Catherine de Hueck Doherty

Two days ago, on December 14, was the 26th anniversary of the death of Catherine de Hueck Doherty. She grew up in Russia and escaped to the United States after being close to starvation during the Russian Revolution. After making a great deal of money lecturing in the U.S. and Canada about her experiences in Russia, she eventually felt a call from God to serve the poor. She gave up all her wealth and established the Friendship House in Toronto, a center for the works of mercy. In 1937 she established a similar house in Harlem, working for interracial justice. Later Catherine returned to Ontario and started the Madonna House, a place of retreat and prayer.

I learned about Catherine Doherty from Father McNulty, a Catholic priest living in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He lived in a small house (he called it his hermitage) in an urban setting. Fr. McNulty didn't serve a parish; his whole ministry was giving spiritual guidance to individuals who came to his hermitage. I was one of those people. Fr. McNulty was my first Spiritual Director. I went to his hermitage once a month to talk to him about spiritual matters and to pray with him. He introduced me to the writings of Catherine Doherty. Of all her writings, the best known is probably her book, Poustinia--a book about silence, solitude and prayer. She drew on her Russian roots to give guidance concerning the practice of contemplative prayer and the cultivation of communion with God.

A central theme in Catherine Doherty's spirituality is the duty of the moment. As she herself put it:

"The duty of the moment is what you should be doing at any given time, in whatever place God has put you. You may not have Christ in a homeless person at your door, but you may have a little child. If you have a child, your duty of the moment may be to change a dirty diaper. So you do it. But you don't just change that diaper, you change it to the best of your ability, with great love for both God and that child.... There are all kinds of good Catholic things you can do, but whatever they are, you have to realize that there is always the duty of the moment to be done. And it must be done, because the duty of the moment is the duty of God."

 [from chapter 12 of Dear Parents: A Gift of Love for Families] 

Fr. McNulty almost converted me to the Catholic Church. I was already thinking about the possibility of entering that Communion, and I have toyed with it off and on for many years. There is something about the strength of the Catholic Church’s continuity, the depth of its mystical element, the beauty of its liturgy, and the diversity of its Orders that appeal to me. Of course, I do not really believe in Infallibility. The exclusion of women from the priesthood would be hard to live with (though there are many people within the Church working to change that). The Catholic stand on abortion and birth control are wrong in my opinion. Etc. So, I would have to tolerate much theological dissonance if I ever entered that Church. I’m not sure at this point that I could be part of an institution that is so patriarchal. Yet I know Catholic laypersons and theologians who disagree with much of the official stance of their Church and still find it home.

My Spiritual Director, Father McNulty, finally left Fort Wayne (with the bishop’s permission) and went to live at Madonna House in Ontario. Today I am grateful for the Russian woman, Catherine de Hueck Doherty, for her commitment to justice and to the poor. And I am thankful to Fr. McNulty for having conversations with me, praying with me, and allowing me space to ponder and listen to the Spirit.

(What is your 'duty of the moment'?)