Category Archives: Me

In memory of a tooth.

Posted on by

When I was living in Washington, DC, way back in the olden times of the late 1980s, I ordered a lot of Chinese delivery from the Blue Diamond restaurant. They were a few blocks away from my Dupont Circle studio apartment and had great food. 

One day I ordered Kung Pao chicken. Mistake. Oh, it tasted great. Only thing is, the peanuts broke a tooth. I had no dentist or dental coverage, but I found a dentist a few blocks away (I think he was on the corner of Farragut and some state avenue) and I paid out of pocket (I was a poor graduate student so the Bank of Mom and Dad actally paid.) 

Why am I blogging about a dental proedure? Because yesterday I had that tooth pulled. OK, so, why is that worthy of a blog post? Aside from the fact that this is my blog and I can write whatever I please, it’s that after the tooth originally broke, it needed a root canal and a crown. It needed additional work done just before; the dentist had used a then ‘revolutionary’ tooth reconstruction substance he called ‘build up’ to hold it all together. Safe to say that after that, plus the root canal and crowning, the tooth looked like a franken-tooth. 

But it had held together since 1986. Almost everytime I did a personal inspection of my teeth, or eat nuts, I’d worry about it. I’d look in and still see it there, in all its dental weirdness. 

But my new dentist where I live now said a wall had fallen off and its days were numbered. The tooth seemed to have a different opinion as the extraction was difficult. I swear the dentist (she’s little) almost had to climb on my chest to get a better perspective and angle on the thing (it had broken during the extraction and she had little to grab onto.)

I feel a part of me is missing. OK, that IS literally true, but I meant more in a mystical, metaphysical sense. Something that I worried about for 38 years, and was a visible connection to an earlier time in my life, is now gone. Good Golly, Miss Molly, am I sentimental or what?

My old dentist also gave me a free dental cleaning as a going away present in the Summer of 1991 (I was moving to California.) I just thought I’d throw that in there.  

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 end of an era in compassion and healing

Posted on by

I received an email this morning from Marty Tousley who ran the wonderful Grief Healing Discussion Groups. Due to lack of funding and donations, as well as the increasing difficulty in running it (Marty is 81! I’m feeling the pain of running a couple of blogs and the associated social media promotions and I’m only 61!) she announced that on January 1, 2025 the discussion groups will fold.  

I am saddened by the news that these forums will be going away in three month. That place helped me survive the death of my Mom in late 2005 (was it that long ago?) From shortly after her death through all of 2006 and pretty well into 2007, those discussion groups were my online home; the place was an oasis in the churning turmoil of the psychological abuse directed at me by my family and the hole in my soul wrought by my Mom’s death. 

Although I largely stopped visiting the goups after I had achieved my ‘new normal,’ somehow I thought the place would ‘always be here’ in the event I’d need it again.

I do regret not making it a more permanent online home for me. Nevertheless, I shall cherish the memories of the people I met there. Although we’ve parted ways since the deaths of those that brought us together to discuss our pain and sorrow, everyone that touched my heart from ’05-’07 and helped to heal my soul are still in my daily prayers (even if I forgot some names, God knows who theyy were.) I hope to meet and be reunited with all of them in Heaven, even those that briefly were in the community but whose emotions and pain burned brightly in their posts. And of course, I’d love to meet those dear, departed loved ones whose loss brought them here. (I also hope this for the Syracuse (NY) Hospice and Hope for Bereaved, places where I went for face-to-face grief healing and counselling.)

Thank you Marty, and all those whose wisdom and knowledge and compassion helped and healed so many people. The Grief Healing Discussion Groups will be missed.

NOTE: Marty posted quite a lot of resources for grief healing on the site; I will pore through all of them and add many to the resources pages of Sober Catholic.

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!!)

Test to make sure blog is working

Posted on by

I did some updates to the blog and now I cannot post to it from the desktop blog editor I use. I have been on chat for 90 minutes with a BlueHost tech to resolve the issue. BlueHost is the webhosting company that I use. This particular problem has happened before, and despite my supplying the tech with the error messages and what happened in the past, he couldn’t fix things. (Don’t worry about what the issue is, this is merely an attempt on my part to see if I can at least post while directly logged in. If you can read this, then I was successful.

Now is NOT the time for me to be unable to write!

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!!)

Introducing the Sober Catholic Coffee mug and Rosary case!

Posted on by

In an effort to increase revenue and support my overall Sober Catholic apostolate, I have opened a Fine Arts America shop on their Pixels website.

