Mother Angelica is as helpful and inspiring today as she was decades ago

 I couldn’t this morning decide what to watch on TV during the time I set aside for that before ‘beginning my day.’ Old reruns of “Sliders?” How about “Farscape?” “Babylon 5?” Maybe pick up where I left off during an interrupted binging of the original “Quantum Leap?” No, no, no, and no. I was restless in my indecision. Then I felt a tiny inspiration to watch classic Mother Angelica episodes on EWTN. And so I did!

Am I ever glad! 

I am, as usual, ‘going through stuff’ and I am awaiting a decision on a job application I made yesterday. And so I binged on Mother Angelica videos on EWTN and later YouTube for about 3 hours. Several were on fear, anxiety, and inner peace. I split my time between “Mother Angelica Live Classics” and “From the Heart with Mother Angelica” an older show I don’t think I’ve seen before.

I feel I’m being prepped for failure (I won’t get the job) or success (I’ll get it and properly cope with new job anxieties.) 

Either way, whatever happens, I feel like I received a grace today to cope with stuff. If the prayer is answered in the way that I hope it will, (I get the job) then “Yay!” If it gets answered ‘the other way,’ (I don’t get the job) then I’ll assume that God has other plans for me. I hope he lets me know what they are soon!

I cannot recommend watching Mother Angelica enough. I watched her programming quite a lot way back when, and I have read all the books she’s written and the ones edited or written by her biographer (Raymond Arroyo.) If you’re down, afraid, consumed with fear and anxiety, or are depressed, if you’re confused about anything: please go to the links I posted a few paragraphs above and just scroll through the offerings. If you’re suicidal, she has kind and loving things to say to you. She is a lifeline. She will help you pull back from the abyss.

“Mother Angelica Live Classics” is also available as audio-only. EWTN also has an audio-only version of  her EWTN call-in show, “Mother Angelica Answering the Call.” It’s about:

“Father Joseph Mary Wolfe and Doug Keck mine decades of viewer phone calls answered by Mother Angelica. Mother dishes out teaching, advice, laughter and plenty of prayers as she takes calls from her “Family”. No subject is off limits and no problem too big for the wisdom and compassion of the one and only, Mother Angelica!

I  listen to clips of this program on my local Catholic radio station (which is available to you on iCatholicRadio (available for the desktop or an iOS or Android app.) I may start listening to entire episodes: I need more Mother!

Mother Angelica is a balm, a healing remedy for these strange times which have gotten much worse since her shows aired. I kept thinking to myself “Imagine what she’d be saying nowadays!” She was four years younger than my Mom, but she’s always come across as a wise (-cracking) and loving Grandma who really cares about her family (all several million of us.)

I wish those folks down in Alabama would get started on her cause for beatification and canonization. If there was ever a woman who led a life of heroic virtue and who had a major, positive impact on millions of people worldwide, it’s Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation.

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 Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church rightly teaches that Mary was conceived without the stain of Original Sin, based upon the anticipated merits of the passion, death, and resurrection of her Son, Jesus Christ.

In 1854, Pope Pius XI proclaimed in Ineffabilis Deus the following:

We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.

This makes sense on many different levels.

