Category Archives: Works of Mercy

Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation VIII: Our Lady Mother of Charity and Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange.

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Today begins the Eighth of the Nine Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation, and this one is dedicated to Our Lady Mother of Charity and Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange. It runs from August 22 through August 30, 2020.

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

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

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

…

Our Lady Mother of Charity and Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange

General Intention: For the gift of fortitude for all who work for justice and all who suffer injustice.

Sixth Work of Justice and Peace: Celebrate life, goodness, beauty, virtue, responsibility, and joy. Practice peace, non-violence, servant leadership, harmony, community, voluntary cooperation, and the proper stewardship of God’s creation. Pray without ceasing.

Act of Caring for Creation: Protect Earth’s creatures! Leave a place for our fellow creatures who share in Creation. Bell the cat. Support programs that provide free or low cost spay/neuter, and veterinarian services to the pets of low income people.

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

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

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

Our Lady of Charity, who came to us as a messenger of peace across the sea, we know you hear the cry of all who are at the mercy of others who are stronger than they. Give your gift of comfort and courage in our time of grave need. To your motherly heart, we entrust our desires and hopes, our work and our prayers.

We pray for our families, that they may live in fidelity and love. We pray for our children, that they may grow strong in spirit and in body. We pray for our young people, that their faith may increase, as well as their desire for the truth. We pray for the sick, the homeless, the lonely, the exiled, and for all suffering souls. We pray for the triumph of love, mercy, and justice throughout the world.

Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange, your holy example of courage and faith in the face of injustice and oppression strengthens us during this time when politicians profit and the common good is defiled with messages of hate and fear. Pray for all who stand with faith today against the demons who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Walk with us as we journey towards peace and justice. Amen.

Novena to St. John Chrysostom on behalf of the
Bishops of the United States of America 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thoughts for the Journey. In the early 1600s, a statue with an inscription “Our Lady of Charity” was found floating in a bay after a storm by two Indians (Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos) and a young slave (Juan Moreno). As at Guadalupe, this revelation came not to the rich and the powerful, but instead to the poor and outcast.

The same call to charity, fidelity, and service comes to us today – from “across the sea”. Will we respond in faith, prayer, and action?

First we must feel the sufferings of others in true solidarity. Then, having the desire to help, we must actually do something practical! If you have food for five people, then feed five hungry people and be grateful for  the opportunities. If you have food for five, and fifty ask you for food, feed whoever you can and then start asking questions – why are there all these hungry people in my community? Then you can start creating structures so that there is enough food (and justice!) for all.

It’s not complicated. You don’t need a foundation, an endowment, insurance, or anything other than eyes that are open to see, and hearts that are open to Christ and the realities He shows us, and hands that are busy doing goodness, beauty, and love. Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have the authority to do this, because your baptism is all the authority that you need.  This is what it means to celebrate life and goodness, to practice peace and justice (so we get good at ’em!), We pray without ceasing because that is the way that Christ shows us.

Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange founded the first religious order in the United States for women of African descent, the Oblate Sisters of Providence on July 2, 1829. She was born a slave on the island of Santo Domingo, but came to the United States after the Haitian revolution of 1791 and settled in Baltimore. She and her sisters started a school, widows’ home, and orphanage; they provided vocational training and taught adults to read and write. They endured many hardships, including opposition from a racist bishop.

Her order today ministers in inner cities, Africa, and several countries in the Carribean. Her faith and hope gave her the determination necessary to realize her vision and create new opportunities in the midst of injustice and oppression for the victims of racism and slavery. Her example inspires us today to follow her path of service and justice, and in these words of the Oblate Sisters, refuse to “tolerate any expression of racism, prejudice, discrimination, violence or injustice that violates the sanctity of life, demeans the dignity of the human person and desecrates family life.”

With Christ within us, it becomes easier to understand what is important.  So we always must ask — How is my life open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves me?  Jesus gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression. He was with the Mother Lange as she struggled through the darkness of Jim Crow segregation and vicious institutionalized racism. Jesus lives today and is at our side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, of our journeys of justice and peace.

Act of Caring for Creation:  Protect Earth’s creatures! Leave a place for our fellow creatures who share in Creation. Bell the cat. Support programs that provide free or low cost spay/neuter, and veterinarian services to the pets of low income people.

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

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

Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation VI: Our Lady of the Assumption and Saints Isidore & Maria

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Today begins the Sixth of the Nine Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation, and this one is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption and Saints Isidore & Maria. It runs from August 4 through August 12, 2020.

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

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

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

…

Our Lady of the Assumption and Saints Isidore & Maria

General Intention: For the conversion of the rich and powerful. 

Corporal Works of Mercy.  Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Clothe the naked. Shelter the homeless.  Visit the sick, Visit those in prison, Bury the dead. 

Act of Caring for Creation: Place matters! Work with your neighbors to heal and regenerate the natural environment, & to increase the safety, security, health, and well-being of your neighborhood.

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

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

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

Holy Mary, Mother of God, your Assumption into heaven is a sign of the triumph of good over evil and the coming renewal of all Creation. Help us to be visible signs of hope and comfort for all we meet and give us strength and inspiration to do the works of healing and renewal.

Saints Isidore and Maria, Teach us that creation is good and bears the imprint of Christ from beginning to end. Reveal to us the full expression of God’s generosity and blessings that are found through oneness in the Mystical Body of Christ. Instruct us regarding the dignity of work, the necessity of charity, and our vocational call to care for people, care for Creation, and to have a care for the future. Amen.

Novena to St. John Chrysostom on behalf of the Bishops of the United States of America 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thoughts for the journey.

God loves everybody and so should we.  That in fact includes everybody, and “everybody” includes the rich.  So we must love and pray for them and be in solidarity with them too.  But because our love is motivated by our personal relationship with Christ Jesus, we should endeavor to help the wealthy understand the role they play in maintaining structures of sin and injustice that enable poverty and prevent people from full participation in their own lives.  Our prayer and work to bring all people into a relationship with Christ Jesus is for the rich as well as the poor.

