Gratitude for God’s Generosity

Gratitude is one of the things I need to work on during Lent. I do not show it enough, particularly for the things I have received from God. Ingratitude (or at least insufficient gratitude) for God’s gifts tend to keep Him from giving more.

This excerpt from the Second Reading for today’s Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours is from a Sermon by Saint Gregory Nazianzen: “Let us show each other God’s generosity”

Recognise to whom you owe the fact that you exist, that you breathe, that you understand, that you are wise, and, above all, that you know God and hope for the kingdom of heaven and the vision of glory, now darkly as in a mirror but then with greater fullness and purity. You have been made a son of God, co-heir with Christ. Where did you get all this, and from whom?

Let me turn to what is of less importance: the visible world around us. What benefactor has enabled you to look out upon the beauty of the sky, the sun in its course, the circle of the moon, the countless number of stars, with the harmony and order that are theirs, like the music of a harp? Who has blessed you with rain, with the art of husbandry, with different kinds of food, with the arts, with houses, with laws, with states, with a life of humanity and culture, with friendship and the easy familiarity of kinship?

Who has given you dominion over animals, those that are tame and those that provide you with food? Who has made you lord and master of everything on earth? In short, who has endowed you with all that makes man superior to all other living creatures?

Is it not God who asks you now in your turn to show yourself generous above all other creatures and for the sake of all other creatures? Because we have received from him so many wonderful gifts, will we not be ashamed to refuse him this one thing only, our generosity? Though he is God and Lord he is not afraid to be known as our Father. Shall we for our part repudiate those who are our kith and kin?

Courtesy: Universalis

We too often forget this, that everything we have comes from the Lord. We lose sight of this in the myriad complexities and sufferings of the day. When things go well, we credit ourselves; when the go bad, we blame or get angry with God.

Look around your life and try to see the good you have. Be thankful.

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!!)

Repent, and believe in the gospel

At the close of yesterday’s Gospel reading for the First Sunday of Lent, Jesus proclaims: (Mark 1:15)

“For the time has been fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the Gospel.”

Courtesy: Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version

Repent means to be sorrowful of your sins and make a change of heart; you were a certain way and now you will change. The Gospel, as you should know, is the “Good News” of Jesus, that He is the “Way, the Truth and the Life,” and no one else is.

Lent is the time when do this, from the penitential practices that we adopt, the devotions we undertake, sacraments we participate in and the overall increased focus on who we are in relation to Jesus.

We use this time to transform ourselves into Christ. The Blessed Virgin Mary was the best at doing this; observing and being with Him all His life, she was His greatest disciple. Grab a Rosary and ask her to lead you to Him.

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!!)

He left everything and followed him

In this excerpt from the Gospel for today’s Mass for the Saturday after Ash Wednesday we read in Luke 5:27-28 And after these things, he went out, and he saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the customs office. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving behind everything, rising up, he followed him.

Courtesy: Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version

Just like that, Levi heard Jesus’ summons and followed Him. Granted, tax collectors’ were hated by the native population given that they worked for the occupying power, but to just up and leave was something. Perhaps Levi felt guilty working for the enemy and getting rich in the process. We learn in he next verse, Luke 5:28: And Levi made a great feast for him in his own house. And there was a large crowd of tax collectors and others, who were sitting at table with them. This implies that he was wealthy. Either tax collectors were paid well or or they scammed the natives. Or both. Anyway, Levi, (a/k/a Matthew, the writer of the first Gospel) found sufficient reason to leave then and there.

Was he inspired? Did Levi “sense” something in Jesus? Something that indicated that His was a better way than the life of greed and avarice Levi was leading? Was money Levi’s god, his idol?

We may never know, except after our completion of the journey and arrival in Heaven. Nevertheless, it is a wonderful thing to meditate on… was Jesus’ presence a healing one, or of such an inspiration that would cause someone to just quit their job and follow Him? Did He seem that different from others?

Many people wonder if they would have the courage to do that if they lived in His times and were summoned by Him. “Of course I would, because, He’s JESUS!!!

Well, you don’t have to quit your job today to follow Him.

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 heart contrite and humbled you will not spurn

Continuing on with the “heart” theme with the Daily Mass Readings, this excerpt from the Responsorial Psalm for today’s Mass for the Friday after Ash Wednesday is “A contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.” (Psalm 51:19)

Courtesy Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version

This is a wonderful testimony, and offers hope to all of us who have stumbled along the way. Contrition is all we need and God will receive us with open arms. (Reminds you of Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son, eh?)

Lent is a fantastic time to develop a relationship with a confessional. Examine your conscience and go to Confession this Lent! (Several times; trust me, the more you go, the less scary it is!)