What is “Fine Arts America (FAA)” and “Pixels?” FAA is an online place where graphic artists can upload images which are then placed upon products. Anything from coffee mugs, stickers, phone covers, wall tapestries, and so forth. Pixels is an FAA storefront; most purchases are done through there. My wife has been doing this for years and I finally am getting involved. I am learning some graphics software (Affinity Publisher, Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer. I’ve already used them in making those yellow and blue social media posts promoting my new book, “The Sober Catholic Way” that you’ve hopefully seen on my various social media channels. As I become more proficient with the Affinity software, I will create more stuff.)

And here it is! Introducing the official Sober Catholic Coffee Mug! Imagine drinking your hot, deelish coffee (or tea or hot chocolate!) in a mug with the logo of your favorite Catholic sobriety and spirituality blog!!! Just click on the words or the image below! You can even customze the color! Blue, brown, yellow, green, whatever you prefer! It also comes in two sizes: “Small” is 11 oz, while “Large” is 15oz! 

Sober catholic logo sobercatholic transparent.png.

 

Next up is the and the official Sober Catholic Rosary Case! At 6”x4” this is perfect to keep your Rosary and even Divine Mercy Chaplet handy! And like the mug, you can customize the color! Click on the image below of the words in the first sentence of this paragraph. White is the default…

.

..but you can also order it in blue (Mama Mary’s favorite color!)

 

 

I do hope you patronize my store and buy a mug or two (or three) and to rosary case (which is technically a “zippered pouch.”) Christmas is on its way and these would make nice gifts! There are more products that these two, but I thought I’d lead off with posting about these. There is also a Sober Catholic Throw Pillow and a Sober Catholic Tote Bag, for example. But I’ll “go on about those” on other social media.

Thank you and may God Bless you! 

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

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

Ghosts of the Apocalypse on Kindle Vella is LIVE and awaiting you!

Posted on by

Well, it’s done! My first piece of published fiction has gone live on Amazon’s Kindle Vella serial self-publishing platform! You can get it here: Ghosts of the Apocalypse on Kindle Vella.

It is Episode 1 (or ‘first installment’) of… offhand I don’t know how many episodes it’ll be. Probably around 20.

 

The first ten episodes are free, to unlock anymore afterwards, you have to buy tokens, but they are not expensive. I would be very grateful if you would at least follow the story and read the first ten (they should appear every 1-2 days; it is a serial format) and ‘follow’ the story, as well as ‘like’ it, any maybe even comment on it (constructive criticism/suggestions are welcome.) And perhaps, if you like it, continue to support it by buying the tokens need to unlock the premium ones.

This is my entry in the Kindle Vellys, a fiction contest. First place is $25,000, second is $10,000 with a nmber of $1,000 also rans. I doubt I’ll win, given the criteria for becoming one of the 25 semifinalists, but miracles do happen!

Thank you!

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

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

My fiction debut

Posted on by

Sometime later this evening (Monday July 29th) I should upload the first “episode” of my Kindle Vella serial, “Ghosts of the Apocalypse” unless I have a panic attack. The title is subject to change, the current one is the third or fourth version. The first version was “A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Spaceport,” which I changed to “The Trains Were Still Running the Day the World Ended,” because nothing funny actually happened to my protagonist on the way to the spaceport. I changed it to “The Trains…” because it’s evocative of a mood, but decided on “Ghosts of the Apocalypse” because that’s more encompassing of the plot and trains don’t factor in as much as I thought. It was called very briefly ‘The Odd Thing That Happened to Me on the Way to the Spaceport,” but it didn’t last because it’s just dumb. 

Kindle Vella is an initiative of Amazon that began about two years ago. It features episodic, serial fiction. Writers can upload stories with a minimum of  500 words (or is it 600?, I don’t care ‘cos I won’t be having episodes that brief) and a maximum of 5,000 per episode. The number of episodes is up to the writer. Mine may be 15-20 episodes of an average of 3,000 words each. 

Why am I boring you to tears with these details? Because I’m freaking out and this comforts me. This is an historic moment for me on a personal level. This will be my first piece of published fiction, ever. I  have always has aspirations of writing. I wrote and submitted terrible short stories to all the major science-fiction magazines way back in the 1980s. They were mercifully rejected. One never even merited a rejection letter. I guess they thought it was so bad that they weren’t going to waste postage on telling me so.  In 1991 I moved to Southern California to hopefully become a writer for television. I even submitted a script for “Star Trek: the Next Generation,” but it was rejected. I piddled with a few more but but never submitted them and then alcohol happened and I gave up writing for almost a decade. (The stereotype of writers is that they drink a lot. When I wrote, I didn’t drink. When I began drinking, I gave up writing. When I gave up drinking, I returned to writing. I sometimes do things backwards, I guess.)