This is a much better solution to modern justice issues such as the widening gap between rich and poor, the on-going centralization of wealth, and the corruption of our political system by wealthy campaign donors.  Historically, what happens is that eventually the rich become so oppressive that a violent revolution breaks out, which is typically a rather hard ending for the wealthy.  Alas, also historically, the old boss is replaced by a new boss but its all the same system so those who are poor and oppressed remain poor and oppressed.  So we work for the salvation of the rich, as well as the poor and all points in between, because that can drive the decentralization of wealth, universal health care, full participation on the part of everyone in their own lives and the lives and stories of their communities and many other blessings.

Earlier in this series of novenas, we learned about the importance of growing our own food.   For centuries, the Church has blessed the fruits of the soil on the Feast of the Assumption.

Here are the traditional blessings for this purpose.

  • Let us pray. Almighty everlasting God, who by your word alone brought into being the heavens, earth, sea, things seen and things unseen, and garnished the earth with plants and trees for the use of man and beast; who appointed each species to bring forth fruit in its kind, not only for the food of living creatures, but for the healing of sick bodies as well; with mind and word we urgently call on you in your great kindness to bless + these various herbs and fruits, thus increasing their natural powers with the newly given grace of your blessing. May they keep away disease and adversity from men and beasts who use them in your name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
  • Let us pray. God, who through Moses, your servant, directed the children of Israel to carry their sheaves of new grain to the priests for a blessing, to pluck the finest fruits of the orchard, and to make merry before you, the Lord their God; hear our supplications, and shower blessings + in abundance upon us and upon these bundles of new grain, new herbs, and this assortment of produce which we gratefully present to you on this festival, blessing + them in your name. Grant that men, cattle, flocks, and beasts of burden find in them a remedy against sickness, pestilence, sores, injuries, spells, against the fangs of serpents or poisonous creatures. May these blessed objects be a protection against diabolical mockery, cunning, and deception wherever they are kept, carried, or otherwise used. Lastly, through the merits of the blessed Virgin Mary, whose Assumption we are celebrating, may we all, laden with the sheaves of good works, deserve to be taken up to heaven; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

With Christ within us, it becomes easier to understand what is important.  So we always must ask — How is my life open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves me?  Jesus gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression. He was with Isidore and Maria in their lives as farm workers. Jesus lives today and is at our side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, of our journeys of justice and peace.

Act of Caring for Creation: Place matters! Work with your neighbors to heal and regenerate the natural environment, & to increase the safety, security, health, and well-being of your neighborhood.

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

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

Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation V: Our Lady Mother of Mercy and Saints Vincent de Paul and Louise Marillac

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Today begins the Fifth of the Nine Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation, and this one is dedicated to the Our Lady Mother of Mercy & Saints Vincent de Paul & Louise Marillac. It runs from July 26 — August 3, 2020. I will not post this every day as the prayers and intentions are the same for each day. I’ll just leave it here for nine days; if I need to blog in the interim, I will just blog a reminder afterwards. For the background, please read this post (especially if you need to learn about who Bob Waldrop, the creator of this Novena, was, and why I am introducing it to you.) Or go here: A Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation.

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

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

…

“Getting Started:

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

Our Lady Mother of Mercy & Saints Vincent de Paul & Louise Marillac

General Intention:  Justice in the distribution of the Earth’s goods.

Fifth Work of Justice and Peace: Work for reconciliation with truth, evangelism, catechesis, orthopraxis.

Act of Caring for Creation: Walk, ride a bicycle, car pool, and take public transportation more; drive less.

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

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

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

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send our signs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us, and afterthis, our exile, showunto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,  you are the refuge and hope of all who are excluded from sharing in the goodness and bounty of Creation. Help me, for the love of your son Jesus Christ, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless. Help me then to ask why so many people are hungry, naked, and homeless so that we know what we must do to ensure justice and peace for all people. Pray for me that I will, my mind being enlightened by the signs of these times, work without ceasing for the reign of justice and peace and the care of God’s holy Creation. I bless and thank Almighty God, who in His mercy has given me this confidence in You, which I hold to be a pledge of my eternal salvation. Mary, my spiritual Mother, help me.  Do not abandon me in my hour of need. Mother of Mercy, never allow me to lose my faith, hope, and love. Amen.

Saints Vincent de Paul and Louise de Marillac, we reverence your lives of heroic justice, compassion, and mercy in defense of the poor. Today we ask you to pray for all who are excluded from participation in the bounty of Creation. Teach us to use the gifts of Creation with moderation, to live simply, that others may simply live. Bless our efforts to ensure just distribution of the goods of the earth with discernment and prudence. Help us to do what needs to be done to replace the structures of greed and gluttony with the reign of justice and peace, Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thoughts for the journey. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “2402. In the beginning God entrusted the earth and its resources to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them, master them by labor, and enjoy their fruits. The goods of creation are destined for the whole human race. However, the earth is divided up among men to assure the security of their lives, endangered by poverty and threatened by violence. The appropriation of property is legitimate for guaranteeing the freedom and dignity of persons and for helping each of them to meet his basic needs and the needs of those in his charge. It should allow for a natural solidarity to develop between men.”

“2403. The right to private property, acquired by work or received from others by inheritance or gift, does not do away with the original gift of the earth to the whole of mankind. The universal destination of goods remains primordial, even if the promotion of the common good requires respect for the right to private property and its exercise.”

Now is the time to open our eyes to see the sins against just community that occur daily. Merciless and corrupt governments and international agencies encourage the exploitation of the powerless for unjust gain. Globalization, enforced by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the WTO, is making the poorest of the poor even more miserable and wretched and hopeless. Millions die every day from the consequences of chronic poverty —  many of them in countries where large corporate farms grow food that can’t be eaten by the locals because it is exported.  In the 19th century, people are often shocked by the fact that every year of the great Irish famine, Ireland exported food.  But the poor had no money to buy that food, so when their subsistence plots of potatoes failed due to a blight, they starved or emigrated by the millions while their food was sold to those with money in other lands.  Why are we shocked by that when this happens every day and people say, “Well, that’s just the way the market works.”

