Category Archives: Holy Days and Sundays

Feast of the Three Archangels

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On September 29th the Church celebrates the Feast of the Three Archangels, St. Michael, St. Raphael, and St. Gabriel.

Belief in angels is required by the Church. Please see paragraphs 328-336 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church .

St. Michael is a patron and defender of the Church and the chief angelic nemesis of Satan. His intercession can be invoked when you need to counter the “cunning, baffling, powerful” allure of alcohol. Not to blame Satan for your alcoholism, but it is a tool that he can use to keep you away from God.

St. Raphael is God’s Healer. He is also the Patron Saint of Happy Meetings (such as finding a spouse). His healing abilities are detailed in the Old Testament Book of Tobit. His intercession can be invoked in your constant battle against alcohol.

St. Gabriel is the Angel of the Incarnation. He told the Blessed Virgin Mary that she was to be the Mother of Jesus, the Messiah. He also told old Zechariah that he was to become the father of John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin and the precursor to the Messiah. His intercession can be invoked to better perceive and understand God’s will.

Angels are one of the coolest things about the Catholic Faith and Her spirituality. Some may regard belief in them to be silly and superstitious, or at least reserved for children. But all the Saints and great theologians and thinkers of the Church believed in their existence and in their ability to come to the aid of humans.

We are not alone. We have the Saints to intercede for us, and also these special beings, the Angels that were created by God to serve as His messengers and tools of His will and Divine plan. Use them.

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!!)

Our Lady of Sorrows

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On September 15th the Church celebrates the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. This feast honors the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as the sorrowful Mother of our Lord, sharing in His sufferings and death.

This was predicted in Sacred Scripture in both of the Gospel Readings that can be used in today’s Memorial Mass:

Luke 2:33-35;

Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
and you yourself a sword will pierce
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

John 19:25-27;

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother
and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved
he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.”
Then he said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother.”
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

The sword that pierced Mary’s heart mentioned in Luke was her Son’s sufferings, crucifixion and death. She is our role model in the sharing of His sufferings, in that we are also to share in them by uniting our trials and tribulations to Him. “Nail them to the Cross.”

In John’s Gospel, we see that Jesus, from upon the Cross, gave the care of His Mother to the disciple John. By extension, He also gave her to us. We are also His disciples, and a proper Christian takes Mary into their home and honors her. This honoring and reverence for Mary is also Scriptural:

Luke 1:46-48;

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

By making Mary blessed in your home and within your soul, you are following the will of God as outlined in Scripture. And as Mary is held up as the role model for all of us in following the will of God, male and female, sober or drunk, we should do well to follow such direction.

She paid for her obedience to God’s will by sharing in her Son’s suffering. We can look to her for guidance and consolation in our own sufferings and trials.

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!!)

Triumph of the Cross

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On September 14th the Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. We read in the Second Reading from Today’s Mass, from Paul’s Letter to the Phillipians:

Phillipians 2:6-11

Brothers and sisters:
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Because of His humility in accepting a horrific death He was exalted by God, and all who wish to follow Him must likewise accept whatever crosses that are bestowed upon them. This is a central belief in Christianity, that accepting suffering is honorable and necessary and essential for what Christians call “successful” and “normal” .

Note that this differs strongly from what the world refers to as “successful” and “normal”. Christianity, and especially Catholicism, offers the only real explanation for suffering (Original Sin, read Genesis 3) and offers the only real solution (acceptance). Others deny it or avoid it and the world tells you that you should take something or do something to eliminate it. This is why we drink and drug, and why perhaps some of us abuse said drink and drugs.

We find our victory in the Cross of Christ. On His Cross, death was destroyed forever, inasmuch as it will never again keep us out of Heaven. We can still reject God and Heaven, but that’s another issue. If we follow God’s will as best we can, guided by the Church and the Holy Spirit, we will eventually find our union with God for all eternity.

The suffering that we endured while drinking and recovering we nail to the Cross of Christ. We unite our sufferings to His. As He destroyed death, so too will we achieve our victory over whatever we are addicted to.

This is the contradiction of the Cross, that in apparent defeat and death, victory and life are achieved. We had reached the nadir of our life when we hit our bottom, and reached that point where we thought that if we continue to drink we will die, but if we stop we may only think we will die.

But somehow we pulled ourselves up (or more than likely had help) and sought to live. Our old selves were crucified, and we arose in a resurrection of sorts and in some manner unique to our abilities bring the hope of our sobriety to others.

