Category Archives: Sin

St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, patron saint of drug addicts?

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St. Mark Ji Tianxiang was born in Hebei, China on 1834 into a Catholic family where he was raised in the Faith. He was a doctor, and in his early thirties he suffered from a stomach ailment for which he treated himself with opium. This cured him, but he developed an addiction to it. In 19th Century China, this was a severe problem, just like the opiate epidemic is today. Addiction was not understood then, by anyone, anywhere in the world. His addiction was regarded as sinful; a lack of proper willpower or moral fortitude.

He tried to overcome his addiction through the sacraments: frequent reception of Communion and especially Confession. However, his confessor concluded that since Mark Ji was confessing the same sin again and again, he did not have a firm purpose of amendment, thus rendering the confession invalid. He was forbidden from going to confession again until he stopped using. This also unfortunately prevented him from receiving Holy Communion.

Before anyone complains about this, this was correct in the context of the times, as well as being in accord with the sacramental norms today. You cannot go to confession and confess your sins if you have no intention of stopping them. You do not go to confession to ‘wipe the slate clean’ so you can sin again. Although Mark Ji had every intention to stop, he couldn’t. This, however, wasn’t believed due to the poor understanding of addiction in those days. His confessor did not technically make a mistake; although by today’s understanding, he did. But those days were not today’s. Mark Ji was guilty of causing public scandal by being an addict.

Mark Ji was trapped in an addiction from which there were no ‘Steps’ to climb out of, no treatment centers, no nothing. And there was nothing he could do.

He desperately wanted to receive the sacraments but couldn’t due to the contemporary understanding of his illness. He suffered this for the remaining thirty years of his life. He wanted to quit using but couldn’t; he wanted to receive the sacraments and thus hopefully assure himself of eternal life. That was at risk due to the prohibition of him receiving.

What to do?

Saint Mark Ji Tianxiang

Mark Ji prayed for martyrdom. If you die for the Faith, your salvation is assured. Now, in Catholicism, martyrdom is when you are killed for being a Catholic. Being a Catholic was unpopular since it was regarded as a foreign religion; a Western colonial import. Nevertheless, the Faith grew.

In 1900, there was turmoil in China; the Boxer Rebellion broke out. Its goals were the total expulsion of all Western influence from China. And Christians were obvious targets.

Mark Ji and his family were arrested and in 1900, suffered beheading. Mark Ji’s prayers were answered. He refused to renounce his Catholic Faith. He reportedly requested to be executed last, after his family, so he could encourage them and that none would die alone.  This was granted. He was lead to where he’d be executed, singing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary the entire time, including up to when the blade separated his head from his body.

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I learned about this saint last night during my weekly Knights at the Foot of the Cross virtual meeting on Google Meet. My new good friend Harold Gomes of Chariot Fire mentioned him during the discussion. I had never heard of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang and looked him up right away and was astounded by his story.

Now, it’s interesting that I heard of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang during a meeting of the Knights at the Foot of the Cross. St. Maximilian Kolbe founded the Militia of the Immaculata, of which the ‘Knights at the Foot of the Cross’ are an apostolate. (The KFC was actually established first in the USA in the early 1980s. If you are in the KFC, you are also an MI.) St. Maximilian was named the patron saint of addicts due to the manner of his execution (lethal injection.) St. Max never touched drugs or alcohol (he even banned smoking cigarettes in his friaries.) So, him being named the patron saint of addicts always seemed like a stretch to me. Granted, St. Maximilian suffered through Hell while in Auschwitz. And he brought the breath of life and humanity into that horrid place. But in light of the existence of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, I don’t think he should be the primary patron saint for addicts. St. Mark Ji Tianxiang should be.

Please bear in mind that St. Maximilian Kolbe is my favorite saint; I’ve read 2500 pages of his writings and several bookshelves of stuff on his life and teachings. So I’m not disrespecting him. He is already the patron saint of a number of other things (notably, the pro-life movement, given that abortion ‘clinics’ are mini-Auschwitzes and while in the real one, he never subscribed to the idea that living a horrible existence justifies the termination of a life, like so many pro-choicers think. I’m referring to their argument that abortion is a viable option to keep people from being born into poverty or dysfunctional families. As if people are better off dead rather than to try to improve society and families. Killing people is easier, I guess.)

Anyway, St. Mark Ji Tianxiang is likely the best candidate to be the patron saint of addicts. Especially given that he was never able to break the addiction. He died using. Not his fault; nor should he be condemned by people in recovery for that: he had no choice given the powerful addiction as well as having absolutely no recovery resources.

Mark Ji was beatified on November 24, 1946 by Pope Pius XII and canonized on October 1, 2000 by Pope St. John Paul II. His feast day is July 7. His story is, I think, one of faithful perseverance and a fervent desire for salvation, despite being prevented from participating in the means to gain it. Most people would have turned away and left the Faith. How many people today just abandon the Faith because they’ve gotten a divorce and remarried, and thus can’t receive Communion? Or some other ‘crime’ of the Church? St. Mark Ji Tianxiang persevered. He knew that participating in the sacramental life of the Church was a key to gaining Heaven. And despite being kept from them, he didn’t despair. He remained a Catholic, raised his family in the Faith an desired salvation so much that he prayed for the only means available to him that would assure him of salvation. Martyrdom.

Regarding St. Maximilian and retaining the memory of his death, perhaps he should be the patron saint of death row inmates. Even though he committed no crime deserving of death (just like Jesus!), those on death row need all the intercessory help they can get so that they can receive the grace of conversion, repentance and final perseverance. Take a look at Kolbe Prison Ministries.

Here are several links to articles on him:

He was an opium addict who couldn’t receive the sacraments. But he’s a martyr and a saint

St. Mark Ji Tianxiang couldn’t stay sober, but he could keep showing up

The life of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang: Persevering in faith despite addiction

The Saint Who Was Addicted to Drugs for 30 Years

ST MARK JI TIANXIANG (1834-1900) – Husband, Father, Grandfather, Doctor, Martyr, Opium Addict, Intercessor For Addicts, Patron Against Despair, Patron Of The Opiate Crisis

Addict, Martyr, and Saint

This Addict Is a Saint

Mark Ji Tianxiang

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 Miracle of the Sun at Fatima

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Note: this was originally posted in different form long ago here at Sober Catholic:

On October 13, 1917 the final Marian Apparition at Fatima, Portugal took place.

