Category Archives: Conversion

Follow me! (It’s that easy?)

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In the Gospel reading for the Mass for the Saturday after Ash Wednesday we read of Jesus calling a tax collector (Levi, also known as Matthew) to become one of His disciples. 

Luke 5:27-32

Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post.

He said to him, “Follow me.”

And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.

Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house,

and a large crowd of tax collectors

and others were at table with them.

The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying,

“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus said to them in reply,

“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.

I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”

And that was that. Levi was doing his job one day, one that paid him well not counting the typical graft tax collectors padded their purses with. He was hated by the people he collected taxes from, because of who he collected taxes for (the occupying Roman forces.) This made him a traitor in the eyes of his fellow Jews.

So you might think that there was a confluence of factors at work here. He was hated, and no one likes that, no matter how good the pay is. Perhaps he was already hating his job to the point of quitting it soon. We don’t know. This is all conjecture on my part, but it makes for a good ‘spiritual growth’ and ‘conversion’ post. So, perhaps Jesus’ timing was perfect. He knew just when to approach Levi and get while the getting was good.

Jesus always knows when the timing is right to ‘get us.’ I was a hard-heading pig brain when He got me. I had left the Church years before and then I was ready for His abduction about the same time I sobered up. I needed to be brought low to be receptive to His call.

What about you?

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!!)

Ash Wednesday 2023

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Since this blog is about “Conversion, Prayer, Fasting, Repentance, and Penance,” amongst other things, Lent is a natural time to blog a lot since those ‘abouts’ correspond to the season. I have often in previous Lents blogged daily, or at least a few times a week, taking inspiration from the daily Mass readings or the Divine Office. I might try that this year, but don’t hold your breath. I know I’ve done it throughout the season several times, tried and fell short a few other times, and didn’t even make the attempt in many years. 2023? Who can say? Anyway, here goes this one for today, Ash Wednesday.

In this excerpt from the First Reading for the Mass for today, the Old Testament prophet Joel says:

(Joel 2:12-14)

Even now, says the LORD,

return to me with your whole heart,

with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;

Rend your hearts, not your garments,

and return to the LORD, your God.

For gracious and merciful is he,

slow to anger, rich in kindness,

and relenting in punishment.

Perhaps he will again relent

and leave behind him a blessing,

Offerings and libations

for the LORD, your God.

That’s the blueprint for Lent. Wherever you are, return to the Lord. Fasting, sorrow, and mourning for your sins are the method by which you do that.

Rending your hearts means true contrition and repentance. Always be mindful of the mercy of God, how gracious He is to those who come back to Him.

He is merciful, meaning He knows your weaknesses and knows the deep down reasons for your sinning. His grace flows into strengthening you for the battle.

Make this a good Lent. Go to Confession often. Maybe it’ll become a habit that you’ll keep for the rest of the year. Somewhere Pope St. John Paul II said that Catholics who wish to grow in holiness should go to Confession at least once a month. 

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!!)

Let’s start a Triduum of Monthly Marian Consecrations!

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The idea: Popularizing a Triduum of Monthly Marian Consecrations.

What’s a Triduum? A Triduum is three consecutive days on the liturgical calendar commemorating or celebrating a feast day. We used to have many back in the olden times before Vatican 2. We’re really down to just the Easter Triduum of the evening of Holy Thursday  through Easter Sunday. They’ve kind of gone the way of octaves. And Holy Days of Obligation, once you think of that. Did you know that the Catholic Church once had thirty-six Holy Days of Obligation?

Why? Consecration to the Blessed Virgin is important. Devotion to Mary is a sure sign of predestination (not in the Protestant sense of the word but rather that God knows in advance who will be saved and who won’t, because He is omniscient and exists outside of linear time. Foreknowledge of who will be saved doesn’t mean prior determination of the saved. And devotion to Mary has the advantage of bestowing greater receptivity to graces which flow to us through her; just like if you study hard in school you are ‘predestined’ to go to a good college. Huh? Studying hard makes you receptive to learning and knowledge; hence getting into a better college, OK? ) And souls dedicated to Mary are never lost. 

