans have to ask the question, in the midst of all our own troubles and brokenness, “How does my life relieve the misery of another?”  Whether the suffering of another falls within our borders, within the lines of our map, or takes place across the globe, we are called to accompaniment.   Love knows no border. Peggy R...

A few days ago as a nation we celebrated Independence Day. As an immigrant of over forty years it has become almost second nature to me. Nowadays however I see that independence is a necessary developmental stage but it isn’t the fullness of maturation. Wouldn’t it be great to celebrate an   interdependence   day ? None of us exist in a vacuum. We are all connected. We are really all one. Everything on earth teaches us this connection, this   interdependence . Looking out my window at a beautiful mature tree I see that each leaf is connected to a twig, which is part of the branch, which connects to the trunk whose roots go deep into earth and all are nourished by its water, minerals and sunlight.  Nothing exists in isolation. How are you part of the whole? What are your many circles of connectedness? Isabel Rafferty, OP Madison, WI

Several years ago one of our elder Sisters asked Sr. Ann Willits, OP this question:   Are we coming or going?   Ann was in the process of writing a presentation for an event as the Order of Preachers was celebrating our 800 th anniversary worldwide.  She said the question was just what she needed for her presentation. I have never forgotten this question and in times of transition it especially comes to mind.  For me this summer is a time of transition as I move from a long-time retreat ministry in Florida to my hope of developing an itinerant preaching ministry…and…moving back to the Chicago area. (Oh my – the artic vortex!) This time of transition is filled with the question – am I coming or going?  The only correct answer is: YES!  That little connector – “OR” --  belies the truth about transitions because these times in our lives include both. They include goodbyes and hellos, letting go and going forth, p...

Surprises happen to us all the time. Sometimes they are small, like walking into a Ben and Jerry's and finding out they are giving away free samples of their newest flavored ice cream. But sometimes they are significant, and then you wonder if God is behind the surprise. This is what I experienced recently. I had moved to the Mound, our motherhouse, last November, expecting to  live there for a number of years. I had settled in and was beginning  to be asked to help in various ways. But then, unexpectedly, in April  I was made aware of a need for someone to move to a house in another  city. What was this about? Was I really being asked to be uprooted so  soon? I went to visit the community, I prayed about it, and in the end  I felt God was calling me to answer this need. Was it hard to leave the motherhouse? Yes, but I knew that if God was  behind the surprise I would receive all the graces I needed to begin  anew in another location. And that ...