Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

January 18, 2024 I am keenly aware that at this very moment, on the other side of the world in the Middle East, extreme suffering is raining down indiscriminately on the human family and on the earth - hatred, revenge, bloodshed, disregard for life, destruction of all that defines safety and home, hardened hearts, and the certainty that peace is impossible and the future holds no hope for reconciliation. The reading from Isaiah for tomorrow’s liturgy declares clearly which side God is on. On this mountain God will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines…. On this mountain God will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations. God will destroy death forever and will wipe away the tears from every face…. (Isaiah 25) It is this God to whom both the Israelis and Palestinians cry out. May God and all who love God destroy the veil over us and the web that prevents us from knowing and loving each other. May God and all who love God wipe...

Okay, I’ve finally learned to put my car/home/office keys in the SAME place when I get home.  But I still haven’t learned to remember where I left my glasses or my latest crossword puzzle or the flyer about a concert I now think I missed or that needed phone number I jotted down on a piece of paper – and I have a LOT of pieces of paper sitting around.  Yes, I am one of those people.  But that litany of “forgets” got me thinking about the important things I forget about until I really need them – like prayer, quiet time, reading something challenging instead of easy, actually calling my elderly cousin instead of saying, “I should really call Ruth,” and never doing it, working through a situation instead of avoiding it.   I challenge myself this week – and you – to take action, one small action, to overcome this very human weakness of losing, forgetting, neglecting something that we know is really important.  Is this easy?  Is there a shortcut I can take?...

  Paradox: A seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which, when investigated, may prove to be well founded or true. –The Oxford Dictionary   On January 2, 2023 I lived with paradox. My youngest brother, Dan, died and was born into new life. His death is a blessing and at the same time it is a great sorrow. Have you experienced this mystery of paradox in your life? Can you embrace opposites in feelings, thoughts, relationships, in life itself?   Over the years I’ve been intrigued by the reality of holding opposites at the same time. Dwelling in the mystery of paradox is transformative. I have learned by living in the mess of unknowing I discover the gift of wisdom by going through the messiness, arriving with new insights for living.   In the gospel parables Jesus often uses paradoxes. “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”  “To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what s/he has will be taken away...

A couple of Saturdays ago, I attended our local circle meeting.  The hostess Sisters had invited us to their home for brunch.  Both the food and the conversation at the table were delightful and animating, including many compliments for the “chef.”  After the dining room table was cleared, we sat in a circle in the living room for prayer and continuation of “checking in” with one another – “What’s going on in your life and your ministry?” We eight Sisters each had lots to share with one another and much acceptance of and encouragement for one another when a challenging situation was recounted.  We were able to appreciate the humor in many situations and laugh.  When I thought about the day later, what I remember most is what a gift it was to just “be” with each other and to laugh.        I recalled a poem written by Kaye Ashe, OP:   The search – for self, for wisdom, for love, for truth, for justice, for God – is strenuous and ...

  Sisters never miss an opportunity to celebrate Holidays. We take turns gathering at different locations for holiday celebrations. The 2022 Christmas party took place on Braeburn Ln. Sisters gathered with their gift and a Holiday treat.  All gifts were wrapped and placed under the tree.  We started a Christmas celebration tradition in 2021, “the regift exchange”. The rules of the game: pass your gift to the left or right, keep your gift, open your gift, and take any gift, generated a lot of excitement and laughter. As always, there was one coveted gift that circulated through many hands before the game ended.   What gift we received was not the object of the gathering. The gift of celebrating with each other was the only gift desired. Sisters celebrate Holidays with prayer, games, good food and tons of laughs.   Happy New Year!   Patricia Rogers, OP Glendale, WI

As I was trying to find a meaningful topic to offer for the turning of the year, I came upon this prayer from Joyce Rupp from her book, Out of the Ordinary:  Prayers, Poems, and Reflections for Every Season.  As we consider resolutions for a new beginning, it seems certain that these could change the world. Faithful Companion, In this new year we pray: to live deeply, with purpose, to live freely, with detachment, to live wisely, with humility, to live justly, with compassion, to live longingly, with fidelity, to live mindfully, with awareness, to live gracefully, with generosity, to live fully, with enthusiasm. Help us to hold this vision and to daily renew it in our hearts, becoming ever more one with you, our truest Selves.  Amen.   Which of these resolutions calls out to you? Are you up for changing your world?   Erica Jordan, OP Kenosha, WI

It is a cave of sorts. A Global collection of people are crammed together with luggage piled floor to ceiling.  Unlike the donkey, trains were on strike.   All faces glued, to the fine print of the ever changing billboard, announcing arrivals and departures.   People with a mission and a purpose like Mary and Joseph. The door swung in, edging us closer together, and the door swung out, making room for anyone who came knocking.   Are you waiting for an arrival, or for a departure?  Is your purpose being lived?   Here is what I gave birth to, as I waited to depart:   Like Mary and Joseph, we carry a call.   All we know, is something beyond our womb is calling us.   We find ourselves whether male or female pregnant once again!   Do we abort? Do we carry to term?   We worry.  How will we feed this call?   Wakening, we hope all is a dream.   It is a reality.    We've been here before. Over and over throughout our...