Why a Triduum? Because it’s neat. It’s a cool word. Next time you go to Church and find yourself amongst other Catholics, just try and work the word ‘triduum’ into a conversation. See how people look at you.  Also, it reinforces one’s dedication. Three straight days every month heightens and focuses one’s attention and devotion. Also, as far as I know, a Triduum of Marian Feast Days has never been a devotion so this could go viral and bring a lot of readers to the blog and who can maybe perhaps PayPalMe. HAHA. LOL. In all seriousness, I think it’s a pretty good idea and I wonder why nobody’s thought of it before.

OK, Marian Consecration is a good thing and a ‘triduum’ sounds old school Catholic and people look at you weird. But three days? You’ve got specific Marian feast days or titles in mind? Because I’m sensing that you do. I sure do! Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Our Lady of Fatima. Those are on the 11th, 12th and 13th of the month.

Yeah, but they’re not on the same month. Isn’t Lourdes in February, Guadalupe in December and Fatima in May? Yeah, but I heard tell that some people do a monthly conseration or dedication on the 13th of every month in honor of the Fatima Apparitions as a way to foster living out the Fatima Message. Also, I have this little Guadalupe prayer book from a monastery in Oregon (they don’t print it anymore; the one I have dates from 1959) where there’s a monthly consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe on the 12th of each month.

So I got to thinking…

Why not string them all together?

And there you have it! Readers of this blog and whomever they share this post with can consecrate themselves every month to Mary under her titles of Our Lady of Lourdes, Guadalupe and Fatima!

 I also think it’s not a coincidence that those apparitions are associated with dates that are right in consecutive order. That must mean they are of considerable importance? They are! Why? And how so? Read on!

Our Lady of Lourdes is associated with healing. Spiritual healings, physical healings, all sorts of healings. Seventy of the medical ones have been declared miraculous (out of the thousands claimed.) Our Lady also told the seer, St. Bernadette Soubirous, messages concerning repentance from sin.

Our Lady of Gudalupe is associated with the pro-life movement (given that she appears pregnant in the Sacred Image on the Tilma of St. Juan Diego.) She is also associated with the largest voluntary mass conversion of people to Catholicism. Fourteen years after the Protestant Revolt in Europe which stripped millions from the One True Faith, millions of pagans in Mexico replaced them through her intercession! And if you read up on the Tilma, you’ll learn of the tremendous symbolism of the images depicted on it; symbols significant to both the Aztecs and the Spanish. Her words to St. Juan Diego practically clamored for the unity of the Americas, of all the peoples living on it. No class conflict or cultural segregation; but a unity of European and indigenous peoples.

And at Fatima, Our Lady messaged about repentance from sin, pray the Rosary, make sacrifices in reparation for sin, and that war is punishment for sin (the most grievous kinds were sins of the flesh, i.e. sexual sins and immodest attire.)

So, repentance, conversion, prayer;  and if you dig just a little deeper, there’s pro-life advocacy, pacifism, chastity, cross-cultural unity rather than conflict, Catholicism as the alternative to paganism and the demonic…. See what I’m getting at?

Repentance, conversion and prayer are the antidotes to the scourge of abortion and contraception, to the endless war that is now threatening to go nuclear, sexual depravity now championed as ‘normal,’ and an increasingly pagan culture developing in the ‘post-Christian West’ that is careening towards the demonic paganism similar to that of the Aztec Empire the Spanish destroyed and the Catholic Church healed through Our Lady’s intervention.

We need Mary’s maternal intervention and her intercession in our lives and society. If we can consecrate ourselves every month under these three titles of Our Lady, then perhaps miracles will occur and the general race to the cultural and moral bottom we are descending into will stop. Or if not, then perhaps some of us will somehow escape the Chastisement certain to come (unless it’s already here and going on.)

Spread the word!

So here are the three Acts of Consecration. You can see in the one to Guadalupe the seeds of this idea. It suggests making that consecration  on the 12th of each month, as well as being mindful of Our Lady’s  messages at Lourdes and Fatima.

