Category Archives: Courage

Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation VIII: Our Lady Mother of Charity and Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange.

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Today begins the Eighth of the Nine Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation, and this one is dedicated to Our Lady Mother of Charity and Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange. It runs from August 22 through August 30, 2020.

I will not post this every day as the prayers and intentions are the same for each day. I’ll just leave it here for nine days; if I need to blog in the interim, I will just blog a reminder afterwards. For the background, please read this post (especially if you need to learn about who Bob Waldrop, the creator of this Novena, was, and why I am introducing it to you.) Or go here: A Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation.

Don’t worry if you jump in at some point later in the 81 days. To paraphrase Bob “just pick up whenever you happen to join in.”

AFTER THIS SENTENCE, THE WRITING IS ALL THAT OF BOB WALDROP, not me, Paulcoholic.

…

Our Lady Mother of Charity and Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange

General Intention: For the gift of fortitude for all who work for justice and all who suffer injustice.

Sixth Work of Justice and Peace: Celebrate life, goodness, beauty, virtue, responsibility, and joy. Practice peace, non-violence, servant leadership, harmony, community, voluntary cooperation, and the proper stewardship of God’s creation. Pray without ceasing.

Act of Caring for Creation: Protect Earth’s creatures! Leave a place for our fellow creatures who share in Creation. Bell the cat. Support programs that provide free or low cost spay/neuter, and veterinarian services to the pets of low income people.

God come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. + Let us pray together in peace, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, help the helpless, strengthen the fearful, comfort the sorrowful, bring justice to the poor, peace to all nations, and solidarity among all peoples.  Give us strength to stand against the demonic powers which prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Open our eyes to see the beauty, joy, redemption, and goodness which comes through obedience to your Son our Lord. Teach us to be a refuge of hope for all who are oppressed by injustice and violence.

Our Lady of Charity, who came to us as a messenger of peace across the sea, we know you hear the cry of all who are at the mercy of others who are stronger than they. Give your gift of comfort and courage in our time of grave need. To your motherly heart, we entrust our desires and hopes, our work and our prayers.

We pray for our families, that they may live in fidelity and love. We pray for our children, that they may grow strong in spirit and in body. We pray for our young people, that their faith may increase, as well as their desire for the truth. We pray for the sick, the homeless, the lonely, the exiled, and for all suffering souls. We pray for the triumph of love, mercy, and justice throughout the world.

Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, your holy example of courage and faith in the face of injustice and oppression strengthens us during this time when politicians profit and the common good is defiled with messages of hate and fear. Pray for all who stand with faith today against the demons who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Walk with us as we journey towards peace and justice. Amen.

Novena to St. John Chrysostom on behalf of the
Bishops of the United States of America 

Most Glorious and Venerable St. John Chrysostom,
Grace shining forth from your lips like a beacon has illumined the universe.
It shows to the world the treasures of poverty; it reveals to us the heights of humility.
Teaching us by your words, O Father John Chrysostom,
intercede before the Word, Christ our God, to save our souls!

Pray for the bishops of the United States of America,
who do not teach or practice the Catholic faith in its fullness,
that God will deliver them to orthodoxyand reform their ways of living,
so that as exemplars of orthopraxis, they will protect all life,
from the moment of conception to the time of natural death.

Teach them true solidarity with the poor, so that they
understand the consequences of their moral abandonment
of entire nations of human beings to a collective fate of cruelty and violence
because they were in the way of the American Empire and
its gluttonous lust for oil, supremacy, and blood.

As you refused to obey the aristocratic commands of your era,
help our bishops turn away from the political demands
that cause them to preach a false gospel of moral relativism regarding war and peace.

Having received divine grace from heaven,
with your mouth you teach all people to worship the Triune God.
Instruct our bishops with the wisdom of the Gospel,
so that they repent of their material cooperation with the objective evil of unjust war, and call all people, in authentic word and deed, to live in solidarity, peace, and justice.

All-blest and venerable St. John Chrysostom,
we praise you, for you are our teacher, revealing things divine!
Pray for us that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

O God, Who by the preaching and teaching of Saint John Chrysostom
has given us an example of fortitude in the face of persecution and political corruption, grant that we who reverence his life and ministry may also imitate
his example of fidelity to wisdom, truth, justice, and beauty,
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Our Father . . . Hail Mary… Glory be. . .

Thoughts for the Journey. In the early 1600s, a statue with an inscription “Our Lady of Charity” was found floating in a bay after a storm by two Indians (Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos) and a young slave (Juan Moreno). As at Guadalupe, this revelation came not to the rich and the powerful, but instead to the poor and outcast.

The same call to charity, fidelity, and service comes to us today – from “across the sea”. Will we respond in faith, prayer, and action?

First we must feel the sufferings of others in true solidarity. Then, having the desire to help, we must actually do something practical! If you have food for five people, then feed five hungry people and be grateful for  the opportunities. If you have food for five, and fifty ask you for food, feed whoever you can and then start asking questions – why are there all these hungry people in my community? Then you can start creating structures so that there is enough food (and justice!) for all.

It’s not complicated. You don’t need a foundation, an endowment, insurance, or anything other than eyes that are open to see, and hearts that are open to Christ and the realities He shows us, and hands that are busy doing goodness, beauty, and love. Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have the authority to do this, because your baptism is all the authority that you need.  This is what it means to celebrate life and goodness, to practice peace and justice (so we get good at ’em!), We pray without ceasing because that is the way that Christ shows us.

Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange founded the first religious order in the United States for women of African descent, the Oblate Sisters of Providence on July 2, 1829. She was born a slave on the island of Santo Domingo, but came to the United States after the Haitian revolution of 1791 and settled in Baltimore. She and her sisters started a school, widows’ home, and orphanage; they provided vocational training and taught adults to read and write. They endured many hardships, including opposition from a racist bishop.

Her order today ministers in inner cities, Africa, and several countries in the Carribean. Her faith and hope gave her the determination necessary to realize her vision and create new opportunities in the midst of injustice and oppression for the victims of racism and slavery. Her example inspires us today to follow her path of service and justice, and in these words of the Oblate Sisters, refuse to “tolerate any expression of racism, prejudice, discrimination, violence or injustice that violates the sanctity of life, demeans the dignity of the human person and desecrates family life.”

With Christ within us, it becomes easier to understand what is important.  So we always must ask — How is my life open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves me?  Jesus gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression. He was with the Mother Lange as she struggled through the darkness of Jim Crow segregation and vicious institutionalized racism. Jesus lives today and is at our side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, of our journeys of justice and peace.

Act of Caring for Creation:  Protect Earth’s creatures! Leave a place for our fellow creatures who share in Creation. Bell the cat. Support programs that provide free or low cost spay/neuter, and veterinarian services to the pets of low income people.

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!!)

St. Michael’s Lent 2020

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NOTE: Reblogged from last year, which itself was a reblog from the previous year and edited with some additions.)

Coming up on August 15th is the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady. It is also the beginning of a Franciscan devotion known as “St. Michael’s Lent.” It is a 40-day period of fasting begun by St. Francis of Assisi in the 1220’s similar in practice to the actual Lenten season. It ends September 29th on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel. It was during one of these fasts in 1224 that St. Francis received the stigmata.

I looked up this observance online, didn’t find much beyond what I stated above (the following is from an informative webpage that I referred a few years ago but is now a broken link.) “‘In the writings of St. Francis, such as the Volterra text (Letter to All the Faithful) which is included in The Rule of the SFO, we are reminded again and again that Franciscans are called to be penitents, to pray and fast. For these reasons this ancient tradition is important to us. St. Michael’s Lent is a period of 40 days, honoring Mary and St. Michael the Archangel. It begins on the Feast of the Assumption and ends on The Feast of the Archangels.

“[H]e wished along with the most faithful Brothers . . . to celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (August 15) and then prepare himself by a forty days’ fast for the Feast of St. Michael (September 29). In common with the rest of the people of the Middle Ages, Francis nourished a special devotion to this Archangel, signifer santus Michaelis, the standard-bearer of the Heavenly Host, and the one who with his trumpet was to wake the dead in their graves on the last day . . . .” (St. Francis of Assisi by Jorgensen)’”

(Via Our Lady of the Pearl.) Perhaps the keepers of that site can resurrect that page?

You can just observe a fast of sorts (food or bad habit/character defect, etc.) and whatever other penitential practices you can think of.

Fr. Richard Heilman of the Roman Catholic Man site has posted some very useful devotions that you can use throughout this ‘season.’ Please go here: St. Michael’s Lent Prayers and Devotions

I do believe that it is significant that this period begins and ends when it does. The Solemnity of the Assumption is observed because as Mary was preserved from Original Sin in her conception, she was bodily assumed into Heaven when her mortal period of time on Earth was over, thus preserving her from the corruption of death. St. Michael was the champion and leader of the blessed angels in their battle against Lucifer and his demons in the Fall of the Angels, and in his victory cast Satan out of Heaven. We can gain strength from this observance in our struggles against drinking and drugging, and especially against sins of impurity. Instead of fasting from food, one can “fast” our eyes from images that can trigger lust. It is summertime, and people have the habit of wearing little clothing. Fasting with your eyes means turning your gaze away from provactively dressed people. If you are anxious and stressed about material things and current events (and what isn’t stressful nowadays?) You can perhaps “fast” from anxiety. Turn the news off; avoid news websites for a few days. I vanish from the Internet for several days at a time, or at least from social networks. Easier said than done, but such actions are possible. The world will thrive or suffer just as well with or without your attention! No wonder Satan uses impurity and addictions and fear in his ongoing war against those made in the image and likeness of God.

So, go back and grab your Lenten devotional books and whatever else; read, study and meditate on the Passion narratives in the Gospels, perhaps even try and read the Daily Mass readings from the past Lent (available on the USCCB site, just use the Calendar to navigate back to Lent). If I may, there’s always Sober Catholic’s Lenten post archive Or just use Fr. Heilman’s material I linked to above.

(Just in case anyone counts the number of days from Aug. 15 to Sept. 29, you’ll get “46.” Don’t count the six Sundays that occur and you’ll get the forty. Sundays aren’t considered a part of any Lenten observance.)

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 the meaning and impact of prayers

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Recently I have begun to really look hard at the words of the various prayers I recite every day. I wonder if many of us do that, really look at them and try and grasp what you’re praying. Be careful what you pray for…

The words and meanings of many prayers lose their impact after they’ve been recited so often. Whether it’s the “Our Father” or the “Hail Mary,” we become immune to the words and what we are praying for.