I know the anniversary was a few weeks ago, but I decided to post this today, the Feast of All Hallow’s Eve (a/k/a “Halloween”). I’ll explain at the end.

Seventy thousand people attended the event, which was supposed to have a miracle promised by the Virgin Mary so that all may believe.

Amongst those present were representatives of the Portuguese media, all socialist and all anti-clerical (theophobes who despised the Catholic Church, professed atheism, and who cooperated in what they hoped would be the eventual destruction of the Church in Portugal. The country had undergone a revolution in 1910 which deposed the Catholic monarch and imposed restrictions on the Church.)

Our Lady appeared as promised, but not alone. St. Joseph also appeared, holding the Christ Child.

Oh, yes: the sun also danced in the sky. Witnessed by all those in attendance, and by more hundreds of miles away, the sun whirled about in the sky, terrifying the witnesses.

It also appeared to hurtle towards the Earth, convincing people that the World was ending (and this part of the Apparition is why I decided to take advantage of my posting tardiness and write this today.)

One note on the sun dancing: for anyone who may be skeptical, one evidence that “something” happened lays in the fact that it had been raining heavily all day long, so much so that the ground throughout the area was drenched. Saturated with water, and combined with the foot traffic of 70,000 attendees, it was a horrific muddy mess.

Until the sun dried it. Nearly instantly. According to all those present, after the Apparition was over and the sun returned to its normal state, the ground was hardened as though it had not seen rain for weeks.

And another note for skeptics: this was all duly reported by the anti-clerical media. The reporters had gone there hoping (or rather assuming) that the whole event would be a non-happening; that the seers would be shamed,the Church embarrassed and once and for all the foolish belivers would have their religious superstitions exposed for what they are – nonsense.

But no, they couldn’t deny the event, their skepticism and non-belief didn’t prevent them from witnessing the Miracle of the Sun, nor acknowledging the effects on the physical environment.

So much for that. How the whole thing happened is a mystery; how only those in the vicinity witnessed this but for people all over the rest of the world the Sun operated normally is known only to God, who is not subject to the laws of Nature. (That’s why certain events are called ‘miracles.’ Perhaps someday, when our science progresses to a more sophisticated level, someone can postulate a theory. But until science catches up with Faith…)

Now, as to why I posted this today:

As the sun plunged to the Earth the believers were understandably freaked out. They thought the world was ending.

The liturgical calendar for the Catholic Church has tomorrow as the Solemnity of All Saints, and after that the Memorial of All Souls. All Saints is for all those in Heaven, officially canonized by the Church or not; and All Souls is for the Faithful Departed who are undergoing purification in Purgatory. These two Feast Days kick off the Month of November, dedicated by the Catholic Church to the dead. (This is why there will be an uptick in the number of posts here regarding death, Purgatory, and all that over November. (Apart from my finally finishing the migration of posts from my old death blog, “The Four Last Things.” Many of these posts are reblogs from there. See the ‘Additional NOTE’ at the end. There is no link to that blog as the posts are being unpublished as they get transferred to here or In Exile.)

These two days are there (amongst other reasons) to remind us of our ultimate end. Someday we will all die. There is no escaping that.

Maybe this is something for you to consider, before God decides to hurl the Sun at you!

Note: I have written before on the Marian Apparitions at Fatima, Portugal. Please see—> Fatima Posts Archive.

Additional NOTE: This is a “retropost,” a post from an old blog I wrote on “The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven (& Purgatory) and Hell” that I shuttered a few years ago. Individual posts are being transferred to either In Exile or Sober Catholic, whichever seems appropriate. Some are backdated, others postdated, some edited, in case you’re confused as to why you never saw a particular post if you’re a diligent reader. The process should be completed by early 2022.

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!!)

Holy Saturday and the Harrowing of Hell

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Today is Holy Saturday and I hope that your Lent has been a fine and fruitful one. I didn’t blog except for a few times (I was ‘around’ but taken up with things.) The seasons come and they go; we as Catholics learn to live with the Liturgical Year as it helps us with the rhythms of the spiritual life. Many people decide to vanish from being online during Lent; while I don’t do that I did spend it in a somewhat reflective mood. I had my daily routine: awaken and grab a cuppa coffee, do my morning prayers and devotions and then watch a Daily Latin Mass on YouTube. Then on to the days’ activities: garden prepping, or miscellaneous household duties. Sometimes exploring income opportunities (which I do have to expand upon.) See this post: Bathtub Blogging, on my other blog.

But the days passed, I pondered Lent, and took things one day at a time. And now we have all arrived at the end. Today is Holy Saturday, a day which I always viewed, even as a child, as a day to spend in meditative prayer or pondering. Despite the Easter Vigil Mass in the evening, it always seemed to be a day to ‘pause,’ sandwiched in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the two ‘big’ liturgical days. While the Good Friday services are not obligatory (they should be) it still feels ‘odd’ to consider not attending. And the Easter Vigil Mass is also not an obligation (if you do not go, then you must attend an Easter Sunday Mass.) So, there are things one can definitely do on Friday and Sunday, but Holy Saturday? Where was Jesus, even? “He descended to the Dead” the Creed informs us.

Called the Harrowing of Hell, it is referred to in 1 Peter 4:6 “For because of this, the Gospel was also preached to the dead, so that they might be judged, certainly, just like men in the flesh, yet also, so that they might live according to God, in the Spirit.” and in Ephesians 4:9 “…what is left except for him also to descend, first to the lower parts of the earth?’

Courtesy Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version

What did he do there? He preached to all the Righteous who had died since the times of Adam and Eve. All of the Just who died before Heaven was reopened at His Ascension were gathered and received the Gospel. From Adam and Eve, to St. John the Baptist and his own foster father, St. Joseph, as well as countless others who died in God’s friendship but were banned from Heaven due to Adam’s sin.

He appeared to them, fresh from His Passion on the streets of Jerusalem and Calvary. He showed them His wounds, all the stripes He had suffered for the sins of all…. and they knew that the time of the banishment was over.