 

Act of Consecration to Our Lady of Lourdes (to be said every month on the 11th):

Holy Mary, Mother of God, Virgin Immaculate, you appeared 18 times to Bernadette at the grotto in Lourdes to remind Christians of what the truths in the Gospel require of them. You call them to prayer, penance, the Eucharist and the life of the church. To answer your call more fully, I dedicate myself, through you, to your Son Jesus. Make me willing to accept what he said. By the fervour of my faith, by the conduct of my life in all its aspects, by my devotion to the sick, let me work with you in the comforting of those who suffer and in the reconciliation of people that the church may be one and there be peace in the world. All this I ask, confident that you, Our Lady, will fully answer my prayer. Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us. St. Bernadette, pray for us.

And so today, may Mary, the Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Lourdes intercede for us and lead us closer to her son, Jesus.

 

Act of Consecration to Our Lady of Guadalupe (to be said every month on the 12th):

O most Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, I (Name,) although  most unworthy of being thy servant, yet moved by thy wonderful mercy and by my desire to serve thee, consecrate myself to thy Immaculate Heart, and choose thee today, in the presence of my Guardian Angel and the whole heavenly court, for my especial Lady, Advocate and Mother, under the title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the name given to the heavenly image left us as pledge of they motherly kindness. I firmly resolve that I will love and serve thee always, and do whatever I can to induce others to love and serve thee. I pray thee, Mother of God, and my most kind and amiable Mother, that thou wilt receive me into the number of thy servants for thy child and servant forever. Assist me in all my thoughts, words, and actions at every moment of my life, that every step and breath be directed to the greater glory of God; and through thy most powerful intercession obtain for me that I may never more offend my beloved Jesus, that I may glorify Him in this life, and that I may also love thee, and enjoy thee, in the company of the Blessed Trinity through eternity in holy Paradise.

In order to live this consecration as another St. Juan Diego, I promise to renew it frequently, especially on the twelfth day of each month; and mindful of thy messages to us at Lourdes and Fatima, I will strive to lead a life of prayer and sacrifice, of fidelity to thy Rosary and of reparation to thy Immaculate Heart. Amen.

 

Act of Consecration to Our Lady of Fatima (to be said every month on the 13th):

O MOST Holy Mary, Virgin Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, in accordance with thy wish made known at Fatima, I consecrate myself today to thine Immaculate Heart. To thee I entrust all that I have, all that I am, to thy blessed charge and special keeping and into thine Immaculate Heart. For this day, for every day of my life, and at the hour of my death, I commend my soul and body.

To thee do I entrust all my hopes and consolations, all my trials and miseries, my life and the end of my life, that through thy most holy intercession and thy merits all my actions may be ordered and disposed according to thy will, and that of thy Divine Son.

Reign over me dearest Mother, that I may be thine in prosperity, in adversity, in health and in sickness, in life and in death. Grant that I may have no other spirit but thy spirit, to know Jesus Christ and His Divine and Holy Will; that I may have no other soul but thy soul, to praise and glorify the Lord; that I may have no other heart but thy heart, to love God with a pure and burning love like thine.

My beloved Mother, my glorious Queen, I am all thine and all that I have is thine. Amen.

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!!)

First Fridays and the Sacred Heart

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Today is the First Friday of February. It is also “Sacred Heart Friday” That means it’ll be a basic primer on the First Friday Devotion, one of the ‘pillars’ of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart.

Jesus made the following 12 promises to St. Margaret Mary in favor of those who consecrate themselves to the Sacred Heart and who attend Mass and receive Holy Communion on the First Friday of each month for nine consecutive months. This to be done in a spirit of reparation for sins committed against the Sacred Heart (basically, any sin committed against the love of Jesus, such as blasphemy and sacrilege against His Name, the Sacraments and the Church.) Although, as is written in The Devotion to the Sacred Heart, by Fr. John Croiset, these 12 promises are but an abbreviation of a much longer list of promises. To find out those, either purchase the book (link in that post) or you can download a public domain version here: Devotion To The Sacred Heart Of Jesus. By Father John Croiset Of The Society Of Jesus

  1.  I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.

  2. I will establish peace in their homes.

  3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.

