Category Archives: Virtue

St. Michael’s Lent begins today!

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Today, August 15th, the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady, is also the beginning of the Franciscan devotion known as “St. Michael’s Lent.” It is a 40-day period of fasting begun by St. Francis of Assisi in the 1220’s similar to the actual Lenten season. It ends September 29th on the feast of St. Michael. It was during one of these fasts in 1224 that St. Francis received the stigmata.

I looked up this observance online, didn’t find much beyond what I stated above (there was an informative link that I referred a few years ago on Sober Catholic from a Franciscan site that is now a broken link.) But, I assume that you can just observe a fast of sorts (food or bad habit/character defect, etc.) and whatever other penitential practices you can think of.

I do believe that it is significant that this period begins and ends when it does. The Solemnity of the Assumption is observed because as Mary was preserved from Original Sin in her conception, she was bodily assumed into Heaven when her mortal period of time on Earth was over, thus preserving her from the corruption of death. St. Michael was the champion and leader of the blessed angels in their battle against Lucifer and his demons in the Fall of the Angels, and in his victory cast Satan out of Heaven. We can gain strength from theses days in our struggles against drinking and drugging, and especially against sins of impurity. If you are anxious and stressed about things (and what isn’t stressful nowadays?) you can perhaps “fast” from anxiety. Easier said than done. No wonder Satan uses impurity and addictions and fear in his ongoing war against those made in the image and likeness of God.

(Just in case anyone counts the number of days from Aug. 15 to Sept. 29, you’ll get “46.” .Don’t count the six Sundays that occur and you’ll get the forty. Sundays aren’t considered a part of any Lenten observance.)

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!!)

Focus on the Message of Fatima

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This is a slight detour from the regular postings I do here. Last Saturday marked the 100th Anniversary of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s appearance to three shepherd children near Fatima, Portugal. I’ve written posts of varying degrees of competence here: Fatima postings.

The message of Fatima is basic: prayer, penance, reparation and conversion. In recent years the message has gotten obscured by various controversies that essentially are pointless. If you are unfamiliar with these, never mind. I never know the extent to which readers know about something I write; I assume many are reverting to the faith of their childhood or are others seeking Catholicism out of curiosity or a need to be more fulfilled spiritually. And perhaps many know more about the Faith than I. I will post links at the end of this so that you can learn more about the Apparitions. The link above on my Fatima postings is a good start, however.

The two major ones are whether or not the “Consecration of Russia” was done. The options seem to be 1) Yes. 2) Yes, but improperly. 3) Yes, but too late to be any good. 4) No, because the so called consecrations were done improperly. (I vote for number 3.)

For those of you who are new to the Fatima Apparitions, there’s been a decades-long debate as to whether or not Russia was properly consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope (whoever was Pope at this or that Consecration.) The links below will give you the needed information on the whole thing. It’s not important anymore, mainly because Sr. Lucia authenticated the last Consecration and the Vatican has concluded it was done. For those hoping that Pope Francis or a future Pope will “do it right,” don’t hold your breath. The fact that it probably should have been done before World War II is essentially agreed upon by all; whether the Consecrations actually done during the war and afterwards were effective or legitimate are debated heatedly, some to the point of forming schisms.

It’s beside the point, now. Carrying on the debate is getting the Message obscured, people debate certain issues rather than live the Message. Same for the other controversy:

The “Third Secret.” What was it, and what was actually revealed to be it in 2000 the “real” secret? Like the Russia Consecration, information on that will be found when you review the links below; I’m not getting into it here. And also like the debate over the Consecration, going on about the Third Secret just gets in the way of living the Message.

So, do that. Focus on living the Message of Fatima, for in doing so you are living a life of Catholic sobriety; the ‘Way’ of Matt Talbot. Penance, prayer, conversion, reparation for sins (offering up things and making sacrifices for your sins and other people’s), modesty in attire and a close study of Sacred Scripture and Catechism. All these are essential ingredients to live a sober Catholic existence.

At this moment in time, 2017, debating and arguing about these or other controversies surrounding Fatima are just stoking people’s egos (“My side is right, and I will prove it!”) and expressions of uncharitable self-will. They have nothing to do with the reason as to why Our Lady appeared to the children with the Message she gave to them for the World to hear. And they get in the way of living the Message and spreading it to other people.

Which may be Satan’s plan.