Who knows how much longer we have. We could die at any moment. Heaven is no longer barred to us, but Purgatory is a possibility for those who died in God’s graces but are not sufficiently cleansed from the impurities of sin. (NOTE: I do not wish to debate the doctrine of Purgatory. I have found that debating is quite pointless in these times and I lack the temperament required. I rarely do it and then only when I am moved to. But Purgatory is logical, and fits in with God’s mercy. The idea that a person could live a life of sinful depravity, and convert on their deathbed and go straight to Heaven just like a person who has died after living a life of heroic virtue, piety and sacrifice, is ridiculous. Both die in God’s graces, and upon death see God during their individual judgment, and yearn to be united to Him. Both burn with the desire for God and the latter (the holy person) enters into Heaven whereas the former (the sinner) still retaining the sins of their life, is prevented from admission because ‘nothing impure can enter the Kingdom  of Heaven.’ (Rev 21:27)  Their burning desire for God becomes like unto a fire of purgation, burning away the impurities  of their soul for as long as they are attached to the sins. This is an imprecise and simplistic recounting of what could occur, but it gets the idea across. Purgatory is the ‘entrance’ into Heaven. Some pass into Heaven without feeling the purgation because they offered their sufferings here in Earth; they essentially did their Purgatory already. Others need cleaning up.

So, Holy Saturday could be a day to ponder your afterlife. Where do you think you’ll be heading to? Lent was all about growing closer to the Lord by embracing His Passion and Death, by learning to accept the crosses that come into our life in hopes of becoming a better disciple. We suffered enough as alcoholics and addicts. And we caused enough suffering to others. Have you atoned and repented of these? Made amends? Get going while there’s still time. For we know not the day or the hour when the time allotted to us is over and we are summoned to our destiny.

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

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

St. Felix of Valois

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Today is the feast day of St. Felix of Valois on the liturgical calendar for the Extraordinary Form of the Holy Mass. St. Felix was a hermit and a co-founder (with Saint John of Matha) of the Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives (a/k/a “The Trinitarians”). The Trinitarians were devoted to the mystery of the Holy Trinity as well as to the ransom of Christians taken captive by Moslems in their raiding along the Mediterranean coast of Europe in the 12th Century.

In the Collect (akin to the intercessory prayers of the common Mass)  we pray:

“O God, Who by heavenly inspiration graciously called forth blessed Felix, Your Confessor, from the desert to the work of ransoming captives; grant, we beseech You, that by his intercession, and liberated by Your grace from the captivity of our sins, we may be led into our heavenly fatherland.”

Source: Missale Meum.

I introduce you to this Saint particularly because the Collect prayer refers to our being “liberated by Your grace from the captivity of our sins.” Therefore I am adding St. Felix of Valois to our list of saints that can especially be called upon to assist in liberating us from our captivity to alcohol and addiction. I am aware that “captivity” in this sense is metaphorical as St.Felix had nothing to do with addictions. But nevertheless, captivity is captivity; whether we are enslaved to another human or enslaved to a drug, our dignity as human beings is degraded through the abuse we receive. It may be easier to escape from a human slave owner than an addiction; which may seem ridiculous, except to those who have been trapped in an addiction.

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

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

On humbly submitting to Church authority on private revelations

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In a recent post, Plenary Indulgence for Cemetery Visits in November Extended, I mentioned something at the end about coping in these uncertain times (please note the bold italics:

“Hang tight, pray the Rosary daily and stick close to the Church. And by that I mean the Mass and Sacraments, your Catholic Bible, the Catechism (The ‘Roman Catechism’ of the Council of Trent and/or the 1994 Catechism of Pope St. John Paul II) and if you’re going the route of private revelations, educate yourself and please only place your faith in the approved ones. And have the humility to submit to Church authority in determining what is approved; your personal opinion on the private revelation should always be subject to the Church’s authority.“

I administer an unofficial Militia of the Immaculata Group on Facebook (there’s an interesting story about how I came to be in charge of it. Maybe I’ll tell it someday.) Recently I had to deal with a member of the Group who repeatedly posted links to a false and fraudulent private apparition that has become popular this past decade. I finally had to “get tough” and remove her from the Group because she refused to accept the Church’s decision that this particular revelation is false.

I am really getting tired of ostensibly ‘orthodox’ Catholics who think they are more knowledgeable than the Bishops and more pious than other faithful and defy the decisions of the Bishops on such matters. You are exhibiting pride and and are unaware that you are doing Satan’s work in undermining the Church. Sounds drastic? Yes, it is.

If a private revelation has not been approved, I strongly suggest that you do not invest much faith and emotion into it, lest the Church condemn it and you face a crisis of fidelity. Too many dissent or go schismatic when their favorite revelation is condemned; they regard the Church is ‘wrong’ and spare no few words of vitriol in being critical of the Church and how Her error is evidence of Satan’s influence. In doing so they basically have established their own magisterium (like anyone who thinks the Church is ‘wrong’ on matters of faith and morals) and go off and do their own thing.

Bad idea.

Our Lord and Saviour willingly submitted to the legal and authentic religious authorities of His day, and they condemned Him to death. He knew they were wrong, but did He use that as an excuse to rebel against their authority? No, and given that Jesus is God, He was the authority over them, but did He use that? No. He submitted and opened not His mouth.

The three little shepherd children of Fatima obeyed the Portuguese Church authorities when they were ordered to keep silent about what they were seeing in the Cova da Iria. Even though they knew the Bishop and priests were wrong, they obeyed.

St. Pio of Pietrelcina obeyed the Church authorities when they ordered him to stop public celebration of the Mass. He knew they were in error in telling him this, but he obeyed.

The Divine Mercy Message was suppressed for several decades, until there was evidence that Her initial decision was based on flawed translations of St. Faustina’s writings. The curators of the Divine Mercy message knew that Rome was wrong, nevertheless they obeyed.

There are probably other examples throughout Church history when she was wrong about some ongoing thing, but later rescinded the ban or prohibition when the truth comes out. And that is key: if something is True, it will eventually become known and the Church will acknowledge this.

If you honestly believe that whatever private revelation that you support is true, then there is no reason to defy the Church if she initially declares it to be false. Although I know of no private revelation where the Church reversed her decision on its veracity, nevertheless, in all humility if the Bishop or Rome itself declares it to be false, then accept that. Offer the pain up, if needed.

In light of the examples given above, do you think that you can defy the Church when Jesus Himself did not defy the Jewish authorities? Or the Fatima children? Or St. Padre Pio? Who are you to say that you can reserve such a right to yourself?

Such people need to be prayed for. I just walk away when I encounter them in social media forums; there rarely seems to be any point in arguing the Church’s decision. Their mind is made up and that’s that and any attempt to change their minds is met with stubborn, pride-filled resistance.