As an example is this post on the Hail Mary in which I focus on a single line: Pray for us sinners. In it I say, “A thought had popped into my mind while praying the Rosary today…

The line in the second verse, “…pray for us sinners…” struck me.

It reads “pray for us sinners,” not “pray for me, a sinner.”

The Rosary is the devotional prayer most closely associated with Catholics. And rightly so, with the prayer’s popularity over the centuries and given that at any one time, there are probably hundreds of thousands (or more!) Catholics praying it around the clock, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Someone, somewhere, right now, is praying a Rosary. Which mean that given the “pray for us sinners,” wording, there are thousands of people asking the Blessed Mother’s intercession for everyone and for each other, including you, right now.”

A sobering thought, especially if you’re going through a bad time. You are not alone. Someone, actually, a whole massive number of someones, are praying for you right now….”

If you are reading this, then there is an excellent chance that you have at least a basic book of Catholic prayers. Grab it and read the Morning Offering, and the Acts of Faith, Hope and Charity; especially if they are the traditional versions. Read them. Yes, you’ve probably read them 10,000 times already…. read them again, very slowly and ponder each line. Be like Mary, who “ponder these things in her heart.” Contemplate them, try to read them as if for the first time. They are really mind-blowing when you consider the words and what you are asking and declaring. (Not to mention the scary consideration of the “Our Father” in which you are asking God to forgive you of your sins only on the condition that you forgive others first. Think about that!)

But for your convenience:

MORNING OFFERING

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions
of Your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world,
in reparation for my sins,
for the intentions of all my relatives and friends,
and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father.

ACT OF FAITH

O MY GOD, I firmly believe that Thou art one God in Three Divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I believe that Thy Divine Son became Man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, Who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.

ACT OF HOPE

O MY GOD, relying on Thy almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I
hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and Life Everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.

ACT OF CHARITY

O MY GOD, I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.

Ponder every line, carefully. Perhaps your prayer life will be rejuvenated a little and you’ll see prayer in a different light. You can try this with other prayers as well.

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 Consecrating and Trusting

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Of the pillars of my Catholic Faith, two are very important (apart from my marriage): my consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the method of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe and my devotion to the Divine Mercy, as revealed to us by Our Lord through St. Faustina Kowalska. There are other “pillars,” but these I’ll discuss now.

I consecrate myself daily to the Blessed Mother recite the Divine Mercy chaplet. And oftentimes throughout the day I say “Jesus, I Trust in You.”

But what does all that really mean? It comes down to Divine Providence and trusting that your prayers are heard and that the intentions mean something and that God will hear and answer your prayers. Perhaps not in the way you scripted, but somehow “He has your back.” Quite often I fear that I entrust myself to Mary and then by my actions I take it back a little. And similarly, I trust in Jesus, but take it back.

How do I take it back? By actions and feelings, but mostly feelings. Fear and anxiety about problems currently being faced and a future that is scary… Why bother entrusting yourself to Mary and trusting in Jesus if your fears and worries imply that you don’t really mean it?

Trusting in Divine Providence is scary; it requires deep faith and an abiding conviction that God is real, not just some nice fairy tale or soothing concept that gives us comfort. God exists, He is real, He understands us and responds to our needs. He was one of us, and remains to this day among us on our altars and in our tabernacles in the Eucharist. We need patience and trust that things will happen in time; when we need it, not always when we want it.

But it is still scary. It’s like the future is some dark tunnel or hallway and there’s no light anywhere illuminating the interior. You know you have to go through the tunnel as that’s the way to the future. And so you step into it and realize that it doesn’t get brighter.

I love “Divine Mercy in My Soul,” the spiritual diary of St. Faustina. I wrote before that “The Diary beautifully describes the love and mercy of God. I feel it is a text that every sober Catholic should have. It often serves to lift my spirits in ways other books do not (save for the Gospels.) When I read it I feel like it is a long, soothing letter of comfort, consoling me when times are difficult.”

Throughout it Our Lord is telling her that it wounds Him when people do not trust Him; not trusting in His mercy or His Providence.

So I’ve been thinking about that; like I said above, either God and religion is real or it’s all a bunch of hooey. Too often, when our fears and anxieties about the future overtake us and we fret all night in bed and don’t get to sleep, it’s as if we become functional atheists. We believe there is a God but we don’t quite have the faith that He hears, understands and plans for us. Including providing for us. Either our Faith is real or it’s not.

The mystery is how He will do it. Therein lies some of the fear and anxiety as often it might not be quite how we’d envision. We’d have more confidence if we knew what He was going to do, but of course it doesn’t work that way.

It takes courage to go out into the deep, to cast your nets into the future and hope that the fish swim into the net.

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 Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation I: to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin

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And so begins the First of the Nine Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation, and this one is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Servant of God Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. It runs from June 20 — June 28, 2020. I will not post this every day as the prayers and intentions are the same for each day. I’ll just leave it here for nine days; if I need to blog in the interim, I will just blog a reminder afterwards. For the background, please read this post (especially if you need to learn about who Bob Waldrop, the creator of this Novena, was, and why I am introducing it to you.) Or go here: A Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation.

Don’t worry if you jump in at some point later in the 81 days. To paraphrase Bob “just pick up whenever you happen to join in.”

AFTER THIS SENTENCE, THE WRITING IS ALL THAT OF BOB WALDROP, not me, Paulcoholic.