Links to sites on Fatima:

Official Shrine in Fatima, Portugal
Vatican’s Fatima Page
EWTN’s Fatima Site
EWTN’s page on the Apparitions
EWTN’s page on the Message
Living the Message by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate
EWTN’s Page on the Consecrations
EWTN’s Page on the Secrets
World Apostolate of Fatima (Int’l)
World Apostolate of Fatima (USA)
America Needs Fatima
Marians of the Immaculate Conception Fatima Page

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 song about porn

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I keep hearing a song on a new radio station in my area that plays, get this, contemporary Catholic music that doesn’t suck (unlike most contemporary music heard at Mass, which I suspect is actually Protestant.) The station’s budget is low and thus they have no DJs. Therefore, if you want to know what that song is you just heard, you have to become pretty good at remembering lyrics and typing those in to YouTube or a search engine and hope you score a hit.

The lyrics I hung onto were “My mother raised me to be a lover of the truth: she said don’t ever compromise it.” And sure enough, Search produced some hits!

The song is “Dismantled by Love” by Alanna Boudreau. At the moment I know little of her apart from this: About Alanna and that she has a wonderfully distinctive voice. The station plays some more of her songs, too (more lyric-remembering and searching! I’ve already found “Champion” and “Pem,” two more songs…) The song “Dismantled by Love” is about pornography and the damage it causes. It is beautiful and haunting.

Sober Catholic is about alcohol addiction and how the Catholic Faith can help you stay sober; hence I rarely write about other addictions, preferring to refer readers to people more competent than I. This is one time I’ll digress from that, mainly because I have the opportunity to help spread good Catholic music. I’m unsure if Alanna is Catholic, although she quotes Pope St. John Paul II on her blog and appears in concert at Eucharistic Congresses. A quote from Charles Peguy currently appears on the landing page of her music site.

And in that blog of hers she writes about why she wrote “Dismantled by Love,” and a quote stood out for me:

“You are neither loved, nor lovable: in fact, you are loathed. So it makes no difference if you loathe these other people and treat them as mere bodies. They cannot reject you: of course, if they knew you, they would surely hate you. You are immanently leave-able, forgettable… But they do not know you. So there is no harm done. Loathe yourself further: but at least make it indulgent. You are neither loved, nor lovable. But you have nerve-endings, so why the hell not celebrate that, at least.” A hell-hole of pride and fear, self-loathing and loneliness.

Source: [why i wrote] a song about porn. | alannaboudreau

That’s porn all right. Self-hatred reinforced by the world and thus why not dehumanize others? And if pleasure can be gained, in this case sexual…

Two verses:

“Lust is a coward, a liar, a beast
And it waits between the pages
Poisoning hearts with sated duplicity
Starving souls within its cages

I ask you brothers, I ask you men
For the love of all that’s holy
Release the stallion trapped in its pen:
Regain a thirst for who you should be.”

Source: Alanna Boudreau Music: lyrics

Her YouTube Channel: Alanna Boudreau YouTube

Music website: Alanna Boudreau Music

If you live in western New York state, like around Buffalo and points about, tune into 90.7 FM, “WLGU – iCatholicMusic.” It is owned by The Station of the Cross Catholic Radio network.

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!!)

More on “Seeking first the kingdom…”

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Just before Lent I posted on Seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness… and said

“In “seeking first” we yearn for Heaven, our True Home and we order our lives so that we can get there. Prayer, partaking of the Sacraments, especially Mass and Confession, spiritual development in ridding oneself of character defects (making oneself more pleasing to the Lord), learning more about the Catholic Faith and applying what you learn to your life. We build up the kingdom of God within us, become more Christ-like and Mary-like. We live by the moral and social teachings of the Church. We live by the Beatitudes and Matthew 25:31-46 (sheep and goats “Final Judgment parable.”)

We seek His righteousness and we seek to establish that on Earth (that pesky social and moral…).

In return, the positive effects of this might lead to a greater intimacy and friendship with God and the workings of Divine Providence becoming manifest in your life. But probably “Just Enough.” 😉

I try to study Scripture daily as a part of my morning (and sometimes evening) meditations. Just after I wrote the above, I entered into Matthew 13 and all of Jesus’ parables about the Kingdom of God.

In reading them, I came away with the notion that “Seeking first…” is more than what I wrote above. (See? I did say then that “this is what I got, today… 😉 ) Grab your Bible and open to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 13. Carefully, prayerfully read each line, and try to get past the surface and dig into the depths of each parable.

In studying those parables is dawned on me that while what I wrote was a part of the teachings, I think the ultimate goal in “Seeking first…” is that building up the Kingdom of God within you is an all-encompassing and all-consuming endeavor. Not “merely” with just “a greater intimacy and friendship with God and the workings of Divine Providence becoming manifest” in your life but the “seeking” itself is to push away all other distractions as being detrimental to the quest.

