The Shepherd’s Café is a Catholic Coffeehouse set in a cool environment. It is a place for young people, all people, and lost people to come be among other Catholics for Adoration, confession, fellowship and live entertainment.
It starts with Holy Hour lead by the Franciscan Friars. During which there is confession. Later, in a relaxed setting, there is coffee and treats served by our friendly staff with Catholic artists performing live entertainment. Each café offers the opportunity to meet one-on-one with priests and religious present. But that’s not all! The café also has a submission: Mission Coffee Ministry.
Mission Coffee Ministry helps The Shepherd’s Café become a global (as well as local) cause. It provides fair trade prices for impoverished coffee farmers in Honduras and Nicaragua. It also allows the cycle of poverty to be broken because TSC sells the coffee from these farmers allowing them to make money and build up their own communities.
So now The Shepherd’s Café JUST celebrated their 5th year! WOW! Normally the café does all of the above (the adoration, confession, live music etc) but the anniversary went above and beyond.
During Adoration, you could literally feel the unity and graces being poured out from Jesus present in the Eucharist. Brother Timothy, CFR, Maru and Paola led evening prayer and sang transcendently beautifully. Christ being put first before the live entertainment never has seemed so important until now.
When holy hour ended, the 400+ crowd filtered into the coffeehouse. Delicious honduran coffee, iced coffee, hot tea, hot chocolate and desserts were served with a friendly smile by the welcoming TSC staff.
Suddenly, Fr. Jonathon is on stage with a guitar playing “Leaving on a Jet Plane” accompanied by Fr. Joseph Mehan while the assembly cheerfully sang along. Later, Sr. Regina from Prayer Town, TX and Sisters of Life from Bronx, NY shared their musical talents. The live entertainment portion ended with few of our seminarians currently studying at Holy Trinity Seminary. The talents ranged from opera to country christian songs.
Personally, one of the best parts of the evening was when 6 Religious Brothers, Sisters, Kevin (seminarian), and Fr. Rudy Garcia (Dallas Diocese vocation director) shared their testimony. Sister Bethany Madonna from Sisters of Life shared how she “met someone” and that "someone" was our Lord and continued to share more about falling in love with Him. Brother John, a Cistercian shared his relatable story of what it means to wear and live the daily reminders and vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience. He explained it as a daily dying and rising with Christ. Few others shared their witness which were all very unique, yet very real, relatable, and powerful. Our last person to give a testimony was a young man - his was unique because he was not wearing a habit or a collar but regular clothes. His testimony was simple. He talked about how he had been obedient to Christ throughout his life and how he felt God’s calling to become a Diocesan priest. In the end, Fr. Rudy Garcia wrapped up the time of sharing with a very encouraging and inviting words to the call to priesthood and religious life.
All of these wonderful testimonies shared one common message: A vocation is a gift, whether it is religious, married, or single life. What more amazing way to observe Vocation Awareness Week than being in the midst of all the priests, religious, semainarians, and consecrated women who came and join The Shepherd’s Café at the anniversary event!
As a college student and one of the staff member, it was truly exciting for the chance to observe young adults conversing with religious and witnessing SO many young people from different schools and universities that are on fire for the Lord. Christ is so evident in this environment and we the young people are His witnesses.
Lastly, the evening closed with Night Prayer led by Brother Timothy, Maru and Paola. Followed by David Hust, one of the seminarian singing beautifully the Ave Maria for Our Lady in closing.
To quote Bono from U2, “Stop asking God to bless what you're doing. Get involved in what God is doing, because it's already blessed.” We are all called to live out our faith, be involved in our community and celebrate life. The Holy Spirit is using and influencing The Shepherd’s Café to be that answer for Catholics. Come join us each month - let us build up the Kingdom of God!