Growing in holiness during Lent

Lent began today. Traditionally, people give up stuff for Lent as a sign of repentance. That’s nice but it may be a downer, especially if it isn’t combined with something that may help you grow in holiness. Giving up something to achieve something is tough. Ask an athlete, especially an Olympian or a champion.

Another option to giving up something is to take up something. Adding something to help you achieve something, like holiness, may be easier. Increase your virtue. This link: Virtues and Vices has a list of the seven deadly vices and the virtues that can help you overcome them.

Serve and volunteer.

Increase your prayer life. Read Sacred Scripture, daily. Attend Daily Mass, if possible. If not, then maybe catch it online at a more convenient time.

And then perhaps maybe someday you can deprive yourself of something, because with the increased holiness, you’re more apt to select a deprivation and combine it with growing in holiness. This can merit itself at other times of the year when you suffer, now you know better how to “offer it up.” 😉

Joel: 2:13:

“Rend your hearts, not your garments,

and return to the LORD, your God,

For he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,

and relenting in punishment.”

(Via 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!!)

Visit the Imprisoned

Matthew 25:36: “…in prison and you visited me.’”

“Imprisoned” can mean many things. It may oftentimes mean the literal imprisonment of those who have committed crimes. “You do the crime, you do the time.” And so people regard with indifference or contempt those who are in jail.

While by no means suggesting that those in prison do not deserve their punishment, many in jail have repented of their crimes and corresponding sins. The intransigent and unrepentant, well, their place is deserved. But for those who have come to terms with the reality of what they did and why they are in prison, their spiritual needs must be met. There are plenty of opportunities for people in communities all over to visit those in prison and minister to them. Participate in a prayer group or Bible or Catechism Study. Whatever, just show them that there are people on the “outside” who haven’t forgotten them. One good organization is “Kairos Prison Ministry International”:

There are other forms of imprisonment. Addiction is a prime example and perhaps the reason why you are reading this blog.

I wrote a poem, it was triggered by an old AA friend from my old hometown who was picked up for DWI for the umteenth time:

Alone in Jail

I sit in the cell, trapped.

Trapped in the prison of my mind.

I wish to scream “Let me out!”

But the mind has no voice, silenced by shame.

My prison, and I am my jailer, and I have lost the key.

Perhaps you can be the key to let the prisoner of addiction out of their jail cell. Reach out and extend help. If they take the help, follow through! If they reject it, wait and offer it again when they are ready.

Although it may not seem like it, another way for people to be imprisoned is overt attraction to the things of “the world.” Be it money, power, lust, fine clothes and an outward appearance (at the expense of the inward appearance), such things imprison you as they get in the way of your true self. They are hardly satisfying. Do they help you in your relationship with God?

If you click on the image below, you’ll be taken to the “Works of Mercy” store at Artist4God (my wife’s online shop.) Buy anything from the “Works of Mercy” store and a portion of the proceeds go to life-affirming charities.

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!!)

Visit the Sick

Matthew 25:36 “…ill and you cared for me…”

I feel that one of the tenderest and kindest things that you can do for another is to care for them when they are vulnerable, such as when they are suffering an illness. You’re putting your own health at risk from whatever they have, so in a way it is almost like the passage from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, According to John:

John 15:13: ” No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. “

For people to do this for a living, such as physicians and nurses, to home heath aides and the like, is a life of tremendous dedication to the vulnerable. For someone to do this without expecting anything in return, is love and sacrifice. Then again, love and sacrifice are quite often linked.

If you click on the image below, you’ll be taken to the “Works of Mercy” store at Artist4God (my wife’s online shop.) Buy anything from the “Works of Mercy” store and a portion of the proceeds go to life-affirming charities.

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!!)

Shelter the Homeless

Matthew 25:35 “…a stranger and you welcomed me…”

This is difficult to write, never having been homeless. Came close at least once or twice, but that is not the same.

I cannot wrap my mind around the concept of being without a home. A warm bed, a roof over my head, a place to keep my stuff, I have always had these.

The very idea of this happening, the last day in one’s own home before being evicted or kicked out… facing the streets for the first time without the knowledge that there is some PLACE to go back to.

There are shelters, and people who dedicate their lives to caring for the homeless. Whether the homeless are “that way” because of financial difficulties or drug and alcohol addiction, it is little matter. People are out on the street and suffer for it.

