Category Archives: Sin

Novena to St. Michael the Archangel, Day 2

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On this second day of the Novena, the petition is for us to spiritually progress and grow in holiness.

We cannot resist sin and temptation on our own efforts. We may have moderate success, but our own wills can carry us only so far. We need the grace of God and our own cooperation with that grace (our humble admission of our weakness and inability and subsequent surrender to God’s will) to resist sin and temptation.

We can leave the pathways of sin and grow in holiness by prayer, meditation and examining our consciences and our daily actions. We then take it to Confession and strive to “do better.”

We never give up. Despite repeated falls, we continually get up resolve to continue to trudge our road of happy destiny.

Now, to the Novena:

Begin the prayer with: O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father…, etc.

By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Cherubim may the Lord grant us the grace to leave the ways of sin and run in the paths of Christian perfection. Amen.

[Say one Our Father and three Hail Marys after your intentions concerning where you may be persistent in sin.]

To say the entire Chaplet, click here:
Chaplet of St. Michael

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!!)

“Second Chance Lent” is Coming Up!

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This is just a reminder that this Saturday marks the Church’s Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This means that another 40 day period of penance and conversion, albeit an informal an unofficial one, starts on August 6th. This is what I am now calling “Second Chance Lent,” just in case you fell short of your penitential and conversion goals for the real Lent earlier this year, you have another opportunity in a few days.

I got this idea from a source I have long forgotten (some Catholic thinker in some daily devotional mentioned it). The Feast of the Transfiguration, based on the Lord’s conversation with Moses and Elijah on Mt. Tabor regarding His upcoming trial and Crucifixion, is 40 days before the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross on September 14th.

Information on this Feast is here:

Triumph of the Cross

(Via Catholic Culture.)

And so the Church in Her wisdom established these feast days 40 days apart to enable the faithful to have another season to focus on repentance and spiritual growth. I hardly think this is coincidental. Go to Confession and Daily Mass if possible (or as often as you can). Focus on your relationship with the Lord and how you’ve harmed it by sin. Repent and believe in the Gospel.

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!!)

A Guide for Confession

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As someone who hasn’t been to Confession in nearly 2 months or so, due to a change in my job schedule which has me working on Saturdays, (the most popular time for the Sacrament), I am posting this for other readers who are thinking of going to Confession (but are fearful – it’s not so bad!)

A Guide for Confession

(Via Catholic Online.)

Me, I have to find non-traditional weekday times, or schedule an appointment with a priest. I usually went every 3 weeks, give or take a week. Regular and frequent Confession is excellent for one’s spiritual progression.

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!!)

Something worse may happen

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In this passage from today’s Gospel Reading Jesus warns a man who had been ill for 38 years:

John 5:14:“‘Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.'”

(Via USCCB.)

We do not know what the illness was, but it doesn’t matter. We can take this story and relate it to our alcoholism.

Jesus warns the man not to sin. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the man sinned and his punishment was an illness, but perhaps his illness was a natural consequence of some sinful act. Just a thought…

Now, this is where a Gospel lesson may be directly applied to some natural consequence of drinking again after a period of sobriety.

You have stopped drinking, you are aware of the physical, mental and spiritual dangers of alcohol abuse. Also, if you are aware of the moral dimensions of alcohol abuse as a result of some of the Steps and through Confession, then you are aware that it is a sin. Knowledge increases your culpability. Your will may have been corrupted, but if you have had sustained sobriety you should have regained some control over it. You should have enough safeguards in place to counter the “cunning, baffling and powerful” nature of alcoholism.

Jesus essentially warns the man that something worse may happen to him if he sins again. We know this from our own experience with alcoholism. If we relapse, it may make our recovery far more difficult. Granted, many people who “go back out” and “do research” find that drinking is as bad as it ever was, and their resolve is stronger.

But there are many examples of people who for whatever reason, continually relapse. Their hope of recovery is damaged.

The “something worse” for them is their continued life of addiction and all that implies, plus the shame of repeated failure.

Much prayer is need by and for these.

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!!)

