Category Archives: Grace

The Spirit of Wisdom Came to Me

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There is a nice excerpt from the First Reading for Mass for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time:

Wisdom 7:7: “I prayed, and prudence was given me;
I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.”

(Via USCCB.)

As alcoholics and addicts we are familiar with seeking wisdom and prudence. It’s there in the short form of the Serenity Prayer said at most 12 Step meetings:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

One of the greatest gifts you can ask for is wisdom. It enables you to discern the good from the bad, to make rightly formed decisions as opposed to those based on feelings and emotion. It helps you to navigate the rough terrain and churning seas of daily life.

Pray for it.

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!!)

Armor of God

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We are engaged in a battle when we are addicts and alcoholics. For all the talk of the medical, genetic or environmental causes of alcoholism and addiction, we cannot ignore the spiritual side of the affliction. I think even the founders of AA said that alcoholism is a spiritual problem. In acknowledging the spiritual side of addiction we cannot just assume that it is a problem in our relationship with God. The spiritual world has its dark forces, too. If you read the New Testament, demons were among the earliest to acknowledge the truth of Jesus. Jesus did battle with them, from His being tempted in the desert to casting them out of people they inhabited.

People who are “rational” scoff at the notion of demonic activity, yet it is a Church teaching that they exist and it is sensible to assume that they use whatever tools are available to them to destroy us and keep us from God.

If addictions fill the “hole in our soul” that should be filled by our desire for God, then possibly demons use them as the best means at their disposal to fill that hole and divert us from God. Our addictions satisfy a spiritual longing that is better taken up by devotion to God. But they are immediately satisfying instead of the longer time that spiritual conversion usually takes.

And so we are not just engaged in a battle against our desires. Our desires may be merely tools used against us. For whatever the reason, we who are alcoholics and addicts have an increased sensitivity to our desires and an inordinate need to fulfill them.

But we have weapons at our disposal. St. Paul writes:

Ephesians 6:10-17: “Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.

Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.

Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.

So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate,

and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace.

In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

(Via USCCB.)

The Faith is our shield. Studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church (available in most bookstores, plus there are links to online versions of it in the sidebar), which is the summary of our Faith, is one weapon. Prayers to the Holy Spirit is another. Regular reading of the Bible is another weapon. Prayerfully study the Catechism and the Bible, and your “armor of God” will be strengthened against the onslaught of the devil and his demons.

I heard in an AA meeting once (and this has been repeated in various ways by other people) that meeting attendance interrupts the thought processes that lead to a relapse. If that is so, then there can be no better way to interrupt the slide to a relapse that calling upon the graces of God that result when you build up your Faith through the reading of the Bible and the Catechism. If a mere meeting can help stave off a relapse, how much more mighty a shield is there than Scripture and the Catechism?

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!!)

Sin and concupiscence

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I have added two new labels: “sin” and “concupiscence” to identify the subjects of posts. I shall be discussing these off and on over the next few weeks or months and their relationship with addiction and alcoholism.

One reason I haven’t blogged much recently (there are many) is that I’ve been studying the Catechism and other books about these subjects.

“Grace” and the “sacraments” will be integral to these posts.

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 without works is dead

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The Second Reading for the Mass for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time is a statement that faith in Jesus is no good if works do not spring from it:

James 2:14-18: “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister has nothing to wear
and has no food for the day,
and one of you says to them,
‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well, ’
but you do not give them the necessities of the body,
what good is it?
So also faith of itself,
if it does not have works, is dead.

Indeed someone might say,
‘You have faith and I have works.’
Demonstrate your faith to me without works,
and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.”

(Via USCCB.)

The idea is simple and obvious: If you have faith in Christ, where is the evidence of it? To merely say that “Jesus is Lord” and other such declarations of faith is meaningless unless there is proof of it. What distinguishes believers of Christ from non-believers, then? What outward sign of your faith is visible to those who are non-believers,or even believers? I do not mean garments or things like crosses about the neck. I mean, how does your faith change the world about you? How does your faith make a difference? How does your faith preach the Gospel, by your actions?How do you respond to Jesus’ call in the Gospel to preach to all peoples, even if “all peoples” is just your family, friends and co-workers?

“Good works” do not get you saved. No one can earn their way into Heaven by doing good things. Heaven is so unreachable by mere human means that Jesus had to die on the Cross to gain it for us. It is our faith in Him and the seed planted in our souls by that faith which grows into a desire to do something about the world that makes our salvation possible. Our belief in Him coupled with our working out of the Gospel message is what we are judged by.

“So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” James says in his letter. I have heard “Faith, without works, is dead” many times in AA meetings as it is a quote from AA writings.

The good works that spring from faith is the work of grace in our souls. God calls us by His free granting of grace, and we respond.

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!!)

Grace

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In short, “Grace” is a supernatural gift from God. One may call it divine assistance or blessings, but in essence it is a supernatural gift made freely available to all by the Will of God. As Catholic Christians we have direct access to it by using our own free will in seeking out the sacraments (particularly the Eucharist and Confession).

Sacraments are outward signs of inward grace, instituted by Christ. The Church confers them on us, they are imprinted on our soul and through them we achieve our sanctification.

Sacraments are the avenues of grace administered by His Church through which we grow stronger in our spiritual lives and as a result become closer 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!!)