Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

As I take my daily walk these spring days, I come across lots of wildflowers--Texas blue bonnets, Indian paint brushes, pink primroses, and a host of others that I can’t name and in various colors.     They pop up in unexpected places.     That’s the thing about wildflowers, they pop up wildly.     No one planted them, no one takes care of them, and some of them can actually be found in very unkempt areas and scraggly areas.     Not only are they beautiful, but they are abundant and carefree.     What are they telling me about life?  About the world?  About God’s grace?   LouAnne Willette Austin, TX

At this moment, I am joyfully looking forward to a week of vacation with my youngest sister.     I live in Wisconsin and she in Florida.     Though we are 6 years apart in age and have very different personalities, we have come to be each other’s best supporter.     She called me last night to ask a couple of questions that could easily have been answered when I arrived, but I think she, like me, just wanted to connect in anticipation of my arrival.     Though she as hostess looks for a “fun” event or two in her geographical area during our visit, mostly we just enjoy being with each other - sharing stories, teasing each other, offering support to each other through life’s challenges, and laughing a lot.  We have come to respect and honor our unique personalities and life choices.     My relationship with my biological sisters (there were 5 of us growing up together) has prepared me well for being sister with my nearly 300...

My Aunt in England  was a little deaf, and my American accent didn't  help. On one of my visits home I was talking to her about God. "God who?" she queried. I said:" You know, Gawd."   "Oh Gawd, YES!",   Another time a little girl was busy coloring her paper, filling it in with her yellow crayon. Her wise teacher asked: "tell me about your picture." Looking up with amazement, she said: "This is God!"   For me today, The Divine Heart beats in all that was, is, and will be in the Cosmic Universe.    For you today, what color, texture, taste, smell, sound and or name have you grown to experience for "God Who?"    Until next time, let's breathe LOVE together,   Caroline Sullivan, OP DePere, WI

  I like to swim laps. I love moving through water and reminding myself of Catherine’s words,  ” As the fish is in the water and the water is in the fish, so I am in God and God is in me.”   At the end of my daily swim, I turn onto my back and for a few moments just float on the surface. I allow myself to be conscious of the water supporting me and I practice letting go. I relax my arms and legs, hands and feet, neck, and head.    I focus on my breath, each slow inhale and exhale, and I practice letting go.  For one day I will need to let go of all things. I will let go of my body, of my final breath, deeply trusting that just as the water supports me in this moment so too in my final letting go, I am held and supported always in God’s love.   We humans are born with a prehensile grip and cling tightly to things. No matter how I may try to let go of things, plans, control, I find myself soon grasping and holding on again. I guess it take...

My nephew Daniel was three years old at the time and his sister Brenna was two. It was early April in Wisconsin, and the streets were clogged with slush. The sky was gray, and the air was damp and cold. Brenna turned to her brother and asked, “Will it ever be warm again?” Daniel, having acquired an unusual lot of wisdom in his young age, responded, “Yes, it will be warm again…and then it will be cold again. It’s ALWAYS like that!”   As we human beings move from one period of life to the next, we begin to see patterns and the patterns give our lives meaning and as we share that meaning with one another we grow together in the realization that there is a Being in the Universe who loves us and cares for us and provides us with what we need. As we share life’s journey, let us be grateful for the kind of change that makes us whole. Mary Ellen Green, OP Woodruff, WI

My journey started with a determination to respond to God’s call. I would follow the steps and see if doors would open to a Black woman requesting membership. I would follow all the steps and if the doors did not open, I could say with a clean heart, God I tried. I requested to experience living in “community” that was granted. I lived a semester with sisters and experienced their prayer life, daily routines, celebrations, house meetings, ministries, and concerns. We became family together.     When I asked to start the entrance process the answer was yes and the rest is history.   There is not only room for sisters of color, but also a need for representation of sisters of color in religious life.   Pat Rogers, OP Glendale, WI

So now whether we are celebrating Lent, the time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving or Spring the time of green shoots, pussy willow buds and robins, today is our day with its glorious diversity.  It makes me think of change.  The daily paper wrote, “Turn over a new leaf” What do I want to do differently this year?  How can I be more supportive to the people in my life?  How do I respect earth? How can I be a stronger part of movements that call for making our systems more human? How can I turn a business call into a moment in which I acknowledge another human being? I celebrate that I get to be in a multicultural community. The Sinsinawa Dominicans have roots from African countries, from Trinidad and Tobago, from Spanish-speaking countries in Central and South America, from First Nations from Asian countries, the Pacific Islands, and from many European countries. Diversity is Dominican.  We come from and are sent to the diverse world wit...