Treating addictions as if they were a bad habit

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I chanced upon an interesting article that proposes a relatively “easy” take on beating addictions:

You Don’t Need Help to Beat an Addiction or a Bad Habit—Just Yourself

(Via Lifehacker.)

The central premise of this idea is contained in the article’s third paragraph, which basically treats addictions like they are bad habits, and you have to recognize the immediate bad effects they are having on your life.

The notion is related to ideas that addictions are not a disease or genetic disorder, such as mentioned here: Alcoholism is not a Disease and here: Myth of an ‘Addict Gene’ (Courtesy of Addiction Info.)

First, you have to realize that whatever the addiction is, it is causing you problems. Then you have to consider all the bad effects that the addiction is having on your life, right now. This is key, according to the article. It is easier to consider the immediate now rather than the long term later. This is understood by all addicts and alcoholics, “we want what we want, and we want it now.”

Once you realize the bad effects that the addiction is having on your life, focus and amplify those bad feelings, and eventually your behavior will change. Sort of like do-it-yourself aversion therapy.

Nice, in theory.

In short, to a serious addict this may sound like: “My drinking is bad. Really bad. It is messing up my life, my home life is being ruined by it, I’m about to lose my job, and losing all this will destroy me. OK, so if I focus on these bad feelings of losing all this stuff, I will start to prefer the things I am about to lose, and be less interested in drinking.” I am thinking that a person who is seriously in the grips of an addiction will find it difficult to follow along that line of rational thought.

Addicts generally feel that their addiction is helping them to cope with their problems, and only after much suffering and loss might they come around to the idea that their addiction is the source. By this time their mind and will is so affected by the addiction that it might prove difficult to realize the truth of their problem’s cause. The immediate gratification effect of drinking or using again may prove easier than mentally contemplating how this “habit” is destroying their life. Doing that may just generate more internal conflict: “I want a drink” combined with “No, this is bad, it is costing me such and such” may just yield a desire to drink again to ease the pain. The idea also assumes that the addict must seriously believe that the addiction is worse than their daily living activities. There may be a preference for the addiction versus the healthy life, if they feel that their healthy life has little value.

Support groups organized to reinforce this thinking that the immediate effect is bad could assist as I doubt that any serious addict could accomplish this on their own.

There is merit in the idea. It is an excellent way to avert sinful behavior. We all vow to have a “firm purpose of amendment” when we go to Confession. This idea sounds reminiscent of aids to maintaining virtue as proposed by various saints. Be vigilant on the destructive nature of sin, as it applies to your life now.

Anyway, it is something to mull over.

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!!)

In need of a physician?

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Are you in need of a physician? How about a Divine Physician? The Gospel Reading for the Mass for the Saturday after Ash Wednesday:

Luke 5:27-32: “After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus said to them in reply, ‘Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.’“

(Via USCCB.)

If you are reading this blog, chances are that you are not healthy. You are or were suffering from an addiction, be it alcohol or drugs or something else. As this is the season of Lent, a time of repentance and returning to a closer relationship with God, now is your chance to seek out the healing nature of the Sacraments. Especially Confession! See about talking to a priest about it. It’ll do you an eternity of good.

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!!)

Making room in the Inn

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Advent, a time of waiting for the coming of Christ the Lord. How well do we receive Him into our lives? Is He welcome in all areas of it or do we compartmentalize (pigeon-hole) Him in convenient places?

There are many distractions, and we do not make sufficient room for Him in the inn that is our lives. He is pushed outdoors.

Some of these distractions are addictive. These addictions fill the “hole in the soul” that should be filled by Jesus and the Sacraments. Grace alone should suffice but we improperly seek it. We are misdirected in our gropings in the dark for Truth and Life. We don’t find them in the right places. We stray from the path marked out for us.

Jesus is ever-present in the Blessed Sacrament and ever-waiting for us to come to Him. We prepare our way to Him through prayer, meditation and examining our consciences. We offer up a contrite heart as a sacrifice to Him, so that we will be pleasing in His sight.

And then Jesus, upon being asked, enters our lives and fills our very being with the stuff we seek: healing, direction, life. Things we sought elsewhere and failed miserably because we were deceived.

Christmas is coming, with Jesus in the Manger. Are we prepared to welcome and receive Him?