War destroys resources and creates poverty and misery. Billions are at risk. A just community respects both property rights and the social mortgage on the property. Yet, too often the property rights of the poor are accorded scant protection. Traditional lands are appropriated for the enrichment of others, making the original owners tenants on their ancestral farms. (Think about this when you buy a banana from Chiquita or Dole banana corporations.) Sometimes the poor are killed for their land. In the past 30 years, millions of units of low income housing have been destroyed in the US by politicized eminent domain pogroms against which the poor neighborhoods have no defense. When a powerful government agency wants a cross-town freeway, or a new upscale mall or condo development, the nearest poor neighborhood will do just fine.

Saints Vincent de Paul and Louise Marillac are two of the patron saints of justice in the distribution of earthly goods. They lived 350 years ago, and were part of a generation of saints that transformed France after a century of war. Their influence continues today in the many lay and consecrated religious movements that grow from their ministry. The Vincentian apostolates fulfill the Gospel’s call to justice in the distribution of the bounty of creation. They show us that the path towards reconciliation is illuminated by justice.

When property becomes more important than people, that is a sign of disordered priorities.  That’s what happens when we don’t have a relationship with Jesus. With Christ within us, it becomes easier to understand what is important.  So we always must ask — How is my life open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves me?  Jesus gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression. He was with the Vincent and Louise as they struggled through obstacles to serve the poor in justice. Jesus lives today and is at our side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, of our journeys of justice and peace.

Act of Caring for Creation:  Walk, ride a bicycle, carpool, take public transportation more, drive less.

Fossil fuels are a primary driver of ecological calamity on this planet. Anything we can do to reduce our use of private cars will benefit the planet, make it safer, more beautiful, and less hazardous.  We Americans believe we are entitled to any amount of travel, irrespective of the consequences to the planet.  We think we have a grand American Exception to the moral demand to care for Creation. Sure, “care for Creation” is a nice pious statement, but God Forbid that I actually do something real to care for the planet, like giving up my personal car one day a week.

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

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

Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace and Creation IV: to Our Lady Undoer of Knots and Matthew Talbot

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Today begins a special edition of the Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace and Creation. This, the Fourth of the Nine, is dedicated to Our Lady Undoer of Knots and a patron of SoberCatholic and probably many of you, Matthew Talbot. It runs from July 17 to July 25, 2020.

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

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

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

…

“Getting Started:

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

Fourth Work of Justice and Peace: Protect the poor and powerless — listen, learn, educate, organize, empower participation, and respect life from the moment of conception to the time of natural death.

Act of Caring for Creation: Commit! Accept personal responsibility to live your life so that your love for God manifests as you care for people, care for Creation, and have a care for the future

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

Holy Mary, Mother of God, help the helpless, strengthen the fearful, comfort the sorrowful, bring justice to the poor, peace to all nations, and solidarity among all peoples.

Give us strength to stand against the demonic powers which prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Open our eyes to see the beauty, joy, redemption, and goodness which comes through obedience to your Son our Lord. Teach us to be a refuge of hope for all who are oppressed by injustice and violence.

Holy Mary, Undoer of Knots, full of God’s presence during the days of your life, you accepted with full humility the Father’s will, and the Devil was never capable to tie you around with his confusion. Once with your son you interceded for our difficulties, and, full of kindness and patience you gave us example of how to untie the knots of our life. And by remaining forever Our Mother, you put in order, and make clearer the ties that link us to the Lord.

Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine love and immense mercy that exists in your heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exist in my life. You know very well how desperate I am, my pain, and how I am bound by these knots. Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the undoing of the knots in the lives of His children, I entrust into your hands the ribbon of my life. No one, not even the Evil One himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands, there is no knot that cannot be undone. Powerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with your Son and my liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot. (Mention your petition here.)

Receive me into your hands and free me of the knots and confusion with which our enemy attacks. Through your grace, your intercession, and your example, deliver us from all evil, Our Lady, and untie the knots that prevent us from being united with God, so that we, free from sin and error, may find Him in all things, may have our hearts placed in Him, and may serve Him always in our brothers and sisters. Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for me, Amen.

Matthew Talbot, you were born into poverty, among a marginalized people, and you went right to the edge as an alcoholic. In these times, the strong prey upon the weak, and violence, despair, alienation and oppression rule the hearts of many. We pray that your example of solidarity with the poor will inspire us to follow your path and open our hearts, minds, and homes to welcome those who are in need. Pray for all who are bound in addiction to money, power, violence, illicit sex, drugs, tobacco, or alcohol.

Lord, in your servant, Matt Talbot you have given us a wonderful example of triumph over addiction, of devotion to duty, and of lifelong reverence of the Holy Sacrament. May his life of prayer and penance give us courage to take up our crosses and follow in the footsteps of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We ask this through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.”

Novena to St. John Chrysostom on behalf of the Bishops of the United States of America   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thoughts for the journey.

Life is complicated. We often find ourselves “tied into knots” spiritually and emotionally. We get ourselves into situations that seem impossible to resolve.

We see this in the world around us. How can the situation in the Middle East ever resolve itself in peace and justice with respect for life for all people there, Arabs, Jews, Kurds, Persians, Yezidis, and many others.  What about the Ukraine? In Asia, belligerence grows on the South China Sea.  And then there’s North Korea and Iran and Vebenzuela and Central America.

Pope Francis has a strong devotion to Mary as the Undoer of Knots. For Pope Francis, the knots represent the sins that separate us from God, and Our Lady, in untying them, brings us closer to God.  As the Pope has said: “Mary, whose ‘yes’ opened the door for God to undo the knot of the ancient disobedience, is the Mother who patiently and lovingly brings us to God, so that he can untangle the knots of our soul by his fatherly mercy.”

Which is to say that the roots of the grave knotty crises of justice and peace lay within our own hearts. It’s tempting to wave that away as pious pap, but it’s the truth. The United States has the foreign and military policies that it does because we are the people that we are. If we were a better people, our government would have better policies. Since any one of us has little control over the government, but a lot of control over our own individual lives, the road to peace for me begins at 1524 NW 21 in Oklahoma City where I live. And also where you live.

