Category Archives: Me

Blogging!

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OK, this isn’t an apology for not having blogged in six weeks or so. I have been busy with things, namely the usual stuff like home life and day job… but also I’ve been getting lost in my reading. In no order of importance I’ve been engrossed in a second reading of “Story of a Soul” by St. Therese of Lisieux, which lead me to order and begin reading numerous other books containing her writings, letters and poetry. I have a much better understanding of her “Doctrine of the Little Way,” which has inspired be to cobble some notes for Sober Catholic blogposts. The Little Way is an intrinsic part of “Sober Catholic” recovery, and followers of the Matt Talbot Way of Sobriety use it. But I haven’t talked about it nearly as much as I should have, but once I organize the notes there should be a few posts on it.

I also have been reading the inspirational and spiritual writings of Mother Angelica (EWTNs Foundress.) Specifically, her Doctrine of the Present Moment. Mental notes have been compiled for posts here on that. The Doctrine of the Present Moment can be a critical and essential survival mechanism for people in recovery. It will go a long way towards healing memories and alleviating fears and anxieties of the future.

When these posts will be published is up in the air, but they will be written.

I’ve dived into other books, but those by St. Therese and Mother Angelica had been foremost among them. But reading has taken up quite a lot of time and hence I hadn’t been here at all.

One thing I have been thinking is whether I should continue blogging; that perhaps this is self-serving and if it is truly God’s Will that I blog, then perhaps I’d be doing it more. But one thing I’ve discerned about God’s Will is that “productivity” is a human virtue. Granted, there have been countless saints who have been “productive” by human standards as a direct result of following His Will, but I think I’ve been thinking of “productivity” more along the lines of its human virtues.

The fact that I sat up in bed during the 3AM hour thinking “Today is the Ember Wednesday in Advent! and I forgot to write about it for the blog like I promised back in September is perhaps proof that I am in fact a blogger. That I am blogging early-ish in the morning on a work day, when I should be doing my morning prayers (they were interrupted, some had to be done before blogging to start the morning with God) and having breakfast is perhaps more proof. A few weeks from now will mark my 12th Bloggaversary, so that may be another indication. So, yeah, I’ll be doing this until they pry a computer from my cold, dead hands…

NOTE: I’ve backdated this post so that the one on Ember Wednesday in Advent appears as the most recent for now.

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

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

November is here!

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November is my favorite month. Mainly because of The Feasts of All Saints on November 1st and All Souls on November 2nd and the general trend in the Church’s liturgical readings in the Mass and Divine Office on Christ’s Coming (First and Second).

This leads to November being considered the “month of the dead”. While some may find that rather gruesome and macabre, I do not. I like November and its focus on the dead because of the reminder that what is around us is not the whole story, and that something greater lies beyond our reach. But not forever. We too, shall cross over to what lies beyond, and we should always be mindful of our death.

November and its associations with the dead also help me to connect with my loved ones that have died. They do not seem so far away. My Mom died in November (2005) and her death shattered my life, but out of that wreckage came a new life for me. My Dad died years earlier in 1995, and I find that I am becoming more like him in some ways (namely Catholicy). There are others hopefully in Heaven or Purgatory, and I think about them often.

Anyway, with November here there shall be a slight change in focus here at this blog. I mentioned this last year: Slight change in direction for Sober Catholic I didn’t follow up much on that, but will plan to, at least for this month. This is one of a number of posts from my old “death blog” that I will edit and republish here.

So, have a Good November, everyone. (May that salutation be likened to a wish for a happy death. (A “Happy Death” in Catholicism is a death in which you end up in Heaven.)

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!!)

DON’T LEAVE JESUS BECAUSE OF JUDAS

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This post is difficult but it is a must-write. It is later than other current posts in the Catholic blogosphere on the crisis-scandal in the Church involving Bishops and priests and their evil sexual behavior with minors and seminarians (and probably with each other) going back decades, including cover-ups. Seems like every Catholic with a blog has posted on it. That is no matter. This is a mostly a personal blog, not a news/opinion piece and so I needn’t be “timely.” I won’t expound on the details, you’ve probably heard enough about them from other sources.