…

Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation I: to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin (June 20 — June 28, 2020)

“Getting Started:

Begin each novena prayer with a time of quiet prayer. You may find it helpful to pray some repetitions of the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner), a decade of the Rosary, the Chaplet of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, or a time of spiritual reading or lectio divina that will prepare your mind and your heart for the prayer to come. This could be a time for a daily examen, where you consider your actions of the day and how they relate to God’s call in your life.”

General Intentions: For the redemption of structures of violence, oppression, exploitation, and despair with beauty, goodness, mercy, and peace. Reparation for sins against life.

The First Work of Justice and Peace: Live simply and justly in solidarity with the poor and marginalized and be a good neighbor. Make no war on them, rather, be one with them in spirit, truth, and love.

Act of Caring for Creation: Pick up trash in a public place.

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. + Let us pray together in peace, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, help the helpless, strengthen the fearful, comfort the sorrowful, bring justice to the poor, peace to all nations, and solidarity among all peoples. Give us strength to stand against the demonic powers which prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Open our eyes to see the beauty, joy, redemption, and goodness which comes through obedience to your Son our Lord. Teach us to be a refuge of hope for all who are oppressed by injustice and violence.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for those who serve the poor and who accompany them in their journeys; may we who keep this sacred commemoration experience the joy and love of the grace of your Son; may His most Sacred Heart, together with yours, pierced with sorrow for the evils of the world, be a sure refuge of hope in a time of trouble for all who are oppressed by injustice and violence.

The Magnificat of Mary. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; for He has looked with favor on His lowly servant. From this day all generations shall call me blessed.

The Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is His Name. He has mercy on those who fear Him in every generation.

He has shown the strength of His arm, He has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of His servant Israel for He has remembered His promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever.

Dorothy Day: Dorothy Day, friend and partner of the poor, guiding spirit for the Catholic Worker, home always open to the unwanted, early, often lonely, witness in the cause of peace and conscience, eloquent pattern of gospel simplicity, Dorothy Day, disciple of the Lord, may we continue your gift of self to the needy and your untiring work for justice and peace. Help us to follow your example and dedicate our lives to the creation of structures of beauty and goodness, wisdom and mercy. Amen.

Peter Maurin: Peter Maurin, Holy Fool, teach us to give and not to take, to serve and not to rule, to help and not to crush, to nourish and not to devour. As we create a new society within the shell of the old, remind us that ideals and not deals, creed and not greed, are what makes humanity humane. Amen.

Prayer to St. John Chrysostom on behalf of the U.S. Catholic bishops.

Most Glorious and Venerable St. John Chrysostom,
Grace shining forth from your lips like a beacon
has illumined the universe.
It shows to the world the treasures of poverty;
it reveals to us the heights of humility.
Teaching us by your words, O Father John Chrysostom,
intercede before the Word, Christ our God, to save our souls!

Pray for the bishops of the United States of America,
who do not teach or practice the Catholic faith in its fullness,
that God will deliver them to orthodoxy,
and reform their ways of living,
so that as exemplars of orthopraxis, they will protect all life,
from the moment of conception to the time of natural death.

Teach them true solidarity with the poor, so that they
understand the consequences of their moral abandonment
of entire nations of human beings to a collective fate of cruelty and violence
because they were in the way of the American Empire and
its gluttonous lust for oil, supremacy, and blood.

As you refused to obey the aristocratic commands of your era,
help our bishops turn away from the political demands
that cause them to preach a false gospel of moral relativism regarding war and peace.

Having received divine grace from heaven,
with your mouth you teach all people to worship the Triune God.
Instruct our bishops with the wisdom of the Gospel,
so that they repent of their material cooperation with the objective evil of unjust war,
and call all people, in authentic word and deed, to live in solidarity, peace, and justice.

All-blest and venerable St. John Chrysostom,
we praise you, for you are our teacher, revealing things divine!
Pray for us that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

O God, Who by the preaching and teaching of Saint John Chrysostom
has given us an example of fortitude in the face of persecution and political corruption,
grant that we who reverence his life and ministry may also imitate
his example of fidelity to wisdom, truth, justice, and beauty,
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Our Father . . . Hail Mary… Glory be. . .

Thoughts for the journey. Today many swords pierce the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Injustice, oppression, violence, war, murder, the rape of Creation — all these and more are sins and structures of sin against justice and peace. We know that within our hearts are the seeds of the problems the world faces.

This redemption begins in my heart and your heart. It all starts, as they say, with the man — or the woman — in the mirror.

If we want to see a better relationship of Christ and the world, we must ask first about our own personal relationship with Jesus. Is he the Easter Bunny? Someone who makes us feel good, but who is remote and not really involved? A cultural construct? A topic in a religious education course?

Or is Christ a living reality in my life?

We are in this for the long haul, and it will be a long haul. We will not wake up on the 82nd day after 81 days of nine novenas and discover that we have prayed and worked ourselves into a new world of justice and peace that cares for Creation as God intended for all of us. There is much more work and prayer to come.

If we think we can do this in our own strength, we are wrong.

If we are going forward in the work of justice and peace, the place to start is with an examination of our own lives. How do my sins of omission and commission create and support structures of injustice and oppression? How do I participate in and profit from the social sins and unjust wars of this age? What must be redeemed in my life so that I live in solidarity with those our society has pushed to the edge and further, into the abyss? How can I change my life so that I promote peace, rather than demanding war? Can I end (or minimize) the ecological harm I cause to Creation by my lifestyle?