So ends this rant. You’re welcome!

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!!)

Emergency Fatima Novena!!!

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There seems to be numerous novenas at this time of year. That is possibly just my imagination, but nevertheless today begins another novena. This one is to Our Lady of Fatima for the commemoration of the Miracle of the Sun Apparition on October 13, 1917. I know that the typical Fatima novena  celebrates the first apparition on May 13th, but in light of “everything that is going on,” from pandemics to presidential elections and threats of war and economic depression, as well as the ever-looming threat of religious persecution in areas not used to such things, I thought that it would be a great idea to have what I am calling an “Emergency Fatima Novena.”

You can say whatever prayers you’d like; you can do an online search for “Fatima Novena” and pick one that’s preferable or just grab a Rosary and say an extra one every day for the intentions of Our Lady of Fatima. But my “Emergency Novena” will consist of these intentions, which may sound strange or unconventional, but in light of how 2020 has been, I think quite reasonable. So here goes, my intentions and the explanations or reasons for them:

  • Peace
  • Reparation
  • Conversion of Russia
  • Magnificat Option
  • End to the Pandemic

OK. The first one, PEACE. At Fatima Our Lady promised there would be peace if we heeded her warnings. There wasn’t, and WWII happened with the Cold War following right after. Now I am not requesting ‘peace’ as in the absence of war, but that a just peace be established wherein every nation sees no need for aggressive action against another; no nation sees the need to establish global domination and all of the arrogance and conceit that have plagued nation-states for centuries. One reason why I am starting this Novena today, so that it ends on October 13th, is that today (October 5th) is also the feast day of St. Faustina Kowalska, the “Apostle of Divine Mercy.” Pope Francis elevated her feast day to the General Roman Calendar earlier this year. I think it’s placement is significant. St. Faustina reported Our Lord’s words that “Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.” (Diary, paragraph 300)  I may read too much into coincidences, but with St. Faustina dying on the day she did, with her eventual canonization elevating that day to a spot on the Church calendar, it’s significant in connecting the Divine Mercy Message to the Fatima Message. Taking coincidences one step further, we have St. Maximilian Marian Kolbe being referred to as the “Prophet of the Civilization of Love” in the approved private litany to him. He established his Militia of the Immaculata for the express purpose of ushering in an eventual “era of peace” when everyone would be consecrated to Our Lady and the world is united under the banners of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Such a world is one founded upon peace, the kind of peace that can only be found in the universal acceptance of the Gospel. And while I’m referring to coincidences, the fact that St. Maximilian founded the M.I. only three days after the Miracle of the Sun apparition is something that cannot be ignored. (I know of no source which tells us that St. Maximilian was aware of the Fatima Apparition. Not too surprising, given the state of communications of that era, that Europe was convulsed in WWI, and how slow the news of the Apparition spread. It really did not become too well known until after WWII. But that doesn’t matter. God works through us, and we may not be aware of how our apostolic work may be done in coordination with another’s.) Taking this back to the Fatima Message where Our Lady promised a period of peace, and we can see the connections between the Divine Mercy and Fatima Messages, as well as St. Maximilian’s work. Please bear in mind that this “era of peace” has nothing to do with certain periods of peace referred to by many heretical prophecies (I think they’re called “millenarian,” and are popular in Christian Evangelical circles as well as some Catholics who are not grounded in Church Tradition. This isn’t a literal 1,000 years of peace where Jesus rules until the Antichrist, or whatever. It is just ‘a period of peace’ of an undetermined length.)

So, to tie all that in, my “Peace” intentions are just for, by however Our Lord and Our Lady intends, the relaxation or elimination of all threats to the global order; that the nation-states of the world realize that their ultimate security will lie in not threatening the security of other nations. Naive? Yes, but I’ve always held that if the world was as naive as I can be at times, it would be much better off. 😉  If there is a Divine intervention of some kind (popularly referred to in Catholic prophetic circles as a “Warning,” “Illumination,” or “Chastisement,” who can say? I’ll leave the details up to Jesus and Mary.)

Next up: Reparation. This is obvious. We pray and make reparation for the sins against the Blessed Virgin Mary, for sins of impurity and blasphemies against Our Lord. There is plenty of all that going on every day and almost everywhere. From the vandalization of statues and churches, to sexualizing children, to normalizing sexual perversity and deviancy, to blaspheming Jesus in the propagating of false doctrine by “Catholic” priests and bishops; there’s more than enough sinning going on that dwarfs that which happened in the time of Noah or just before Our Lord’s Incarnation. How the Divine hand has been restrained only bespeaks of the power of prayer and reparation, but it is only a matter of time before the Father takes action.

OK, now the Conversion of Russia. Yes, I know that since the overthrow of Communism when the USSR collapsed in 1991 there has been a flowering and revival of Orthodox Christianity in that land. And yes, I know that Russia was consecrated to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart in 1984. But Orthodox Christianity is still schismatic (they do not recognize the authority of the Pope over their Churches.) I pray that “by however Our Lord and Our Lady intends,” that Eastern Orthodoxy, including especially the Russian Orthodox Church, comes into communion with Rome.

Next, the Magnificat Option. There are Options galore in today’s Catholicism. There’s the Benedict Option, the Dorothy Option, the Hobbit Option, and who  knows what else. I came up with the “Magnificat Option” in a post on my Facebook.

In the Magnificat, we hear Mary pray,

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation. 
He has shown the strength of his arm, 
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 
and has lifted up the lowly. 
He has filled the hungry with good things, 
and the rich he has sent away empty.

That, my readers, is the core of the Magnificat Option. That God , by however He intends,” shows His mighty strength and humbles the proud that currently govern our world, be they Presidents, Presidential candidates, Prime Ministers, globalists, banksters, and neocons, endless-war profiteers, and the elites who pervert our culture.

Last up, for the end to the pandemic. No need to explain.

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!!)

Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace and Creation III: Our Lady of the Precious Blood and St. Franz Jagerstatter and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

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Today begins the Third of our Nine Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation, and this one is dedicated to Our Lady of the Precious Blood and St. Franz Jagerstatter and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. It runs from July 8 to July 16, 2020.

I will not post this every day as the prayers and intentions are the same for each day. I’ll just leave it here for nine days; if I need to blog in the interim, I will just blog a reminder afterwards. For the background, please read this post (especially if you need to learn about who Bob Waldrop, the creator of this Novena, was, and why I am introducing it to you.) Or go here: A Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation.