Sort of like the journey itself is a part of the destination; the seeking establishes His Kingdom within you bringing you closer to Heaven…

Today I was skimming over parts of the Old Testament (Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers) and not even thinking about “seeking” and something else related to this jumped out at me…

More later…

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!!)

Take up the cross, and follow me

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The Gospel reading for today’s Mass for the Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time is an appropriate one for a Friday, given the day’s significance as the day Jesus suffered and died.

Mark 8:34-37 “And calling together the crowd with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone chooses to follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

For whoever will have chosen to save his life, will lose it. But whoever will have lost his life, for my sake and for the Gospel, shall save it. For how does it benefit a man, if he gains the whole world, and yet causes harm to his soul?

Or, what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

(Via Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version)

A key line in the Gospel excerpt, “If anyone chooses to follow me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” is the crux of recovery with a Catholic perspective. In drinking and drugging, or even just making daily choices and preferring our will to His, we refuse the Cross.

Taking up the Cross is in opposition to our own selfish desires as expressed in our self-will. Our instinct for self-preservation insists that we pick “self” first; the pain of the Cross goes against this. And part of the “contradiction of the Cross” is that we reject the self, we “deny ourselves” in order to be saved. In denying ourselves, we have to trust in Jesus.

And so we make a choice. We choose to follow Jesus, “The Way, the Truth and the Life,” deny ourselves and reject addiction. This becomes a cross as we naturally suffer without our addiction. (That we were suffering with it is obvious, but we typically focus on how it “helped” us cope.) We are denying our preferences, our “crutches” and our need to fulfill our base desires. Our mind and body scream, “Give us the drink!” But we reply, “No.”

And so we follow Him: Jesus Christ, the Divine Physician. In choosing to save our life through Christ, we lose the old one. It was nailed to the Cross. We live now by the Gospel and if we persevere to the End will find ourselves reigning with Him and the saints for all eternity.

There is a trade-off. In keeping our addictions, we “gain the world,” or at least our fantasized version of it. But we lose our soul. We do not become the person God made us to be. That one is buried in the addiction. The other trade-off is clear: giving up the addiction we recover who we were meant to be.

This better “trade-off,” that of denying yourself and becoming a disciple of Christ, is essentially the method Matt Talbot chose. If you are a regular reader of SoberCatholic, you know who he is. If not, a short bio tells that he was an Irish drunk who tried several times to become sober after running out of money to buy himself liquor. His friends, for whom he loaned money for booze in the past, didn’t help him. Shocked at this betrayal of alcoholic solidarity and brotherhood Matt tried the “pledge” which worked for a while. He found continued sobriety only after he transferred his love for the drink onto Jesus. Matt lived a life of piety and devotion. He died sober. His Cause for Canonization is open and they’re just waiting on the requisite miracles. There are links in the sidebar to help you learn more; the best one is The Venerable Matt Talbot Resource Center.

Matt gave up the drink in exchange for his soul.

What will you give in exchange for your soul? That’s a daunting question. And not an easy one to answer for most people. It is the question that starts the conversion process. Even if you were not consciously aware of it, when you began your conversion process upon attaining sobriety you started to answer that question. And you continue to answer it every day you are sober and continue to learn and live your Catholic Faith.

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 ‘Nineveh 90’ Challenge is almost here! You in?

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It’s almost here! One of the toughest spiritual challenges you might be facing outside of rigorous Lenten mortifications! And it begins next Monday the 13th of February! What is it, you ask? “We Sober Catholic readers are all about tough spiritual challenges! Tell us, Paulcoholic!!!”

It’s the “Nineveh 90 Challenge,” of course! I blogged about it before: Spiritual prepping for Fatima and 2017. That post has been updated a few times, please see it again if you were unawares.

Father Richard Heilman has a wealth of resources on his Roman Catholic Man website as well as the “go to” place: “Nineveh90” to assist you in your quest. If you’re on Facebook, there’s also a Group focusing on the Challenge: Special Forces Training. Members are posting links to other FB Groups that focus on regional meetups and the like.

If you are interested in doing this, please look at the above links for thorough information. I’m giving a “last-minute” heads up so that you can do whatever prayer and prepping you need to do before Monday.

I won’t be doing a few of the items on the ‘Ten Elements of the Challenge,’ namely the ‘rigorous exercise’ and the 33-day Consecration. Nor will I join the Angelic Warfare Confraternity (I’ll step up my resolve to say the “Chaplet of St. Michael the Archangel.”) A number of things I already do as a part of my daily prayer life. There’s a link to the AWC in my sidebar under “Porn Addiction Links.”

The fact that this overlaps Lent is of great significance!