  • God exists outside of time and is not restricted by the chronological sequence of events that occur within time. 
  • The Holy Spirit could not have ‘overshadowed’ Mary to form Jesus in her womb if she was in the state of Original Sin. Mary’s union with the Holy Spirit is a spousal union. “What God had joined, let none rend asunder.” This is an important point that helped me finally understand more solidly the whole ‘Immaculate Conception’ thing. Her spousal union with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s ‘overshadowing’ Mary required her to be sinless. Not just preserved from Original Sin, but also the stain it leaves behind (concupiscence.). Sin blocks grace from the soul; mortal sin is deadly and separates us from God, while venial sin distances us from God. Mary’s spousal union with the Spirit would have been ruptured if she was capable of sinning. Remember: “What God had joined, let none rend asunder.”  If she was in any state of sin, the Holy Spirit could not have joined with her in the first place. 
  • Therefore, how can the Holy Spirit’s spousal union with Mary be maintained at all if she had concupiscence? It couldn’t. Therefore, Mary could not have Original Sin, and by not being subjected to it or having its stain on her soul, she was incapable of committing venial and mortal sins. This is where all other humans differ from Mary. Although by Baptism we’ve had Original Sin removed, its stain remains, and by this concupiscence, we sin. With Mary, since the stain was removed concupiscence was never a part of her being. But while Christians have received the Holy Spirit in Baptism, our union with the Spirit is not to the same degree as Mary’s. Ours is not a spousal union; sin can rupture it. Hence we need the Sacraments to repair the rupture.
  • Since she bore Him in her womb for nine months, she could not even commit venial and mortal sins during this period as this would place Jesus under the domain of Satan, since a fetus is physically a part of the mother. (While not culpable for the mother’s sins, nor capable of sinning itself, a fetus would still be affected by them.) Her sinless behavior obviously would have continued after Jesus’ birth. This is the basis for the teachings of Sts. Lous de Montfort and Maximilian Kolbe when they wrote that Mary’s will was always in conformity with God’s will. Kolbe especially emphasized this. 
  • So, the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception has the effect also of rendering the rubrics of administering the sacraments more meaningful, given the role of the Holy Spirit in everything. The Spirit joined with Mary because she was without sin. We are baptized and Original Sin is removed and then the Holy Spirit enters our soul and later we can receive the remaining sacraments. 
  • Some critics point out that St. Paul said somewhere in his letters that “all have sinned.” Well, this cannot possibly mean ‘all’ as in ‘everyone;’ for would this ‘all’ include Jesus? I think Paul meant  ‘all born of women’ in the normal manner of birthing. If someone is still going to make the point that ‘all’ inherit Original Sin, and then Mary would still need redeeming, then we go back to the original declaration of the dogma of her immaculate conception that she was redeemed by the anticipated merits of Jesus Christ and so was prevented from having the stain of Original Sin in the first place. (please refer to the first bullet for any chronological objections.

    I brought up this point in an older post:

  • “…wouldn’t God, Who knew from all Eternity His plan of Salvation, and decided that His Son would be born of a woman rather than Incarnate as a mighty king and lord fully grown, wouldn’t He have taken great pains to decide upon the formation of she who would bear His Son? If YOU had the opportunity to design your own mother, wouldn’t YOU insist that she the among the most beautiful, intelligent, and talented of all? One of the Ten Commandments holds that we should “Honor our Father and Mother,” well, wouldn’t God also follow that? Even one was to declare that He is not subject to His own Commandments and laws, why wouldn’t He follow that one at least, to provide an example?” An addendum to this point is that if YOU could make your own mother, and could also make her perfectly pure and holy, wouldn’t you?

    In an even older post I said:

  • “…One could argue then that why couldn’t Jesus have been conceived immaculately? He could have, but the difficulty in that would be that He still would be in Mary’s womb, and what would be the barrier between Him and Original Sin? His own sacrifice on the cross, decades later? He is divine and sinless, so His own death was not for Himself, He died for humanity. So Mary, by sharing her body and blood with Jesus in her womb, would benefit from the eventual sacrifice of Jesus. Mary is the physical barrier between Jesus and her ancestral line, caught in Original Sin like the rest of humanity. The physical barrier protecting Mary from her mother’s state of Original Sin was Jesus, operating from the fullness of time, as God dwells in Eternity.”

So, there it is! See how it all connects? Remove Original Sin and the free operation of the Holy Spirit can begin in souls. With Mary, it required her to be preserved from all sin so the Holy Spirit could join her in an eternal spousal union so that Jesus could be formed in her womb (and later so that Mary could participate in the distribution of graces from the Holy Spirit; but that’s a whole ’nother topic.) With us, it required us to be Baptized so the Holy Spirit could join us in a sacramental union so that we could be formed into the Mystical Body of Christ (and receive the graces from which the Holy Spirit is the source. Whoops, ’nother topic!) 

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!!)

Sacred Heart and Advent

Advent begins on Sunday. It is the traditional time of preparation for both comings of Jesus: it’s a memorial of His first coming as a baby as well as an anticipation of His Second Coming in Triumph to judge all nations and history. This latter is obvious if you pray the Liturgy of the Hours and take a look at the Mass Readings. They’ve been quite apocalyptic in recent weeks and will continue to be so.