Don’t worry if you jump in at some point later in the 81 days. To paraphrase Bob “just pick up whenever you happen to join in.”

AFTER THIS SENTENCE, THE WRITING IS ALL THAT OF BOB WALDROP, not me, Paulcoholic.

…

To: Our Lady of the Precious Blood and St. Franz Jagerstatter and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

“Getting Started:

Begin each novena prayer with a time of quiet prayer. You may find it helpful to pray some repetitions of the Jesus Prayer (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner), a decade of the Rosary, the Chaplet of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, or a time of spiritual reading or lectio divina that will prepare your mind and your heart for the prayer to come. This could be a time for a daily examen, where you consider your actions of the day and how they relate to God’s call in your life.”

General Intention: The reconciliation of persons and peoples.

Third Work of Justice and Peace: Make injustice visible — witness, remember, teach, proclaim, tell. Light candles, do not curse the darkness. 

Act of Caring for Creation: Fast & Abstinence. Refrain from eating meat or fish one day each week. If you are able, fast that day, eating only one full meal. Donate the money saved as a fast offering to a charity working for food security.

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. + Let us pray together in peace, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, help the helpless, strengthen the fearful, comfort the sorrowful, bring justice to the poor, peace to all nations, and solidarity among all peoples.  Give us strength to stand against the demonic powers which prowl  about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Open our eyes to see the beauty, joy, redemption, and goodness which comes through obedience to your Son our Lord. Teach us to be a refuge of hope for all who are oppressed by  injustice and violence.

Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us! Precious Blood, most pure Offering: Procure for us every grace! Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of sinners: Atone for us! Precious Blood, Delight of holy souls: Draw us! Precious Blood, Font of Peace: Reconcile enemies and end all wars.

Remember, O most gracious Lady of the Precious Blood, that never was it known that any of your children, redeemed by the Blood of your Son, sought your intercession and was left unaided. Trusting in the power of the Precious Blood, O Handmaid of the Redeemer, I come before you my Queen and my Mother, and in the bitterness of my sorrow, I place myself at your feet. O Mother of Jesus Crucified, unite my prayers with yours, obtain for me the merciful bounty of the Divine Blood. As I kneel beneath the Cross, O Mother of sorrows, hear and answer me. Amen

St. Franz Jagerstatter, in a time of great injustice and violence, you bore heroic witness to peace, beauty, and holiness. Your devotion to truth shows us the way to reconciliation. Your example of fortitude brings us courage. Your life of beauty in the face of appalling evil fills us with hope. May your heart of love inspire us so that we will witness, remember, teach, and proclaim the Gospel of life and love for all peoples, everywhere, and not count the cost. In Jesus holy name, Amen.

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, child of Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, Rachel, and Mary mother of our Lord, you who were taken to crucifixion by the Nazis, help us, in our own time, and in the ways and opportunities that come our way, to witness and work for justice, peace, and the care of Creation. Help us to always stand firm against every form of racism and persecution. Teach us to understand, and seek forgiveness for, our own complicity in the sins of racism and persecution. Enlighten our minds that we will see clearly the wrongs and evidences of racism in our societies. Help us to speak with clarity, justice, and truth of beauty, wisdom, peace, and racial harmony, denouncing all injustices and social evils in the name of Christ. These prayers we ask, remembering all who have been murdered, lynched, gassed, and tortured to death,  Amen.

Prayer to St. John Chrysostom on behalf of the U.S. Catholic bishops:

Most Glorious and Venerable St. John Chrysostom,
Grace shining forth from your lips like a beacon
has illumined the universe.
It shows to the world the treasures of poverty;             
it reveals to us the heights of humility.
Teaching us by your words, O Father John Chrysostom,
intercede before the Word, Christ our God, to save our souls!

Pray for the bishops of the United States of America,
who do not teach or practice the Catholic faith in its fullness,
that God will deliver them to orthodoxy,
and reform their ways of living,
so that as exemplars of orthopraxis, they will protect all life,
from the moment of conception to the time of natural death.

Teach them true solidarity with the poor, so that they
understand the consequences of their moral abandonment
of entire nations of human beings to a collective fate of cruelty and violence
because they were in the way of the American Empire and
its gluttonous lust for oil, supremacy, and blood.

As you refused to obey the aristocratic commands of your era,
help our bishops turn away from the political demands
that cause them to preach a false gospel of moral relativism regarding war and peace.

Having received divine grace from heaven,
with your mouth you teach all people to worship the Triune God.
Instruct our bishops with the wisdom of the Gospel,
so that they repent of their material cooperation with the objective evil of unjust war, and call all people, in authentic word and deed, to live in solidarity, peace, and justice.

All-blest and venerable St. John Chrysostom,
we praise you, for you are our teacher, revealing things divine!
Pray for us that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

O God, Who by the preaching and teaching of Saint John Chrysostom
has given us an example of fortitude in the face of persecution and political corruption, grant that we who reverence his life and ministry may also imitate
his example of fidelity to wisdom, truth, justice, and beauty,
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Our Father . . . Hail Mary…. Glory be. . .

Thoughts for the journey. His lifeless body was taken from the Cross and laid in her blessed arms. How the tears must have flowed as she cradled Him in her arms, He who once had been a little baby, bouncing on her lap, a young man who followed in Joseph’s footsteps as a carpenter and who taught in the Temple confounding the wise, a fearless prophet who healed and taught and brought hope.

How His life must have passed before her eyes, as her tears mingled with His most precious Blood. “A sword shall also pierce your heart.”  At the first Eucharist, she received the Cup from His hands — did she understand even then what was to come? “She kept all these things  and pondered them in her heart.” What did she tell the servants at the wedding at Cana? “Do whatever Jesus tells you to do.”

“For in Christ 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. (Colossians 1:19-20).

“And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the  ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

How great is the need for reconciliation in this world! But reconciliation is NOT an oppressor who says — “I’m sorry” — but then goes and continues a lifestyle of oppression, with eyes closed to the consequences of his or her lifestyle of injustice.

Reconciliation is not the denial of injustice, it is the correction of the objective disorders that cause the harm. The call to reconciliation is not the Voice of the Oppressor saying “Cooperate with our violence against you.” No, it is the witness of the Precious Blood of Christ that reconciliation is orthopraxis — it is right action rooted in our interior personal relationship with Christ, a relationship that changes everything and makes the miracle of reconciliation possible. It is always a life faith that bears fruit, for we know that faith without works is dead.