Have I abandoned Christ for secular saviors? Do I bury myself in the busy-ness of life and ignore God’s call?

As you pray these novenas for the next 81 days, let this be a time when your personal relationship with Christ blooms and flowers. Our prayer for everyone who takes up these novenas is that their hearts will be open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves each and every one of us. He gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression. He lives today and is at your side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free you. OK, I am paraphrasing Pope Francis here, but I think the point is clear: the journey of justice and peace is a journey with Christ.

If we are to change the world, each of us must begin with himself or herself as we ourselves become the change we wish to see in the world. That change is the fruit of the Spirit that grows from our personal relationship with Christ.

Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin:

Dorothy Day was an early advocate of women’s rights who wrote for radical leftist newspapers in the early years of this century. She was a bohemian as they said in those days — but when she looked in her heart of hearts, she found it empty. By the grace and providence of God, she found our Lord and was baptized into the Catholic Church. Thus began a journey which led to the founding of the Catholic Worker movement, together with Peter Maurin and the other first Workers.

It’s clear from their writings that both Dorothy and Peter experienced a tender and intimate relationship with Christ. This relationship was the source of all that they were able to do for the cause of justice and peace. Dorothy was not a stranger to activism; for years she had struggled in the streets as part of the great social battles of the first years of the 20th century — women’s suffrage, the 40 hour week, the right to join a union, justice for workers.

Peter Maurin, a French peasant who came to the United States via Canada, taught that it was a great blessing to assist the rich in coming to the assistance of the poor. Too often, “never the twain shall meet,” and certainly, in this day and age, communication between the poor and the rich is as bad as it has ever been. Communication requires that each person who wants to be heard and understood must see and hear the “Other” as a human person. It’s not easy, and it takes practice.

The program that Peter and Dorothy offered to the world was direct, personal involvement with other human beings. They called us to open houses of hospitality, to engage in clarification of thought so we would understand what needs to be done, and to found agricultural communities as the seeds of new villages. They believed in the importance of the Eucharist, the Rosary, and many traditional devotions — because their work responded to their lively interior relationship with Christ. They were suspicious of the imperial State. They wanted the Catholic Worker movement to be an organism, not an organization, that drew its strength from the Eucharist and the real presence of Christ in the lives of the workers.

As the United States empire entered a time of great triumph, they called for establishing the seeds of a new society within the “collapsing ruins of the old. ” They taught that the poor should be fed by Christians, not by large government bureaucracies. Peter wrote many “Easy Essays” — short little works, almost poetry in their simplicity, each one packed with intense theological concepts about the human person and how we relate to one another in community. He also reminded us of the nobility — and the necessity — of manual labor (something we’d often like to forget in this day of convenience and instant gratification).

Dorothy and Peter worked to create and live structures of beauty and goodness. In the midst of the slums of New York, they provided hospitality to the poor while working for social justice. They learned that the works of mercy and the works of justice and peace are one and the same, different aspects of the same journey, all going the same direction.

Long before it was a theological mantra, the “preferential option for the poor” was a living reality in the life and work of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. They were informed critics of current events, prophetically looking for the truth in the signs of their times, and finding Jesus in the poor, rejected, and marginalized.

Their example inspires us today to consider how we can ensure fair distribution, subsidiarity, economic opportunity, justice, and food security for everyone everywhere. As we open our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to the Spirit’s guidance, we can discern our response to the signs of these times. We then can see the structures of sin that bind us in poverty and war, and name the demons which oppress us.

We can buy farms and dedicate them for the purpose of raising food for the hungry. We can organize microenterprise co-operatives in every city to provide opportunity for the poor. We can look at our own individual situations, and adopt lifestyles of simplicity and frugality, rejecting the culture of materialistic conspicuous consumption in favor of a life of living simply, that others may simply live. We can minimize our use of fossil fuels and thus remove one of the major causes of war. We can buy our food directly from farmers, and stop funding the destruction of the family farm community. We can discern the cry of the widow and orphan in our own neighborhoods, and be the hands and feet of God in relieving distress and creating justice. We can open our own hearts to the reality of life in Christ, and embrace him as savior and friend.

Dorothy Day used to quote St. Catherine of Sienna — “All the way to heaven is heaven.” May this be our prayer, in Jesus’ holy name.

Caring for Creation

Our act of reparation during this 9 day novena, and going forward, is to pick up trash in a public place. You won’t have to look far, but I think there are extra blessings for picking up trash in low income neighborhoods. Trash is endemic everywhere. It is a sign of our careless attitude towards the gifts of this Earth that God has so freely given us. Much trash is useful — many items can be recycled or repurposed, but often we think only of our selfishness and do not take the time or the care to do the right thing by Creation and reduce our impact on the planet by recycling. Examine your conscience! Do you sin against God’s Creation by your casual attitude towards waste? Now is the time for actual works of penance, which is why we pick up trash in public places.