As a society, we are less than hospitable. We turn our heads away from the beggars in the street. I have done that, out of guilt or shame or revulsion.

How we treat some of the most vulnerable of our society tells a lot.

If you click on the image of the mug below, you’ll be taken to the “Works of Mercy” store at Artist4God (my wife’s online shop.) Buy anything from the “Works of Mercy” store and a portion of the proceeds go to life-affirming charities.

Shelter The Homeless Buttons
Shelter The Homeless Buttons by WorksOfMercy

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!!)

Give Drink to the Thirsty

Matthew 25:35 “…I was thirsty and you gave me drink…”

Going hand in hand with “Feed the Hungry,” we are called upon to satisfy those who thirst. There is the literal, physical thirst that needs quenching. But there is also the spiritual thirst very much like the spiritual hunger I described in the ***last post***

People are more than cogs in a machine. People have dignity, no matter what their state in life, what they do for a living, how much they earn and whatever else that the World quantifies human existence. People are made in the image and likeness of God and are deserving of fulfillment. In addition to the physical needs being met, their spiritual needs are taken care of as well.

This is important for a host of reasons, but namely to remind people of their personhood, their humanity. People are not trash, disposable things to be gotten rid of when inconvenient. Too often today this happens. Abortion, euthanasia, job layoffs… the list goes on for the many ways society dictates that people serve secular gods. The economic system, a political philosophy, the corporate balance sheet. Personal choices by other individuals, at times.

People need to be taught that they were made for something more. More than just for whatever piece of society they find themselves in. They need the reminder that they were made by God to know Him, love Him and serve Him in this life, so as to be forever happy in Heaven (to paraphrase the old Baltimore Catechism.)

If you click on the image of the mug below, you’ll be taken to the “Works of Mercy” store at Artist4God (my wife’s online shop.) Buy anything from the “Works of Mercy” store and a portion of the proceeds go to life-affirming charities.

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!!)

Feed the Hungry (UPDATED)

Matthew 25:35 “For I was hungry and you gave me food…”

We have many ways to satiate hunger. Physical hunger is a harsh reality anywhere on this planet. Even in the so-called “rich” countries of North America and Europe people starve.

There is also a hunger apart from the physical. There is a spiritual hunger, too. People have holes in their souls that are not filled by the secular world, or by do-it-your-own spiritualities. They hunger for the Kingdom of God to be manifested in their lives by way of justice, righteousness and the freedom to be the people they were meant to be.

Learn Scripture, learn the Catechism, read the lives of the Saints and discover ways to bring the Kingdom of God to people in a manner that they can understand and appreciate. Fill the hunger, that hole in their souls that is now only fed by secular junk food and shallow spiritualities. Preach the Gospel, perhaps by words, perhaps by actions.

There is no excuse for the physical hunger. Do not wait for the government to feed those who hunger. Get busy now, yourselves. Act! In many areas there are food pantries that accept donations of food and money, as well as volunteers to do the work. Churches and other charitable organization offer the hungry a dignified alternative to state-sponsored charity. They are names, not a numbers.

Be a part of the solution and do not wait for others to fix the problem. Remember this, the next time you are “hungry.” For many of you, that is a temporary situation easily addressed and solved by wandering into your kitchen and grabbing something, or going off to the market and stocking up on food. But for many, and often through no fault of their own, that is the daily norm. The next time you hunger for something for your soul, grab your Bible. It is the food that does not perish.

If you click on the image of the mug below, you’ll be taken to the “Works of Mercy” store at Artist4God (my wife’s online shop.) Buy anything from the “Works of Mercy” store and a portion of the proceeds go to life-affirming charities.

Thank you!

 

 

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

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

Prisoner to Prisoner Daily Devotional

Matthew 25:36: “I was in prison, and you came to me.”

(Via Catholic Public Domain Version of the Sacred Bible.)

A very good friend of mine is working with the following project. Please help if you can.

Below is a copy-and-paste of a post from his blog: Prisoner to Prisoner® Daily Devotional « Bro Jer’s Blog

“Prisoner to Prisoner (P2P®)is a 12 year-old ministry that was started in the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. In 2002 Kairos Prison Ministry of Ohio took over the operation of P2P® with a vision that Kairos state chapters, churches, individuals and other organizations would help expand the distribution of the devotionals to all states and to other countries”.