When Christ is not the center of our lives, when our actions do not flow from our personal interior and devotional relationship with Jesus, reconciliation among peoples is not a comfortable process; it is typically easier to just blame the victims. Many close their eyes to structures of injustice and exploitation and greed, processes that make people poor and keep them “in their place.” The poor become a fearful Alien, the Other, to be mastered, confined,  counted, regulated, and exploited for the good of the ruling political and economic elites.

Our Lady of the Precious Blood without fear and full of love stands against all oppression and injustice, she comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comforted and calls us to the same journey. She directs us to her son and says, “Do whatever he tells you to do.

St. Franz Jagerstatter

St. Franz Jagerstatter was an Austrian farmer who was murdered by the Nazis during World War II because of his refusal to bear arms and serve in the German military. They chopped his head off with a guillotine!  His example of fortitude in the face of the most appalling evil is a reminder that reconciliation begins with truth — and grows from a personal commitment to live the Gospel , even at great personal risk that in turn derives from our personal relationship with Jesus.  Can anyone doubt that Franz Jagerstatter was in love with Jesus? From what other source could a young man stand against everyone — including his bishop — who told him to “just go along and do what the Nazis say.”

His example is of great importance in our day, as the United States wages unjust wars and our government demands support for its crusades of death and slaughter.

Meanwhile, our own Catholic bishops do not defend the right to life of all people in the face of the State’s demand for war but hide behind ecclesiastical rhetoric and preach a false gospel of moral relativism regarding the unjust wars of the United States.

In the face of so much blood and death, we must remember the victims of imperial tyranny. Because we live in Christ we can live in true solidarity with them and dedicate our works of life as reparations for our nation’s unjust wars and its many other sins against life.

Our prayer is that through the reconciliation of the Blood of Christ, all people will learn to be one in solidarity with each other, so that all persons and peoples acknowledge the human personhood and dignity of each other, and live together in peace upon the earth. And as the song says, let this begin with me. Our praxis is a prayer, and this is the prayer that is most pleasing to God.

How is my life — how is your life —  open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves each and every one of us?  Jesus gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression. He was with the Franz Jagerstatter at the moment the guillotine sliced through his neck. He comforted him in life and in death and Christ is as real to us as he was to Franz. Jesus lives today and is at our side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, of our journeys of justice and peace. How does your relationship with Christ impact your life? What is the orthopraxis that you live that reflects Christ in you?

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Edith Stein was a German Jewish philosopher. Surprised by joy, after reading the works of Teresa of Avila, she was called by Christ into relationship with Him, and became a Discaled Carmelite nun taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.  She made notable contributions to what has become known as the personalist school of philosophy, which was later influential in the writings and theology of Saint Pope John Paul II.  As early as 1933, she was speaking out against Nazis, and wrote Pope Pius XI asking him to publicly denounce the Nazi regime. Her letter may have been influential in his decision to eventually write the encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge (With Burning Sorrow) condemning Nazism and anti-semitism.  For her safety, her religious superiors transferred her to a convent in the Netherlands. After the German invasion, the Dutch bishops had a public statement read in all the Catholic churches condemning racism. in response, the Nazis rounded all the Jewish Catholic converts and sent them to concentration camps. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was sent to Auschwitz, where she died in a gas chamber on or about August 9, 1942, about a week after her arrest. She refused an opportunity to escape, insisting on her right to share in the sufferings of her people.

Act of Caring for Creation:  Fast & Abstinence! Refrain from eating meat or fish one day a week. If you are able, fast on that day, eating only one full meal. Give the money you save to a charity that works in food security.

We live in an ocean of plenty while the poor of this world go without. The least we can do is to feel the pangs of hunger and deny ourselves the full bounty that is available to us, not as a matter of ecclesiastical mandate as in days of yore, but as an act of love we take less so that others may have more.

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 Holy Face, Disfigured by Sin

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The essence of the Holy Face Devotion, and why the Holy Face is the object, is reparation for sin; and since our sins were taken upon Our Lord in His propitiatory sacrifice on Calvary, there is a scriptural basis.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 contains many of the verses of the Messianic Prophecy of the Suffering Servant.

“Behold, my servant will understand; he will be exalted and lifted up, and he will be very sublime.

Just as they were stupefied over you, so will his countenance be without glory among men, and his appearance, among the sons of men.

He will sprinkle many nations; kings will close their mouth because of him. And those to whom he was not described, have seen. And those who have not heard, have considered.

Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

And he will rise up like a tender plant in his sight, and like a root from the thirsty ground.

There is no beautiful or stately appearance in him. For we looked upon him, and there was no aspect, such that we would desire him.

He is despised and the least among men, a man of sorrows who knows infirmity. And his countenance was hidden and despised. Because of this, we did not esteem him.

Truly, he has taken away our weaknesses, and he himself has carried our sorrows. And we thought of him as if he were a leper, or as if he had been struck by God and humiliated.

But he himself was wounded because of our iniquities. He was bruised because of our wickedness. The discipline of our peace was upon him. And by his wounds, we are healed.

We have all gone astray like sheep; each one has turned aside to his own way. And the Lord has placed all our iniquity upon him.

He was offered up, because it was his own will. And he did not open his mouth. He will be led like a sheep to the slaughter. And he will be mute like a lamb before his shearer.

For he will not open his mouth.

He was lifted up from anguish and judgment. Who will describe his life? For he has been cut off from the land of the living. Because of the wickedness of my people, I have struck him down.

And he will be given a place with the impious for his burial, and with the rich for his death, though he has done no iniquity, nor was deceit in his mouth.

But it was the will of the Lord to crush him with infirmity. If he lays down his life because of sin, he will see offspring with long lives, and the will of the Lord will be directed by his hand.

Because his soul has labored, he will see and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my just servant will himself justify many, and he himself will carry their iniquities.

Therefore, I will allot to him a great number. And he will divide the spoils of the strong. For he has handed over his life to death, and he was reputed among criminals. And he has taken away the sins of many, and he has prayed for the transgressors.”

Courtesy: Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version.

In it, you see, are numerous verses regarding the Face of the Servant, that is is disfigured and despised, the face of a leper. And Isaiah 53:5 mentions that He was wounded for our sins. Take all of this and go to the all of Gospel accounts of the Passion of Our Lord, how He was buffeted about His head, spat upon, and Crowned with Thorns which most definitely disfigures the Face, and the Face of Christ becomes a symbol of the effects of our sins upon the Divine Countenance.