What are the knots that bind you?

Let us recall the advice of Mary to the servants at the wedding at Cana? “Do whatever he tells you!” What does Jesus tell us to do? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, challenge unjust structures, speak out against oppression and hypocrisy, love God and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Pious phrases, to be sure, but if that’s all they are for us, then our faith is dead as the proverbial doornail. A living faith, begun in a life-changing encounter with the Risen Christ, nourished by Word, Community, and Eucharist, lives these phrases as daily realities. That’s the point, holiness! Orthopraxis — right action!  Prudence — understanding the way towards the greatest good in every situation. Discernment — learned and practiced over time, so that we are able to make these phrases real by the way we live our lives.

Matthew Talbot was born in a slum in Dublin, Ireland in 1856, and died in the same town in 1925. His journey led into the dark depths of alcoholism. But by the grace of God, he experienced a true and lasting religious conversion, and spent his life among the poor, practicing evangelical poverty, working at labor jobs and giving most of his money as alms to the poor and for the benefit of missions.

He helped people find sobriety. His life was an evangelical witness to the power of Jesus to transform the most alienated & to bring new life to community in the midst of despair. He reminds us of the precarious place of those we push to the edge. Often they fall off, into the abyss. They are all around us, but we don’t notice them because they are really good at hiding from us. In their experience, to be noticed is to be abused, hurt, wounded. Their defenders are few, their enemies are many.

Through the example of Our Lady of Good Counsel and Matthew Talbot, we can learn to open our eyes and hearts to see the poor who are among us, and stop doing harm to them.

How is my life — how is your life —  open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves each and every one of us?  Jesus gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression. He was with the Matthew Talbot as he wrestled with the demons of addiction and then later when he lived a life of penance, reparation, and service. Jesus comforted him in life and when he died of a heart attack on a Dublin street while walking to Mass, Jesus was there.  Christ is as real to us as he was to Matthew. Jesus lives today and is at our side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, of our journeys of justice and peace.

Act of Caring for Creation:

Commit! Accept personal responsibility to live your life so that your love for God manifests as you care for people, care for Creation, and have a care for the future

We care for the planet, one decision at a time. Do you really need that plastic straw or that disposal styrofoam cup made by a noxious process that pollutes the planet and that does not decay or compost?  Could you carry a cup with you for drinks away from home? Could you carry a little lunch kit, and use that instead of plastic serving ware? Could you carry reusable bags and thus avoid those ubiquitous plastic bags?  Sure you could, but will you? It’s only a moderate discipline, it’s not anything like, you know, dying in a concentration camp or being lynched.

We are destroying the planet one bad decision at a time. We will redeem the planet one good — better — or best decision, at a time. Never think that what you do doesn’t matter, because it does. It matters to you personally, to your family, your neighbors, your community, your planet, and to your God. We start small or we don’t start at all. As you practice being kind to God’s Creation in small ways, you will find your heart and your mind and your will increasingly open to doing more. Before you know it, you could be air drying your laundry on a clothesline!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…

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

“Getting Started:

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

General Intention: The reconciliation of persons and peoples.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“For in Christ all the fullness was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross through him. (Colossians 1:19-20).

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

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

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

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

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

St. Franz Jagerstatter

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

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

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

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

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

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

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

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

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

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

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

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

Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace and Creation II: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Blessed Stanley Rother, and All the Martyrs of Latin America

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And today begins the Second of the Nine Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation, and this one is dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Blessed Stanley Rother, and All the Martyrs of Latin America. It runs from June 29 to July 7, 2020.

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

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

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

…

Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace and Creation II: Our Lady of Guadalupe, Blessed Stanley Rother, and All the Martyrs of Latin America

“Getting Started:

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

General Intention: the unjust exercise of authority, and the sins and structures of sin against life.

The Second Work of Justice and Peace: Hear the truth when it is spoken to you. Discern the signs of the times and speak truth — to power, to the people, and to the Church.

Act of caring for Creation: Start a compost pile and compost your organic waste.

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me.

+ Let us pray together in peace, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

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

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

O Mary, blessed Lady of Guadalupe, bright dawn of the new world, Mother of the living, to you do we entrust the cause of life: Look down, O Mother, upon the vast numbers of babies not allowed to be born, of the poor whose lives are made difficult, of men and women who are victims of brutal violence and unjust wars, of the elderly and the sick killed by indifference or out of misguided mercy. Grant that all who believe in your Son may proclaim the Gospel of life with honesty and love to the people of our time.

Obtain for them the grace to accept that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of celebrating it with gratitude throughout their lives and the courage to bear witness to it resolutely, in order to build, together with all people of good will, the civilization of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God, the Creator and lover of life.

Pray for us, Blessed Stanley Rother and all Martyrs of Latin America! Bring to our remembrance this day all people who are killed in wars, acteal martyrstortured in jails, disappeared in the night, starved for food, subjected to oppression, driven from their homes, unlawfully imprisoned, denied religious liberty, excluded from economic opportunity, marginalized by poverty, targeted by racial and cultural prejudices, silenced by violence and injustice. Help us to hear and remember the tragedy, joy, despair, and hope of the voices that call to us and to history for justice, reconciliation, and peace. Pray for us so that by the grace of God we will build a world without injustice. Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thoughts for the journey. In this Novena we honor Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe, protector of all children, whatever their social, political, or physical location may be. She is patron of all those who are oppressed and persecuted and patron of the Americas. We also remember the martyrs of Latin America, victims of cruel conflicts between world empires and corrupt ruling classes. Many of these killings were committed with arms and money provided by the United States, by military personnel trained by the United States. All of us must examine our consciences as to how we benefit from the evil done by our governments.