For this Sacred Heart Friday, I will try and connect the Sacred Heart Devotion to this time of preparation. 

What do we do in preparing for Jesus’ coming? (Either one.) We enter into a penitential mindset. I only learned this a few years ago, that Advent is a time of penance; perhaps not quite to the degree that Lent is but just as you prepare yourself to receive Him in Holy Communion by confessing mortal sins and serious venial ones, you have to rid yourself of character defects and other sinful habits. This all reminds us of why He came in the first place (to redeem us of our sins) and that when He Returns, it will be to bring to closure human history and the final separation of the Elect from the Damned.

The practice of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a perfect way to prepare for Advent. It adds a certain dimension otherwise lacking, I think. For in its practice, we are offering our actions as a means of reparation for those who are trapped in sin. These may scoff at God and Belief, or, if believers, they may be lukewarm or be those who feel they have plenty of time to get it right with God. 

Out acts of reparation according to the Sacred Heart Devotion may just be the catalyst to spur these people back on the path to God.

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 Sacred Heart Devotion and the Works of Mercy

I almost gave up on coming up with a topic for today’s Sacred Heart Friday post. Then I got a wee bit of inspiration and decided to look at Mass readings for this upcoming Sunday, which is the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. I got nothin’ from the First Reading, same for the Responsorial Psalm. St. Paul let me down with nothing in his Letter used for the Second Reading. (Just kidding, you ol’ namesake, you!)

But, the Gospel. Yumpinious Yumpiniorum! 

It is from Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus said to his disciples:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory,

and all the angels with him,

he will sit upon his glorious throne,

and all the nations will be assembled before him. 

And he will separate them one from another,

as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 

He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 

Then the king will say to those on his right,

‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. 

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 

For I was hungry and you gave me food,

I was thirsty and you gave me drink,

a stranger and you welcomed me,

naked and you clothed me,

ill and you cared for me,

in prison and you visited me.’

Then the righteous will answer him and say,

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you,

or thirsty and give you drink? 

When did we see you a stranger and welcome you,

or naked and clothe you? 

When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’

And the king will say to them in reply,

‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did

for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.’

Then he will say to those on his left,

‘Depart from me, you accursed,

into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

For I was hungry and you gave me no food,

I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

a stranger and you gave me no welcome,

naked and you gave me no clothing,

ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’

Then they will answer and say,

‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty

or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison,

and not minister to your needs?’

He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you,

what you did not do for one of these least ones,

you did not do for me.’

And these will go off to eternal punishment,

but the righteous to eternal life.”

 

And all of that reminded me of the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy:

 

The Corporal Works of Mercy:

• To feed the hungry;

• To give drink to the thirsty;

• To clothe the naked;

• To shelter the homeless;

• To care for the sick;

• To ransom the captive/visit the imprisoned

• To bury the dead.

 

The Spiritual Works of Mercy:

• To instruct the ignorant;

• To counsel the doubtful;

• To admonish sinners;

• To bear wrongs patiently;

• To forgive offenses willingly;

• To comfort the afflicted;

• To pray for the living and the dead.

If you’ve been following along with all these Sacred Heart Friday posts, you must be acutely aware of the reparative aspect of the Sacred Heart Devotion: that we offer up sacrifices in reparation for the sins of others.

Well, we can attach the working out of the devotion to doing the Works of Mercy. Take a look over the list: there are quite a few (if not all) which, when combined with the Devotion, help in making reparation for others’ sins.

Perhaps when Jesus comes again, there will be fewer goats and more sheep.

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 Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Holy Souls

For today’s Immaculate Heart Saturday post, I will continue along the theme from yesterday’s post on the Sacred Heart and Holy Souls.

“I am the Mother of all the souls in purgatory, and I am Mother of Mercy to these my children who are in the greatest need ​of my assistance, since in their torments they cannot help themselves.”