A Divine ratification of the devotion to the Holy Face began when Veronica wiped the Face of Jesus while He was on His way to Calvary. His reward for her kindness was the imprinting of His visage on the cloth she used. (The cloth is in existence today, see the “Sudarium of Oviedo.”)

One of the most beloved Saints in modern times, and a personal favorite of mine (right next to St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Faustina Kowalska) is St. Therese of Lisieux. She was very dedicated to the Holy Face Devotion, to the point where she included it in her religious name, “Therese of the Child Jesus and Holy Face.” She composed the following prayers to the Holy Face:

“O Jesus, who, in Thy cruel Passion didst become the ‘reproach of men and the Man of Sorrows,’ I worship Thy divine Face. Once it shone with the beauty and sweetness of the Divinity; but now, for my sake, it is become as ‘the face of a leper.’ Yet, in that disfigured Countenance, I recognize Thy infinite love, and I am consumed with the desire of making Thee loved by all mankind. The tears that flowed so abundantly from Thy Eyes are to me as precious pearls that I delight to gather, that with their worth I may ransom the souls of poor sinners. O Jesus, whose Face is the sole beauty that ravishes my heart, I may not see here below the sweetness of Thy glance, nor feel the ineffable tenderness of Thy kiss, I bow to Thy Will—but I pray Thee to imprint in me Thy divine likeness, and I implore Thee so to inflame me with Thy love, that it may quickly consume me, and that I may soon reach the vision of Thy glorious Face in heaven. Amen.”

Another: “Eternal Father, since Thou hast given me for my inheritance the Adorable Face of Thy Divine Son, I offer that face to Thee and I beg Thee, in exchange for this coin of infinite value, to forget the ingratitude of souls dedicated to Thee and to pardon all poor sinners.”

And: “Jesus! Thy dear and holy Face
Is the bright star that guides my way;
Thy gentle glance, so full of grace,
Is my true heaven on earth, today.
My love finds out the holy charm
Of Thy dear eyes with tear-drops wet;
Through mine own tears I smile at Thee,
And in Thy griefs my pains forget.

Oh! I would gladly live unknown,
Thus to console Thy aching heart.
Thy veiled beauty, it is shown
To those who live from earth apart.
Fain would I fly to Thee alone!

Thy Face it is my fatherland;
It is the sunshine of my days;
My realm of love, my sunlit land,
Where through the hours I sing Thy praise;
It is the lily of the vale,
Whose mystic perfume, freely given,
Brings comfort, when I faint and fail,
And makes me taste the peace of heaven.

Thy face, in its unearthly grace,
Is like the divinest myrrh to me,
That on my heart I gladly place;
It is my lyre of melody;
My rest – my comfort – is Thy Face.
My only wealth, Lord! is thy Face;
Naught ask I more than this from Thee;
Hidden in the secret of Thy Face,
The more I shall resemble Thee!
Leave on me the divine impress
Of Thy sweet, patient Face of love,
And soon I shall become a saint,
And draw men’s hearts to Thee above.

So, in the secret of Thy Face,
Oh! hide me, hide me, Jesus blest!
There let me find its hidden grace,
Its holy fires, and, in heaven’s rest,
Its rapturous kiss, in Thy embrace!

St.Therese Prayers to the Holy Face are courtesy: Our Catholic Prayers.

And thus you can see how the Face of Christ reflects our sins. He looks upon us and is aggrieved, our sins are like blows upon Him…

The Holy Face Devotion is, like I mentioned in the first post on this, a work of reparation for our sins and those of others. Specifically, blasphemy and the profanation of Sundays and Holy Days, as well as the destructive work of Communists.

More resources: America Needs Fatima: Holy Face Devotion; also, Holy Face Devotion in the UK (But great, wherever you live!)

I think I will add a Holy Face Devotion group of links in the sidebar.

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

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

Faith in a time of Pandemic

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Recently, in Sobriety in a Time of Pandemic I blogged a bit on coping in a time of a pandemic. Saints to intercede for us and so on. Now that it’s been a few days, I’m expanding upon that. This is the first of several posts I’ll be doing today. I just finished my Morning Prayers and had breakfast, and I have time before heading off to my Latin Mass. This afternoon I’ll write one or two more posts on the matter.

I’ve read a lot of stuff online, on Facebook and other venues, about what to do. People are panic-buying toilet paper and sanitizers, water and other foodstuffs. Various Dioceses are either cancelling public Masses or are lifting the obligation to attend Mass for a certain period. There are interesting reactions to these measures, some sane, some irrational.

Many are interpreting these cancelling/lifting of the obligation as a sure sign that the Bishops are in league with Satan and the Modernists; that the last thing we need to do is to restrict the Mass. They cite examples from the Medieval era during the Black Plague when Pope So-and-so did Eucharistic Processions around Rome and St. Michael the Archangel was invoked and he made appearances and miraculous healings resulted. “And that’s all that we have to do to defeat this pandemic! Go to Mass! It worked then!”

True. It probably did to some degree. But they also had significantly less knowledge of plague vectors and technological responses and the like. Note this: God only performs miracles when all normal means that we have at our disposal have failed. This may by why some prayers of yours invoking God’s miraculous help may have gone unanswered: perhaps you were omitting something you could have done. I think He may work the miraculous in your life when you might have effective means at your disposal, but you may not be aware of them, and the situation may be critical enough that He is willing to overlook your omission or ignorance. But whether that does happen, is determined by Him.

We do not live in the Middle Ages (although I wish for the revival of much Medieval culture and civilization; not all of its aspects, only the better parts. That will perhaps have to be discussed on my other blog sometime. 😉  ) We live in the 21st Century and our knowledge and ability to deal with things is different. While I applaud the faith of those who wish to rely solely on the Mass and the Sacraments; to exclude contemporary science and technology is folly. And perhaps a sin. “Really? How’s that?” you ask incredulously. “Read on,” I reply.

Faith and reason; science and religion are not antonyms. Miracles and such like work when mundane resources fail; back in the Medieval era they had little to no knowledge of disease vectors and their causes. We know better today, and therefore sacramental methods are applied differently nowadays. 