We name in particular Blessed Stanley Rother, born on a farm near Okarche, Oklahoma. Not a great student, he had to leave one seminary because of academic concerns, but was accepted elsewhere which was better equipped to help him meet the academic standards of ordination. Sent to the mission church of Santiago Aititlan in Guatamala, he not only celebrated the Sacraments, he helped the people better their lives. He introduced new crops, organized a farmers marketing coop, and did all he could to help them to help themselves. This brought him into conflict with the government, whose policy was that the indigenous peoples should be poor, and remain poor, so they could be exploited for the benefit of the ruling class. They were consistently supported in this evil by the United States government, which in the 1950s conspired with the Guatamalan ruling classes to overthrow the only freely elected democratic government that nationa had experienced. It is not too much to say that the guns and bullets used to murder Blessed Stanley Rother were paid for by the US taxpayers.

Throughout history, we have drawn circles around certain groups and said, “These people are not human — dispose of them as you choose.” The holocausts are too many to count. Do we really believe that human life is precious and deserves respect and protection? That depends on where the alleged person is located, socially and physically.

Some people simply aren’t considered to be real people. They may be too old, and too sick, and too poor, or located someplace “inconvenient.” Perhaps they live on land which is coveted by others more powerful than they. Maybe their nations have resources that we want. This was the attitude of nearly everyone in the United States, including sadly the bishops and most of the clergy of the Catholic Church in the United States, towards the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. We have for the most part stood by and done nothing as they were “caught in the crossfire.” All of us must examine our consciences concerning our complicity with the unjust murder that has gone on in the name of the US Government in Iraq and Afghanistan, Africa, Central America, and elsewhere in the world. We have stood in the streets, and instead of crying out against unjust war, we have instead screamed repeatedly — “Crucify them! Crucify them!”

Society has developed many ways to ease this process, starting with the NewSpeak vocabulary that describes these events passively so they don’t see so “bad”. Structures of sin always defend themselves vigorously. There is enough tragedy in this to go around more than once.

Abandonment by fathers, violence against women, unjust economics that encourage abortion, terrorism, mandatory contraception & sterilization, demonization of the poor (especially young single mothers), cartelized and corporatized health care and so on. Here is where we remember that the Lady of Guadalupe took upon herself the image of a young pregnant Aztec maiden in a place of oppression and injustice, demonstrating God’s love for everybody.

We find this message also in the mysteries of Blessed Stanley Rother and the many Martyrs of Latin America. They were condemned by politicians. The bullets and bombs that killed them were paid for by the powerful. They were targeted because they were poor. Their deaths were enabled by structures that dehumanize and depersonalize human beings. Like unborn children, a circle was drawn around them & they were proclaimed as fair game. Empires counted their deaths as collateral damage. Most of us stood by and did nothing, or actively supported our crusade of brutal violence against the poor. Their voices call to us for justice & remembrance.

How is my life — how is your life — open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves each and every one of us? Jesus gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression. Does that reality have an impact on the way we live? He was with the Martyrs of Acteal and the Four Churchwomen and the Blessed Oscar Romero and the Blessed Fr. Stanley Rother and all the other martyrs of Latin America at the time that demonic evil so cruelly ended their lives. He comforted them in life and in death. Jesus lives today and is at our side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, of our journeys of justice and peace.

Act of Caring of Creation: Compost!

God designed this planet to work in accordance with natural laws. So when living organic matter dies, it goes back to the earth, decays, and is reborn as new plants starting a new cycle. This is the natural way our planet works. But we are the Americans! We have a Better Way! We should wrap our organic wastes in black plastic and bury it in holes! Surely we are Smarter Than God! Well as a matter of reality we are not smarter than God, and our fetish with stuffing black plastic bags with trash and burying them in the ground is a moral crime against Nature — which is the Creation of God. So a compost pile is not some foolish activity of hippies. To package your kitchen waste in black plastic, robbing the earth of those nutrients, contaminating them with chemicals and other industrial wastes, is (for most of us) sin. Think of this unnatural practice as. . . “environmental sodomy.” Holiness demands a better way, and that’s what composting is about.

If you don’t know how to compost, read this short article that I wrote and recently revised:

Compost! Because a rind is a terrible thing to waste.

If you want to grow your own food, the place to start is by making compost. Some people make this out to be much more complicated than it really is. Here is a basic recipe for making compost.

Select a place for a compost pile, and dig the ground up a bit. Put down a layer of twigs and small branches, and then make alternating layers of “brown and dry” materials and “green and wet” materials. Brown and dry can include leaves, shredded tree limbs and bark, newspapers (no shiny slick papers or colored inks), brown cardboard, dried grass clippings. Green and wet includes kitchen scraps, green lawn trimmings, green leaves, flowers, weeds, plants, etc. It’s best not to put fats or meats in the pile, as that will attract varmints, but they will compost if not eaten…

Wet each layer thoroughly, and toss a shovel of soil on each layer and a couple of small branches. Pile it up at least 3 feet high and 3 feet wide, & then leave it alone for a year. If it’s a dry summer, water it so it stays damp inside (like a wrung out sponge). After about a year, rake away the leaves still on top, and inside will be a nice, rich, dark loamy compost that smells like forest dirt when you sniff it.

If you can’t wait a whole year, you can make compost faster by fussing with it a bit. Every week or so go out and “turn it”, that is to say, use a pitchfork and move the compost to a different spot, so that what was “outside” on the pile is now inside, and what was inside is now on the outside.

If the compost heap starts to smell bad, something’s wrong, probably either too much “wet and green” or it has somehow gotten so compacted that air can’t get in. For the problem of too much wet and green, add more brown and dry. If the pile has become compacted, then stir it up a bit and add some small branches (the purpose of the branches is to keep the pile from compacting and to help air circulate).

If you dig into the pile, you will find lots of little creatures at work, rolly pollies, worms, etc. That’s good, because that’s what’s supposed to happen.

If you want a nice garden, the place to start is by building your soil. No chemical fertilizer has the advantages of home made compost, & it has the added benefit of recycling your food waste, lawn & garden trimmings on site, rather than sending them off to be buried wastefully in a landfill. Composting is the beginning of a beautiful home garden. Start your compost pile this week, a rind is a terrible thing to waste!