– Our Lady to St. Bridget

By studying her words we can discern her Immaculate Heart at work in her queenly patronage of the Suffering Souls in Purgatory. Therefore, we can also use the devotion to the Immaculate Heart in service to relieve the Holy Souls of their suffering. We can apply the Five First Saturdays Devotion to relieve them. Although that devotion intends to make reparation for offenses committed against Our Lady, it may be possible, at least in November, to offer up the reparations for those Holy Souls who, during their life, may have offended Our Lady. 

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!!)

Tha Sacred Heart and the Holy Souls in Purgatory

Since November is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory, I am commending this Sacred Heart Friday post to them. Since, as you must know by now, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is partly about our making reparations for the sins of others, what better population to make reparations for than the Holy Souls in Purgatory? 

First of all, they will know about your efforts to aid them. It has been written many times in various books about them that their Guardian Angels inform them as to whom in Time is praying for them. Secondly, they will be grateful for your efforts and will return the favor when they are finally liberated and enter Heaven. Thirdly, in my opinion, combining the Sacred Heart devotion with a devotion to the Holy Souls renders the fruits of each more efficacious.

There is an old prayer from the Raccolta that goes like this:

Prayer to the Sacred Heart 

O MOST Sacred Heart of Jesus, pour down thy blessings abundantly upon thy Church, upon the Supreme Pontiff, and upon all the clergy; give perseverance to the just, convert sinners, enlighten unbelievers, bless our parents, friends, and benefactors, help the dying, free the souls in Purgatory, and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of thy love. Amen.

So, offer your prayers and sacrifices this month for the Holy Souls. The benefits of having grateful friends in high places can be very rewarding. 

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!!)

Visits to a cemetary devotion for early November

This is an annual post on a fruitful pious devotion for November:

Catholic Culture has an excellent article regarding a very beneficial pious activity that can aid in your own spiritual progression. It also is a good reminder of where we’ll end up someday. (A grave. Morbid, true, but you wouldn’t be here unless you’re more aware than most people that you will die someday.)

Praying for the Dead and Gaining Indulgences During November is something I blog about here annually. It is about the act of visiting a cemetery during the first 8 days of November.

To summarize from the “Catholic Culture” site:Indulgenced Acts for the Poor Souls: A partial indulgence can be obtained by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the departed, even if the prayer is only mental. One can gain a plenary indulgence visiting a cemetery each day between November 1 and November 8. These indulgences are applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory.

A plenary indulgence, again applicable only the Souls in Purgatory, is also granted when the faithful piously visit a church or a public oratory on November 2. In visiting the church or oratory, it is required, that one Our Father and the Creed be recited. A partial indulgence, applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory, can be obtained when the Eternal Rest  is prayed. This is a good prayer to recite especially during the month of November:  ‘Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.'”

The article explains the differences between plenary and partial indulgences.

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.Jerome and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

For this Immaculate Heart Saturday, I found some connections to the saint whose feast day today is. September 30th is the feast of St. Jerome, a Doctor of the Church and the translator of the Bible into 4th Century vernacular Latin. It was he who said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

That’s not the connection, but I can make it to be one. Since St. Jerome essentially said that to know the Bible is to know Christ, and since the Church teaches that Mary brings us to Christ (the essence of Consecration) then we can use a type of Sacred reading by which we ask Mary to ‘open Scripture for us,’ that is, when we prayerfully read Scripture, we pray beforehand to the Blessed Virgin to open our eyes and mind to what Scripture might be telling us. 

The other connection I found was after I searched for “St. Jerome and the Immaculate Heart.” One of the first hits was this  article: “10 Things to Know About the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

2. Does the Bible Foretell Mary’s Triumph?

Have you ever seen a statue or painting of the Virgin Mary stepping on a snake? What’s that all about? It is a reference to Genesis 3:15, in which God warns Satan of his ultimate defeat: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (Gen 3:15). While Protestants suggest that the Hebrew text says “he shall crush your head,” the Catholic interpretation may be closer to the truth.

In simple terms, one Hebrew translation (the medieval Masoretic text) says “he” and two other ancient manuscripts say “she.” St. Jerome (347-420), translator of the Bible into Latin, rendered it as “she.” He was not alone in this interpretation; three of the most respected Jewish scholars of all time, Philo Judaeus (c. 20 B.C.-50 A.D.), Josephus (c. 37-100 A.D.), and Moses Maimonides (1138–1204), all insist that it should be interpreted as “she.” In other words, a woman will crush Satan’s head.