I would ask you all to please consider helping to spread the word about the P2P® Devotional.

Below is a copy of a recent appeal letter we sent out. Feel free to copy, print, re post, and share with anyone who may have an interest in this unique outreach to prisoners.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

IT! IS! HOT! It was hot in July of 2003 when two strangers walked in the door of the print shop, handed me a ragged looking booklet and asked if I could do anything with it. Before I knew it, I was sitting out in the yard at Marion Correctional having a meeting, in which we came up with the current format of the P2P® Devotional. I have had the honor of printing the P2P® since that time and have been a member of the Managing Committee since 2004. My life has never been the same.

I have suggested over the years that we tell people just what it would take for this Ministry to operate, for us to be self supporting, without special fund raising. It really is very simple, yet, is a difficult goal to achieve. Many of those that receive the book are obviously not able to donate. We are currently printing and distributing 14,000 devotionals, six times a year. If we received one buck, what amounts to a can of soda or a burger off the dollar menu, for each book that goes out, we would be able to meet all the financial needs, have funds for promotion, and seek ways of further distribution. One book…one buck…one life changed. A buck will feed a prisoner spiritually for two months! Now tell me that is not a better deal… than a happy meal! Can I get an Amen??

So, PLEASE SEND MONEY! OK, we have that out-of-the-way. Heck, you know that is why you received this letter to begin with. What I would like to see happen is for each one who receives this letter to take a little extra time and get the P2P® into the hands of others. Help spread the word about this Ministry. Just as much as we need a really, REALLY, BIG CHECK…we need to have your help in promoting the P2P® Ministry. Could you help do that, please?

There were a few years that I personally took the delivery to Marion Correctional, where the books are repacked, then sent out to all the Ohio prisons. Each time, I tried to do the delivery when there was a “Prayer and Share” being held in the Chapel. There was one time that I walked out of Marion, sat in my truck…and cried, I mean bawled! I left the prison with a sense of how free some of the brothers there, were! The Holy Spirit was really present that day as we praised and worshiped our Lord. The P2P® is helping some of our brothers and sisters “behind the walls” experience freedom and peace which goes beyond alllllllllll understanding, a peace that can only come through the person of Jesus Christ.

What a privilege to be a small part of that!

I pray that you all have a very blessed summer

Your brother in Christ,

Jerry Kohlbrand

P2P Ministry Managing Committee

brojer4jc@gmail.com

PS. PLEASE SEND MONEY! oh, wait…I already said that

Cover

To request a subscription, make a donation, or for more information, please contact us at;

Prisoner to Prisoner®

Kairos Prison Ministry of Ohio

PO Box 750354

Dayton, Ohio 45475-0354

Phone: 937-765-6111

Email: prisoner2prisoner@gmail.com

+++BroJer

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!!)

Stayin’ Alive

Well, 10 years ago today was my first full day of not drinking. I wouldn’t say sober as “not drinking” and “sober” aren’t the same.

Earlier this year, in February, I had posted about what would have been my original sobriety date: An Almost Anniversary: February 3, 2002, Part 1 and An Almost Anniversary: February 3, 2002, Part 2

Earlier this week I mentioned that I’d write about the 88 hours of sleeplessness I endured and survived. They were dominated by hallucinations.

These next posts over the next few days will be about the hallucinations. I had never written them down before and will take this long overdue opportunity to do so.

But first, a musical interlude:

Yes, “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees. It was one of the hallucinations I experienced during those 88 hours. Not the video, just the “ha…ha…ha…ha… stayin’ alive, stayin’ alive…” section, repeatedly, for a few hours after 70-odd hours of sleeplessness had passed. I kept hearing that in my left ear, with an audio quality reminiscent of a 1970’s era inexpensive little Japanese transistor AM pocket radio.

I only lead off with this hallucination due to the recent death of Robin Gibb.

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 Prayer Request (UPDATED)

The mother-in-law of a friend of mine on Google+ may face imminent discharge from a hospital because “she has already cost the insurance company too much money.” She has been diagnosed with a pancreatic tumor. She was due to receive surgery for it when the insurance company called and stopped all further payment due to the costs. The surgery cannot be approved. My friend issued an urgent prayer request on Google+, which has been picked up by others and posted to other social networks. The prayer request is here:

“We need prayers here! It’s been like an episode of House trying to figure out what’s wrong with my mother-in-law.