  4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.

  5. I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.

  6. Sinners will find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

  7. Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.

  8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.

  9. I will bless every place in which an image of My Heart is exposed and honored.

10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.

11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart.

12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in My disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.

The Church grants a Plenary indulgence to those who attend Mass and receive Communion in honor of The Sacred Heart of Jesus on the First Friday of each month for nine  consecutive months.

I’ve done this numerous times; although once is probably enough. However it is recommended that if you can do so, keep on doing it multiple times. It can’t hurt!

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!!)

Through Nothing to the Infinite: How an Atheist Lead me to God

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An atheist leads me towards belief in God during a tumultuous time in my life through his use of vivid storytelling within a deeply imaginative universe.

It begs the question of, “How can a non-believer help someone to believe?” 

Saints and spiritual writers often say that God can bring good out of evil. Evil is not just found in such actions as abortion, genocide, or slavery, but when any personal will opposes the Divine, however minor the act is. Atheism is that kind, ranging from mere unthinking disbelief to the more militant. God wills us to know and love him; atheists reject that will. I am not sure where in that range J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of the 1990s sci-fi TV show, “Babylon 5,” falls. He had a Catholic background but strayed from belief somewhere along the way. One episode of his “Babylon 5” drilled me to the floor with its consideration of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Passing Through Gethsemane” (S3E4) made me look at Christ’s Agony in the Garden from a perspective that treated it not as some pious event memorialized in the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, but a reality to enter into so as to ponder how your actions might manifest themselves.

Straczynski is an atheist, yet he treated religious belief with a respect at variance with today’s atheists. He regarded religion as being part of the human condition serving as an excellent vehicle to explore it.

In “Passing Through Gethsemane,” a guest character, Brother Edward, (played by Brad Dourif,) is a monk dwelling on Babylon 5 with other members of his order. He has a past, which I won’t reveal for fear of spoiling the show. (Although the episode aired in 1995, streaming services enable new fans to discover the series regularly. If you already know Babylon 5, then you know about this episode.) In it, he is asked by Ambassador Delenn (played by Mira Furlan,) “What is the defining moment of your belief….the emotional core…?” Edward replies with the background on Gethsemane, and specifically that Jesus knew what was going to happen to him. In a moment of weakness, he prayed for the cup to pass from him, so he would be spared the pain of what was to come, including death. But of course, he wouldn’t be spared and he’d be arrested. Edward continues with an emphasis that Jesus didn’t have to be there when the soldiers arrived to arrest him, that he could have left and postponed the inevitable for a few hours or even days. But Jesus knew what would happen and stayed anyway. Brother Edward concludes that he honestly doesn’t know if he would have had the courage to stay.

BroEdward01

Brother Edward.

Courtesy: Babylon Project Fandom Wiki

When I first saw that episode, that latter part blew my mind. “Seriously,” I thought, “does anyone actually look at a Biblical event and personally connect it to their life? As in, what they might do if they were there and then build their faith life from that? Everyone thinks that if they were back in Jesus’ days they’d of course follow him unhesitatingly and would never be in the crowd screaming ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ But, to seriously meditate upon a specific event, dwell on it, and make it the ‘defining moment’ and the ‘emotional core’ of their faith life?”

Perhaps a digression into what my ‘emotional core’ was like at the time. I was ‘raised Catholic’ but left the Faith nearly ten years earlier. My prayers about some complicated desperate situations weren’t answered. I also coincidentally fell prey to some atheistic and libertarian science fiction novels that convinced me organized religion was a sham and a means of exercising mass control over the populace. So I left, and life immediately got better. So much for religion. (But I never became an atheist. I did flirt with libertarianism, though.) Flash forward to how I was when “Passing Through Gethsemane” aired and you’ll read a different story. Life had gotten progressively worse. I had relocated from across the country to escape some more complicated desperate situations (these had the habit of following me) and my ‘emotional core’ meant that drinking was defining my moments. Capt. Morgan and Jose Cuervo were my saviors; here I am being mind-struck by some monk wondering if he would have had the courage to stay in Gethsemane and await the soldiers to take him to his execution. Me, who defined courage by how skillfully I can smuggle bottles into the house.

