Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

I recently spent a week at the Texas border.  For two days I worked at the Catholic Charities Respite Center in McAllen. Together with lots of other volunteers, we took care of the needs of 20-50 asylum seekers who had been cleared for travel to reunite families in the U.S.   The really big work was about Matamoros, where over 2000 asylum seekers, mostly families, were living in tents, waiting for court dates in the U.S.  Three times that week a group of us, wearing matching t-shirts, loaded cars and vans with collapsible wagons, sandwiches assembled by McAllen volunteers, milk, diapers, wipes and other supplies.  We drove to Brownsville where we unloaded everything and put the supplies into the wagons, which we then pulled across the international bridge.  We set up tables and distributed everything, including the empty gallon milk jugs. After that we had the opportunity to visit. Most of the people were from Central America and thei...

 Each year, I try to observe this national day of recognition by joining with others in some kind of anti-racism action.  Some years, I have attended church services or prayer events.  I have volunteered on other years.  I have participated in marches.   This year, I will be part of a growing movement in this country to bring restoration in our cities.  This year, I will participate in a racial healing circle.  These circles embrace our shared human journey.  The dynamic of the circle operates out of the truth that we are one.  Deep listening, attention, and focus create experiences of truth and transformation.  This work touches into the very heart of our Dominican vocation to praise, to bless, and to preach.   This year, I will join with others to imagine and bring about a desired change that our world hungers for.  What will you do to honor our national holiday, Dr....

I was away over the Christmas and just came back late on Sunday. One of the first things I did was to turn the page of my calendar from December to January. My calendar is an old one, I bought it in 2003 at the Monastery in Prouille when I made the Lands of Dominic trip. I keep it because it has large beautiful Fra Angelico images for each month. January is an image of the Annunciation. It is a detail of the original fresco. It does not show the Angel, just Mary seated with her posture open, face and hands upturned. Waiting. We have crossed the threshold into this new year, this new decade. I look at the image and wonder. Do I sit poised with anticipation, with openness to receive whatever this new year brings? Time is a precious gift and such a mystery. At the threshold of each new day...

Birthdays and the end of the year for me is always a time of review and reflection of the year past and looking forward to new things in the year to come.   The year 2019 have been an exceptionally great year for me, in that my ministry challenges me to become a better version of myself.  I am in a ministry that I am passionate about, because hopefully I am making a difference in our archdiocese.  My ministry challenges me frequently to bring forth gifts I didn’t even know that I possessed.  I think it is truly ironic that a ministry, that at first, I didn’t want, I am now passionate about and I am told I am very good at it.  I tend to believe it when one of the persons is the archbishop among others who tell me this.  God really works in mysterious ways. Relationships are truly vital to me and to who I am as a person.  I lost one of my dearest friend and sister this year, she saw the good in me, she saw my gif...

Every year as Christmas approaches, I remember Howard Thurman’s reflection about the challenges laid down like a gauntlet by the arrival of Jesus in our world.  When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the Kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among people, To make music in the heart. We know the truth of this. Even while we celebrate with family and friends and colleagues during this season, we are aware underneath it all that our world is hurting:  refugees are without homes and welcome, people are starving in spite of abundance, our border with Mexico is a place of fear and violence for asylum seekers, politicians have forgotten their responsibility for the common good, our beloved Earth suffers from our refusal to ...

This time of year has mixed messages for me. “Hurry up and get ready for Christmas.”  “Slow down and “be” attentive to the season of Advent waiting.” This week the message is “Rejoice!” My heart likes the feel of finding joy. In our Dominican congregation we are in a time of transition. How blessed we are to have assistance in how to “be” in transition in a healthy way. In September we had a virtual assembly, an opportunity to tend to our heart and spirit in our transition. Our facilitators, Dominican Sisters Joye Gros and Teresa Tuite,  inspired us in a process of prayer, reflection, with music and story. At the end they left us with a song: “We Can Be Kind.”  This song is taking root in me. In my pastoral ministry at the Mound and Villa I promote  Mindfulness.  One of the aspects in living in the NOW is to have a daily intention. Since our September assembly I have encouraged the sisters to set an intention to “Be Kind.” Focusing on kindne...

Often, a day spent in D.C.—living in a diverse community of 14 and working on Capitol Hill—feels like a multi-chapter chronicle.  Life hasn’t felt this full, ever.   Any given day is rife with interpersonal encounters and dynamics.  I’m almost always engaging with others or navigating relationships and interactions between them.  Multiple encounters with strangers—scheduled and ad hoc—add a delightful element of surprise to a day.  I often show-up at special, powerful events—whether intentionally or by happenstance.  I attend meetings with a variety of people—I may know some of them and I might know the reason we’re meeting (but not always).  Several circles of people welcome me as a member.  I could spend time in multiple locations throughout the District in very different environments in a day.  There’s also a constant buzzing of political intrigue and activity that’s consuming “the background”.  At the end of the day, I’m ...