Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I just got back from the downtown Austin parade celebrating “El Día de la Muerte,”  The Day of the Dead.  The theme was “Viva la Vida,”  Long Live Life, a challenging combination of Life and Death.  What a wonderful celebration it was, full of color, music, dance, giant butterflies and puppets.   Coupled with all these symbols of joy and happiness were skeleton masks and painted faces symbolizing death.  Interesting. What were these symbols of the Mexican-American culture saying?  Were they laughing at death?  Were they reconnecting with their deceased friends and relatives?   Were they saying that Life overcomes Death?  Were they reaching deep into their beliefs about life and death and the Communion of Saints?   How do you express in symbol your deep beliefs?   LouAnne Willette OP Austin, TX

Early Morning Exercise Class In these last days of October, we see that the Holy Spirit is closer than we can ever imagine.  The feasts of All Hallow’s Eve (October 31) and All Saints (November 1) remind us of the thin veil between life and death, body and Spirit, heaven and earth. As Dominicans, we are called to persistently strive to live in that space that keeps the Spirit alive in us, in order to share our experience of God with others.  In this desire for unity, we are constantly challenged to let go of any polarity that separates body and soul, Spirit and life.  We strive to reflect God’s beauty.       I have found that exercise, whether it is a dip in the pool, a long walk, or an early morning exercise class brings me to a deeper awareness of this call.  Rumi, the 13th  century  Persian poets says, "Just as the water reflects the stars  and  the moon, the body reflects the mi...

I had just left my spiritual director yesterday and was feeling at one with the universe but when I returned to where I had parked my car I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was a side mirror and smashed glass on the ground, the whole driver side and passenger side door was scrapped and the car itself now at an angle, had one wheel on the sidewalk. Not what I was expecting. I was definitely discombobulated! A man who approached me saying he had witnessed the whole incident from the window of a nearby apartment. A hit and run driver had hit his car, my car and the one just ahead of mine.  He had already called the police but since that was half an hour ago and no one had come, I called them too. Together we waited in the cold for the police to arrive. As we waited we talked. The man told me he was visiting a sick friend when he heard the noise of the crash and came racing out and tried to chase the car which had driven off on only three tires! The fourth was still lyin...

More than five years ago, my blog entry was based on the title hashtag. It is a hashtag I have used in tweets. In my life, it is time to revisit this hashtag. This is a time of huge transitions for me.  The limits of space here precludes going into all that is happening but to say - I am no longer in Florida but now back near Chicago.  No more hurricanes but the potential of arctic vortexes!  It is all good and some days are difficult. Here's my current tweet:  #takewhatyouneed awake ~ nurtured ~ loved ~ trust ~ laughter ~ perseverance ~ open to chaos ~ seeking some order  ~~ Breathe in ~ Breathe out ~~ The breathing is important.  It is the kind that I consider contemplative and purposeful. The words and phrases became the list as I prayed and consider: 'What do I need?' What do you need? Is there one word from my list that you need for yourself right now?  Take it.  It is meant for you. And don't forget...

Trying to be fully present and live in the here and now is not as simple as it sounds.     For many months I have been trying to practice mindfulness, which in my simple understanding is being fully present to each moment of the day, and also being fully aware of what I am doing at the present moment.     After months I am still trying to achieve this seemingly simple task!     My struggles in this area tells me how often it is so easy for me to live in the past or the future and not remain in the here and now. Recently I attended a three-day conference on being fully present in the here and now.  This conference focused on persons in leadership positions and how many times we have feelings, assumption, myths and how they usually become our beliefs and how I can act out of those beliefs.  Many times, those beliefs are a fallacy or fantasy, because they began with the wrong hypothesis.  This is how various forms of prejudic...

Recently I had the opportunity to volunteer at the U.S./Mexico border in El Paso, TX at La Casa de Refugiado - House of Refuge. The Casa is not really a house but is a refurbished factory rented by Ruben Garcia, founder of Annunciation House, to receive the hundreds of people released from detention by ICE and needing shelter as they prepare to travel to their sponsors in many different parts of our country. A few times a day, ICE delivers a busload of people, mainly families with young children, who have been in detention, some for up to two months. They arrive tired and frightened, not knowing what kind of treatment to expect. What a privilege to be the first U.S. citizens to smile and say welcome; help them contact their families; provide soap and shampoo and towels for their first shower in a long time; invite them to choose a set of clean clothes; provide the children with a playroom full of toys, art supplies, and balls to play soccer; provide hot, nourishing meals prepared ...

Each moment of each day I can tap into the grace of my life. I try to be aware of the ordinary blessings and my gratitude grows. Sometimes the blessings are so commonplace that I take them for granted. As I write to you today I have a visitor with me who comes each month and makes a “mini” retreat at Sinsinawa Mound. Her presence here makes me aware of many aspects of my daily blessings. She articulates the blessings she notices: . . . the beauty of our land, . . .the friendliness of our community, . . . our daily chanted community prayer and meaningful Eucharist. The more she comes the more blessings she expresses: . . . the broad experiences of our Sisters, . . .the wealth of our education and the opportunities we have to grow as life-long-learners, . . .our awareness of critical concerns of our world and cosmos. . .commitment to peace and justice. Most of all she notices the love and care of our Sisters for one another. When she leaves, my heart is filled with gratitude for my ...