I never entertained thoughts that my writing would be a Catholic spirituality blog along with devotional booklets. No, I was going to be a beloved writer of soft sci-fi novels and stories, and maybe a bunch of Star Trek episodes, to boot! But, no. Not that I am resentful. I never gave up the dream and have been working on miscellaneous pieces for the past 10+ years. 

Until a couple of weeks ago when my wife found out about the Kindle Vellys. 

It’s a writing contest. Unlike most contests where a group of judges read and analyze contest entries and select a winner, the Vellys are a popularity contest. The top 25 most popular stories based on subscription rates and other reader engagement metrics become finalists and then the judges read those. First place is $25,000. I think second place is $10,000 and there’s a bunch of $1,000 also-rans. 

I doubt I’ll get anywhere near the top 25 (which is why I’m fuzzy on the not-first-place prize monies) never having written a Vella story before; I am assuming the more experienced writers who have a following already have the advantage. 

But it isn’t gonna hurt for me to try. If I enjoy the experience, as well as the engagement (a key strategy in raising the visibility of your story is the writer engaging with their readers through the comment section. Readers can reply to the story, and writers respond) then I may continue with additional stories (I have many in various states of incompletion that may make for decent serials.) 

How is money earned? The writer gets paid royalties from the readers purchasing of tokens to unlock the episodes (the first 10 episodes are free, starting with the 11th, you gotta pay to read the rest of it.) I have not heard of anyone getting rich off of writing Vella stories. But, thirty days after the story is marked “completed,” I can package it up as a book and upload it to Amazon KDP ebook and paperback. But, if this is viable, it may prove to have decent revenue. Especially since I can “double dip” from Vella royalties and royalties on the book versions (which, I think, can be edited versions of the Vella. This story may approach novel-length, but it will juuuuuuuuuussssssssssst make the 40,000 word count that makes a story a novel. So, I may revise the serialized version after the contest is over. 

I would love to get your support. After I upload each episode, I will announce it here, and across my social media accounts. If you woud be so kind as to read each episode and make nice comments to boost the engagement metrics, I would love you all until the Second Coming and then some. The first ten episodes are free, and then you’ll have to buy tokens to get the rest, but  they’re not that expensive.  See:

So, if my story is 20 episodes, all you need to pay is $0.99 to unlock the episodes after the 10th. If it lasts longer than 20, it’ll cost you another $0.99 to get 10 more (I seriously doubt my story will be much longer than 20ish eps. So, you may have to spend $1.98 on me. I’m worth a buck ninety-eight? Right? Yes? Sniff. I think the writer’s royalties are 50% of the tokens purchased to unlock their episodes. (I’m focusing on the $25,000 prize money for First Place. The ordinary details I’ll figure out later.)

Anyway, it’s almost 2AM where I live and I must wrap this post up and go to bed. Or watch TV for a bit. But I’m done with the computer for now. Tomorrow, I’l reread a few times the first episode, make any needed changes and upload it. Check back here later tomorrow, or if you follow me or Sober Catholic on social media. If you scroll down these Pages: About me and About this blog, all my social media account are listed where I post blog updates and the Vella announcements.

Thanks, I really would appreciate the support.

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!!)

Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena to save my parish from closure

Posted on by

ATTENTION: THIS IS REALLY LONG BUT IT WOULD MEAN A LOT TO ME IF YOU’D READ THE WHOLE POST. I’M NOT ASKING FOR MONEY, JUST ATTENTION FOR SOMETHING PLEEEEEAAASSSE?????

This upcoming Saturday the 22nd of June my wife and I (and numerous others) will be starting a Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena to save our parish from closure.

We live in the Diocese of Buffalo and about six dozen parishes are recommended for closure due to the aging priesthood and an insufficient number of men coming into the priesthood. There is also an additional factor: the diocese had to declare bankruptcy to protect its assets from the numerous lawsuits stemming from the sex abuse scandal. The past 2, perhaps 3, Bishops of Buffalo failed to adequately protect young boys and girls from sexual predators in the priesthood. And so now these parishes will also be sold to pay the victims who sued the diocese.

