Came to believe

Posted on by

A few Sundays ago there was this Gospel reading at Mass:

John 2:13-22: “Since the Passover of the Jews was near,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,
as well as the money-changers seated there.
He made a whip out of cords
and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen,
and spilled the coins of the money-changers
and overturned their tables,
and to those who sold doves he said,
‘Take these out of here,
and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.’
His disciples recalled the words of Scripture,
Zeal for your house will consume me.
At this the Jews answered and said to him,
‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’
Jesus answered and said to them,
‘Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.’
The Jews said,
‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years,
and you will raise it up in three days?’
But he was speaking about the temple of his Body.
Therefore, when he was raised from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this,
and they came to believe the Scripture“

(Via USCCB.)

The phrase “came to believe” jumped out at me and made me think of the Second Step of recovery movements:

“Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”

Both the disciple’s and an alcoholic’s “coming to believe” happen after some seismic event in their lives. The disciples had to witness Jesus’ resurrection to come to believe in His divinity and the Scriptural basis for His being, and the alcoholic had to fundamentally declare his or her own weakness about their addiction before “coming to believe” that God can effect change in their lives. For the disciples faith was the result, for an addict it is sanity.

Some may have a hard time reconciling faith with sanity, for faith is belief in the unknowable, and only crazy people believe in things unseen by any method. Maybe for us alcoholics in recovery it is not such a difficult thing. Our experience in recovery gives us an insight into the situations that are otherwise unexplainable, except by faith. Our ability to cope with this (or relish this) implies a sanity.

Where are you in “coming to believe?”

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 general apology of sorts

Posted on by

I feel the need to offer an apology for the lack of posting recently. My wife just told me that I apologize for “not blogging” too much. That’s possible. But perhaps my conscience is bothering me. Or maybe I’m just a melancholic moody alcoholic in recovery and those moods get the best of me. But, I have been very guilty over the past year or so of promising daily posting and coming up with various plans to get myself to do just that. I have not followed through by virtue of the fact that I have never posted daily apart from novenas or a special series on things.

A part of me says that I shouldn’t feel lousy about myself as I have been through a series of major life-changing events this past year, every one of which is usually at or near the top of lists that state: “Doing any one of these things runs the risks of relapse.” (Relocation, job-changing and marriage, all in one year!) But still, I was raised with the notion that if you say you’re going to do something, follow through and do it. The fact that I didn’t relapse and was never seriously tempted to do so is a testimony to my Faith and sobriety. Not a testimony to me, but to the tools at my disposal.

Nevertheless, my intentions have exceeded my ability to deliver. I suppose my eyeballs got too big at blogging possibilities and my grasp reached for too much and I should have toned down expectations and just delivered what I could when I was able.

At any rate, please take this apology as a sincere attempt to work through stuff and get back on a track of sorts. The situation announced in my “blog update-personal news” post is holding true. The office is getting organized.

Blogging, as I always state, will continue. Stopping is never an option.

Thanks for your patience.

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

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

The Healing Rosary

Posted on by

There is another interesting article from Spirit Daily entitled: “MYSTERIES OF YOUR LIFE CAN BE REVEALED AND HEALED THROUGH MYSTERIES OF ROSARY”

(Via Spirit Daily.)

I encourage you to read it and ponder.

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!!)

Transcending hurts

Posted on by

There is a nice article in today’s Spirit Daily entitled: “RISE FROM WHAT MIRES YOU AND TRANSCEND HURTS OF THIS WORLD THROUGH HIS POWER”

(Via Spirit Daily.)

A good read on spiritual warfare and healing.

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

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

The Prodigal Catholic

Posted on by

There is a new blog you all might like to add to your reading list. Helen D, a member of Catholics in Recovery , is a revert to the Church and started The Prodigal Catholic recently.

It’s a great blog, full of love for the Church and her spirituality. Check it out!

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!!)

FYI: blog update-personal news

Posted on by

This is just an FYI posting that may hopefully explain the frequency of blog postings from here on out.

There is going to be a shift in my priorities when I get behind the keyboard of my Mac and bang out words. Blogging is going to be secondary to my attempt to resurrect a fiction writing career.

I have always loved writing. Ever since I was a little human I enjoyed it and have wanted to write fiction for a living. I have never been successful and probably own the world’s largest collection of excuses for not succeeding (with misplaced priorities probably first on the list with alcoholism a very close second) but that is no excuse for giving up or not continuing to try.

I have exhumed from some boxes all the literary trash of 3 decades of attempts and shall start to piece together some semblance of organization and will proceed from there with whatever story nuggets that suggest themselves as viable ideas. I actually have a clue as to what I shall start with, a novel I started after I sobered up in 2002. (Don’t ask about the plot.) Even then I thought that writing was one of the things I was going to “recover” in my sobriety. But I still want to review the whole melange of detritus.