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

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

Spiritual prepping for Fatima and 2017 UPDATED (AGAIN!)

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NOTE: Post updated AGAIN with a corrected link and additional items.

Calling Catholic men (and ladies, too!)

Fr. Richard Heilman of the Roman Catholic Man site has a challenge for you!

Quote: “Inspired by the excellent program, “Exodus 90,” and all of the research that reveals it takes 90 days to replace bad habits (even addictions) with good habits, I am calling upon all of us to enter into a 90 day period of humility and transformation I call “Nineveh 90,” leading up to the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima on May 13, 2017.

Nineveh 90 is all about freedom. The goal is to achieve the freedom necessary to fully engage the love of God and the love of neighbor. Nineveh 90 is based on a challenging 90-day period of purification, a dying to self, which is supported by fellow soldiers in Christ for greater interior freedom and, eventually, a more purified and selfless love.”

Found here: Nineveh90 and the 100th Anniversary of Fatima

UPDATE: The plan now has its own site, see Nineveh90

The challenge begins February 13, 2017. I am considering doing this, with some personal modifications. I already do a number of the things listed. I may not bother with Items 9 and 10 (33 Days prep for Consecration and the actual Consecration) as I’ve already done that with my wife in 2008; also, I’m a member of the Militia of the Immaculata of St. Maximilian Kolbe, through which I consecrated myself to Mary on 7 Oct 2002. As an MI I renew my consecration daily, so I think that’s covered. I can perhaps substitute something else, such as studying St. Max’s writings and MI literature or Fatima books (both of which I have oodles of). I probably won’t do Item 5 (joining the Angelic Warfare Confraternity) as I may not be able to fulfill some of the requirements (logistics).

The basis for this lies in Fr. Heilman’s first paragraph: “We have now entered the 100th year since Our Lady appeared in Fatima, Portugal. The anniversary is May 13, 2017. Many people are wondering if God may do (or allow) something soon to “shake us up” (I wrote about it HERE – this is the most “shared” article I have ever written).”

Please read the article linked to with the word “HERE” in the previous paragraph. That explains more about the basis for this challenge and the need to become “Spiritual Preppers” soon. I’ve also hinted at year’s end that 2017 might be “interesting.” The roots of Western Civilization are becoming poisoned, the branches are cracking and things might becoming rougher for Christians, especially Catholics. This “Nineveh90” just might assist with your prepping…

Speaking of “prepping,” there’s this: PREPARING FOR NINEVEH 90.

Additional note, Fr. Heilman named St. Maximilian Kolbe as the patron saint of the Nineveh90! See: ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE – PATRON OF LAST DAYS BEFORE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF FATIMA

There are additional posts at both the Nineveh90 and Roman Catholic Man sites
on the effort. Read them! Keep informed!

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!!)

Happy New Year!

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Today is the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the Catholic Church’s liturgical year. Just like that secular New year when everyone makes resolutions or otherwise sees it as a time to “turn over a new leaf” or “start over,” we can also use the new Church year to start anew.

Become a better Catholic! Take advantage of the Sacraments! Go to Daily Mass (if you can), start going to Confession more often (like maybe once a month! Or more!) Know of Eucharistic Adoration at a parish somewhere near you? Then go and have a Holy Hour! Read the Cathechism of the Catholic Church and grow in your knowledge of the Faith! Read your Catholic Bible! According to St. Jerome, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ!”

There’s LOTS of things that you can do to grow spiritually! Tough times are possibly ahead for Catholics – deepening your knowledge of the Faith and strengthening your relationship with the Lord are ways to deal with whatever is coming down the road…

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. Maximilian Kolbe: martyr, patron of addicts, died 75 years ago today

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NOTE: This is an edited version of a post previously published to “Paul Sofranko’s Blog”

St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe was executed in the Nazi German concentration camp at Auschwitz seventy-five years ago today for being a Catholic priest.

He was a Conventual Franciscan friar and Guardian (leader, administrator) of Niepokalanow, then the world’s largest friary and a major Catholic media center. It is located some distance west of Warsaw, Poland.

He was canonized a saint by the Church in October 1982.

In late July 1941 a prisoner escaped and as was Nazi policy, ten men from that cell block were randomly selected to be sentenced to a starvation bunker until the escapee was found (dead or alive.) In reality, the ten condemned wouldn’t be released at all, regardless of the escapee’s status.

Death by starvation and dehydration is a very slow and very painful way to die. The ten were stripped naked and placed in a cell that measured three meters by three meters (that about 9 feet on a side.)