I hope the fires of Hell burn a lot hotter for those unrepentant Catholic priests who couldn’t keep their hands off of boys and girls. Please note that I am NOT wishing Hell on anyone, this is why I said “unrepentant.” Unrepented and unconfessed mortal sins earn the guilty eternal hellfire. God’s mercy will indeed cover those priests who were sincere in repenting and confessing their sins, which I believe to be mortal. Perhaps a few could claim mitigating factors such as mental health problems or addictions, but given the deliberate nature of their actions and their duration, plus the lack of accountability by the Bishops, I think only a small few can be excused in that manner. 

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph1857:

For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”

I find it difficult to believe that priests guilty of sexual crimes against others, especially children, are not covered by all three. 

So anyway, a  hundred thousand or so Catholics in the Diocese of Buffalo will be losing their parishes because vocations were rarely nurtured and priests who were sexual predators. 

Now we come to my parish, St. Bernadette’s. “St. Bernies” is strong, vibrant and growing. Almost every month the bulletin lists dozens and dozens of new parishioners. There are active ministries. There is Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. The collection pulls in in excess of $20,000 every week. It is not in debt and pays all its bills. Every weekend over 1,000 people attend the three Masses (1 Saturday Vigil and 2 Sunday morning.) This is not common amongst parishes diocese-wide. There is no reason to close it. It is 2 miles from one other parish and about 5 from another, but those are in good condition, too, and hardly need the addition of our parish’s members. Besides, if St. Bernadette’s were to close it would add thousands of people to those two churches and there would still need to be three priests to serve those two, so the point in closing St. Bernadette’s is lost: there wouldn’t be a saving in priestly postings.

Our priest did mention that the diocese might be in error, that the data attributed to our parish might actually belong to a failing parish, but who knows? My brilliant wife is looking over some publicly available data in the Diocesan Directory and she’s found additional numbers that cast serious doubt on the sanity of the decision to recommend closure.

Note that the diocese is only recommending these parishes for closure; the affected parishes can offer a counterproposal to the plan. If accepted, they’re saved, if rejected, they’re not. Our priest and parish staff will be working overtime to work out a counterproposal.

(Incidentally, we love our priest. He looks like Jesus, plus in every homily he fondly mentions his Mom and Rome (or Italy. I’ve never heard so much stuff about Rome in homilies. He puts the ROMAN in Roman Catholic.))

So I thought of (or the Blessed Mother put it in my brain, or perhaps St. Bernadette) saying a Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena. I wrote the following and our priest approved it for distribution in the church:

ATTENTION ALL PARISHIONERS

OF ST. BERNADETTE’S:

PLEASE JOIN IN A

“Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena to Save St. Bernadette’s.”

***June 22-August 14***

 

We all love St. Bernadette’s and will be distraught over her closing, should that happen. To help prevent this, we are calling upon the powers of Heaven and Our Lady to help keep our parish open, if that be God’s will. Let’s all join together in reciting a Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena! We can pray as individuals in ‘spiritual communion’ with each other, or together in groups in the church, our homes or over Zoom/Google Meet, etc.

The Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena originated in the late 19th century in Naples, Italy, when a young girl suffering from an illness thought to be incurable prayed to Our Lady for help. Mary appeared to her and promised her healing if she prayed three novenas. The girl did so, and was miraculously healed. In a later apparition, Mary specified that the full prayer should have 3 novenas in petition, and 3 novenas in thanksgiving.

OUR NOVENA TO SAVE OUR PARISH WILL BEGIN ON SATURDAY JUNE 22nd SO AS TO END ON AUGUST 14th, the day before they begin to announce the final decisions on closings. August 14th is important because it’s the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, WHO HAD A GREAT DEVOTION TO ST. BERNADETTE AND OUR LADY OF LOURDES!!!

How to pray the Novena:

The novena consists of five decades of the Rosary (one set of mysteries) each day for twenty-seven consecutive days in petition; then immediately five decades each day for an additional twenty-seven consecutive days in thanksgiving, regardless of whether or not the request has been granted yet.

The first day of the novena always begins with the Joyful Mysteries (regardless of what day of the week the novena is started); the second day, the Sorrowful Mysteries are prayed; and the third day of the novena, the Glorious Mysteries are prayed. The fourth day of the novena starts all over with the Joyful, etc. and continues on in that sequence (Joyful-Sorrowful-Glorious) throughout the 54 days of the novena. The Luminous Mysteries aren’t included only because they did not exist when Our Lady taught this novena to the girl.