What this post as about is on how people will react to the crisis. Namely, “How can I remain a member of the Catholic Church after all of this?”

I won’t deny the difficulty. Although the thought had never crossed my mind about leaving the Church that Jesus Christ Himself founded, I am aware that the faith of many has been shaken,

This bothers me for a number of reasons; for to me, when a person leaves the Catholic Church, it is often because they are unaware of what they are leaving. If you truly understood what the Church is, you would never, ever, consider leaving. No matter what this Pope or that Bishop or those priests have done.

I understand that staying may be hard, especially if you’ve been hurt by the Church (whether by sexual abuse or some other manner.) We are all human and have our limits of pain tolerance. Sometimes you do need to leave something for a while, especially if you were betrayed or hurt in some fundamental way.

But where would you go? Do other churches have what the Catholic Church has: all Seven Sacraments instituted by Christ? Were those churches founded by Him, or by mere humans? How could those churches “feed” you? While Jesus may be “spiritually present” (“whenever 2 or 3 are gathered in My Name, there I am…”), He is not physically present in them, like He is in the Eucharist. Can their ministers absolve you of your sins?

As I said a few paragraphs above, I understand and can appreciate why people might leave. Sometimes we get frustrated beyond a point that can be tolerated. “Don’t the Bishops understand? Don’t they get it?” we scream. And in our hurt and rage and pain we walk.

But to do that means leaving Jesus because of Judas. Jesus Christ is really, truly present in the Catholic Church. His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity is Really Present in the Eucharist; He established the Church when He gave the Keys of the Kingdom to Peter and the power of binding and loosing to him and the other Apostles. And He promised that He will be with Her until the end, adding a guarantee that the “gates of Hell” will “never prevail.”

Another analogy is those disciples of Christ who left Him after the Bread of Life discourse in John 6. His teachings on His Body and Blood were “too hard,” and so they left. Where else would they go? Who else has the words of eternal life?

Same for His Church. Who else was entrusted with safeguarding His teachings as well as those of the Apostles?

All of that sounds nice and wonderful and so on, but it might seem too abstract and academic and not nuts and bolts everyday ‘real.’ Fine. But understand that those in the hierarchy and priesthood who have committed these sins are like Judas the Traitor. Don’t let him determine which church you belong to.

Would you really leave the Catholic Church because of these Judases? What about the other members of the Church, those in the Church Triumphant? They were members also: the Church Fathers and Doctors, other great and holy Saints, the good Popes and so on. Their example is to be outweighed by the Judases?

But, you say, “What about the scandals? The corruption?”

Yes, what about them?

I can be trite and say that no other church is perfect; that all churches have their share of corruption and scandal. The Catholic Church is no different; but here’s the challenging fact: there has never been a time in Her history when the Church hasn’t been riven with some form of scandal or corruption.

“What?” says you. “That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

Well, yes, in a way. In a weird sense it’s proof of the Church’s divine origins; for while the Church has had heresies and corruption and scandals and schisms and all other sorts of things afflicting it that would make a mere human organization collapse into a footnote in some history textbook, the Catholic Church is still here. Throw in wars, rebellions, revolutions and plague, while we’re at it! (And oftentimes lousy leadership!) The Catholic Church has survived Her own history, a history that would have destroyed any other organization. The fact that it is divine in Her origins helps make up for Her human composition.

You know, humans, creatures of a Fallen nature, prone to sin and evil.

Like you. Like me.

Those that are in the Church and are guilty of the crimes reported are followers of Judas. They will go to their own reward unless they repent. And speaking of who else dwells in the place of that particular reward, the scandals and corruption seem to me proof that Satan himself knows which Church is the One True Faith, for it would be that very Church which would suffer the most targeted and evil demonic attacks. (More on that in a follow-up post; this won’t be the only piece I write on this.)