Nail it to the Cross. Whatever it is that is disturbing you or keeping you awake at night. Look upon a crucifix (a cross with Jesus’ body hanging from it) and regard that as your hope. For it is. Without the Death and subsequent Resurrection of Jesus we would all be barred from Heaven. Protestant Christians prefer crosses without the body of Christ on it, claiming that the victory has been won in His Resurrection. This is only partly true. But you cannot have the Resurrection without the Crucifixion. Good Friday comes before Easter Sunday on the calendar.

Without the suffering, there is no living.

The Holy Cross of Christ, with Him on it, is the symbol of our hope. It is our reminder that our sufferings will end, that they have merit, and will lead to our own victory.

Nail it to the Cross. Gaze upon the Cross of Christ and hope.

From the Gospel from today’s Mass:

John 3:16;

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.

That Cross is our sign that we will not perish.

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!!)

Jesus is the center of all things

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The Second Reading from today’s Mass is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians:

Col 1:15-20

Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.

Just as the beginning of the Gospel of John (John 1:1-3) states that Jesus is the Word become Man, and was in the Beginning of everything:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.

…in Colossians Paul states the same thing. Jesus wasn’t just some itinerant preacher or ancient hippie and a great guy who taught nice things about how to get along. The New Testament declares some pretty heavy stuff concerning Christ’s place in the general scheme of things.

Yes, He was and is God. But the New Testament further defines His role in things beyond His primary purpose as humanity’s Redeemer. He is the Word of God, the part of the Divine Trinity through which God the Father enters into all created things and through which all things are created.

If creation was made perfect originally through Him (until Adam’s Fall caused sin and death to enter), then through Him we can be healed of our addictions and afflictions. (Either a divine miraculous healing or an increase in the courage to see a doctor.) Turn to Him who is the Divine Physician and petition Him to heal you of what ails you.

Just be open to hear the still, small voice within guiding you and pointing the way.

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!!)

Corpus Christi

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Today the Church marks the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. (It was celebrated last Thursday in most areas of the world, but in the USA it was moved to this day.)

In essence, the Church is specifically honoring the Eucharist, the nature of which I have written about before, here and here.

Eucharist means “Thanksgiving”, and at Mass we are giving thanks for the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, thereby redeeming (paying the price) for our sins.

Plenty to be thankful for.

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!!)

Trinity

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Yesterday was Trinity Sunday. Better late than never in discussing the Trinity, so here goes.

The Church, rooted in Sacred Scripture, teaches that God is a Trinity of Persons. God the Father, the creator and sustainer of all things; God the Son (Jesus Christ), the incarnation of God, or His Word become flesh; and God the Holy Spirit, the perfect Love that exists between Father and Son that is so intense it forms a distinct Person. Paragraphs 234-256 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church discuss at length the Trinity; as always, see sidebar for link.

The Trinity does not mean that we Christians believe that there are three gods. God is Three Persons, in one God. How this is so cannot be explained nor understood by mere human intelligence, and yet it is a fundamental belief among Christians. Belief does not require understanding. You can believe in the existence of electricity without comprehending how it works. One needn’t stick a finger in a light socket to know that you’ll feel electricity’s existence.

God the Father created everything. Atheists may disbelieve in God, yet they cannot explain how everything came into being. Where did all the matter come from? Where did all the physical constants and mathematical variables and chemical formulae and so forth come from, how did they develop? From where and when did they start? How did they start, or come into existence? Some intelligent force or guiding spirit must have been the first cause at some point in existence to start the whole thing.

Evolution may explain many things, but is based on random chance and denies God’s involvement. Again, I return to the previous paragraph, where did it all come from to begin the evolutionary cycle or path?

Creationism does not explain things, unless you believe that God is a trickster bent on deceiving His people. Creationists believe that the Universe is about 6,000 years old and was created in 6 days, despite physical evidence to the contrary. If God created the Universe 6,000 years ago, yet planted evidence that it is billions of years old, what’s to say that the Universe isn’t really 30 seconds old, and any evidence to the contrary is false? Nothing in the Bible implies an age of 6,000 years, such a figure was derived at by believing that Biblical history is a continuous one, without breaks in its chain. God is Truth, He does not deceive. Creationism “dumbs down” God to a human level of understanding and maligns His magnificence.