Fast forwarding to the end of the Bible, we find a mysterious confrontation between a woman, ‘clothed with the sun,’ and a great red dragon in the book of Revelation (Rev 12:1-6, 13-17). The dragon pursues the woman who is to give birth to a child who will rule the nations with a ‘rod of iron.’ In the end, the woman is victorious and the dragon is cast down to hell.

A ‘triumph’ suggests a victory over an enemy. These biblical references become more sensible in light of Mary’s prediction at Fátima. Furthermore, it is understood that it is the ultimate humiliation for Satan to be defeated by a woman. In his rage, he makes war “on the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus.” (Rev. 12:17) In the end, the devil is squashed under Mary’s heel.

The entire article is rather interesting; while I don’t completely accept the conclusions, especially since it quotes heavily from an unapproved apparition (Fr. Gobbi and the ‘Marian Movement of Priests’,) the part I did quote from is as far as I know, free of error.

Item No. 8 in the article is good: “What Are Ways to Prepare for the Triumph and New Era?”

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!!)

ANNOUNCEMENT!! NEW BOOK!!!! “The Catholicpunk Manifesto: ‘Creatives of Catholicism, unite! You have everything to gain, especially souls!'”

0000 GOODCOVER

I hinted at being busy with a new project that interfered a bit with posting to this blog. Well, I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! I have written a new book. It isn’t recovery related, but it can be useful to you if you’ve sobered and cleaned up and now want to know what to do with the rest of  your life. It was inspired by some thinking done over the past few years, and was the subject of two recent blogposts, which  this book combines and greatly expands upon.

 

A N N O U N C I N G :

 

The Catholicpunk Manifesto: “Creatives of Catholicism, unite! You have everything to gain, especially souls!”

From the book description:

“The Catholicpunk Manifesto is a call to arms, or rather, a call to pens, paintbrushes, and video cameras, for creative Catholics to take up St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe’s call to infiltrate pop culture and help alleviate the ills that pervade contemporary society. St. Maximilian saw back in the 1920s how the use of cinema, radio, and mass-market books was corrupting society. He thought that those same tools could be used as a force to counter this corruption. The Catholicpunk Manifesto tells how the teachings of the Catholic Faith can be used to provide a road map out of our current morass and a blueprint to build a more just and fair society constructed according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and other elements of traditional Catholic Social Teachings (CST).

A Catholicpunker is someone who Catholicpunks. Catholicpunk is, to borrow from the Manifesto:

“…a literary and artistic form that seeks to mak

e use of Catholic Social Teachings to lead the world away from the cliff of self-destruction it is heading towards…

The ‘-punk’ suffix as typically used in literary and artistic forms suggests a countercultural, anti-establishment, and anti-authoritarian ethic.

Think of ‘cyberpunk,’ ‘steampunk,’ ‘solarpunk,’ and so forth.

Therefore, ‘Catholicpunk’ utilizes countercultural values in opposition to secularist and modernist mores and values. It is anti-establishment inasmuch as it defies the increasingly centralized authority of modern governments and the intrusive reach of corporations and is anti-authoritarian based on Catholicism’s traditional opposition to dictatorships.

Catholicpunk addresses how the future might look if humanity survives the contemporary social and moral collapse plaguing the Western world and the poverty and oppression prevalent in the Global South and the East. Catholicpunk illustrates how applying CST solves major contemporary challenges made by globalism, militarism, and the anti-life and sexual libertine agendas. When Catholicpunk emphasizes sustainability, it will be with an eye towards responsible management of resources so that there will be plenty for future generations, and not through restrictions on population such as aggressive birth control and abortion agendas. People from womb to tomb will be viewed as resources to be cherished and valued, not as parasites or polluters.

Catholicism is the purest form of counter-cultural expression there is today. Catholicpunkers capitalize on this… and inspire people and give them a way out.”

Are you a creatively inclined Catholic? Are you an aspiring writer or musician, do you write poetry in secret, do you want to go to Hollywood and sell a spec script for millions, or did you draw on walls when you were little and never could color within the lines but loved drawing and coloring anyway, despite the critical opinions of others?”