Seriously think about it if you have left or are considering leaving. Pray long and hard. In fact, if you can, go and visit the Blessed Sacrament. Many churches have hours of Eucharistic Adoration; if not, go to a church after a Mass and just pray before the Blessed Sacrament reposed in the sanctuary.

See what answers you get. Oh, and can you do that in another church?

To repeat: I get the pain, the rage, and the betrayal. I understand the attractiveness of leaving. But allowing yourself to be influenced by the deeds of a sinful group of men and and having that outweigh the wealth of the Church’s history in the Communion of Saints, Her Sacraments… and the Presence of Jesus… I don’t know. I wouldn’t. Perhaps depart for a while, maybe. But then the temptation to stay away would only grow.

I said in the first sentence that this post is a “must-write.” When you consider that I began Sober Catholic in 2007 in part to help stem the loss of Catholics to other churches due to their exposure to indifferentism in Twelve Step meetings; yeah, I had to write it!

DISCLAIMER: I have never been abused by anyone in the Church. Nor has any parish that I was a member of ever been closed by the Bishop due to priestly shortages and changed demographics. So, you can say it’s easy for me to remain faithful. It is incorrect to state that I haven’t been hurt by the scandals. I see a Church hierarchy “out-of-touch” with the laity. (Perhaps there needs to be more dioceses to reduce the population in each, thereby making the Bishops “closer” to the people. I do not see this happening, at all.) But I do “get it” regarding the attractiveness of leaving. But I beg you to seriously think about it. It is not a light decision; your immortal soul depends upon it.

Comments are closed; attempts to get around that by commenting on other posts will get those comments deleted.

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!!)

How are the four daily Rosaries coming along?

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About a month ago I posted about reciting Four Daily Rosaries so that the Blessed Virgin Mary can assist with your needs. I state the intention in the following manner: “Blessed Mother (or Momma Mary or some other affectionate reference) this is the (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th,) Rosary I’m saying today so that your intentions regarding my intentions and needs come true.”

It has been awesome. For one thing, it hasn’t been difficult. Prayer manipulates time; time seems to expand to accommodate prayer life, I always seem to have the time to say them. The Rosary only takes 15-20 minutes, saying all four then takes maybe an hour to an hour and a quarter. You needn’t say them all in a row, you can break them up over the day. Twenty minutes here, twenty minutes there. You waste that much with mindless crap all the time, fill it up with a Rosary instead!

I won’t say that I am perfect as a result; that I walk around all serene and holy and whatnot. I do feel different, though. More strength and fortitude to deal with life’s junk. More faith in Divine Providence. I feel closer to Our Lord and Lady.

This is just after a month; I can only imagine the cumulative effect over time!

By the way, I haven’t missed a day, either! (Not boasting, just stating facts.)

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!!)

This side of paradise

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I blogged a few months ago about my decision to start attending a “Traditional Latin Mass,” or the “Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite,” to refer to it by its proper name. This post may repeat some of the points I made then, so bear with me.

This post also further explains my recent blogging disappearance. Why would a Mass affect one’s blogging? Because I have become almost obsessed, nay, call it addicted to learning the rubrics (the “rules” of how to offer a liturgy) of the Latin Mass and thus have spent hours poring over Latin Mass websites, or Facebook Groups on Catholic Tradition and liturgy, or digesting the “words in red” in the Missal I use. As the saying goes, “Say the black, do the red,” the black being the prayers and readings recited, while the red in missals and breviarys are the directions or instructions as to what is supposed to be going on and what to do. I’m finding this stuff fascinating. The Missal that I use is the St. Andrew Daily Missal. I’m finding the “words in red” to be not just instructional, but informative as to the deeper religious and spiritual meaning of what is going on. This isn’t always the case in the more recent liturgical books. As I said elsewehere, “‘Ritual’ is also the hidden word in spiRITUALity,” and my “spiritual progress” since attending the Extraordinary Form has improved.

