The Probably Not Gonna Be Happening Sober Catholic Podcast

Posted on March 1, 2021 by paulcoholic

If you are a subscriber to either the Sober Catholic Facebook Page, the Sober Catholic SP3RN Page, or even the Sober Catholic Telegram Channel, then you know that I was exploring the possibility of starting a Sober Catholic Podcast. This is something I’ve thought and prayed about ever since I began this blog in 2007. “All the cool Catholics” have podcasts and so I should too, even though I’m not cool.

I had seen in my WordPress subscriptions a post regarding “Turning your WordPress blog into a podcast with Anchor.” It seemed interesting: you connect your blog to Anchor.fm, your blogpost archive gets uploaded and you can then use these as scripts to record a podcast, with either your own voice or a text-to-speech robovoice (which actually didn’t sound bad.) They provide incidental music and sound that can be used as background effects, and there you go: a podcast which they even distribute to numerous podcasting services.

So I signed up. Unfortunately, not all of the posts got uploaded. I submitted a Help Ticket and they replied a day later stating that they can only upload the most recent 250 posts. Nice, but I have nearly 1,200 posts and my intent was to resurrect the oldest ones and gradually continue forward. I even thought of a schedule, every Friday I’d release a podcast of a “Classic” Sober Catholic post, with current posts that I thought are podcast worthy would be done on other days.

But the 250 post limit wipes out the advantage. So I figured that I can just manually upload classic posts as scripts (to perhaps take advantage of the text-to-speech,) but today I found that I can’t do that. So, that eliminates another advantage to using Anchor as a podcast service.

Therefore, as a result, I am leaning strongly against podcasting. Like I said, I had thought about it for years, never did it, and quite probably if I was ever going to I would have done it by now. Anchor.fm provided a relatively easy way to overcome my reticence, but their tech limitations of upload limit/no upload of text to be used as scripts essentially brings me back to the proverbial ‘Square one’ of podcasting: Do most everything myself. Anchor promised a virtually ‘pain-‘ and ‘hassle-free’ approach to podcasting; utilize already existing work with the rest being fairly automated (I know laying additional audio tracks requires some effort, but if most everything else is done for me, I can manage that.) But the above cited tech limitations or lack of functions pull me way out of my comfort zone.

I can still use old posts and record them on my MacBookAir. I can upload them to Anchor.fm and use some of their stock audio to spruce up the episode. So why am I disinclined to podcast, when it’s just a little more work for me to do?

If you are reading this and answering that it’s because I’m a lazy bum for seeing all these issues as obstacles, then you aren’t aware of two things: I HATE THE SOUND OF MY VOICE almost as much as I HATE SPEAKING!!! This is why I prefer the printed word of blogging over podcasting and why I always shied away from the latter. Anchor.fm’s easy-peasy system had the virtue of helping me to overcome my inherent personal issues to podcasting; but not enough, 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!!)

33 Reasons NOT to walk the Camino

Posted on March 1, 2021 by paulcoholic

If you have been reading this blog for the past several years and retain a good memory for certain oddities, then you would know that I hold an obsession regarding the film “The Way.” It is a film directed by Emilio Estevez and starred his father, Martin Sheen. It is about a man (Sheen) who’s son (Estevez) died one day into his 500-mile pilgrimage and how he went to Spain to retrieve his son’s body. While there, the father impulsively decided to walk the Camino himself, carrying his son’s ashes, so that the son could ‘complete’ the Camino. It has lead me to watching untold hours of You Tube videos on the Camino. Ideally, I will walk the Camino someday; practically, it ain’t gonna happen, so until then I will do it vicariously. (Incidentally, there are ‘virtual Caminos;’ once in a while in my Facebook feed I see ads for such things. It’s like an exercise app where you enroll and walk so many miles a day wherever you live, either in your home or around the neighborhood and town. You keep track of how far you walk. I think it’s a smartphone app or Apple Watch thing; I’m not sure because I haven’t done that, either. But it looks interesting.)

Now, on to the point of this post. Recently I subscribed to a You Tube channel that is about this couple doing their third Camino. What I just love about it is that it is one of the few Camino channels that is unabashedly Catholic and approaches the Camino from its origins and purposes as a CATHOLIC RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE. Almost all of the others focus on a non-denominational/quasi-pagan spiritual development, or its historical and cultural importance, or that it’s a fun and worthwhile thing to do. Mostly backpackers for whom it is ‘just another’ hiking thing like the Appalachian Trail or whatever.

The channel is here: Los Peregrinos. The pilgrims are a Filipino couple from Dallas, Texas (although originally from the Philippines.) The series of videos are subtitled “33 reason why Catholics should not walk the Camino.” It is a funny use of ‘reverse psychology’ as each reason is a good lesson on faith and growing closer to Jesus, using Camino metaphors and examples.

I have not finished the series yet, currently I’m on Day 25. Each day they relate what happened, where they went and how it was; and at some point within the video he gives that day’s “reason not to walk” it, along with a “Camino Saint of the Day,” typically a saint from the area they were in on that day who is tied to the Camino in some manner.

I am loving these videos (although sometimes I do get dizzy as the camera is moved much too fast when a site is shot. But a small price for such an edifying series of videos.)

There is another You Tube Channel created by Catholics who also walked the Camino; although they visit churches along the way and their Faith is important, their videos aren’t as religious (but still worthwhile!) The St. Max Media YouTube Channel is run by a Polish lady who went on Camino with her daughter. Their playlist is here: Camino de Santiago – The Way of Saint James

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!!)