Intelligent Design is also weak, as it implies God is merely a designer, an architect, and nothing more. Pope Benedict XVI recently postulated the idea of “theistic evolution”, which in simple terms accepts all that science states about the physical nature of the universe, yet declares that God is the author of it all. God designed the scientific laws and methematical and chemical formulae that govern the workings of the universe. Unlike primitive religions in which a deity causes things to happen, theistic evolution states that God gave the universe a type of free will (perhaps “autonomy” is a better term as free will implies intelligence or consciousness. But it is poetic.). It operates on its own, yet is dependent on the Creator, for without His continual sustenance, existence would cease. Just like we have our free will, or autonomy, but use our intelligence to freely align with God’s will or not to choose His will. The difference between us and nature.

God the Son is the physical manifestation of the Father into creation. The Father and the Son are one, and yet are distinct. Where one is, so is the other. The Son is the means by which the Word of the Father reaches us, and creation.

God the Holy Spirit is the perfect, intense love between Father and Son that serves as the means by which the Father communicates His will to us. He is the Advocate and our Guide, sent to us after Jesus ascended to Heaven before Pentecost, returning to the Father. Where the Spirit is, so are the Father and the Son.

All three are God, and yet are One, and yet are distinct Persons. To me, this uniqueness and impossible-to-understand idea (yet has persisted for 2,000 years) is proof of its Truth.

You just can’t make this stuff up. So much theology and so much symbolism for human relationships have been derived from the Trinitarian idea.

As sober alcoholics, we can take tremendous reassurance from the Trinity. The Spirit dwells within us, offering us guidance and direction if we quiet ourselves and listen to its promptings. It protects the Church from teaching error in areas of Faith and Morals. The Son communicates God’s Word to us through the Bible and the Church. He established the sacraments by which we live and grow in the Faith. The Father is just that, our Father to whom we love, petition, and are grateful towards. He sent His Son to suffer for our sins, as we were unable to do so for ourselves.

The Trinity provides endless amounts of material for pondering. Its resources will never be exhausted.

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!!)

Living in the Spirit: a Meditation on Pentecost

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Alcohol poisons the spirit. A person begins to see alcohol as a conduit of the spirit, and jokes abound as to the wisdom discovered at the bottom of a bottle of tequila. Great insights into the mystique of human existence and divine wonders are often discerned, sensible sounding while under the influence, ridiculously absurd after a sobering up.

Although the physical debilitation of alcoholism is the last aspect of the illness, alcoholism itself can be considered to be primarily a disease of the flesh. The flesh (in Christian terms the “spirit of the World”) desires alcohol because it provides the satisfaction lacking from any other source . One has a “hole in the soul” that seems to be best filled by drinking. The flesh assumes the role of the spirit, and the painful descent further into the illness of alcoholism gets deeper.

The Solemnity of Pentecost is this weekend (26/27 May 2007) and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are available to all who seek them. Pray during Mass this weekend for the strength, the power and the courage of the Holy Spirit to bolster you against temptations of the flesh. Be they a desire to drink, or for inappropriate sexual behavior, or something else sinful, try to rely and lean upon the Holy Spirit in your times of struggle.

St. Paul writes of this in his letter to the Galatians:

Galatians 5:16:

…live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.

Living in the Spirit marks you as different. Not necessarily by any means discernible to others, but nevertheless your desires and motivations are different from those who live according to the World’s morality. You are not guided by a need to satisfy the craving for the pleasures of alcohol (or other cravings). You are liberated from the limitations of fleshly desires and the lies that abound concerning the wonders of those ways. Those lies only serve to destroy you. Lies about the fun of alcohol or the pleasures of porn and illicit sex. They all debase the human condition and mar the dignity of the human being. Shun those lies and turn to the Holy Spirit.

We humans are dignified creatures, made in the image and likeness of our Creator. We deserve better than behavior and thinking that impugns that dignity.

From EWTN:

Come, Holy Spirit

(In English)

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

(In Latin)

Veni, Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium: et tui amoris in eis ignem accende.

V. Emitte Spiritum tuum, et creabuntur.
R. Et renovabis faciem terrae.

Oremus. Deus, qui corda fidelium Sancti Spiritus illustratione docuisti: da nobis in eodem Spiritu recta sapere; et de eius semper consolatione gaudere. Per Christum Dominum nostrum.

Amen.