You’re probably thinking that this TV episode changed my life right then and I found a priest, went to confession, and resumed participating in the life of the Church. No. Reversion was still a few years off. But seeds were planted that started growing, eventually bearing fruit later on.

The crux of this is that faith powers a spiritual life. What I learned from that episode, ironically written by an atheist, is that for faith to have meaning it has to grip you by the scruff of your neck, shake you up and down, and demand that it be lived and taken seriously. The kind of faith that inspires people to willingly sacrifice their lives, not the faux faith that attends Mass whenever they feel like it, or sets it aside when it proves inconvenient to their political or business choices. The latter kind is mental pablum designed to make you excuse your sins and feel good about yourself.

That was in marked contrast to the faith that I had. In the years before I left the Church, my Catholicism was broad but not deep. It couldn’t have done what Brother Edward did; intimately apply some event to my own life to create an emotional core that defined it. 

A faith that defines your emotional core such as what drove Brother Edward to contemplate his place in Gethsemane fosters the willingness to firmly plant your feet and say, “This is what I am about, regardless of the passing fancies of society or what the neighbor’s think. This is me, my self-defined ‘I AM.’” It confronts the crucial significance of belief and its consequences. This is the willingness to face down death; literal death or just those things which challenge you or can kill your soul. But perhaps more importantly, that drawing from this power and courage means you have the willingness to be a transformative force in the society around you in a manner best suited to your unique talents. 

That may have been what Brother Edward was wondering. Not only the literal, “If I was in Gethsemane, would I have…,” but in drawing from that would he have had the courage to face everything challenging him, both personal and external.

These are challenges everyone faces, and an atheist started me on the way.

NOTE: This post was intended for publication ‘professionally,’ as in for pay, but it kept getting rejected. I just posted it to my other blog, renamed Paul Sofranko Space. I thought that since it concerns conversion and spiritual growth, it should go here, too.

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!!)

16th Bloggaversary of Sober Catholic: How I stayed sober for almost 21 years

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Today marks the 16th Bloggaversary of Sober Catholic. In honor of that, I’ve edited and cleaned up a messy note I wrote who-knows-when on “The Sober Catholic Way.” It is a summary of everything I’ve been doing since I became sober on May 22, 2002. Some I do better than others. 

This was originally a long, 2,000ish word post. There was the summary you see in the next paragraph followed by a longer version that fleshed out the details. But then I decided this morning during a feeling-sorry-for-myself pity party that the longer version is itself a summary of an even much longer version that’s been lurking in my head for 15 or so years. That being a book on the topic of “The Sober Catholic Way of Sobriety.” Or something like that. I shall begin working on that right away. I do not know when it will be finished.

The summary of the ‘Sober Catholic Method’ or ‘Way’ or ‘whatver’ is:

Wow, that’s a long list, Paulcoholic? Isn’t a Twelve-Step program simpler? Yeah, maybe. But doing the above has kept this sick puppy sober for over 20 years and I knew that AA couldn’t. Some people demand happiness in this life and they find it often by avoiding suffering all costs and more and more turn to things which can only be called ‘addictions.’ Whether it is the typical alcohol or drugs, or an inordinate attraction to the self, or to the Internet and social media, or  to fandoms (pop culture things like TV franchises, movies, comics or other entertainment stuff.) Someone may not be an alcoholic or a drug addict, but I betcha they’re ‘addicted’ to something. You need a lot of tools to crowd all that stuff out or at least keeping them in their proper perspective is an attribute of the Sober Catholic Method. Or Way. Or whatever… 😉 So this all could be a wholistic approach to dealing with life in general and addictions in particular.

