Monday, December 7, 2009

AWAITING THE DESIRED ONE: Catherine de Hueck Doherty

It is not only John Henry Newman who is awaiting "official" canonization by the Church. Among others whose "causes" are being worked on at the moment in Rome is Catherine de Hueck Doherty (1896 - 1985), the foundress of Madonna House in Combermere, Canada. You can read about her, and the present ministry of Madonna House HERE.

The following is from
Grace in Every Season : Through the Year with Catherine Doherty, Madonna House Publications, Ontaria, Canada, 2001.

I want to discuss with you this wondrous season of Advent, the days of expectation, of awaiting the desired one. I ask myself, do we really desire the Lord? To desire something is to be constantly absorbed in that desire. This Advent we should go deeply into our hearts, minds, and souls. Let us clean house, and make a loving manger for the Christ Child into which he can be born in all his splendour. One thing that can prevent this is looking at the world from the narrow cell of self. I suggest that for this Advent we remove from our vocabularies, from our conversations, our thoughts (and, if possible, from our dreams) the sentences: "I feel," "I want," and "I would like." Let us replace then with: "What does God want of me?" Let us bury the word "I Take a big shovel, make a big hole, stick the word "I" in there, and put a cross on top. Because the word "I" is the greatest enemy of he, she, and we. Remember that; it's very important. So try not to use the word "I," especially, "Oh I need this . . . Oh, I need that." No!

If this change of attitude takes place, our life would really take a giant leap toward peace and love, and hence toward happiness and joy. So do this for Advent, and do little things with great love for Christ. Then our minds, hearts, and souls will become a lovely manger in which the Lord can be born and grow to his full stature within us. When he does, we shall know happiness supreme.

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