Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

So often this time of year there is a lot of focus on gratitude. However I have been pondering differences and acceptance. Perhaps the more pointed question is How to celebrate and appreciate what is?  All does not have to be a seen solely through ‘my lens’.   I visited a couple recently who had been bickering with each other. ‘Why doesn’t he compliment me?, Why does she not do things my way?’  Such opportunities to pause and to remember the goodness we see in the other. Just as we each have acquired talents or taste, so too we can explore differences and deepen acceptance.  In our congregation we post remembrances of a sister who has gone before us. What an acceptance treat!  Let’s glory in who we each are. KC Young OP Kirkland, WA

This past week as I drove to a meeting, I saw trees with colorful autumn leaves peeking through snow laden branches and thought “This isn’t right!”  This past week I worked through my November calendar and kept adding lines for meetings and events and “to do” items that have seemingly popped up out of nowhere and thought, “This isn’t right!”  This past week I determined to tackle that closet with doors that can barely close but it is still a mess and I say to myself, “This isn’t right!”  Do you too ever think there is too much to do in your life, too much stuff in your life, too little time in your life, and it isn’t right? Ain’t it great to be human!  When we get stuck on this track of grousing about all there is to do and wondering how to find time (it’s normal and natural), we must stop and find the deep calming center in it all.  We must stop to breathe in and breathe out the Spirit, to realize that all the “whats” are because of the ...

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...