There are probably books or devotions that should be on there, but this my list. Yours may be slightly different. Anyone who takes a look at the list will arrive at the conclusion that it is simply a decent Catholic lifestyle. We are all supposed to go to Mass, Confession, and live the Gospel life which is learned by studying the Bible, Catechism, lives of the Saints and their teachings along with a few particular devotions to assist us on our way – to help us ‘stay on the beam.’ So be it. What makes it a ‘Sober Catholic Way?’ Life hasn’t been perfect for me nor am I a serene, happy saint-to-be. Life sucks at times, and I am often cranky and melancholic. But God never promises happiness and peace in this life. Only in the life to come. This should help me get there.

If you’ve appreciated this blog as well as this post, you can PayPalMe a non-tax deductible donation (my real name is Paul Sofranko, like the destination link says.) I will greatly appreciate every donation. (I do have plans for the money; plans to buy software which will help out in the production and marketing of self-published books. I figure that if I can raise sufficient funds through the kindness of strangers, then I’ll feel responsible and actually start working on the planned books. More on that later. )

 Or, you can just buy a lot of my books I’ve already done:

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!!)

Announcing the 31 Day Rosary Challenge!!! Join the Militia of the Immaculata!!!

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I received an email from the Militia of the Immaculata this morning announcing a new apostolic initiative of theirs! Here’s the email (I copied it.)     
Join the Militia of the Immaculata for a 31 Day Rosary Challenge set to begin on October 1st!!!

The idea is to pray the Rosary at different hours and different places, doing what you do in your everyday life, whether that is walking, hiking or climbing, whatever outdoor or indoor event(s) you participate in.

Post your selfies on social media, using the hashtag #31dayrosarychallenge
or #31DRC and please tag us so we can use your videos
when updating our social media.

Let us pray for Our Lady’s intentions
and peace and unity in our country and the world.

 

SIGN UP HERE: THE 31 DAY ROSARY CHALLENGE SIGN UP SHEET

“The Rosary is the ‘weapon’ for these times.” –St. Padre Pio

We need Families as well as Men and Women in all walks of life to join us during these 31 Days!

Show your support this October,
begin whenever you can, and let’s keep this going for 31 days.
Invite your friends and neighbors to join in the challenge.

(Copy and Share)

“Give me an army saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.” –Bl. Pius IX

At the end of the #31DRC, we invite You to make (or renew) your total consecration to Our Lady and to consider joining her MI Family!
Find out how (Click Here).

Join the Militia of the Immaculata as we begin
our 31 Day Rosary Challenge!

Let us “win the entire world for the Immaculata and, through her, for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus,” as St. Maximilian Kolbe stated.

 

About the Militia of the Immaculata (MI):

OK, Paulcoholic again! The MI was founded  in 1917 by St. Maximilian Kolbe and aims to win the whole world for Christ through the Immaculata, Mother of God and of the Church. He did it in response to anti-Catholic and anti-Papal Freemason demonstrations in Rome earlier that year. St. Maximilian was inspired by the conversion story of Alphonse Ratisbonne, who had experienced a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Church of St. Andrea della Fratte in Rome in 1842. The Miraculous Medal played a crucial role in that. Kolbe reasoned that if Our Lady can work the conversion of an atheistic Jewish person by virtue of the Miraculous Medal, then it can be a ’spiritual bullet’ targeting souls of other unbelievers and so forth. The MI was founded on October 16th of 1917, and approved by Pope Pius XI as a “Pious Union” a few years later (and is now termed a Universal and International Public Association of the Faithful.)

In essence, the MI is an evangelical organization dedicated to spreading Catholicism to everyone by whatever means is best suited to the individual and their state in life. The Miraculous Medal is worn outwardly by members as a public witness.

Members must have made a ‘total consecration’ to Our Blessed Mother by a formula written by St. Maximilian so that she can use us in any manner that she wishes. St. Maximilian likens it to being used as a “pen or paintbrush in the Immaculata’s hands.” The consecration as laid out by St. Maximilian is very similar to that established by St. Louis Grignon de Monfort, except in one detail: there is an evangelical aspect to it that de Monfort’s lacks. We pick a Marian feast day to do our Consecration (mine was on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, October 7, 2002.)