Why have I become so affected by the Latin Mass? It is uplifting. The beauty of it, even when said simply, is awesome. I feel disconnected from the outside world. This is what the Mass is supposed to do for you: when you first walk into a Catholic Church, you should feel different. You should feel that you have left the secular world and have entered into an extension of Heaven. And the Mass that is offered should take you further away from the world outside. Otherworldiness…. and I just can’t get over the notion that all my favorite saints celebrated or attended this same Latin rite.

Although I do believe that the Mass imposed since 1970 is valid and licit, there is too much of a discontinuity with the Ancient Rite; the closest that I’ve experienced in the Ordinary Form that compares to the Traditional Mass is when the former is said by a pious priest more attentive to the rubrics and to the proper worship of God than he is to making certain that the people are entertained or are totally incredible for being there.

The Mass is about the right and proper worship due the Lord; it is not about us.

I’ll just leave you with that…

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!!)

blogging disappearance

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For a variety of reasons I took an unplanned and unintended vacation from blogging here. It’s been over 5 weeks since my last post, that one on “Should a Catholic attend AA meetings? I heard they’re bad…”. I just approved a few comments, so if you had written one, sorry it took so long to get a round tuit.

No big reasons for the disappearance, apart from a desire to distance myself from online life (which I should not afflict this blog with) and I have been rereading the classic book “Mystical City of God,” by the Venerable Mary of Agreda. There have been other books to that I’m reading. A heat wave a few weeks ago also sapped energy and desire. Not a great excuse, but that’s what I’m running with now. (St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe would be extrememly unhappy with me, if I was one of his friars.)

Expect a few posts soon. (Maybe today!)

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!!)

Should a Catholic attend AA meetings? I heard they’re bad…

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I have long been meaning to write a post on the subject title; it was finally inspired by a question in a Traditional Latin Mass Group on Facebook. I deposited my two cents and the following is an edited copy-and-paste of my reply (along with some additional thoughts not included in the Facebook reply):

Attending AA meetings is fine as long as you remain strong in your Faith and study it and the resources the Church offers to strengthen you against temptations to drink (as well as other inordinate desires.) There are links in the sidebar which can direct to resources to help you learn more about the Faith.

Most people who bash AA are unaware of the Catholic assistance and influence that existed in early AA ; the 12 Steps were developed with the help of a Jesuit (when they were still Catholic 😉 ) and are similar to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. Also, they are loosely written enough to be applicable to people of all religious and spiritual traditions, so that you can very easily Catholicize them and reinterpret any ambiguous spirituality they contain that you regard as disagreeable.

“But, they mention ‘Higher Power!!’ ‘God of my understanding’!!! That’s pagan! New Age!!!”

“No, it isn’t. Just generic terms for any power greater than you. My HP is Jesus. There are probably more non-Catholics and other Christians who are alcoholics than there are followers of Jesus, this accommodates them. Just switch it to Jesus and be kind. Everyone is on a spiritual journey; who knows how the Holy Spirit leads one to the Truth?”

My advice, and this comes from someone who is over 16 years sober, (and who also has written this blog for over 11 years) is if you have a problem with alcohol, go to AA. Do the “90 meetings in 90 days” routine (you’ll hear and be exposed to anything you’ll ever hear about alcoholism from AA’s perspective for pretty much every life situation that you once needed to drink over) and get the basic literature. Then decide whether you wish to continue. I advise sticking with it for a year, then go as needed or not at all. (I find online recovery works well, in addition to keeping you somewhat better insulated against non-Catholic spirituality. For that, I recommend In the Rooms. My profile: Paulcoholic on ITR.)

The “basic literature” that I suggest is the “Big Book,” aka “Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th edition,” and “12 and 12″” aka the “The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.” Also, get the book “Experience, Strength and Hope,” which contains classic personal stories from earlier editions of the Big Book no longer included in the current. “Daily Reflections” is a collection of 366 daily meditations written by alkies for alkies. “Living Sober” is another essential book, containing essays for ‘living sober;’ advice gleaned from AA meetings and other AA literature for keeping sober in many situations. I would also like to include “As Bill Sees It,” a collection of thoughts and excerpts from the writings of AA’s co-founder, Bill Wilson. All of these can be ordered from aa.org

“But, some of the stories and stuff are written by people who are…”

“Oh, knock it off. Take what’s useful and leave the rest. ‘They’ just might say THAT ONE THING you need to hear that will keep you from the drink. Jesus dined with hookers and government types, are you better than Him?”