They figured out it is a pancreatic tumor and are ready to remove it and insurance called in a 100% full stop to payments saying she’s cost them too much to approve surgery now, too. We have 4.5 hours before the hospital discharges her.”

The 4.5 hours is up at about 3:00 ET (USA) or 1900 GMT/UTC.

This is grossly unconscionable to place money above the life of a person. This is a basic decency. No matter what the cost, or whatever the survival rate is, to put money before a life is pure evil.

This quantification of a human life, that after a certain point “you are just too much of a burden,” or “too much of a cost” is reprehensible and not at all defensible from any valid moral standpoint.

It is a symptom of the sickness of society, that a life has a dollar value (or Euro, Pound Sterling, whatever) and after a point, just pull the plug.

Western civilization is in a decay. It needs to be revived and the only way to do that is to get out there and evangelize. Speak the Gospel Truth, live it as best one can, and confront the forces of evil and darkness when they present their ugly agenda.

One of Christianity’s best teachings is that we are made in the image and likeness of God and that we have an inherent dignity for that reason. Plus, we are adopted children of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. No other religion claims anything like that. Judaism may be close inasmuch they are our elder family in the Faith, and they are the Chosen People of God. But, Judaism is not a faith that seeks to convert others. We Christians can go out and bring people into the fullness of Divine Truth, and in doing so heal humanity of the sickness that is going on that allows my friend’s mother-in-law to possibly die without the surgery that can enable her to live. All because she “costs too much.”

 

An update from my friend: “Last night I contacted their state assemblyman and I wrote the Dept. of Insurance. The surgeon has pulled major, major strings behind the scenes with the hospital as well. The phone started ringing at 8:05 this morning. The insurance company is now caving on almost everything, but it isn’t definite yet.

They approved her ICU stay.
They approved all her tests and procedures.
The surgeons are confidant that they’ll have the surgery approved, but it isn’t yet. The surgeons are saying they’re doing the surgery no matter what.
They are denying her hospital stay on the regular floor saying she did not need to be in-patient in between ICU and surgery. This is 4 days in the hospital they’re refusing to pay for.

Everyone knows if she’d left she’d not be able to get the surgery covered so that isn’t an option, and this is definite improvement as the most expensive stuff is covered, but the outstanding approval for surgery in the morning and then the insurance nightmare that will be waiting post-surgery are the big issues right now, which is such a huge relief compared to last night! Please keep up the prayers today!”

UPDATE FROM TODAY: “My mother-in-law is now recuperating from surgery! They removed her tumor and everything was as perfect as possible! We haven’t heard anything from insurance or the business office.

Please pray in gratitude for the surgery. For her swift, full, and uneventful recovery. For God’s blessings on her surgeon, Michael. For our children who are missing home. And for the financial situation to be worked out to provide for all involved as they need. Thank you prayer warriors for storming heaven!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! She’s not coming to as we would hope. Over 24hrs later and she’s still pretty out of it. We were also told today that no headway has been made on the insurance.

The nurses and docs continue to be fantastic. My husband is flying home today in a lightning storm. I’m enjoying while I can that vegetarianism is taken for granted here so choices are clearly labeled and abundant. Small pleasures. 🙂

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!!)

Just one more

Today’s meditation in “Walk in Dry Places” by Hazelden mentions the diminishing returns of having “just one more drink.” As if having “one more” could bring the comfort and solace that is missing, it merely hastens our descent into deeper addiction. It is a false promise, an illusory note that we can be satisfied by a physical thing or act for what is essentially a spiritual problem.

As Catholics, we have access to a wealth of spiritual aids that we can dive into, and fill our soul. Mass and the Sacraments, but also devotional practices such as the Rosary. The Rosary, when said slowly and prayerfully, meditation on the Scripture-based Mysteries, can do wonders for filling that “hole in the soul”, which never seems to be satisfied by just another drink.

Reading Sacred Scripture is the ultimate devotional tool at our disposal. Reading the Word of God and dwelling upon the words and meanings is excellent for that satisfying spiritual hunger.

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!!)