(Blogger’s Note: This post is a part of the 2010 Catholic New Media Advent Calendar on Catholic Roundup For those new to Sober Catholic my usual source for inspiration is either the Sunday and Daily Mass Readings, or some commentary on the liturgical season. I then try to make it applicable to those recovering from alcoholism and other addictions. But, if you are in a conversion or a development of the interior life mindset, (or just love the Sacrament of Confession), you might find my ramblings useful. 🙂

My other blog, with it’s own post for the Calendar, is: The Four Last Things a blog on Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. Its first post explains it: The Four Last Things.

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!!)

LET IT PASS AND IT WILL PASS

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Spirit Daily has an article posted yesterday (or today) entitled: LET IT PASS AND IT WILL PASS. It is on the spiritual and sacramental benefits of Confession.

In Twelve Step movements we usually hear a lot about cleaning up the past, and this in important in 4th and 5th Step work. Past hurts, resentment and guilt all can clog up and retard your spiritual development. Not to mention unconfessed sins can perhaps condemn you if they are mortal.

In the Spirit Daily piece linked to above, the writer describes how Jesus can help you clean up your past through Confession.

This is the season of Advent. We must prepare for the coming of the Lord. Clean up your life by examining your conscience and going to Confession before Christmas.

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!!)

Throw off the works of darkness

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Today is the First Sunday of Advent. Advent is a time of conversion, in a somewhat similar vein like Lent. However while Lent focuses on Christ’s death, in Advent we focus on His birth. Both are critical events in humanity’s salvation history. In Christ’s birth He took on human flesh so as to redeem our nature from sin, in His death He destroyed sin and liberated us from its shackles. (This is not to say sin no longer exists, for it clearly does. But His death gives us the means to overcome it.)

The Second Reading from the Mass for today exhorts us to cast off sin.

Romans 13:11-14: “Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”

As alcoholics and addicts who seek to obtain and sustain sobriety, we have character defects to be rid of. They were the mark of our addiction, and now sober we strive for a better life. St. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans that we have to “throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” for salvation is near. St. Paul might have thought that Jesus was to return in his lifetime, He clearly didn’t. But as Jesus Himself said in the Gospel for today’s Mass:

Matthew 24:42: “For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”

And so it is today. We must prepare for the arrival of the Lord. Whether it is the memorial of His Nativity and we prepare by going to Confession and amending our lives or the actual, real end-times Second Coming, Jesus is near and we must be ready.

Note: all Scripture passages courtesy of USCCB.

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!!)

Death as a kind of detachment

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Today was All Soul’s Day, the day the Church reminds us of the dead who still suffer the pains of Purgatory. My other blog, The Four Last Things primarily concerns itself about such things, and you can read information of the day and Purgatory there.

Today’s Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours (or Divine Office) had a Reading from the writings of St. Ambrose, on the death of his brother Satyrus. There was a passage that may be of particular concern to those suffering from sex addiction, or any problems with lust and pornography. It can also be of use to anyone who suffers from other passions, perhaps impatience or excessive anger. Read on:

Office of Readings: All Soul’s Day: “We see that death is gain, life is loss. Paul says: For me life is Christ, and death a gain. What does ‘Christ’ mean but to die in the body, and receive the breath of life? Let us then die with Christ, to live with Christ. We should have a daily familiarity with death, a daily desire for death. By this kind of detachment our soul must learn to free itself from the desires of the body. It must soar above earthly lusts to a place where they cannot come near, to hold it fast. “

(Via Universalis.)

The mortality of our lives reminds us of our ultimate destination, and how comparatively transitory our life here is. The passions of our body, be they sexual or emotional, offer a temporary conquest of our frustrations. The sad emotional aftermath when we realize that we had fallen and the conquest was fleeting is the price we pay for focusing on the immediate satisfaction and losing sight of our ultimate goal.

Focusing on our mortality enables us to remember where we desire to end up for all eternity, and that our moral choices determine this. This focusing on death need not be morbid if we view death as just “our way home.”

It may help us arise from our need for immediate satisfaction or gratification of our passions and emotions.

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!!)