I wrote the following paragraph in that Facebook reply namely in anticipation of attacks on AA membership. While I no longer attend AA meetings, they are useful and helpful for those who need them. Anyway, I expected some attacks (none serious so far at the time of the drafting of this post) and added this:

Incidentally, and before I get flamed for speaking in defense of AA, the reason why I started the Sober Catholic blog is to help Catholics with addictions to discover what the Church offers to assist them and also to help “keep them Catholic.” For I have discovered many Catholics leaving the Church due to exposure to AA spirituality. (They weren’t strong Catholics to begin with: weak in their Faith, they drifted away affected by moral relativism. Sober Catholic hopes to stem the tide, even in a small way. Actually, I have found that the organization “Celebrate Recovery” to be a more insidious threat.)

A strong Catholic Faith, the basic AA lit for when you need something directly applied to alcoholism, meetings if and when you need them, and you can be free from the drink.

(I sobered up in the rooms of AA, but have NOT been a regular meeting goer since 2004. Since then it’s just been once in a while. But my last live, face-to-face meeting was in 2014. So, AA “isn’t needed,” but you do need to be deep in the Church and sacraments. But I did find that my own Catholic interpretation of AAs spirituality was essential and invaluable. Everything just gets filtered through my Catholic lens.)

Regarding attacks on AA: There is lots of misinformation out there from people with an axe to grind. Perhaps they (or someone they know) was hurt by AA (no organization of people is perfect, we’re all sinners and things can get out of control. Even the Church has hurt people. No reason to leave it. Although it’s understandable, at least for a while.)

But I’ve seen whacko sites accusing AA of being pagan, New Age, a cult, all sorts of things. It can be, but that might be just local conditions here and there. There was a document from Rome put out in the early 00s listing Twelve Step movements of being damaging; the writer knew zilch about AA, the work was poorly researched (at least as to including AA. Spot on about other things.)

But in general, AA (or any 12 Step Group) isn’t a threat to anyone’s Catholicism if their Faith is deep, and if not, like I said above, they should apply themselves to learning the Faith with the same dedication they apply themselves to learning the 12 Steps. After you’ve gotten them down and learn to live by them, they make a nice accompaniment to living by the Gospel and Beatitudes and taking part in the sacramental life of the Church. Subordinate to the tools of Faith, but still essential.

And that was the reply. So, that is it: try AA. Learn the basics of 12 Step living. Get the books I mentioned above and refer to them when needed. Keep increasing your knowledge of the Catholic Church at the same time; attend Mass (daily, if possible), study the Catechism, boost your prayer life and frequent the sacraments (especially the Eucharist and Confession.) After you’ve done your “90 in 90,” then decide if it’s for you. It comes down to this:

“You shall know them by their fruits.” From the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Chapter 7 verse 16. Courtesy Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version.

Are you sober? This doesn’t mean “just not drinking.” Drinking was a crutch to help you cope. Many people drink to relieve the burdens of life, but those afflicted with alcoholism are different and the crutch becomes an instrument of pain and torture rather than a support. Take away the crutch, and what have you? The problems that afflicted you are still there; perhaps those directly attributable to drinking will vanish, but others still remain. How will you handle them? AA helps you cope with life without the crutch of the drink. If you won’t use AA, what will you use? Does that aid directly address drinking, as in ‘not doing it?’and how to live without it?

If you stop drinking without replacing the drink with another “life aid,” how are things going? If you’re irritable, restless, discontented, angry, bitter, resentful, mean-spirited and bad-tempered, whatever you’re doing isn’t working. If you need confirmation, ask your family, friends and co-workers. They’ll enjoy the opportunity to finally tell you…

Just “not drinking” isn’t enough, you have to find something that “reprograms” you, helps you react to things in a civil and socially-acceptable manner with resorting to the drink to help. Again, Matthew 7:16. What are the fruits of your “program” of recovery from alcoholism?