Distractions and anxiety

Posted on January 25, 2021 by paulcoholic

I noticed the other day that I haven’t blogged in over a month. This isn’t an apology nor an explanation, but just commentary about ‘distractions and anxiety.’

Lots of things have been going on in both the Church and the secular world. The Church passed through Advent, Christmas and on through Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord. Typically I would have blogged a bit on any one or a number of them. Not that I am a liturgical blogger, but one of the themes of this blog is that the liturgical year provides a rhythm and framework about which to live out the year. Not that I am always diligent in blogging during key seasons; I’ve been absent before during them and can promise you that it will happen again! Nevertheless, this goes beyond just focusing on the season and trying to live out the spirituality and forgetting or neglecting to bring insights to readers.

I’ve been distracted and downright freakishly anxious about the state of the world. USA Presidential election results were being disputed; and it doesn’t matter who would have won, either side was prepared to claim the other ‘cheated’ if their side lost. Carry this forward to the threat of political violence by the loser to protest the ‘stolen election.’ The threat of a civil war appears real. And I don’t really think it’s over.

So, in observing current events I decided to withdraw and not blog. Sad to say I didn’t withdraw from social media. I would have retained a greater deal of sanity if I had.

The civil war is for now a ‘cold’ one. No fighting or anything like that. But ruptures in online friendships as people ‘take sides’ and cannot tolerate an opposing point of view or conviction. I confess to having ‘unfriended’ people; primarily because they crossed a line of toxicity and illogic.

Oh, well. I’m back to blogging. I hope your Advent went well, that you got to Confession and Mass and grew spiritually and religiously. Perhaps you reread old Sober Catholic posts on the season to compensate for my not having written anything new.

Lent is almost upon us and I hope to use that to boost my blogging. Later, people!

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!!)

Catholic Recovery subreddit

Posted on November 20, 2020 by paulcoholic

I love Reddit. Reddit is the self-described “front page of the Internet” and is the result of a massive grouping of forums, called ‘subreddits’ or just plain ‘subs,’ that are created by the online community. You name it, there’s a sub for it. Some are obviously more popular than others; one thing I love about Reddit is the vast array of diverse subs, including some obscure niche interests.

There are quite a lot of Catholic subreddits on there. One of the newest is the Catholic Recovery subreddit. Yes, you heard that right, there is an entire sub devoted for us Catholics recovering from something! Here is their Group description:

“For Roman or Eastern Catholics struggling with mental health issues mild or severe, trauma, addiction of any kind, loss/grief, depression, spiritual malady, sin, scrupulosity, et cetera. We recognize the importance of spiritual redemption in recovery, the incredible framework of the Catholic faith in healing, and the miraculous power of the Eucharist as a “divine medicine” of God. Many of us sometimes cannot share with our parish these topics due to common societal stigma, so here we are.”

The minute I found out about it, I joined so fast Einstein might have had to revise his theory of relativity, had he known. I do not have anything to do with the running of the sub, I’m just a grateful and happy member.

Reddit has ‘social networking” functions. Although you cannot ‘friend’ anyone, you can ‘follow’ them. My Reddit account is Paulcoholic on Reddit.

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

Posted on October 23, 2020 by paulcoholic

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!

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!!)

Manifesto of Faith

Posted on October 31, 2019 by paulcoholic

A few days ago on Facebook a good friend posted something about a “Manifesto of Faith” in reply to something I had posted. It sounded interesting and so I looked it up. To quote from the website:

“The “Manifesto of Faith” was published by Gerhard Cardinal Müller in February 2019. Cardinal Müller was the Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith from 2011-2017. He issued the document in response to requests from clerics and lay people who asked him to provide guidance for the Church in this time of confusion. The original document is provided below in 6 different languages. We encourage people to read and reflect upon Cardinal Müller’s words, especially his references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

I watched the video, it’s about 22 minutes long. It’s published on Vimeo and YouTube; I’ve also embedded it in the sidebar as well as at the bottom of this post so you can watch it from here. Or you could also watch it on the film’s website: Manifesto of Faith, and read more about it there as well as learn how you can help. It is excellent and quite a warning shot to those on the other side in the Spiritual Warfare that is escalating.

“Manifesto of Faith.” Clear truth in these times when everything seems malleable and relative.

When I shared the video on my Facebook profile, I suggested the following to cope with these times:

Read the Catechism. The 1997 one by Pope St. John Paul II; the 16th Century one by the Council of Trent. Either. Both!
Read a ***Catholic Bible***. Douay-Rheims, Jerusalem, Knox, Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition (and the RSV-Second Catholic Edition) are wonderful and solid.
Watch EWTN.
STAY CLOSE TO THE SACRAMENTS! Receive Holy Communion often, Confession *at least monthly*.
Read the Lives of the Saints.
GO TO MASS! Find a TLM (Traditional Latin Mass; reconnect with the Mass of the Ages, the one all Catholics for centuries worshipped in. Your favorite saints either worshipped in this or said it (if priests). Otherwise, try and find a New Mass that is offered with due reverence and solemnity. Is it obvious there is something sacred going on? Are they acting as if they are aware the Jesus is Truly Present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity? Or are they acting like the Eucharist is just a symbol? The difference is obvious. People would be acting much differently at Mass if they actually believed that Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords was there.
Don’t trust the news media. ANY of it. They all lie. Every single outlet. The sooner you realize that, the better.
Politicians are not saviors and messiahs.

The film: