If you can read this, then I am still blogging!

The domain name registration for our blogs (this one, another I barely use, and my wife’s site) became due a week ago and without hesitation we paid for another year. I really should blog more. I know I’ve said that in the past about 89,621 times, and have apologized 64,229 times for not doing so, and have announced schemes plans 95,628 times for “blogging more.” I short, I do like it, and perhaps I should be just content with sticking it out and blogging the handful of times a month I do and let that be that.

It’s not as if there’s nothing to blog about, with plenty of “prompts” to do just that, such as the Liturgical Year, including devotional times, saint’s feast days and such (which I have made ample use of in years past.) There’s the apocalyptic times in which we live  replete with possible societal collapse, and how to pray and cope with all that; the very possibility that we could be on the receiving end of a Divine Chastisement! Lots of stuff! There is even tech to assist with that, such as calendars and notifications, reminders, blogging, writing and notetaking software!

Tools everywhere. Sigh.

The purpose of this post? None, whatsoever. Just checking in, I suppose. Later!

 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Sober Catholic YouTube Channel (UPDATE)

Just a quick post to let you know that I’ve just spent the last hour or so managing this blog’s YouTube Channel. All that is on there are subscriptions and playlists; I have no original videos uploaded. The main thing I did was to delete all playlists and subscriptions relating to the Camino de Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage as well as after all these years make my subscriptions “public.” All this time I thought people could see what I subscribed to; but alas, apparently not. Oh, well. No one told me after prior posts on the channel which included references to the subscriptions. There’s a bunch of subscriptions to various addiction recovery resources including porn. The Camino videos and subscriptions were due to my obsession with the film The Way by Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen. I thought that the pilgrimage was a nice metaphor for recovery; however as I viewed the channel Camino videos seemed to dominate the appearance and so I thought a change was in order, even though it might not have mattered given my ignorance regarding privacy settings.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

WordPress app test post

This is a test. This is a test of a new (to me) posting system. For the next few lines this post will be written by yours truly using the WordPress smartphone app. It’s a handy little thing that I can use to post to this blog and my other one on In Exile. I’ve already used the desktop version for quite a while; it’s great, from one piece of software you can post and manage everything for multiple blogs. You are also able to follow many other blogs using the included “Reader.” Commenting on other people’s WordPress blogs is also possible.

WordPress can be almost like another social network.

This might mean that I can post more often; for many times I just don’t feel like firing up the laptop but the phone is always on. We’ll see!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Blogging!

OK, this isn’t an apology for not having blogged in six weeks or so. I have been busy with things, namely the usual stuff like home life and day job… but also I’ve been getting lost in my reading. In no order of importance I’ve been engrossed in a second reading of “Story of a Soul” by St. Therese of Lisieux, which lead me to order and begin reading numerous other books containing her writings, letters and poetry. I have a much better understanding of her “Doctrine of the Little Way,” which has inspired be to cobble some notes for Sober Catholic blogposts. The Little Way is an intrinsic part of “Sober Catholic” recovery, and followers of the Matt Talbot Way of Sobriety use it. But I haven’t talked about it nearly as much as I should have, but once I organize the notes there should be a few posts on it.

I also have been reading the inspirational and spiritual writings of Mother Angelica (EWTNs Foundress.) Specifically, her Doctrine of the Present Moment. Mental notes have been compiled for posts here on that. The Doctrine of the Present Moment can be a critical and essential survival mechanism for people in recovery. It will go a long way towards healing memories and alleviating fears and anxieties of the future.

When these posts will be published is up in the air, but they will be written.

I’ve dived into other books, but those by St. Therese and Mother Angelica had been foremost among them. But reading has taken up quite a lot of time and hence I hadn’t been here at all.

One thing I have been thinking is whether I should continue blogging; that perhaps this is self-serving and if it is truly God’s Will that I blog, then perhaps I’d be doing it more. But one thing I’ve discerned about God’s Will is that “productivity” is a human virtue. Granted, there have been countless saints who have been “productive” by human standards as a direct result of following His Will, but I think I’ve been thinking of “productivity” more along the lines of its human virtues.

