Duty of the Moment ~ Duty of God

Painting by Emile Munier, 1850

By Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Nazareth Family Spirituality, Madonna House Publications

Catherine was brought up in Russia and had many fond memories of her life there….a life that reflected simplicity, family, religion. After fleeing Russia during the Communist Revolution, she eventually came into the Catholic Church. Catherine prayed much that her motherland would be freed from Communist rule so that people could once again openly practice their faith.

Duty of the Moment—Duty of God

One of Catherine’s best known maxims is, “The duty of the moment is the duty of God.” That is, the tasks given us to carry out through our “state in life” ultimately come from God and are the ordinary and surest way of discerning His will for us in any given moment or circumstance.

She coined this saying while meditating upon the spiritual classic Abandonment to Divine Providence by Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade.

To understand this saying of Catherine is to understand how ordinary life and work can be transformed into a pathway to holiness by the sacrifices involved in doing them “exceedingly well with great love.” Catherine always saw work with the heart of a contemplative, and in the light of Christ God, who spent most of His time on earth in the hidden life of Nazareth, working as a carpenter.

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 hobo 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. Do you do it like that? You can see Christ in that child. Or your duty of the moment may be to scrub your floors. Do you scrub your floors well? With great love for God? If not, do it.

If you see to it that your house is well-swept, your food is on the table, and there is peace during the meal, then there is this slow order that is established, and the immense tranquility of God’s order falls upon you and your family.

Yes, there is order, because while we keep thinking of others, things get clear in our hearts. Then we can forget ourselves.

The essence of our vocation is to connect ordinary and seemingly boring life with Love who is God. We must do the will of our Father as Christ did. We must give our whole self to it. We have to do the duty of the moment with our whole person: mind, heart, soul, body, emotions.

Thinking about or getting emotionally involved in some need outside our duty of the moment can make us fragmented, not totally given to the present moment.

“The revelation of the present moment is an ever freshly springing source of sanctity… The present moment is the manifestation of God” (Jean-Pierre de Caussade).

Our vocation is hidden, yet this is the place God has called us to—the place where He will enter our heart and strip it naked of all that is not His in order to dress it in the bridal garments.

“Everything is a means and an instrument of holiness; everything without any exception. The ‘one thing necessary’ is always to be found in the present moment. The ‘one thing necessary’ is what each moment produces. What happens at each moment bears the imprint of the will of God. Treat it as a sacrament which hallows by its own power” (de Caussade).

It’s fine to say, “Praise the Lord,” and so forth, but remember that Christ said, “It is not those who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21).

What’s the will of the Father? It’s so simple. It’s the duty of the moment. There are plenty of good things you can go out and do, programs and such, 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.

Tired, un-tired, sick, well, whatever your state, do the duty of the moment. It’s what God calls us to do. And if we do it, people follow us. We don’t have to preach by word of mouth. We preach by living. We preach by doing. We preach by being.

I feel that God calls me to atone. How? Doing the duty of the moment can be an effective atonement for tragedies, for sins of the nations. Just do as He tells you. Live your life for everybody, and start with the duty of the moment.

How do you show the face of Christ to a world that is secular, atheistic, indifferent, greedy, and selfish? By doing what He asks you to do. And His voice is very simple. He says love God with your whole life, your whole heart, and love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:38–39).

Resting peacefully on God’s breast, listening to his heartbeats, we find the answer to our question: “What must I do?”

God simply answers, “Do what I ask you to do. The duty of the moment is My duty. And I want you to follow in My footsteps, no matter where they lead. Do not use your normal intelligence to evaluate My footsteps. Just walk in Them. Be simple, be childlike.”

At first this is perhaps a rather loud yes or fiat, but as years go by, it becomes almost a whispered one. I train myself to listen to God and to pick up or drop, do or stop, pray or work. When you do the duty of the moment, you do something for Christ.

You make a home for Him in the place where your family dwells. You feed Him when you feed your family. You wash His clothes when you do their laundry. You help Him in a hundred ways as a parent.

Then, when the time comes and you appear before Christ to be judged, He will say to you, “I was hungry and you gave Me food. I was thirsty and you gave Me drink. I was sick and you looked after Me” (Mt 25:35–36).

I am grateful, especially in the darkest moments, for the duty of the moment. It is one of the greatest gifts of God to mankind, that He sets us out a series of duties to do throughout the day.

The duty of the moment is like a sturdy walking stick one takes on a long hike. It’s solid, and in the darkness on the trail it’s like a third eye. Open yourself to His will so that, day after day, nothing matters but His will.

You say, “Lord, here I am. Speak. Your servant listens,” and, “Lord, send me wherever you wish.”

We find this totality of surrender to the will of God moment by moment, day by day. It means being able to endure personal difficulties because we see Christ in each other. Love makes every gesture, step, word, and work, redemptive.

“There is, however, a second class of saints, ordinary saints. Bear in mind that these saints are no less saints than the others; they are true saints and have reached exalted heights of sanctity, though in a different way. They lead humble, simple lives, performing their daily duties well and using the ordinary but abundant means of sanctity given by God to all Christians. These means we too can use, and by them we can attain a high degree of holiness.” -Rev. Fr. Paul O’Sullivan, An Easy Way To Become A Saint, 1947

“What impressed the Saint most was that they loved God very simply but very sincerely. God was the great reality in their lives. They performed their daily duties, seeing God in all they did….” If you enjoy this video , please Like and Subscribe.

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