There are special additional prayers to begin and conclude it during all the days of petition and thanksgiving, as well as at the end of each decade. Here are two links with the instructions and prayers:

The Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena and How to Pray the 54 Day Rosary Novena (NOTE TO MY READERS: on the sheet, the URLs were spelled out. Obviously a link wouldn’t work and I didn’t know how to convert one to a QR code (the instructions are on my phone somewhere but I lacked the time to figure it out. Hence the next sentence:)

OR JUST DO A WEB SEARCH FOR “HOW TO PRAY THE 54 DAY ROSARY NOVENA” it’s essentially the same at any source
.

BACK TO MY READERS: My wife and I already know of several of our online friends who say they’ll join us in saying this Novena, which is awesome as they’ve never even been to western New York much less our parish!

WILL YOU JOIN IN, ALSO? I get  A LOT OF BLOG INSPIRATION while at my Holy Hours in the parish’s Perpetual Adoration Chapel, so you’ll kind of be helping Sober Catholic!

Yes, I know the Diocese of Buffalo isn’t alone in this. There are quite a lot of other diocese in the same position. So, if you refrain from helping out because of that, I’d understand. But still, I’d really appreciate it if you’d rise above rejecting help just because you’re not in this Diocese. I don’t think it would be inappropriate at all for you to add an additional, personal intention to the “Save Paulcoholic’s St. Bernadette Parish” petition! So there could be something in it for you! OH!!!!! If you want, you can email me or post in the comments the personal intentions that you might add; I’ll copy and paste them onto a doc and keep them on my phone and pray about them in front of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Bernie’s Adoration Chapel and before or after Mass.

Thanks!

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!!)

Happy 22nd Soberversary to me! Help me celebrate!

Posted on by

On this day in 2002, I had my last drunk. I have conflicting memories of what happened (I may have to search through old blog posts of prior soberversaries, but even in those I recall not completely recalling events.) At any rate, it’s of no consequence any more. Twenty-two years and everyone involved in my life back then is either dead or disappeared. Sorrow for the former, good riddance (mostly) for the latter. We move on and consign the past to God’s mercy.

If you would like to help me celebrate, you can buy my books. I have a new one out now entitled “The Sober Catholic Way.”  It has a page which I keep updated as to its availabiity.

“The Sober Catholic Way” helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety. Drawn from nearly two decades of blogging at SoberCatholic.com, “The Sober Catholic Way” shows the importance of the sacraments, the Bible, the Catechism and other books. It continues on with the various ways one can “live” out Catholicism by nurturing devotions to the Sacred Heart, Blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints. All of these contribute to sobriety as well as one’s spiritual progression!

00000 TSCWBookCover.

Discover the importance of the Real Presence, the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, St. Joseph, St. Therese (the “Little Flower”) and Matt Talbot. You’ll get ideas on how to apply the Beatitudes, the Divine Mercy Message, as well as learning about the Apparitions of Our Lady at Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima and how they can guide one’s life.

“The Sober Catholic Way” is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. This book does not guarantee anything, but doing these things have helped the author keep his sobriety intact since May 22, 2002. Will he ever drink again? Quite unlikely, but the tools to help recover from a relapse are in every chapter! The love and mercy of God is everlasting and endless!

It is currently available through Amazon on Amazon Kindle, as well as a paperback: click here to buy as a paperback.

It is also now available at numerous other ebook retailers like Apple Books and Barnes and Noble. For others, just go here and click on the logo of your fave online bookshop.

UntitledImage 8.

And there are my two classic Sober Catholic Books: The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics:

…is a book that is rooted in an ancient Catholic devotion. It is intended to assist Catholics and other Christians finddeeper meaning in their struggles with alcoholism, by connecting the oftentimes hard road of sobriety with Jesus’ suffering road to His Crucifixion. The reader sees that their old alcoholic ‘self’ is being led to the Cross and the joy of eventual resurrection of a new sober self can follow. Whether they are still drinking and struggling, or have been sober for many years and still have difficulties coping with sobriety, this book should help readers maintain that sobriety.

and “The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts” which:

UntitledImage 7.

helps people to reflect on their recovery and relationships with others, and ultimately with Jesus Himself. 

Whether people are still struggling with their addictions, or have been clean and sober for a few weeks, months, or years, the reflections will lead them to meditate on the spiritual growth they have achieved so far.