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

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

The Advocate

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Tomorrow (or Sunday, depending on where you live) is the Solemnity of the Ascension. This is the Christian teaching that Jesus bodily ascended into Heaven 40 days after He died. (How He accomplished this is unknown, and is irrelevant. God is not subject to the physical laws He created.)

What is important about this is in doing so He opened Heaven to all who believe in Him, a Heaven that had been closed since the Fall of Adam and Eve. Heaven was barred to us due to our First Parent’s arrogant decision that they could be just like God and decide what is right and what is wrong for themselves. Jesus paid our price for their sin. And now Heaven is open again.

He had said that this was necessary for another reason. Without His leaving, the Advocate would not be able to come. Who, or what, is the Advocate? It is the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. It is the source and guide for each of us, the ‘inner promptings’ that we sometimes receive that encourages us to do a certain thing. Our conscience is guided by it.

Our alcoholism made it impossible for us to pay attention to what the Holy Spirit tells us. Distractions from the world around us and from our own inner turmoil prevent us from hearing the ‘still, small voice’ that is the will of God caring for us.

Prayer and a disciplined life (living moderately and responsibly) helps us to keep in tune with the Holy Spirit’s promptings.

But the Ascension, important as it was for the Holy Spirit to descend upon the Earth (10 days later on the Solemnity of Pentecost), how does it relate to our sobriety?

Jesus had completed the task for which He incarnated Himself. He came down to Earth to die. He had done this, along with leaving behind a body of teachings to live by. He also established a Church to safeguard and defend those teachings until He returns. The Holy Spirit’s chief task is to prevent that Church from teaching error in matters of doctrine and dogma. It doesn’t prevent that Church or its members from behaving sinfully, after all, the Church is composed of sinners. But we have the guarantee that where the Church speaks on Faith and Morals in line with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit protects the Church’s voice, namely, the Pope. We have an assured guide when we are confused, or when our moral compass is not pointing True North.

If we are sober then we have completed a task. We have stopped drinking. Our alcoholic self has essentially died, and a new person is born. That person is now open to clearly an willingly receive the graces and guidance that the Holy Spirit offers, and we as Catholics can receive the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy Communion. Jesus died and lives in us in the sacramental nature of the Eucharist, and through this union we can better live out our Baptismal promises of rejecting Satan and sin. If we were Confirmed in the Faith as young adults we can grow more deeply in the Holy Spirit and spiritually develop in ways that those who adhere to a more secular way of living are puzzled and confused over. They need false and valueless stimuli as TV and and other worldly crutches to cope with the day.

Pray to Jesus, go to Mass and receive Holy Comunion, if you can. And start preparing for Pentecost, which comes in 10 day’s time.

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!!)

Feast of Sts. Philip and James, Apostles

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An excerpt from the Gospel of today’s Mass:

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus is the sole way to the Father, He preaches the Father’s Truths and belief in Him gains one eternal life with the Father in Heaven.

These are the Truths that the Apostles handed down to us through the centuries of Christianity, and that is the Faith that we profess today.

If we follow this Faith with sincerity, fidelity and with humility, we will have the strength to persevere through anything that is dealt to us by circumstance. No further need have we for alcohol when we have Jesus, the Bread of Life.

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!!)

Memorial of St. Athanasius (May 2) Part 2: Final Perseverance

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An excerpt from the Gospel of today’s Mass of the Memorial of St. Athanasius (Matthew 10:22)

You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.

Somewhere I read (it might have been a quote from the writings of St. Josemaria Escriva) that the trials and tribulations, all the sufferings that we go through, are in a sense training for final perseverance, the hour of our death where Satan launches his last attempt to snatch us away from God. All our troubles are NOT for nothing if we always get through them (regardless of how long it takes) and always come out the other side looking for and reaching out to Jesus, who will also be fighting for us during the Final Hour.

The first part of the Gospel passage, about how we will be hated by all because of His name, is about how that as Christians, we live in opposition to the world’s moral values. We do not subscribe to the way the world thinks human life should be lived. And because of this, Satan, the Prince of the World, will try and take us away from Jesus, especially at the end, when we are weakest.

Satan may not wait until the end of our lives. He may try and tempt us with the allurements of alcohol and other things way before that time. Especially since he knows our weakness lies in addiction, we may be consistently tempted throughout our lives, no matter how sober and clean we’ve been, to try it just one more time.

What could one hurt? Plenty. Eternity could be lost.

Don’t fall for the lie. Trust in Jesus now, and He will be there to help you throughout life, and particularly at the end.

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!!)