I may actually begin using my TikTok account for this. So, start warming up these hashtags! #31dayrosarychallenge #31DRC, #mi #militiaoftheimmaculata

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!!)

National Eucharistic Revival: A Grassroots Response to God’s Invitation

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The Bishops of the United States are launching us on a three-year long Eucharistic Revival. I first heard about it in a recent issue of the Militia of the Immaculata-USA monthly magazine Knight of the Immaculata. (This may initiate a PDF download in some browsers.)

Why is this being done? From the he US Bishops site especially set up for it: National Eucharistic Revival:

Revival’s in the Air!
AN EXCITING JOURNEY AHEAD:
Our world is hurting. We all need healing, yet many of us are separated from the very source of our strength. Jesus Christ invites us to return to the source and summit of our faith—his Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. Watch the video to learn more about the exciting journey ahead and how you can be a part of it!

Scandal, division, disease, doubt. The Church has withstood each of these throughout our very human history. But today we confront all of them, all at once. Our response in this moment is pivotal.

In the midst of these roaring waves, Jesus is present, reminding us that he is more powerful than the storm. He desires to heal, renew, and unify the Church and the world.

How will he do it? By uniting us once again around the source and summit of our faith—the Holy Eucharist. The National Eucharistic Revival is the joyful, expectant, grassroots response of the entire Catholic Church in the U.S. to this divine invitation.

It takes time to kindle a living, loving relationship—and a relationship with Jesus Christ is no exception. That’s why the Eucharistic Revival allows three years for discernment, encounter, and grassroots response on the diocesan, parish, and individual levels.

The Timeline:

It begins this June 19, 2022, the Feast of Corpus Christi “Launch of the Eucharistic Revival.” (It actually started with the Novena to the Body and Blood of Our Lord, which I totally forgot to do. Go figure. I blew it already!)

Then the “Diocesan Year of Eucharistic Revival” begins Monday, June 19, 2022 and lasts until June 11, 2023.

After that it moves to the Parish level with the “Parish Year of Eucharistic Revival” from June 11, 2023 – July 17, 2024.

And then there will be a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana from July 17 – 21, 2024. I have never been to a Eucharistic Congress. I’ve heard of them and known that some amazing things happen at them. These are not recent, they go back over a century, with the first International Eucharistic congress happening in 1881. I would love to attend this one! Indianapolis isn’t that far away! It isn’t an ‘International’ one, but this is as close as I’ll get.

When that is done, there begins the “Year of Going Out on Mission,” from July 17, 2024 – Pentecost 2025. 

Three years. Equal to the number of year Our Lord openly preached on Earth. If we get behind this, we can work wonders in our country and in the World. There’s no reason why you can’t participate in some manner. Get started by learning about the Church’s teaching on the Eucharist. A majority of Catholics only think it’s a symbol. It is not. It is literally the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the form of bread and wine. If you receive Holy Communion and don’t believe this then your are receiving Him unworthily. St. Paul teaches that this brings condemnation on oneself. If you’ve done this because you just didn’t know, then your culpability is lessened. But you must believe that He is truly, Really Present in the Eucharist. 

Read up on this. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a great place to start. I may look up some great, informative sites on the Real Presence and post them this weekend. Another awesome practice to do is Eucharistic Adoration. Just spend some time, when you can, in silent prayer and reverence before the Lord. If the parish you attend does not have Eucharistic Adoration, then go to Mass early and Adore Him reposed in the tabernacle. Or stay later after Mass. If your parish is like a gabfest in the church before Mass and it’s difficult to pray, then perhaps charitably and kindly talk to the priest about suggesting to people that they take their conversations outside, or somewhere else on the parish grounds that’s more appropriate. Perhaps he can tie it in to the Eucharistic Revival; that the parish’s contribution is to be transformed into a house of prayer before each Mass, so that people can ‘get to know’ Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament by means of quiet prayer. And maybe after three years it’ll stay that way!

I’m excited. It is something to provide a focus for over the next three years. Get behind it! The Mass (said correctly, with proper reverence and solemnity) and Adoration is the closest thing we have to Heaven on Earth!