The fact that I sat up in bed during the 3AM hour thinking “Today is the Ember Wednesday in Advent! and I forgot to write about it for the blog like I promised back in September is perhaps proof that I am in fact a blogger. That I am blogging early-ish in the morning on a work day, when I should be doing my morning prayers (they were interrupted, some had to be done before blogging to start the morning with God) and having breakfast is perhaps more proof. A few weeks from now will mark my 12th Bloggaversary, so that may be another indication. So, yeah, I’ll be doing this until they pry a computer from my cold, dead hands…

NOTE: I’ve backdated this post so that the one on Ember Wednesday in Advent appears as the most recent for now.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

November is here!

November is my favorite month. Mainly because of The Feasts of All Saints on November 1st and All Souls on November 2nd and the general trend in the Church’s liturgical readings in the Mass and Divine Office on Christ’s Coming (First and Second).

This leads to November being considered the “month of the dead”. While some may find that rather gruesome and macabre, I do not. I like November and its focus on the dead because of the reminder that what is around us is not the whole story, and that something greater lies beyond our reach. But not forever. We too, shall cross over to what lies beyond, and we should always be mindful of our death.

November and its associations with the dead also help me to connect with my loved ones that have died. They do not seem so far away. My Mom died in November (2005) and her death shattered my life, but out of that wreckage came a new life for me. My Dad died years earlier in 1995, and I find that I am becoming more like him in some ways (namely Catholicy). There are others hopefully in Heaven or Purgatory, and I think about them often.

Anyway, with November here there shall be a slight change in focus here at this blog. I mentioned this last year: Slight change in direction for Sober Catholic I didn’t follow up much on that, but will plan to, at least for this month. This is one of a number of posts from my old “death blog” that I will edit and republish here.

So, have a Good November, everyone. (May that salutation be likened to a wish for a happy death. (A “Happy Death” in Catholicism is a death in which you end up in Heaven.)

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

On scandal

Not that anyone cares or is curious about what I think concerning the current scandal devastating the Church, but this is just a short note to say that I am composing a post on it. It is difficult, and it is addressed primarily to those who are considering leaving it (or who have already left.) There has been a lot of noise, good and bad and so forth. I want to get my post “just right.”

It should be out soon.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

blogging disappearance

For a variety of reasons I took an unplanned and unintended vacation from blogging here. It’s been over 5 weeks since my last post, that one on “Should a Catholic attend AA meetings? I heard they’re bad…”. I just approved a few comments, so if you had written one, sorry it took so long to get a round tuit.

No big reasons for the disappearance, apart from a desire to distance myself from online life (which I should not afflict this blog with) and I have been rereading the classic book “Mystical City of God,” by the Venerable Mary of Agreda. There have been other books to that I’m reading. A heat wave a few weeks ago also sapped energy and desire. Not a great excuse, but that’s what I’m running with now. (St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe would be extrememly unhappy with me, if I was one of his friars.)

Expect a few posts soon. (Maybe today!)

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Should a Catholic attend AA meetings? I heard they’re bad…

I have long been meaning to write a post on the subject title; it was finally inspired by a question in a Traditional Latin Mass Group on Facebook. I deposited my two cents and the following is an edited copy-and-paste of my reply (along with some additional thoughts not included in the Facebook reply):

Attending AA meetings is fine as long as you remain strong in your Faith and study it and the resources the Church offers to strengthen you against temptations to drink (as well as other inordinate desires.) There are links in the sidebar which can direct to resources to help you learn more about the Faith.

Most people who bash AA are unaware of the Catholic assistance and influence that existed in early AA ; the 12 Steps were developed with the help of a Jesuit (when they were still Catholic 😉 ) and are similar to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Also, they are loosely written enough to be applicable to people of all religious and spiritual traditions, so that you can very easily Catholicize them and reinterpret any ambiguous spirituality they contain that you regard as disagreeable.