What does this mean for my three blogs? Nothing as I doubt that anyone would actually notice anything different in posting frequency. Sober Catholic will still average 15-20 posts a month like it already does, Trudging Paulcoholic’s Road will hopefully get to 15-20 posts a month and The Four Last Things will continue to be sporadic. The only difference is that I will no longer promise stuff like I occasionally do about getting to posting on a daily basis. I will probably blog on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, which are my days off, and Sunday mornings (I now go to the Saturday Vigil Mass.) I will focus on fiction on a daily basis, either actual writing or research.

Rest assured, all three blogs will continue, as will the Catholics in Recovery social network. Blogging has actually been quite responsible for whetting my appetite for writing. Life is settling out for me from a happily tumultuous year (relocation, new job and then another one when I quit that one, a new wife that I’m keeping) and I’m thinking that I should get serious about some central dream that I’ve held for as long as I can remember.

Perhaps I’m “seasoned” enough and have “lived enough” so that fiction writing is possible. I don’t know. At any rate, that’s where I am now and plan on doing.

Continue to read the blogs, they’ll still continue on. Join Catholics in Recovery, we can use you there if you’re not already a member!

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 All Soul's

Posted on by

On November 2nd we celebrate the Feast of All Soul’s. It is the day that we as Catholics offer up the Mass and pray for the deceased who are suffering in Purgatory. In another blog of mine, I have posted about Purgatory (and will continue to do so a few more times this month). Here are 2 links to recent posts:

The Four Last Things: Purgatory

and

The Four Last Things: Prayers for the Dead and Dying

This is the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s teaching on Purgatory. It is authoritative, and is a required belief for Catholics:

Purgatory:

1030:All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031: The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire.

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.

1032: This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: ‘Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.’ From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.“

(Via USCCB.)

Attend Mass on November 2nd. Remember the dead who have gone before you. Remember your deceased loved ones, family and friends, think of people long ago. Remember all those alcoholics and addicts who died a lonely death, still caught in the slavery of their addiction.

If you do not remember them, who will remember you after you have passed?

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!!)

Catholicism at and beyond the grave

Posted on by

I have another blog entitled: The Four Last Things. Its focus is on the “four last things” that are not avoidable by anyone: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.

I established it in January 2008 because I have an interest in death and dying. Various posts on the blog explain about that. Anyway, I am posting this to announce that this is November, a month devoted to the dead (saints in Heaven and the Suffering Souls in Purgatory), and as a result that is a “big deal” at The Four Last Things.

If you are interested in things beyond what you normally expect at a Catholic blog, even a niche one like mine, you may want to periodically check in at my “death blog.”

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 All Saints

Posted on by

November 1st is the Feast of All Saints, which serves as the Feast day for everyone in Heaven, whether officially canonized or not.

This is an important feast day as it reminds all of us of those who made it, who had run the race and fought the good fight and have arrived at their true home.

They are important to us, these saints. As they are now in God’s domain and have lived lives of virtue and submission to God’s will, they can intercede for us still here on Earth. We can pray to them so that they can offer our requests to God, much like how we can pray for each other’s intentions, but more powerful.

God hears all of our prayers, so in essence we can just go straight to Him, but a consistent theme in how God does things is that He appears to want to do things in cooperation with us. That’s love, I guess.

EWTN has a great website on all known Saints. I said before that these people lived lives of virtue and submission to God’s will. Not all of them throughout their lives. Many were terrible sinners before a conversion experience. A great hope for us alcoholics and aaddicts.

Go here: EWTN’s “Saints and other Holy People Home” and look up people who can help you!

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

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

Trudging Paulcoholic's Road Again

Posted on by

Some time ago I started another blog on Catholic sobriety entitled Trudging Paulcoholic’s Road. It was to be the flip side of Sober Catholic. Whereas Sober Catholic was about how the Catholic Faith and her spirituality can help you maintain your sobriety, TPR was to be how I used the Faith. It was to be a more personal blog, more like the kind of blogs that people in recovery are more familiar with.

Not much came of it aside from the occasional post. That should change as I am going to revivify the blog. What I am going to do is flip through my copies of AA’s “Big Book” and “12 & 12 ” and blog about all the passages that I highlighted as I read them. For the uninitiated, the “Big Book” is the clever name given to the “basic text” of Alcoholic’s Anonymous. The “12 & 12” is the text, “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions”, written by AA co-founder Bill Wilson back in the 1950’s. It is a collection of essays on the 12 Steps that people either love or hate, along with the governing Traditions of AA. I won’t write about the Traditions all that much.

In addition, there are scores of notes that I scribbled in every available blank space, notes about what people shared in meetings that seemed important at the time. When I spot a highlighted passage or note that seems bloggable, I’ll “Catholicize” it, in keeping with the spirit of my recovery writings being Catholic in nature.

Here’s hoping it goes well! (It’s also another attempt at finding a method by which I can figure on blogging every day.)

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!!)

Posted in Me