One of the ten was a Polish Army sergeant by the name of Franciszek Gajowniczek, who, upon being selected, wailed that he was a husband and father and bemoaned the fate of his family. Upon hearing this, Fr. Kolbe stepped out of line, went forward to the commander and offered to take the sergeant’s place.

The Nazi officer was duly astounded. Perhaps taken aback and confused by this act of selfless sacrifice, he accepted Kolbe’s offer and the Gajowniczek was excused. He survived the war.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the ten died, one-by-one. Every day an attendant would go into the cell to retrieve the dead.

Prison guards and camp survivors reported that while there would typically be sounds or rage and anger, of wailing and crying and begging, during the two weeks that Fr. Kolbe was imprisoned in the cell with the others, the sounds were quite different. Hymns were sung. Rosaries said. It was as if Fr. Kolbe had turned the bunker into a chapel. On August 14th, seeing that he was still alive, the Nazis got impatient that he wasn’t dying fast enough and had him injected with carbolic acid. For this reason, he is considered a patron saint of addicts.

When he volunteered to take the sergeant’s place, the Nazi asked Fr. Kolbe who he was. His answer?

“I am a Catholic priest.”

This was his identity, it was who he was. He died for being a priest; he died being a priest, ministering to his fellow condemned.

Week48IAmACatholicPriest

(Image via MI Canada)

Being a priest was enough to have him targeted by the Nazis; however there was more to him than that. For nearly twenty years he published “Knight of the Immaculata,” a monthly magazine dedicated to being the voice of the Militia of the Immaculata movement he founded in 1917 (more on that, later.) This publishing venture, begun in 1922, gradually expanded over the 1920s and ‘30s to include other periodicals and a daily newspaper. Circulation was amongst the largest in pre-WW2 Poland (and significant amongst global circulations, too.) Fr. Kolbe had already launched a shortwave radio station, although it was limited at first to just being on the Amateur bands. He also had plans for a TV station. Expansion of the radio station to non-amateur broadcasting and the TV enterprise were halted by the Nazi and Soviet invasion of September 1939. Fr. Kolbe also had plans for a motion picture studio.

He was “New Evangelization” before anyone else thought of it. If you wish to get the gist of what he did and also what he planned, what Mother Angelica did in Alabama 50 years later is essentially that.

I have also blogged about him before, numerous times (he has become my favorite saint.) Read more of my stuff about him here: St. Maximilian Kolbe post archives.

There is a special group of links for St. Maximilian Kolbe and his Militia of the Immaculata in the sidebar.
But for starters:

Militia of the Immaculata in the USA
The global Militia
“Niepokalanow”
another official Niepokalanow site

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!!)

…if this chalice cannot pass away from me…

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Continuing along with my weekly Passion meditations from (almost) every Friday, this last one on July 15th managed to get me only one more verse into Matthew’s account before stopping.

Matthew 26:42 “Again, a second time, he went and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this chalice cannot pass away, unless I drink it, let your will be done.”

(Via Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version)

If you read Twelve Step literature and have attended meetings a lot, you’ll recall “Not my will, but yours (or God’s) be done” mentioned frequently. This is a very good exercise in getting away from oneself and putting others before you. We alcoholics and addicts can be a very self-centered and selfish lot.

We don’t decide what we want to do; rather we try and discern what God wants us to do. Not an easy task but if you are a Christian it is somewhat easier.

Study the Ten Commandments.

Study the Beatitudes.

Study Matthew 25:31-45.

Study the Lord’s Prayer.

Put God first, others second and yourself third.

Practice humility.

There is another object lesson in the passage from Matthew. Jesus knew what was going to happen, and based upon the text, might have been reluctant. Perhaps His human nature exerting itself? (Probably a theologically imprecise statement, but you know what I mean.)

The thing is, quite often we are faced with doing things we’d rather not do. Few of us will face something as severe like the trial and execution that Jesus was to undergo. Be that as it may, many times we’d rather run and hide than do what’s in front of us.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post in this series, “If Jesus can feel that way, that gives us some consolation. God knows everything, but knowing and experiencing something in His human nature AND in His divine nature I think divinizes the experience. We suffer, and are sorrowful so much so at times that our spirit embraces death. Not necessarily becoming suicidal, but the degree of severity to which we are suffering can be “like death.” We, as baptized Catholics, and thus members of the Mystical Body of Christ, can draw upon this when we “offer up” or pains. He knows about them. Not just because He is an omniscient God, but because He’d been there, He suffered them, too.. Our sufferings are gathered up into the Mystical Body, and as He suffered we can draw strength and courage from that.”

See also earlier posts on this topic:
My Way or His Way

Not My Will, but Yours be Done

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!!)