Courtesy: Bob Waldrop, St. Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House

…

(Paulcoholic, back. Thank you for reading and praying. Just a few thoughts of my own, here, on some of the language Bob used, particularly referring to the US as an “empire,” within a pejorative context. Well, it is painful, but the United States IS an Empire. While an Empire in and of itself is not a bad thing, ours is costly. Excessive tax dollars are spent on maintaining a military presence overseas we can hardly afford; money that could be spent domestically on infrastructure, healthcare, education and other things. In my thinking, there is little reason why we should still be maintaining military bases in Europe. They can potentially defend themselves. NATO served its purpose as the defense of the West against any potential Soviet/Warsaw Pact invasion; after the fall of the Communist alliance NATO should have been mothballed and the European nations taken upon themselves some form of collective defense, if needed. While engaging in military action against terrorists might have seemed a good idea in the early 00s, in reality continued action in the Middle East has only served to create more terrorists. I’m uncertain as to the solution, but the way things are going there and domestically, I think we should cut our losses and our troops recalled. )

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!!)

Faith in a time of Pandemic

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Recently, in Sobriety in a Time of Pandemic I blogged a bit on coping in a time of a pandemic. Saints to intercede for us and so on. Now that it’s been a few days, I’m expanding upon that. This is the first of several posts I’ll be doing today. I just finished my Morning Prayers and had breakfast, and I have time before heading off to my Latin Mass. This afternoon I’ll write one or two more posts on the matter.

I’ve read a lot of stuff online, on Facebook and other venues, about what to do. People are panic-buying toilet paper and sanitizers, water and other foodstuffs. Various Dioceses are either cancelling public Masses or are lifting the obligation to attend Mass for a certain period. There are interesting reactions to these measures, some sane, some irrational.

Many are interpreting these cancelling/lifting of the obligation as a sure sign that the Bishops are in league with Satan and the Modernists; that the last thing we need to do is to restrict the Mass. They cite examples from the Medieval era during the Black Plague when Pope So-and-so did Eucharistic Processions around Rome and St. Michael the Archangel was invoked and he made appearances and miraculous healings resulted. “And that’s all that we have to do to defeat this pandemic! Go to Mass! It worked then!”

True. It probably did to some degree. But they also had significantly less knowledge of plague vectors and technological responses and the like. Note this: God only performs miracles when all normal means that we have at our disposal have failed. This may by why some prayers of yours invoking God’s miraculous help may have gone unanswered: perhaps you were omitting something you could have done. I think He may work the miraculous in your life when you might have effective means at your disposal, but you may not be aware of them, and the situation may be critical enough that He is willing to overlook your omission or ignorance. But whether that does happen, is determined by Him.

We do not live in the Middle Ages (although I wish for the revival of much Medieval culture and civilization; not all of its aspects, only the better parts. That will perhaps have to be discussed on my other blog sometime. 😉  ) We live in the 21st Century and our knowledge and ability to deal with things is different. While I applaud the faith of those who wish to rely solely on the Mass and the Sacraments; to exclude contemporary science and technology is folly. And perhaps a sin. “Really? How’s that?” you ask incredulously. “Read on,” I reply.

Faith and reason; science and religion are not antonyms. Miracles and such like work when mundane resources fail; back in the Medieval era they had little to no knowledge of disease vectors and their causes. We know better today, and therefore sacramental methods are applied differently nowadays. 

Science and religion go hand in hand, both are parts of God’s Revelation of Himself. God reveals Himself to us in two ways: through Divine Revelation by way of Sacred Scripture in concert with Sacred Tradition, both being safeguarded by the Catholic Church; and through Nature, as discerned and explored by humans utilizing Science. Like I said above: Faith and reason; science and religion are not antonyms. Truth does not contradict Truth, despite the opposite believed by atheists on one side and believers on the other. They only reveal the ignorance they possess of the other means of Divine Revelation that they reject. Like anyone who creates original work, God leaves information about Himself in His creations. We know Him by exploring His creation. Science helps us to do that. Using one does not de-emphasize the other.

When we know of the manner in which plagues spread and the means to contain it, that does not mean abandoning faith and religion, but it does mean we use our God-given intellects in a responsible manner and avoid spreading disease. It does not mean that we forsake Eucharistic Processions, invoking this or that saint, or anything else that may have worked back in simpler times. We do those. They may not work in the miraculous ways of 500 or more years ago, but they may assist in giving insight to vaccine researchers, given them a nudge to consider “this way” instead of “that way,” give extra courage and fortitude to medical professionals like doctors and nurses, and convey grace upon grace to all struggling to cope. So it’s not an “either or” choice. We do both. We flee to the refuge our Faith provides as well as using our God-given minds to respond to the crisis.

And this is where I answer the question about how is it sinful to disregard science in responding to the pandemic. If one of the definitions of sin is that of misusing or abusing our natural gifts (such as alcohol abuse instead of moderate drinking, or extramarital sex instead of chastity, or greed instead of responsible use of material things and money) then it is sinful to disregard the recommendations or outright orders to stay at home instead of going to Mass (or any other public gathering.) You are guilty of pride, in that you are parading your piety to defy rational consideration. “Nothing and no one will separate me from the Mass!!!” is what I frequently read in various Facebook Groups. OK, I understand that you have a devotion to the Mass; we all should. We all should attend Mass on Sundays (it IS an obligation) and daily if we can. If Jesus is available in an Adoration Chapel, we should visit Him. But your piety and faith should not get in the way of your reason and common sense; just as they do not contradict one another, when used together that can be an unstoppable force for good. God made us, He also gave us our intellect, our capacity for reason and logic, as well as the ability to figure out when to use them. They are gifts to us, a part of our being. To ignore them is to risk peril. You could also be guilty of idolatry. The Mass is a means (worship) to an end (God.) By being disobedient and insisting that you must attend Mass or else, you are idolizing the Mass, focusing on the means rather than the end.