“But, they mention ‘Higher Power!!’ ‘God of my understanding’!!! That’s pagan! New Age!!!”

“No, it isn’t. Just generic terms for any power greater than you. My HP is Jesus. There are probably more non-Catholics and other Christians who are alcoholics than there are followers of Jesus, this accommodates them. Just switch it to Jesus and be kind. Everyone is on a spiritual journey; who knows how the Holy Spirit leads one to the Truth?”

My advice, and this comes from someone who is over 16 years sober, (and who also has written this blog for over 11 years) is if you have a problem with alcohol, go to AA. Do the “90 meetings in 90 days” routine (you’ll hear and be exposed to anything you’ll ever hear about alcoholism from AA’s perspective for pretty much every life situation that you once needed to drink over) and get the basic literature. Then decide whether you wish to continue. I advise sticking with it for a year, then go as needed or not at all. (I find online recovery works well, in addition to keeping you somewhat better insulated against non-Catholic spirituality. For that, I recommend In the Rooms. My profile: Paulcoholic on ITR.)

The “basic literature” that I suggest is the “Big Book,” aka “Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th edition,” and “12 and 12″” aka the “The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.” Also, get the book “Experience, Strength and Hope,” which contains classic personal stories from earlier editions of the Big Book no longer included in the current. “Daily Reflections” is a collection of 366 daily meditations written by alkies for alkies. “Living Sober” is another essential book, containing essays for ‘living sober;’ advice gleaned from AA meetings and other AA literature for keeping sober in many situations. I would also like to include “As Bill Sees It,” a collection of thoughts and excerpts from the writings of AA’s co-founder, Bill Wilson. All of these can be ordered from aa.org

“But, some of the stories and stuff are written by people who are…”

“Oh, knock it off. Take what’s useful and leave the rest. ‘They’ just might say THAT ONE THING you need to hear that will keep you from the drink. Jesus dined with hookers and government types, are you better than Him?”

I wrote the following paragraph in that Facebook reply namely in anticipation of attacks on AA membership. While I no longer attend AA meetings, they are useful and helpful for those who need them. Anyway, I expected some attacks (none serious so far at the time of the drafting of this post) and added this:

Incidentally, and before I get flamed for speaking in defense of AA, the reason why I started the Sober Catholic blog is to help Catholics with addictions to discover what the Church offers to assist them and also to help “keep them Catholic.” For I have discovered many Catholics leaving the Church due to exposure to AA spirituality. (They weren’t strong Catholics to begin with: weak in their Faith, they drifted away affected by moral relativism. Sober Catholic hopes to stem the tide, even in a small way. Actually, I have found that the organization “Celebrate Recovery” to be a more insidious threat.)

A strong Catholic Faith, the basic AA lit for when you need something directly applied to alcoholism, meetings if and when you need them, and you can be free from the drink.

(I sobered up in the rooms of AA, but have NOT been a regular meeting goer since 2004. Since then it’s just been once in a while. But my last live, face-to-face meeting was in 2014. So, AA “isn’t needed,” but you do need to be deep in the Church and sacraments. But I did find that my own Catholic interpretation of AAs spirituality was essential and invaluable. Everything just gets filtered through my Catholic lens.)

Regarding attacks on AA: There is lots of misinformation out there from people with an axe to grind. Perhaps they (or someone they know) was hurt by AA (no organization of people is perfect, we’re all sinners and things can get out of control. Even the Church has hurt people. No reason to leave it. Although it’s understandable, at least for a while.)

But I’ve seen whacko sites accusing AA of being pagan, New Age, a cult, all sorts of things. It can be, but that might be just local conditions here and there. There was a document from Rome put out in the early 00s listing Twelve Step movements of being damaging; the writer knew zilch about AA, the work was poorly researched (at least as to including AA. Spot on about other things.)

