Catherine’s Story

Catherine (Gehred) Griffin was born in New Mexico, on the Taos Indian Pueblo, where her father worked as a medical doctor in the Public Health Service. Throughout her childhood, for most of it in Santa Fe, she and her 5 siblings learned from her dad and mom, who was particularly active in social justice and church ministry, life lessons of the importance of belonging to family and to the family of God, the Church.  Among the many virtues of life in the Church that Catherine learned, a chief one was hospitality.  Often the Gehreds would take in or show mercy to those whom life had wounded in social, economic and emotional ways.   

 Catherine attended college at Notre Dame she was formed further into her Catholic faith and drawn to exemplars like Dorothy Day and Brother Andre Bessette. As an adult, she spent many years in ministry, working to create a beautiful garden por las mujeres de Casa Juan Diego en Houston, Texas, and then becoming a member of the South Bend Catholic Worker community.  She also served as a nurse to the retired priests and brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross.  With her husband Michael, and their three children – Benedict, Basil, and Miriam – Catherine went on to help found The Local Cup coffee shop, and she was the one who planted the original seeds for the Spanish Immersion program at Holy Cross, and most especially as a magnificent mom. 

 Through the amazing life she lived in 44 too-short years, Catherine always sought to expand the walls of the Church and to share the message that all are welcome at God’s table. For some, this vision is easy and cliché. Catherine was the rare saint who knew what a hard task this was, who was ready for the hard work, and who knew that this work can only be completed in the Kingdom of God.