In looking over old posts about this passage, I discovered a few. Rather than link to each one, I’ll just refer you to my archive of every Psalm 51 post: Psalm 51 posts

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 heart turns away…

Continuing along with the theme of yesterday’s post, we read in this excerpt from the First Reading of today’s Mass for Thursday after Ash Wednesday “…But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them…” (Deuteronomy 30:17)

Keep God in the center of your heart. Place Him there and you will be attracted more to Him with every prayer, every sacrifice, even those “swords that pierce” your own heart. The still, small voice from the divinity dwelling within calls to you. Like an object that orbits another much larger object, you will be drawn closer to Him who is or first beginning and last end. But as the passage from Deuteronomy warns, if your heart turns away, it will no longer hear that call of God, and will be attracted to others…

Displaced from with you, He will appear to have gone, creating a hole in your heart where He had dwelt. That hole needs to be filled….

A common phrase you frequently see in recovery readings is that of a “hole in your soul” that needs filling. And so we fill that hole with all sorts of things, the worst being our addictions.

Step away from them, even if you’ve been clean and sober for years there is still the risk of relapsing. Calm and secure in your recovery, you slacken and begin to turn away…

If you’re still drinking and using, accelerate your quest for God. Seek Him and allow Him to fill that hole…

Mary can help lead you to Him. Traditional Catholic teaching holds that we go through Mary to get to Jesus. Grab your Rosary and start praying! (Incidentally, if you’re a 12 Stepper, praying the Rosary is an excellent application of the 11th Step.)

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!!)

In the heart

In this excerpt from the First Reading from today’s Mass for Ash Wednesday we read: “…rend your hearts and not your garments.” (Joel 2:13)

As I said a few days ago “I have been reading quite a lot of Marian spirituality and theology over the past few years.” My interior life has grown as a result, which is not surprising considering that she “…pondered things in her heart…” (Luke 2:19). When you learn in the “School of Mary” you cannot help but develop a richer interior spiritual life which is centered in the heart.

This is connected to the Gospel from today’s Mass, in which Jesus admonishes us to:

“…go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “ (Matthew 6:6)

I’m told the practice of “rending your garments” was done in the Temple or in public to demonstrate the strength of a person’s piety or outrage at something offensive (to God. Remember the chief priest rending his garment during Jesus’ Passion.) But it is a public display. The readings emphasize the importance of the interior life, of repenting and converting and making your “heart” and acceptable place for the Lord to dwell.

The Blessed Mother is an excellent model for us in this. Ask her to help you this Lent; pray for her to guide you through this Holy season which culminates in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of her Son which so greatly pierced her heart (Luke 2:35). Lent is our time to grow closer to the Lord, what better teacher than she who quite likely spent her entire life pondering Him in her Immaculate Heart?

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!!)

Lent 2018

Lent begins tomorrow, February 14th. One of the annual things here on Sober Catholic is my sharing with you a useful resource on having a fruitful Lenten season. Please go here: Praying Lent 2018 by Creighton University Online Ministries

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!!)

Consecration of Sober Catholic to Mary

This blog has a new patron. As today is February 11th, traditionally the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (and the World Day of the Sick), I have decided to consecrate Sober Catholic to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I have mentioned previously (most recently today, in Our Lady of Lourdes/World Day of the Sick) that it is my belief that Mary ‘inspired’ me to start this. Perhaps that was a fruit of my own consecration to her on October 7, 2002 through St. Maximilian Kolbe’s Militia of the Immaculate (see that earlier link). One of the things about consecrating yourself to Mary is that she uses you to bring others to Jesus through her. By whatever means that you have, she uses. Your intellect, memory, will, skills and talents; all of these then belong to her for her to use in saving souls. St. Maximilian Kolbe often said it was like being a paintbrush in an artist’s hands. It paints when the artist selects it, remains at rest when not needed. It may have painted a masterpiece, but it was the artist who directed it.

It may seem like an arrogant assumption that the Mother of God inspired me to start blogging about the Catholic Faith and the rich resources it offers people in recovery. If so, then this blog will eventually cease and be forgotten. If not, then it continue on until Heaven decides it’s time… But since it’s been 11 years, and I’m still doing it, though many times I wanted to quit, but haven’t…

So I keep trudging on.