“But what about the Mass?!?!?! We do need that!!!!” you vent.

“Relax,” I calmly respond. “It has not been prohibited. It is still being said. Even if public Masses are cancelled where you are, priests are still saying them privately. And public Masses are being offered elsewhere. We are members of the Mystical Body of Christ, we are united in prayer to everyone else who is praying, everyone else who is attending Mass. Unite yourself in prayer with them.”

“Oh? We can do that? How?”

Here are a few prayers to do just that. They are old, come from various sources, are found online anywhere and in old prayer books and missals dating prior to Vatican 2.

My favorite among them, and I say it daily:

Oh My Jesus, I include myself in all the Holy Masses which are being celebrated this day throughout the whole world, and offer them to You in union with the intentions of Your Sacred Heart. I implore You to reserve for me, from each Holy Mass, Your most precious Blood to atone for my sins and their punishment.

Grant me also the grace of obtaining through the merits of every holy sacrifice the release of one poor soul from the pains of purgatory, the conversion of one sinner, and that one soul in the agony of death may obtain mercy, and that one mortal sin, which is so painful to Your Sacred Heart, may be prevented.

Eternal Father, we offer You the Blood, the Passion, and the Death of Jesus Christ in satisfaction for our sins, in aid of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for the needs of Holy Mother Church, and for the conversion of sinners. Amen.

Another:

Lord Jesus, I unite myself to Your perpetual, unceasing, universal Sacrifice. I offer myself to You every day of my life and every moment of every day, according to Your most holy and adorable Will. Since You have been the Victim of my salvation, I wish to be the victim of Your love. Accept my desire, take my offering, and graciously hear my prayer. Let me live for love of You; let me die for love of You; let my last heartbeat be an act of perfect love.

Here’s one more that I say daily:

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month. 

Regarding the latter, I sometimes omit the words “Apostles of Prayer,” and substitute “Knights and Ladies of the Militia of the Immaculata” and “Knights at the Foot of the Cross,” as I am a member of both the Militia of the Immaculata and their sister organization, Knights at the Foot of the Cross. If you are a member of some other Catholic apostolate, such as the Knights of Columbus, the Legion of Mary, or are Third Order Franciscan, Carmelite, etc., maybe use that instead (or along with.)

I’ll have another post later on regarding “Spiritual Communion,” which I’ve blogged about before and also there are numerous online resources for that. It’s getting late and I must shower and get dressed for Mass.

Oh, one other thing: you can also watch Mass online. It’s available streaming live and archived.  I’ll try and post links to online Masses later today, but EWTN and Live Mass are great. The EWTN one is a good, holy, Mass in the Ordinary Form, LiveMass is the Tridentine (Latin Mass) Rite.

Bye! I REALLY HAVE TO GO 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!!)

Turn the Page

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Today is the end of the Church year. Sunset marks the Vigil of the First Sunday of Advent; that liturgical season when we prepare for the Coming of Christ. We remember His first Coming, the time of His Incarnation as a humble, innocent little babe, dependent on human parents and raised like any other child (with probable exceptions in His case, given His divinity and the sinlessness of His Holy Mother.)

We use the preparation of His first Coming to remind us that He will come again. (This is quite plain to anyone who prayed the Liturgy if the Hours these past few weeks.)

This post has the title “Turn the Page,” a common thought when the calendar turns to a new year, whether it be the liturgical one or secular.

It us a reminder that life progresses. What is around “today” may not be so “tomorrow.” Life changes, we change and adapt to it as a matter of course. We should always be mindful of this and our ultimate end.

As alcoholics and addicts there us much about our past we wish had never happened. Knowing that we cannot go back in time to correct it, we use the experiences to plot our course into the future. If we have been hurt, we try to not grow callouses on our souls and become hardened to others. This is often difficult as we fear being hurt again by others. Nevertheless, we keep before us our sins and weaknesses and remember that others aee suffeting too.

We trudge each day down rhe road to our destiny. Some days are better than others. We fall, er pick ourselves up. Relying on God’s graces, we continue on. We keep turning the pages of our calendars, each day new, each day a new chance.

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!!)

Manifesto of Faith

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A few days ago on Facebook a good friend posted something about a “Manifesto of Faith” in reply to something I had posted. It sounded interesting and so I looked it up. To quote from the website:

“The “Manifesto of Faith” was published by Gerhard Cardinal Müller in February 2019. Cardinal Müller was the Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith from 2011-2017. He issued the document in response to requests from clerics and lay people who asked him to provide guidance for the Church in this time of confusion. The original document is provided below in 6 different languages. We encourage people to read and reflect upon Cardinal Müller’s words, especially his references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

I watched the video, it’s about 22 minutes long. It’s published on Vimeo and YouTube; I’ve also embedded it in the sidebar as well as at the bottom of this post so you can watch it from here. Or you could also watch it on the film’s website: Manifesto of Faith, and read more about it there as well as learn how you can help. It is excellent and quite a warning shot to those on the other side in the Spiritual Warfare that is escalating.