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!!)

Where I’m at

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Well, I was going to try and catch up on some overdue blogging and wrap up this month devoted to the Blessed Mother by finishing up a draft post about a wonderful book I have on a Marian devotion, but unfortunately the website where you can purchase the book appears to be offline. It’ll have to remain in draft mode until I can found out about the publisher. (It’s a book that basically convinced me to consecrate this blog to the Blessed Virgin.)

So, just an arbitrary, gratuitous post about various things, kind of like a “Where I’m at” post.

OK, so “Where am I at?”

I’ve gotten deeper into appreciating the Tridentine Rite Mass. As I’ve blogged before in Spiritual progression, Latin style that I started attending the Mass in the Extraordinary Form (The “Latin Mass,” or “TLM.”) I’ve attended six so far. I’ve taken to studying the Missal I’m using to get a better understanding of the Mass and its parts and also what to do. The Missal, known as the Saint Andrew Daily Missal, is one of the best available, according to various online opinions. It is a bit dated, using as it does the Roman Calendar as of 1945, rather than the 1962 Calendar approved for use by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 in Summorum Pontificum. Nevertheless, from what I have learned, it is essentially accurate if all you are doing is attending Sunday Masses; if you are blessed enough to reside in an area that offers a daily Mass in the Extraordinary Form, it may be less useful. Some feast days were moved around or added, and the Holy Week liturgies were changed from 1955 and again in 1960 or 1961. Where it excels is in the copious notes for each Sunday and Feast day; very informative catechesis on the history and liturgy of the day, as well as doctrinal notes. These beautifully illuminate the background of the Mass. You develop a love for the Church in Her development throughout history as well as a love for the liturgy.

And as I said in that blogpost I linked to, it has caused me to stay offline more than usual, apart from checking into Facebook, etc.

What else am I doing? Spending more time on my novel. No, I’m not saying anything about the plot. 😛 Since Winter is finally over, I’m spending more time outside, doing yardwork and getting my vegetable garden ready. Planting is planned for this Sunday and/or Monday, weather permitting.

OK, that’s all for now about me.

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!!)

Spiritual progression, Latin style

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NOTE: Parts of this post were copied and edited from my other blog, In Exile.

For the past three Sundays I’ve attended the “Traditional Latin Mass” instead of the typical English one you’re probably used to. Formally called the “Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite,” (“EF” for short) it differs from the usual Mass (the “Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite,” or “OF” for short) in its solemnity, richness of ritual and use of Latin. It’s also old, dating from the 16th Century, although in some variations it goes back over a thousand years before then.

I had long been wanting to go, but for various reasons haven’t been able to. Those reasons are largely resolved (perhaps it was just time) and so I went on April 22nd.

I loved it. Even before it commenced I felt that I was in the presence of something awesome. Something ancient and sacred was about to happen.

I had some idea of what to expect; I had gone to one before, perhaps 15 years ago. I had no clue then as to what was going on. This time I was better informed from prior study.

I loved it, although I still didn’t quite understand everything. My knowledge of Latin is bad.

The priest is offering the sacrifice on behalf of the people; we observe and unite our prayers to his. The offering of the Mass is between him and God, we are present but in a less participatory role than in the OF. I may have said this with less than precise terminology. If in error, I will accept charitable correction. But this is what I believe I’ve gleaned from my study and observation. The Mass is a sacrifice, the priest offers it, we observe. The OF Mass has altered this understanding, and I think the manner in which it was done has been detrimental to contemporary Catholicism. The emphasis seems to have shifted from worshiping God to the Mass being some sort of communal celebration about us.

Anyway, it was a transcendental experience; despite my newness to it I sensed that something was different, something otherwordly was taking place. A kind of awesome mystery. I felt completely detached from the outside world, something that rarely ever happens to me at an Ordinary Form Mass. This is actually one reason why I haven’t blogged in nearly a month. It’s odd, but this disconnectedness has rendered in me a lack of desire to engage much in online activity. I spend some time on Facebook and MeWe and elsewhere, but not for as long as usual. This week I was hardly online at all.