It takes a time-honored prayer and brings it into a useful format for people to pause and reflect on their recovery, their relationships with others, and ultimately with Jesus Himself. Whether people are still struggling with their addictions, or have been clean and sober for a few weeks or months, or many years, the reflections for each Mystery of the Rosary will help them meditate on the spiritual growth they have achieved so far. Over the years, their thoughts on each meditation may change, depending on “where they’re at” in their recovery journey.

Click on those links (or the ones at the bottom of the post) to find out where you can get them.

I have one last book, it isn’t intended for people in recovery, rather for Catholic creatives. However, and this thought ocurred to me today, if you have been clean and sober for a while, and wonder what to do with yourself, then:

The Catholicpunk Manifesto may be the book for you! You’ve ‘fixed’ yourself, maybe you can help fix the culture!

0000 GOODCOVER.

The Catholicpunk Manifesto is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

“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).

To quote from the Manifesto:

 “…a literary and artistic form that seeks to make use of Catholic Social Teachings to lead the world away from the cliff of self-destruction it   is heading towards. It is a literary and artistic movement I am proposing that envisions a society ordered according to Catholic Social  Teachings (CST), particularly incorporating the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, the Sermon on the Mount; as well as any political and economic forms that might be imaginatively derived from CST, such as Christian Democracy, Catholic Monarchism, Subsidiarism and Solidarism, or a host of so-called ‘fringe’ ideas.”

“The preponderance of suggesting non-conventional political and economic forms is primarily due to the ongoing failure and collapse of conventional political and economic forms.”

“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 an funnel CST and other elements into artistic works designed to inspire people and give them a way out.”

Interested? It’s available as an ebook through Amazon KDP! Don’t like ebooks? Here’s the paperback version link! It is also available as an ebook through Apple Books, Barnes and Noble and Kobo!

“Creatives of Catholicism, unite! You have everything to gain, especially souls!”

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 Sober Catholic Way is available as a paperback!!!

Posted on by

The Sober Catholic Way is now available as a paperback! Amazon just approved my latest book as a traditional book book (as opposed to an e book 😉 ) and you can buy it right here!

00000 TSCWBookCover.

 

“The Sober Catholic Way” helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety. Drawn from nearly two decades of blogging at SoberCatholic.com, “The Sober Catholic Way” shows the importance of the sacraments, the Bible, the Catechism and other books. It continues on with the various ways one can “live” out Catholicism by nurturing devotions to the Sacred Heart, Blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints. All of these contribute to sobriety as well as one’s spiritual progression!

Discover the importance of the Real Presence, the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, St. Joseph, St. Therese (the “Little Flower”) and Matt Talbot. You’ll get ideas on how to apply the Beatitudes, the Divine Mercy Message, as well as learning about the Apparitions of Our Lady at Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima and how they can guide one’s life.”

Get a paperback! You can take it with you anywhere! Actually, you can do the same with the ebook, but there’s just something about the feel of paper in your hands. 

It is also available through these other fine online retailers.

 

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 Sober Catholic Way will soon be available in paperback!!!

Posted on by

The paperback edition of my latest Sober Catholic Book, “The Sober Catholic Way,” has been uploaded to Amazon and Draft2Digital. When they pass review (should be just a couple of days, if that.) I will update The Sober Catholic Way page.

00000 TSCWBookCover.

 

“The Sober Catholic Way” helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety. Drawn from nearly two decades of blogging at SoberCatholic.com, “The Sober Catholic Way” shows the importance of the sacraments, the Bible, the Catechism and other books. It continues on with the various ways one can “live” out Catholicism by nurturing devotions to the Sacred Heart, Blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints. All of these contribute to sobriety as well as one’s spiritual progression!

Discover the importance of the Real Presence, the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, St. Joseph, St. Therese (the “Little Flower”) and Matt Talbot. You’ll get ideas on how to apply the Beatitudes, the Divine Mercy Message, as well as learning about the Apparitions of Our Lady at Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima and how they can guide one’s life.

“The Sober Catholic Way” is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. This book does not guarantee anything, but doing these things have helped the author keep his sobriety intact since May 22, 2002. Will he ever drink again? Quite unlikely, but the tools to help recover from a relapse are in every chapter! The love and mercy of God is everlasting and endless!”

It is currently available as an ebook through Amazon, as well as through these other fine ebook retailers.

 

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!!)