By Bob Waldrop

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

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

On Bob Waldrop and introducing the Novena of Novenas

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Today begins a special period of prayer, the “Novena of Novenas.” This was started several years ago by Bob Waldrop, the late founder of the St. Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House in Oklahoma City. Bob died on August 30, 2019.

I never met Bob in person although we had been friends on Facebook for around ten years. I first discovered him online in the early 00s. I was exploring my Catholic faith and seeing what was online (I am revert) and in the course of looking into various theories of Catholic living ran across his site on “Champagne Living on a Beer Budget.” This intrigued me, given my recent sobriety. I quickly learned that it had nothing to do with the drinking, brewing or fermenting of alcoholic beverages, but rather was an omnibus guide to frugal, simple living. I believe that it was from Bob’s numerous sites that I started learning that Catholicism wasn’t just about the sacramental and liturgical life. There is an entire system of thought rooted in Scripture, interpreted and implemented by saints, popes and laity, that brings into the political and economic sphere the teachings of Holy Mother Church. Soon afterwards I discovered Distributism, Subsidiarity and Solidarity; Personalism and Communitarianism. I’m lousy at applying many of them, but I try. Much later, monarchism and Tradition. (Bob was by no stretch of the imagination a monarchist. I think he was Traditional Latin Mass-friendly, but he was a Liturgical Music Director at a parish that only offered the Mass in the Ordinary Form. But his YouTube Channel does offer videos of chant and other pre-1962 hymns.)

I became entranced by Bob’s sites. I bookmarked them all including subpages in a browser folder entitled “Bobternet,” as his sites were massive (albeit disorganized, which he admitted) and contained copious amounts of information about a plethora of subjects, I figured he was a subset of the Internet and hence gave it that name. (He thought it hilarious when I told him years later on Facebook.)

Bob was a Catholic Worker, with “‘‘hair on fire’ rants on politics, economics, food, permaculture, sustainability, peak oil, climate instability, cooperatives, local foods, and etc.,” that afflicted the comfortable and comforted the afflicted. He lived the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. He was truly a disciple of Servant of God Dorothy Day and her colleague Peter Maurin (co-founders of the Catholic Worker Movement in 1933). He believed in Jesus with a passion and adhered to the Church’s orthodox teachings. One might think that with his stance on social issues he would be a “cafeteria Catholic” and pick and choose what he preferred amongst the teachings, but his sites on the Church’s social justice teachings, from politics and economics, to war, the pro-life movement, poverty and human suffering, migrants and such, exuded orthodoxy with supporting documentation from Scripture, the Saints, Popes and the Catechism. This makes people uncomfortable, particularly those who prefer a quiet and tidy Christianity of Sunday Mass or ‘worship service’ followed by secular activities. “Just let me worship and pray once in a while, and please don’t remind me of my obligations to serve others.” Bob’s faith was an active Catholic Christianity.

Well, one of the things that he introduced was this thing called the “Novena of Novenas.” Nine consecutive individual Novenas, thus stretching across 81 days. He began them annually on the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (the Saturday immediately after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart.) This year it begins today, and ends on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in September. (I don’t think they always end on another important liturgical event, but I think it is way cool when they do as to me, it signifies a God-incidence.)

I will borrow (copy/paste) from Bob’s work on the Novena’s particulars, but I have included links directly to his sites so you can access the complete information (just be aware that when you do go there, dates are incorrect as he died during the last one, and no one is in charge of maintaining or updating his sites. All of the links are to the Internet Archive’s version of his sites. I will address that issue at the end of this post, so do not be concerned about the links.) One thing: I have never prayed this before, and so I do not know if the intentions change every year. I am going with the last one from 2019, as that was Bob’s last and he died during it.

OK, here we go (Bob’s writing is italicized. When I interrupt, it’ll be back to non-italicized font.)

“A Novena of Novenas
for Justice, Peace, & Creation

This “novena of novenas” is 81 days of intercessory prayer, reflection, and orthopraxis (“right action”) for peace among nations, justice for all people, and the care of Creation. We start on the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, — June 20, 2020 and end on September 8, 2020. Our novena dates wander around from year to year, since we always begin on the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a movable feast, the date of which is dependent upon the date of Easter. (It’s the Saturday after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, which is the Friday after the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ.)“

“A novena is 9 days of prayer, and recalls the 9 days that the Apostles spent praying in the “Upper Room” between the Ascension and Pentecost. This call to prayer consists of nine consecutive novenas -81 days!

Each novena has a general intention, the prayers, thoughts for the Journey, and an act of caring for Creation.“

All right, Paulcoholic here, and you might be wondering what this all has to do with the typical focus of Sober Cat, which is sobriety. Quite some time ago I changed the subtitle of this blog to “Catholicism, Recovery, Sobriety, Conversion, Prayer, Fasting, Repentance, Penance.” Mainly because I wanted to gradually expand beyond writing about “how to maintain sobriety and recovery by means of Catholic spirituality etc., etc., etc.,” And Bob’s stuff is within the realm of the subtitle. Also, and this is important: if you are reading this blog, then there’s a good chance you are or were an alcoholic or addict, or you know and love one. Recovery, to me, isn’t just about staying clean and sober. I firmly believe that once we establish our sobriety from booze and drugs, we continue that work, only extending outward from ourselves and to our neighbors. It does mean in part that we reach out to others we know or suspect are trapped by addictions, but it also means that we recognize the inherent sickness of the world around us and the fact that human society today, everywhere, is addicted to something. Just look around. There are power struggles everywhere leading to violence, intolerance and injustice. People make demands rather than appeals. We are addicted to materialism and the acquisition of more goods. Many people, including myself at times and perhaps you, root our identity in what we do for a living, how much money we earn and what we spend it on. Too many secular distractions abound that take us away from God. The Church is under attack from without and within. Face up to it: humanity today is sick and in dire need of a massive makeover that can only come from embracing the Gospel. “Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.” (Words of Jesus in the Diary of St. Faustina Kowalska, “Divine Mercy in My Soul,” paragraph 300.) Peace is not found in perpetuating injustices, in acquiring more material goods, using up the natural resources of our planet with little regard for future generations. Peace is not found in aborting future generations! Peace will not happen unless justice is established and in Catholic social teachings, justice means that everyone receives what is their due based upon the individual’s intrinsic dignity of being made in the images and likeness of God and in being His adopted children through Christ. All human life is sacred and unique, from womb to tomb, and was not put on this Earth to be exploited, enslaved, or oppressed for narrow political and economic goals. A Mercy-based culture.