Science and religion go hand in hand, both are parts of God’s Revelation of Himself. God reveals Himself to us in two ways: through Divine Revelation by way of Sacred Scripture in concert with Sacred Tradition, both being safeguarded by the Catholic Church; and through Nature, as discerned and explored by humans utilizing Science. Like I said above: Faith and reason; science and religion are not antonyms. Truth does not contradict Truth, despite the opposite believed by atheists on one side and believers on the other. They only reveal the ignorance they possess of the other means of Divine Revelation that they reject. Like anyone who creates original work, God leaves information about Himself in His creations. We know Him by exploring His creation. Science helps us to do that. Using one does not de-emphasize the other.

When we know of the manner in which plagues spread and the means to contain it, that does not mean abandoning faith and religion, but it does mean we use our God-given intellects in a responsible manner and avoid spreading disease. It does not mean that we forsake Eucharistic Processions, invoking this or that saint, or anything else that may have worked back in simpler times. We do those. They may not work in the miraculous ways of 500 or more years ago, but they may assist in giving insight to vaccine researchers, given them a nudge to consider “this way” instead of “that way,” give extra courage and fortitude to medical professionals like doctors and nurses, and convey grace upon grace to all struggling to cope. So it’s not an “either or” choice. We do both. We flee to the refuge our Faith provides as well as using our God-given minds to respond to the crisis.

And this is where I answer the question about how is it sinful to disregard science in responding to the pandemic. If one of the definitions of sin is that of misusing or abusing our natural gifts (such as alcohol abuse instead of moderate drinking, or extramarital sex instead of chastity, or greed instead of responsible use of material things and money) then it is sinful to disregard the recommendations or outright orders to stay at home instead of going to Mass (or any other public gathering.) You are guilty of pride, in that you are parading your piety to defy rational consideration. “Nothing and no one will separate me from the Mass!!!” is what I frequently read in various Facebook Groups. OK, I understand that you have a devotion to the Mass; we all should. We all should attend Mass on Sundays (it IS an obligation) and daily if we can. If Jesus is available in an Adoration Chapel, we should visit Him. But your piety and faith should not get in the way of your reason and common sense; just as they do not contradict one another, when used together that can be an unstoppable force for good. God made us, He also gave us our intellect, our capacity for reason and logic, as well as the ability to figure out when to use them. They are gifts to us, a part of our being. To ignore them is to risk peril. You could also be guilty of idolatry. The Mass is a means (worship) to an end (God.) By being disobedient and insisting that you must attend Mass or else, you are idolizing the Mass, focusing on the means rather than the end.

“But what about the Mass?!?!?! We do need that!!!!” you vent.

“Relax,” I calmly respond. “It has not been prohibited. It is still being said. Even if public Masses are cancelled where you are, priests are still saying them privately. And public Masses are being offered elsewhere. We are members of the Mystical Body of Christ, we are united in prayer to everyone else who is praying, everyone else who is attending Mass. Unite yourself in prayer with them.”

“Oh? We can do that? How?”

Here are a few prayers to do just that. They are old, come from various sources, are found online anywhere and in old prayer books and missals dating prior to Vatican 2.

My favorite among them, and I say it daily:

Oh My Jesus, I include myself in all the Holy Masses which are being celebrated this day throughout the whole world, and offer them to You in union with the intentions of Your Sacred Heart. I implore You to reserve for me, from each Holy Mass, Your most precious Blood to atone for my sins and their punishment.

Grant me also the grace of obtaining through the merits of every holy sacrifice the release of one poor soul from the pains of purgatory, the conversion of one sinner, and that one soul in the agony of death may obtain mercy, and that one mortal sin, which is so painful to Your Sacred Heart, may be prevented.

Eternal Father, we offer You the Blood, the Passion, and the Death of Jesus Christ in satisfaction for our sins, in aid of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for the needs of Holy Mother Church, and for the conversion of sinners. Amen.

Another:

Lord Jesus, I unite myself to Your perpetual, unceasing, universal Sacrifice. I offer myself to You every day of my life and every moment of every day, according to Your most holy and adorable Will. Since You have been the Victim of my salvation, I wish to be the victim of Your love. Accept my desire, take my offering, and graciously hear my prayer. Let me live for love of You; let me die for love of You; let my last heartbeat be an act of perfect love.

Here’s one more that I say daily:

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, and the reunion of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all Apostles of Prayer, and in particular for those recommended by our Holy Father this month. 

Regarding the latter, I sometimes omit the words “Apostles of Prayer,” and substitute “Knights and Ladies of the Militia of the Immaculata” and “Knights at the Foot of the Cross,” as I am a member of both the Militia of the Immaculata and their sister organization, Knights at the Foot of the Cross. If you are a member of some other Catholic apostolate, such as the Knights of Columbus, the Legion of Mary, or are Third Order Franciscan, Carmelite, etc., maybe use that instead (or along with.)

I’ll have another post later on regarding “Spiritual Communion,” which I’ve blogged about before and also there are numerous online resources for that. It’s getting late and I must shower and get dressed for Mass.

Oh, one other thing: you can also watch Mass online. It’s available streaming live and archived.  I’ll try and post links to online Masses later today, but EWTN and Live Mass are great. The EWTN one is a good, holy, Mass in the Ordinary Form, LiveMass is the Tridentine (Latin Mass) Rite.

Bye! I REALLY HAVE TO GO 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!!)

Converting those who have strayed

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In the Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours for the Friday after Ash Wednesday, there’s this passage from the Letter of James:

James 5:19-20 “My brothers, if anyone of you strays from the truth, and if someone converts him, he ought to know that whoever causes a sinner to be converted from the error of his ways will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Courtesy: Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version

Although we all work out our own salvation in fear and trembling, we also are our brother’s keeper. Therefore we should take a keen interest in the salvation of those around us; for, as St. James clearly indicates, if we can turn them away from the path of sin, our own sins are ‘covered up.’ Makes sense, for if we can gain Heaven for another and spare them from damnation, we shall be rewarded in kind.

So, during this Lent and beyond, try and admonish your family and friends. In a kind and charitable manner speak to others about their actions that you observe that are objectively wrong. If you see a loved one engaging in sinful behaviour, lovingly approach them and draw them out. You would know the best manner in which to do this; knowing them and how they might react, engage them and sound them out about what they are doing; they might not even be aware that certain behaviours are sins, given the state of catechesis and homiletics in the Church.

Remember, we do not judge. Judging is determining the final outcome of a life; admonishing is making a value determination of an observable action.

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!!)