Then you need to be a Catholicpunker, find other Catholicpunkers and mutually support one another in Catholicpunking! Buy and read one another’s works, listen to Catholicpunk music, watch Catholicpunk videos, support Catholicpunk painters, and so forth.”

This book can hopefully inspire you to get going and start creating and applying your Catholic faith to your works! Become a Catholicpunker!”

It’s available for $5.99 through this link: The Catholicpunk Manifesto. It will be available as a paperback within a few weeks (updates on that as I get them) and also through other online vendors. When those are completed, I’ll post updates. 

The book has it’s own Page: The Catholicpunk Manifesto Page on Paul Sofranko Space.

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 Catholicpunk Manifesto (Be a militant, misfit, crazy, rebel Catholic and change the culture!)

This is a follow up to Daily Marching Orders from Mary: (Be a militant, crazy Catholic and apply your Marian Consecration!)

It basically says the same thing, but provides a different background and different examples and also doesn’t reference Marian Consecration. If you’re a Catholic who read the previous post but the Marian Consecration for some reason didn’t appeal to you (huh? How can that be?, then this might. But, still consider the tactics and points given in the other.  These two posts should be taken together. Perhaps some day I will edit and combine them into one piece.

Who? 

Whereas: 

Catholics have essentially built Western Civilization through the work of the Church; from preserving the Greek and Roman classics after the Fall of the Roman Empire, to developing political forms via the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire and the principles of feudalism and medieval guild systems; to developing the ideas that later inspired, for better or worse, the various ‘rights’ movements, to establishing the university system, the basics of the Western concepts of law and judicial procedures, the hospital system and schools: 

Whereas:

Even the so-called sins of the Church in the medieval period which begat the modern era’s foundational historical events such as:

  •  the Protestant Reformation and its bastard offsprings:  
  •   Capitalism (through the adoption of usury) 
  •   the Industrial Revolution (excesses of unrestrained Capitalism.)
  •   Socialism (bad response to the excesses of Capitalism)
  • the Enlightenment (with its removal of God from the public life and real power from thrones)  
  • The French Revolution which begat Socialism and Communism in response to the Industrial Revolution
  • the Sexual Revolution
  •  …have brought about a Catholic response to these evils by the creation of Catholic Social Thought, thus showing that God can bring Good out of Evil;

    Whereas:

     Modern civilization, if you can call it that, is rapidly decaying and collapsing due to the spread of moral relativism, modernism, acceptance and normalization of sexual depravity and the Culture of Death; the gradual decay of national sovereignty and the spread of globalism, militarism and the concentration of wealth into fewer and fewer people; 

    Resolved:

     It is high time that Catholics follow the call of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe (the “Prophet and Sign of the Civilization of Love” and “Apostle of a New Marian Era.”) and employ mass media, forms of popular cultural expression such as literature, film, music and art to EVANGELIZE the world and show the people that there is a better way of living that is opposed to the dehumanizing, soul-crushing culture that we are experiencing today.

    What? 

    Catholicpunk is a literary and artistic movement that I am proposing that envisions a society ordered according to Catholic Social Teachings (CST), especially incorporating the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, as well as Christian Democracy, Catholic Monarchism, and any other political forms that might be derived from CST.

    The ‘-punk’ suffix as typically used in literary and artistic forms seems to suggest a countercultural, anti-establishment and anti-authoritarian ethic. ‘Cyberpunk,’ for example, would mean a future dominated by computers, AI, and technology; given that such a future is seen as dystopian, then a -punk suffix may not always advocate that future, or it may seek to find ‘ways around’ and adapt to the dystopian reality. ‘Steampunk’ is a type of retro tech future rooted in mechanical or steam tech. An obvious romantic countercultural fantasy! Other types of -punk suffixed forms follow along similarly with their specific advocacy or cautionary tales. Therefore, ‘Catholicpunk’ utilizes countercultural ethics in opposition to secularist and modernist mores and values. It is anti-establishment inasmuch as it defies the increasingly centralized authority of modern governments and corporations and is anti-authoritarian based on Catholicism’s traditional opposition to dictatorships. (Monarchies are rarely ‘dictatorships’ in the manner that republics often are.) 