And so we have the essential themes of the Novena of Novenas. Each one focuses on separate issues. But, back to Bob:

“Each novena is dedicated to one of the titles of Mary and one or more of the saints of justice and peace, whose prayers of intercession we invoke for our various intentions. It’s like calling up a friend and saying, “Please pray for me.” The “Works of Justice and Peace” of the first seven Novenas are from the statement of mission of the…Saint Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House.

Each of the 81 days we will also pray the Novena to St. John Chrysostom on behalf of the conversion of the United States Catholic Bishops, so that they will come to a better understanding of the necessity of authenticity in leadership. We think the orthodoxy (“right teaching”) of the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to a certain way of living. That’s known as “orthopraxis” — or right action..”

Me, again. Yes, the Bishops of the United States (and perhaps in your country, as well) are in need of conversion. Too many lack the courage and fortitude to be true shepherds of the Church in these times of Spiritual Warfare. The bishops should lead us towards a ‘certain way of living,’ but when they don’t the Holy Spirit raises up the laity to compensate for when the Bishops lack. The Spirit did that when He brought Dorothy Day into the Catholic Church, just in time for her to meet Peter Maurin and establish the Catholic Worker. The work of the Movement was seen by some to have been a major reason for the failure of Communism to gain traction in the United States in the 1930s. It seems we have come full circle. In the 2020s we are back to battling the forces of Marxism; forces we thought were defeated when the USSR collapsed. It wasn’t, it just metastasized. Oh, Bob wants to speak again:

“The spirit of this novena may be found in these words of Saint Oscar Romero. . . “It is very easy to be servants of the word without disturbing the world: a very spiritualized word, a word without any commitment to history, a word that can sound in any part of the world because it belongs to no part of the world. A word like that creates no problems, starts no conflicts.”

“What starts conflicts and persecutions, what marks the genuine church, is the word that, burning like the word of the prophets, proclaims and accuses; proclaims to the people God’s wonders to be believed and venerated, and accuses of sin those who oppose God’s reign, so that they may tear that sin out of their hearts, out of their societies, out of their laws – out of the structures that oppress, that imprison, that violate the rights of God and of humanity. This is the hard service of the word.”

“But God’s Spirit goes with the prophet, with the preacher, for he is Christ, who keeps on proclaiming his reign to the people of all times.”

At this point you may be asking, “OK, Paulcoholic. Enough already. Where’s the actual, you know, NOVENA? Helllooooo?”

Bob’s got you covered. Here he goes:

“Getting Started.

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

All right. That’s it. You know about Bob Waldrop, you’ve been introduced to a whole muncha buncha things to think about; I am not now going to load you down with the actual First Novena itself. “What?!?!?!” you scream in horror. “After all this…”

“Hang on.” I interrupt. “That will be in the next post, almost immediately after this one. This blogpost is long enough, dontcha think?. But if you can’t wait a few minutes or so before I post the intentions and prayers of the First of the Nine, here’s a link to the whole kitten kaboodle:” The Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace and Creation

(Update! The First Novena is now up: A Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation I: to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin

NOTE: all of the links that I gave for Bob’s sites are to their last versions that have been scooped up by the Internet’s “Wayback Machine,” also known as Internet Archive. This is because his domains are going dark or becoming security risks from lack of updates, or are being coopted by squatters. So the only reliable place to get what Bob taught and shared is in the Wayback Machine. Thankfully, all links are self-contained, so that if you click on something in one site that links to another page of his, it remains within the Archive even if the link is to a different site of Bob’s.

Since his death, his work in helping the poor, the marginalized, and all those considered “expendable” by society is being carried out by other groups since, as far as I can find out, the Romero House has since shut down. (I was informed last Autumn by someone who knew him very well that the House’s operations were transferred to the Dorothy Day Center in Oklahoma City. The Romero House itself was on the verge of being condemned. My information may be dated, but the Romero website’s domain name has been abandoned and subsequently taken over by a website squatter hawking goods. This person, who is as unique an individual as Bob was, and who is a dedicated Catholic Worker, wrote a nice obituary on her blog. Please go here: GOD’s Garden Gnome Gone Home.) Perhaps if she reads this she can post an update on the Romero House and legacy, in the comments.

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!!)

Feast of Matt Talbot

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June 19th also happens to be the feast day of Matt Talbot, the Irish hard laborer and ex-drunkard who if he ever gets around to interceding miraculously, will get beatified and then canonized, and become a patron saint of alcoholics and addicts.

If you are a reader of this blog, then you probably know of him; how he was a drunk, begging and borrowing money to support his pub crawling, lending money when he had it to support others’ drinking habits, and how on that awful day, when he had no money and worse, no beer, turned out he had no “real” friends either, since no one wanted to spot him any further cash, discovered he had no access to the drink and decided to “take the pledge,” total abstinence from the drink.

It worked, and Matt led a life of humble piety, going to daily Mass, reciting the Rosary every day, and reading many spiritual books, including “Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary,” by St. Louis De Montfort.

Matt’s basic plan was to transfer his “love for the drink” onto the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He took to heart the admonition to “seek ye first the kingdom,” and made a throne for the Sacred Heart in his own soul. “Where your heart is, there shall your treasure be,” and the treasure of Matt’s heart was Jesus’ Sacred Heart and His Most Immaculate Mother, Mary.

It is said that Matt’s piety, devotion and sacramental life lead him to live out the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous decades before they were ever conceived. In essence, he discovered them independently of Bill Wilson (AA’s Founder.) This should silence all Catholic critics of AA and the Steps who claim it fosters indifferentism. It does, if one’s Faith is weak, but if you simultaneously reach out and explore the spiritual riches of your Catholic Faith while also working the Steps, you should become a stronger Catholic. A good Catholic faith and prayer life, rooted in the Sacraments, the Beatitudes and the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy “just happens” to parallel the Twelve Steps.