I can just imagine the experience may intensify after I am more familiar with the Mass.

This is the “Mass of the Ages,” the Mass the Catholic Church celebrated for centuries prior to Vatican II. I felt somehow connected to those who had celebrated it before… not just ordinary priests and laity, but saints. This is the Mass that St. Maximilian Kolbe offered; the Mass that St….. think of your favorite saint from centuries ago, he or she celebrated or attended this Mass.

They say that Vatican II created a rupture in the continuity of tradition between the contemporary Church and the one of ages past. I will not comment on that but it is apparent that we lost a lot. Although I will not become bitter, angry and resentful over “what we lost,” for you and I well know what those emotions can lead to, I will develop a much greater interest in the liturgy and its importance in life. I already have to some great degree taken the liturgy to be something more than something done on Sundays or how you pray. I do live a fairly liturgical life: from taking a keen interest in the liturgical seasons and deriving a personal connection or life application from them to praying the Divine Office. The liturgical year contributes to the ebb and flow of my life, almost like the temporal seasons and their connection to growing things.

I will be attending the Mass in both forms. My wife shows little interest in the EF. That’s all right. I like a good OF Mass said with due and proper attention to the rubrics. (The OF lends itself to abuse.) Besides, the readings aren’t the same, and for now it feels odd to not attend the Mass 99% of Catholics attend (just a guess at the percentage.)

I will blog about this over time. There is definitely something of value here to the recovering alcoholic and addict; the feeling of transcendental holiness and other-worldliness has got to be a sure “cure” for the people, places and things plaguing life. This is why I titles this post, “Spiritual progression, Latin style;” I feel that my growth as a Catholic, my spiritual development, has taken a quantum leap upward.

I’m going again tomorrow!

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!!)

Connect with me on MeWe!

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I won’t bother going into details, but Facebook (perhaps you’ve heard of it) has been getting into trouble recently. Actually, for a number of years there have been controversies about the place. People have been trying to discover and develop alternatives to it for almost as long as there have been issues. Google came close with Google+, but apparently it hasn’t been the “Facebook killer” it was touted to be (and there is reason to think that it wasn’t intended to actually “knock off” Facebook, but the tech press is as believable as any other.)

But now, with recent allegations of privacy and trust breaches, there may be a tide of members emigrating from Facebook to a rival. Enter MeWe, a social network that’s actually been around for about four years, but until now been populated mostly by “early adopters” (techie people who try new things before anyone else) and segments of the population that have been targeted by Facebook for various offensive behaviours (gun enthusiasts, anti-vaccination advocates, and privacy-conscious folks amongst others.)

MeWe touts itself as a “privacy-focused” network, where there are no ads, no tracking and no BS. (I wonder why they don’t like people with Bachelor of Science degrees. Oh, well, to each their own.) In short, they’ve set themselves up as a counter to Facebook. If you’re used to Facebook, it may take a little getting used to the different site navigation, but it is learn-able if you have a little patience and just click on things to see what happens. There are also help Groups for people with questions.

I joined MeWe about three years ago but never really did much with it as I tolerated the recurring issues with Facebook. Besides, everyone I know is on there, and there are a number of Groups that are informative for my interests. My activity came and went, depending upon how often Mike, of the What Does Mike Think? blog hassles me to get over there. 😉

But what was a trickle of memberships is apparently turning into a gusher. At least based upon the number of my Facebook friends who have made the move. And so I have been spending quite a bit of time these past few days on MeWe, hunting down people I know and exploring Groups. One reason why I’ve not blogged these past several days, despite intending to. 🙁

SO here is your invitation to connect with me on MeWe! Here is the link to my profile on MeWe.

MeWe doesn’t support Pages like Facebook and Google+, so this blog doesn’t have a dedicated account there. I might create another MeWe account, just for Sober Catholic. If/when I do, there will be a post about it.

I hope to see you 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!!)