    Catholicpunk views the future as one that employs a non-Capitalist and non-Socialist (Distributism, anyone?) or any other non-coercive, non-confiscatory, voluntaryist or cooperative economic model as well as Subsidiarist and Solidarist political models. Catholicpunk ignores the specific type of State a society lives under; the creative can explore a monarchist model as well as that of a republic or anything else. (See the ‘Catholic Political Thought’ section under “How?” below.) Catholicpunk’s view of the future is reflected in rejecting the modernist societal values that essentially dehumanize people. Its ‘countercultural’ expressions are rooted in solid traditional, orthodox Catholicism, it is ‘post-capitalist’ but also anti-socialist. Its ‘decolonial’ expression is found in the Subsidiarism and Solidarism. Racially, Catholicpunk views all people as intrinsically valuable individuals, each with their own uniqueness as children of God and made in His own Image. We are all brothers and sisters and any racial or ethnic differences are secondary to our individual personhood and identity and sons and daughters of God. Racial conflict is as anathema as class conflict is.

    Catholicpunk addresses how the future might look if humanity survives the contemporary social and moral collapse plaguing the Western world and the poverty and oppression prevalent in the Global South and the East. Catholicpunk illustrates how applying CST solves major contemporary challenges made by globalism, militarism, and the anti-life and sexual libertine agendas. When Catholicpunk emphasizes sustainability, it will be with an eye towards responsible management of resources so that there will be plenty for future generations, and not through restrictions on population such as aggressive birth control and abortion. People from womb-to-tomb will be viewed as resources to be cherished and valued, not as parasites or polluters. 

    Fiction, poetry, music and other art forms can be used to express its principles.

    Where?

     Given the inhospitability to Catholicism is the contemporary cultural milieu, Catholic creatives can do two things:

     • Support established publishing venues when possible.

     • Create new ones favorable to Catholicpunk.

     • Take advantage of technology and self-publish.

    When? 

    NOW!!! We’re running out of time!!!!

    Why? 

    The Church was established by Jesus Christ to save humanity by means of safeguarding and developing His teachings, as well as through the sacramental life. If what the Church says about itself is true, that Her teachings are applicable to all people in all places in all times, then there should exist a means of cultural and artistic expression that demonstrate this. The Church has theories and teachings not just on faith and morals, but how those teachings can be expressed in the political and economic sphere. 

    How? 

    The literary and artistic forms by which a work can be considered ‘Catholicpunk’ are largely based upon the degree to which the work makes use of:

     • traditional Catholic Social Teachings (the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy; the Ten Commandments). Personalism, Agrarianism. Low-tech or if technological, then tech advances are tightly controlled by ethics and morality.

     • Catholic Economic Thought (particularly Distributism, but possibly also economics based on various collective or cooperative economics. If socialist, then stripped of atheism and state monopolies and command/planned economies.)

     • Catholic Political Thought (Christian Democracy, Monarchism, and any other political forms based upon Solidarism and Subsidiarity. This could include Voluntaryist and even Anarchist expressions apart from the probably more common Monarchist and Christian Democratic systems. For example, a Catholic State-less society would still have the hierarchical Church spread throughout the realms and inculcating and indoctrinating (not a bad word in this context) people in the moral code of the Ten Commandments, Beatitudes and the Works of Mercy. The Church, in guiding and instructing people about the Natural Law of Good and Evil would help establish a framework wherein which an anarchist society could develop. Anarchism is essentially a system where people practice self-governance. “I govern myself so that the government doesn’t have to.” Society would essentially govern itself by a system of social taboos and mores that would respect individual personal autonomy and self-governance. Any ‘State’ organization would be minimal and run along voluntaryist lines. NOTE: I am not personally advocating Anarchism or even Voluntarism, I’m just providing examples.

     • Catholicpunk may be expressed in any genre; but given its Catholic-centric view, may be more aligned with miscellaneous speculative fiction, fantasy and soft science-fiction genres and subgenres. Magic Realism, Catholic Triumphalism, and whatever else can all be used. The universality of Catholic doctrine proves that any literary genre can be employed. 