“Manifesto of Faith.” Clear truth in these times when everything seems malleable and relative.

When I shared the video on my Facebook profile, I suggested the following to cope with these times:

  • Read the Catechism. The 1997 one by Pope St. John Paul II; the 16th Century one by the Council of Trent. Either. Both!
  • Read a ***Catholic Bible***. Douay-Rheims, Jerusalem, Knox, Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition (and the RSV-Second Catholic Edition) are wonderful and solid.
  • Watch EWTN.
  • STAY CLOSE TO THE SACRAMENTS! Receive Holy Communion often, Confession *at least monthly*.
  • Read the Lives of the Saints.
  • GO TO MASS! Find a TLM (Traditional Latin Mass; reconnect with the Mass of the Ages, the one all Catholics for centuries worshipped in. Your favorite saints either worshipped in this or said it (if priests). Otherwise, try and find a New Mass that is offered with due reverence and solemnity. Is it obvious there is something sacred going on? Are they acting as if they are aware the Jesus is Truly Present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity? Or are they acting like the Eucharist is just a symbol? The difference is obvious. People would be acting much differently at Mass if they actually believed that Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords was there.
  • Don’t trust the news media. ANY of it. They all lie. Every single outlet. The sooner you realize that, the better.
  • Politicians are not saviors and messiahs.

The film:

https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js

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!!)

Divine Mercy Novena Reminder!

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Just giving all my readers a heads up that the Divine Mercy Novena begins on Good Friday.

This is an excellent annual novena to take yourself on the journey to Divine Mercy Sunday, that annual festival wherein we bathe ourselves in the ocean of mercy that is God’s love and forgiveness.

No matter how bad a sinner you may have been, there is no sin that God cannot forgive, no sinner that God will not take back in His loving, merciful arms. The only barrier is pride and lack of humility and repentance.

Information on how to pray the Novena is in the link in the first sentence; information on Divine Mercy Sunday is in the link in the second paragraph. And in that last link there is a reminder to yours truly: “I posted before about this day, and perhaps next year I will, God willing, post more in the days leading up to it.” So, all righty, then. “NOTE TO SELF: post a bunch of stuff next week on Divine Mercy Sunday!” 😉

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 word on Suffering and Providence

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The year 2019 is three weeks old. It has not been a good year for me so far. I will not go into details apart from sufferings from bad weather and extended power outages, some trouble with family members that required the attention of police, and transportation issues. May as well toss in some health concerns while I’m at it.

My typical reaction has been a common and understandable one: “This year sucks already and I can’t wait for 2020.” Not a great way to begin a year, wishing it was already over.

However, through it all God’s Providence has shown itself. The Lord has carried us through all the “stuff” so far, and done so marvelously. In one issue He had helped us in a way I wouldn’t have bothered to script, thinking “It doesn’t happen that way.” (For a variety of reasons I won’t describe the issue.)

This all had me thinking. Especially as every time I think “This year sucks…” I get a feeling that I am being ungrateful. And so I thought about that.

Therefore I have tried to start thinking rather than regard 2019 as a Year of Hell and I Wish It Would Just End Already; I am instead going to start thinking that it might be a year in which God works His Divine Providence in my life (and perhaps my wife’s life and a few others’) in an awesome manner.

Perhaps that’s just “wishful thinking” to help me cope with a sucky year. 😉 But then again, we are supposed to have Faith. We are supposed to Trust in Jesus; have faith and confidence that He will show His Mercy and Love (and Justice) and will take care of our needs.

So that’s it: from now on I will just accept suffering as a way for God to show His Providence in my life. This is not new or original. It is a basic concept from the Gospel and Catholicism. All Christians are supposed to “take up our cross and follow Him.” Some people do this and grip their cross firmly, almost as if they were crucified to it. Others grip it but just hold onto it and cope. And still others drag it along resentfully behind them. (This is actually an image described by a saint in his or her writings; I’m wracking my brain but I can’t think of who it is. Perhaps the “Imitation of Christ?” “Divine Intimacy?” If I discover the source I’ll update the post. If any reader recognizes it, email me or post the info in a comment.)

UPDATE: Turns out it was neither the “Imitation of Christ” or “Divine Intimacy.” Rather, it was in St. Faustina Kowalska’s diary, “Divine Mercy in My Soul.” I rediscovered it during a recent rereading of that text. (Buy it if you don’t already have it. Don’t just read it; study it.)

Found in paragraph 446, it goes (words in bold are Jesus’):

“Then I saw the Lord Jesus nailed to the cross. When He had hung on it for a while, I saw a multitude of souls crucified like Him. Then I saw a second multitude of souls, and a third. The second multitude were not nailed to [their] crosses, but were holding them firmly in their hands. The third were neither nailed to [their] crosses nor holding them firmly in their hands, but were dragging [their] crosses behind them and were discontent. Jesus then said to me, Do you see these souls? Those who are like Me in the pain and contempt they suffer will be like Me also in glory. And those who resemble Me less in pain and contempt will also bear less resemblance to Me in glory.

Among the crucified souls, the most numerous were those of the clergy. I also saw some crucified souls whom I knew, and this gave me great joy. Then Jesus said to me, In your meditation tomorrow, you shall think about what you have seen today. And immediately Jesus disappeared on me.”

I wrote twice before on this: Just Enough and Crucible of Faith

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!!)