But in general, AA (or any 12 Step Group) isn’t a threat to anyone’s Catholicism if their Faith is deep, and if not, like I said above, they should apply themselves to learning the Faith with the same dedication they apply themselves to learning the 12 Steps. After you’ve gotten them down and learn to live by them, they make a nice accompaniment to living by the Gospel and Beatitudes and taking part in the sacramental life of the Church. Subordinate to the tools of Faith, but still essential.

And that was the reply. So, that is it: try AA. Learn the basics of 12 Step living. Get the books I mentioned above and refer to them when needed. Keep increasing your knowledge of the Catholic Church at the same time; attend Mass (daily, if possible), study the Catechism, boost your prayer life and frequent the sacraments (especially the Eucharist and Confession.) After you’ve done your “90 in 90,” then decide if it’s for you. It comes down to this:

“You shall know them by their fruits.” From the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Chapter 7 verse 16. Courtesy Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version.

Are you sober? This doesn’t mean “just not drinking.” Drinking was a crutch to help you cope. Many people drink to relieve the burdens of life, but those afflicted with alcoholism are different and the crutch becomes an instrument of pain and torture rather than a support. Take away the crutch, and what have you? The problems that afflicted you are still there; perhaps those directly attributable to drinking will vanish, but others still remain. How will you handle them? AA helps you cope with life without the crutch of the drink. If you won’t use AA, what will you use? Does that aid directly address drinking, as in ‘not doing it?’and how to live without it?

If you stop drinking without replacing the drink with another “life aid,” how are things going? If you’re irritable, restless, discontented, angry, bitter, resentful, mean-spirited and bad-tempered, whatever you’re doing isn’t working. If you need confirmation, ask your family, friends and co-workers. They’ll enjoy the opportunity to finally tell you…

Just “not drinking” isn’t enough, you have to find something that “reprograms” you, helps you react to things in a civil and socially-acceptable manner with resorting to the drink to help. Again, Matthew 7:16. What are the fruits of your “program” of recovery from alcoholism?

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Lenten blogging check-in

Quickie Lenten blogging check-in: I’ve been busy with a lot of reading recently. I have at long last finished reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church. By this I mean having a completed a run-through from start to finish; prior to this I’ve read sections of it when I needed to know something. I don’t know how much of it I had read in that manner, but I wanted to make sure that the entire volume had been ingested by me and thus the reading from beginning to end. If you haven’t done this, I urge you to. Even if it is just as a daily devotional: the CCC is an awesome book, we all need a daily dose of Truth and it has it, along with your Catholic Bible.

I feel like an item has been checked off my “bucket list.”

I’ve also been getting continuing with reading some of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s writings; partly because it’s a long-term reading project I had set aside and I missed them, and I have to look up stuff to help a buddy get over a “stumbling block” about some of St. Max’s teachings.

Speaking of reading: I have also finally finished the complete, unabridged version of “The Mystical City of God,” by Ven. Mary of Jesus of Agreda. It is a 2,700 page (+/- ~100ish pages) history or biography of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It’s epic. I may blog about it sometime.

Anyway, I just wanted to post this as a sort of “check-in;” I pray daily about blogging and since Sunday I’ve been told to read 😉 I do have a number of posts in draft form and hope to push a few of them out over the next week, including reviews of two books on spiritual growth and development that I really think you all should get…

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

A brief note about this Lent’s blogging

I do not intend to blog daily during this Lent, although I have almost done that. What I am doing is looking at the Daily Mass readings and seeing if anything strikes me as useful for a blog post, as I have often found inspiration from them in the past. If I have blogged about a reading before, and if that post seems useful enough to bring to your attention again, I’ll refer you to that earlier post. Otherwise I’ll just “pass.” Perhaps you can read the Daily Mass Readings yourself and glean something from them. Obviously, from time to time I’ll have posts not connected to the Mass readings.

I do hope to continue the pace established by all this; remember I consecrated this blog to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and since Mom’s my new boss, I do have a responsibility to live up to my intentions. I’m hoping for several posts a week after Lent (as opposed to the past frequency of a few a month.) That is, if Mom approves. 🙂

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)