     • Catholicpunk is also anti-dystopian. It must be. Catholicism is a faith of Hope. Although I think it is possible that works can be about recovering from a dystopian culture. So, post-dystopian?

     • Inspired by Peter Maurin’s belief that CST can ‘build a new society within the shell of the old,’ Catholicpunk literature and music can be a blueprint for how that can be done via a natural development of society or by a resistance movement; or it can depict a mature, established Catholic civilization. 

     • But it should be considered an integral mission of Catholicpunk to be a blueprint or manual for how a Civilization of Love can be achieved.

    This is edited and adapted from the post I referenced in the first paragraph: Catholicpunkers emulate St. Maximilian Kolbe, who is acknowledged as the “Patron of Mass Media.” So, in this contemporary age we use such means as are available to us: blogs, social media and creative works like novels, short stories, poetry and visual arts to spread the aims and means of Catholicpunk. Kolbe had observed long ago that the visual arts, such as cinema and theatre, were being used to spread immoral ideas amongst the populace. Rather than shun such media as evil, he embraced the technology and the concept and worked to use it to spread moral values. His publishing empire included newspapers and magazines and books, and eventually a radio station. His friary of Niepokalanow never produced literary or cinematic works, but I believe they were eventually planned.

    Taking St. Maximilian’s suggestions of using cultural expressions to evangelize, we can visualize a future social order rooted in the Social Kingship of Christ and its various forms. We can use creative works: fiction, such as novels and shorter works; and for those inclined, videos to illustrate how the Social Kingship would look like. Do you think that Distributism is the ideal economic system? Great! Create stories in which Distributism is that model. Do you believe that Monarchism is the ideal political system? Fine! Create stories featuring a Catholic Monarchy and how it would wield power. Same for any of you anarchists and voluntarists. C’mon, quite talking about it, create worlds that typify it!

    Given St. Max’s interest in science, we should eventually endeavor to show that Religion and Science are two sides of the same coin. Divine Revelation occurs in two forms: God’s self-revelation through Sacred Scripture and the revelation of Himself through His works (the Universe and the means He used to create and sustain it.) Truth does not contradict Truth. Scientific research and investigation should be guided by moral principles. No more doing things just because we can; we should only proceed if the research can be seen to benefit the human condition in moral and ethical ways. In short, our humanity is enhanced, not sacrificed. This may include, when possible, space exploration and perhaps eventually colonization (remember that St. Max invented a plausible spaceship! [See Complete Writings!] So, perhaps stories involving space exploration of our Solar System and the Cosmos at large are in order! This fits wonderfully for those of us who have a predilection for science-fiction!

    I close with the final (edited for this piece) paragraphs of that Daily Marching Orders from Mary: (Be a militant, crazy Catholic and apply your Marian Consecration!) post: So, if you’re a Catholic with a talent for creativity, get started! Start writing or filming!! Is it crazy? Sure is! Read what Steve Jobs said about this (and yes, I know the Founder of Apple Computers was controversial in some regards and angered many by his behavior at times. Please recall the next to last petition in the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” You can’t forgive Steve? He ‘trespassed’ against you? Be careful…)

    “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

    So be a crazy Catholicpunker misfit and rebel soldier of the Lord and change the world by showing how things can be. Cause trouble! Mother Angelica did! There are enough blogs and essay sites where people write non-fiction about Catholic culture, economics and politics. But what will it look like? Theory is one thing, the practical aspects will convince people. Show them how things can be! Disrespect the secular status quo. See things differently. Don’t listen to those who say “You can’t write that! No one will publish it!” So try self-publishing! Be a rebel! Be a Catholicpunker! Pray before writing, research as much as necessary so you at least appear to know what you’re talking about and then get to it!

    I will probably write another follow up piece to this and the “Daily Marching Orders…” post focusing on self-publishing. There are not a lot of Catholic markets for fiction. What few there are has limited space for a plethora of artists. This is why I bring up self-publishing. Perhaps that can be adapted for the “Create new ones favorable to Catholicpunk” bullet point I made above. If existing Catholic markets for fiction are not receptive to ‘Catholicpunk,’ then new online venues should be created to complement those who bypass markets and go directly to self—publishing.

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