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!!)

The Coming of the Lord

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The season of Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. Although the obvious point of the season is the Nativity of Jesus, the Mass readings in the weeks leading up to Advent and then in Advent itself serve to remind us that there is not one, but two comings of Jesus Christ, Our Savior.

The First was when He was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Second will be His Coming at the the end of time, the end of the Ages.

Advent is a time of Preparation. Just as the Lord God prepared the way of His only begotten Son by the Announcement to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel, and later His arrival on the public scene by the preaching of John the Baptist, so to do we Catholic Christians announce the presence of the Lord to the World today.

Christmas is about His first Coming. His Birth and later Death as told in Scripture indicates that there will be a Second Coming. His first was that of an innocent babe destined to be judged and executed years later. His Second will be as glorious as the first was humble, and He will be the judge.

Jesus is coming. Are we prepared to meet Him? Are we ready for His Second Coming of Judgment, will He find Faith in our lives and hearts? For a more immediate basis are we even prepared to meet Him in the Blessed Sacrament when we go to Mass? We are not supposed to receive Him in the Eucharist if we knowingly have a mortal sin on our soul, or even a serious attachment to sin (we need to effectively amending our lives).

We all have “clean up our sides of the street”, to sweep up the messes of our past and recover a future and live as best we can in following His will.

Prepare for the Coming of Our Lord. Make room for Him in your heart, mind and soul.

NOTE: This is a “retropost,” a post from an old blog I wrote on “The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven (& Purgatory) and Hell” that I shuttered a few years ago. Individual posts are being transferred to either In Exile or Sober Catholic, whichever seems appropriate. Some are backdated, others postdated, in case you’re confused as to why you never saw a particular post if you’re a diligent reader. The process should be completed by early 2022.

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!!)

Walk onwards home

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This morning’s Office of Readings for Saturday, 34th Week on Ordinary Time has a sermon by Saint Augustine which I take the following excerpt: “Let us sing Alleluia to God, who is good and frees us from evil”: “O! what a happy alleluia there, how carefree, how safe from all opposition, where nobody will be an enemy, where no-one will ever cease to be a friend! God’s praises sung there, sung here – here, by the anxious; there, by the carefree – here, by those who will die; there, by those who will live for ever – here, in hope; there, in reality – here, on our journey; there, in our homeland.

So now, my brethren, let us sing, not to delight our leisure, but to ease our toil. In the way that travellers are in the habit of singing, sing, but keep on walking. What does it mean, ‘keep on walking’? Go onward always – but go onward in goodness, for there are, according to the Apostle, some people who go ever onward from bad to worse. If you are going onward, you are walking; but always go onward in goodness, onward in the right faith, onward in good habits and behaviour. Sing, and walk onwards. “

(Via Universalis.)

The first few paragraphs deal with the toil of living on Earth and the necessity of tolerating the fears and anxieties that fill our lives. We cannot avoid them, in fact we pray daily the “Our Father” to help us cope with them. But St. Augustine exhorts us to put up with this life, for there is a better one to come. And then came the section I excerpted above.

Lovely words which should give us the strength and fortitude needed to keep us going, to keep us on the right path, so that eventually we will arrive home, the place where there is no sorrow or suffering, where we are never parted from our loved ones.

Think about that. This desire for Heaven is an excellent manner to rid ourselves of our tendency to sin. While we still will sin, we at least will have a better purpose of amending our lives to increase its holiness. The desire for Heaven can cause us to be detached from this Earth and its “pleasures.” The delayed gratification and satisfaction of Heaven may cause us to not seek the immediate gratification of our sinful (and addictive) actions.

NOTE: This is a “retropost,” a post from an old blog I wrote on “The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven (& Purgatory) and Hell” that I shuttered a few years ago. Individual posts are very slowly being transferred to either In Exile or Sober Catholic, whichever seems appropriate. Some are backdated, others postdated, in case you’re confused as to why you never saw a particular post if you’re a diligent reader. The process should be completed by early 2022.

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!!)