I’ve written about him before, see Matt Talbot Post Archives and there are also links on him in the sidebar.

EDIT: The one thing I do not know is why his feast day is June 19th rather than June 7th, the day he died. Typically, someone’s feast day is their date of “entry into Heaven,” i.e, if they get beatified or canonized, their death day. If anyone knows…

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 great and easy way to “get outside” yourself and help others

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Last December I posted about Hozana.

“It is an online gathering space for Catholics and other Christians to come together in prayer and mutual encouragement. It isn’t a social network on the order of a Facebook, MeWe or whatever else is out there, but you can follow others and communicate with them. Activity is centered around prayer communities which are ordered towards novenas and other liturgical seasons, as well as ongoing prayer necessities. There is also a “prayer intentions” feed where members can post prayer requests which remain available for 48 hours (you can always repost, if needed). Members click on a prayer intention which opens up in a little window. A virtual candle lights up underneath the intention and it changes color slowly from bottom to “flame.” Then you click “Amen” and if you wish, continue on to another intention that interests you. The person is notified that you prayed for them. The same for when you post an intention; you’ll get notified when people pray for you! It’s way cool.

It lacks the noise and obnoxiousness of other social media sites.”

In recent months my activity over there has slackened, but I am making a renewed effort to dedicate more time to it, especially as I had been invited to join expressly for the purpose of running a prayer group for alcoholics and addicts. And so I had created the Matt Talbot Prayer Group, and it has gotten much interest from people. There was a need! The fact that tomorrow, June 7th is the 94th anniversary of his death is what caused me to think about Hozana, and how much I liked it.

I am saddened that I drifted away as I really enjoyed reading the numerous prayer requests and praying for others, and exploring other prayer communities. As I had mentioned in an email to the wonderful lady who invited me, I think that Hozana is kind of like a preview of our intercessory work once we get to Heaven. One of the things we may be doing is receiving intercessory prayers as members of the Church Triumphant, the “great Cloud of Witnesses.” We won’t be just floating around up there, worshipping the Lord and interacting with one another; we will be interceding for those still in Time.

But really, I do find it useful. In reading all of the prayer requests I find that I am thinking about myself less, and worrying about others more. There are other people hurting; in pain over this or that, worrying over many things. You have the opportunity to “get outside” yourself and consider other people and their situations.

Getting involved with Hozana is a Work of Mercy.

“So, here is YOUR personal invitation to join Hozana and become a part of the Matt Talbot Prayer Group! Here’s the link for Hozana (in English, the site also has Spanish, French and Portuguese versions): Hozana. And here is the link for the prayer group: Matt Talbot Prayer Group. My profile: Me

From the description I wrote: “Welcome to the Matt Talbot Prayer Group! Join us in prayer and fellowship as we encourage one another in our sobriety and recovery from addictions!

Hebrews 3:13 “…exhort one another every day, while it is still called ‘today’…”

Romans 12:2 “And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God: what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.” (Both from the Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayers, linked articles, images, quotes from Scripture, the Catechism and the writings of Saints and others that can be useful in your recovery journey will be occasionally posted here. PLEASE make use of the comments section of the posts to reach out to one another!

Our patron is the Venerable Matt Talbot, an Irishman who lived from 1856-1925. A drunkard, he “took the pledge” to quit drinking after his friends one day refused to loan him money to buy liquor. This worked for a while, but it wasn’t until he decided to transfer his love for the drink onto Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary that his sobriety took hold. He was a daily Mass goer and had a profound prayer life. Matt exemplified the recovery values of acknowledging your weakness over addiction and the need for God to come in and restore your life and help you to amend and rebuild it, years before any modern recovery movements were founded.”

I do hope to see you there.

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!!)

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness

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In this excerpt from the Gospel reading from today’s Mass for the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time we read:

Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.

Source: EWTN: Catholic Mass, Daily Mass, Catholic Mass Readings, Catholic Mass Online

This is one of those “God incidences,” in that I had been dwelling on this passage from Matthew for several days last week, without realizing that it would be in the upcoming Sunday Gospel! Seriously, coming unbidden from the depths of my inner being, from which all sorts of good and… other things… occasionally spring up, bubbled up this passage. It is one of my favorites, despite my wrestling with what it actually means from time to time.

In “seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness,” I think we realize a tremendous need to TRUST in the Lord, trust in His Mercy and Providence. This isn’t easy. Quite often there is a chasm between where we are and were we should be in our relationship with Him, especially in the area of material needs and wants.

Narrowing the gap of this chasm, to where we are at that point when we can jump across without a perceived safety net is the goal of a spiritual life. Developing such an intimate, trusting relationship with God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) that we know He will take care of us in our needs. Sometimes giving us just enough, but always giving us our daily bread.

How to do this? That’s a toughie. It takes time to develop this relationship and this trust. But I think there is a sort of common sense aspect, especially if we read the rest of the Gospel passage; which you can find at the end of this old but very relevant Sober Catholic post: Just Enough.

God knows what we need. Asking for things for ourselves and others is nice, especially as doing so reminds us of Who’s in charge. But still, He knows what we need before even we do. Therefore, I think that our primary task is to “Seek first the Kingdom…” and all else will be provided for.

And what does “Seek first the Kingdom…” actually mean? You men, after all these years of pondering I am finally going to come up with a definitive answer?

Maybe, maybe not. “Seeking” is a process and this may be one of those things you dwell on and over the course of time it grows in meaning for you.

But this is what I’ve got, today. 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.” 😉

You don’t worry about all those other things in the Gospel reading (food, clothing…) They will be provided for, in some way. You might have to learn how to look for them, but He will provide.

Personally, I’m depending on “Seeking first…” to help unravel some very knotty problems in life that I do not see a way out of with massive Divine Intervention. But, He knows what they are, I will will trust in Him to solve them.

His Will, not mine, 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!!)