I have been reading quite a lot of Marian spirituality and theology over the past few years. I have a greater appreciation for my membership in the M.I. and have read copious amounts of St. Maximilian’s writings as well as numerous texts related to his Marian spirituality. I have learned many things, some of which I shall try and share with you over time. I am no longer astonished at the importance that the Catholic Church has made of the Blessed Mother. This may seem contradictory: on the one hand I have always taken for granted her role in the Church, namely the importance ascribed to her by virtue of her selection by God the Father as the means by which the Incarnation would take place and her role as Mother of the Church and our Mother; and on the other hand my digging into the theology and spirituality (all of the Marian Dogmas) of all this begats the astonishment. So, “astonishment” as in not from shock at all the glories attributed to her, but rather the significance of them all. It’s like the difference between knowing the ‘whats’ of a thing and then learning the ‘whys.’ (As a digression: Growing up ‘raised in the Faith’ I knew many of the ‘whats’ of the Faith, but few of the ‘whys.’ Hence my leaving of the Church for 15 years. Parents and directors of religious education, as well as RCIA instructors take heed; it isn’t enough to educate others on ‘what’ the Church teaches, but also ‘why’ She teaches what She does.)

And so we come to the consecration. In one of my recent readings I was reminded that as we are created by God, He is our first beginning and our last end; everything we have were given by Him, and thus everything we do and the results are His. We do the best we can and leave the results to Him. And so, we all do have a mission. Mulling this over, and being mindful of the possible Marian inspiration of this blog, I came to the conclusion that rather than merely assuming that my personal consecration to the Virgin Mary covers this blog also (since it is something I run, and therefore a tool of hers to use by means of me,) I should in some way “give it back” to her; in doing so I feel a greater responsibility in making it work.

You see, although Our Lady may have inspired it, it has been my will most of the time to blog. I will blog about this or that, I won’t blog for now, I will… I will… I will… I will… She gave me the idea and I took it over. Although oftentimes I felt inspired to “get out of myself” and blog when I didn’t feel like it, and many times while composing a post I felt the words coming from …somewhere…; still, my will decided things most times.

So, no longer will it be ‘my will be done,’ but rather ‘her will be done;’ and as her will is always perfectly conformed to His will…

In consecrating this blog to Mary I will daily pray about it; every morning I will add this apostolate to my prayer intentions. Although I have prayed for the success of this blog in the past, I never made it a daily habit. In praying about it I will hopefully be receptive to any ‘inspirations’ of what to blog about. Daily Mass readings, something I’ve read here or there, something a personal nature, whatever.

So, Mama Mary, this thing is yours. Any ‘productivity’ and success, such as souls saved, sobriety achieved or maintained, lost sheep brought back to Holy Mother Church, are yours. Perhaps I will even get to writing some more Sober Catholic Books! Failures are all mine.

Act of Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary, as per St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe and tweaked a bit by me:

O Immaculata, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you. I, ‘Paulcoholic’, a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, but in particular this blog, SoberCatholic.com, wholly to yourself as your possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases you.

If it pleases you, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish what was said of you: “She will crush your head,” and, “You alone have destroyed all heresies in the world.” Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing your glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus. For wherever you enter, you obtain the grace of conversion and growth in holiness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

V. Allow me to praise you, O sacred Virgin.

R. Give me strength against your enemies.

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!!)

Our Lady of Lourdes/World Day of the Sick

This is a story about a Marian feast day, its significance; a saint and what he did with it; and what all this meant for yours truly.

Today is February 11th, the 160th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparition to St. Bernadette Soubirous in a grotto near Lourdes, France in 1858.

The apparition was significant in several respects: the most important was that Our Lady identified herself with the words, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” Not that she was “immaculately conceived,” but rather she was the essence of the immaculate conception. As St. Maximilian Kolbe later pointed out (this is a paraphrase) “To be white is one thing, to be whiteness is another.”

For another, it seemed as if Heaven was endorsing the definition of the Dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception in 1854 by Pope Pius IX in Ineffabilis Deus:

“We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which asserts that the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin is a doctrine revealed by God and, for this reason, must be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful.”

And one more: that Mary’s self-identification as the Immaculate Conception was utterly fascinating and mysterious to St. Maximilian Kolbe, who meditated and pondered on it his entire life. It inspired his “Militia of the Immaculata” and associated media enterprises and friaries.

I discovered St. Maximilian Kolbe and the Militia of the Immaculata in 2002, after I had sobered up sufficiently to search online for what the Catholic Church has to offer me in recovery. As I had stated in my Reversion story, “I had been going to AA meetings, but I knew early on that the brand of spirituality offered there was not going to do the job.” And so I explored the religion of my childhood and never looked back. That St. Max was a patron of addicts helped. When I learned that, I explored more about him.

So I found out about St. Max and the M.I. The M.I. calls for consecrating oneself to the Blessed Mother as her “possession and property” so she can “make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases” her. That she will use me as “a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing your  (note: God’s) glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.” I figured if that’s true (and I never doubted the Blessed Mother) then this may help in my recovery. I doubt that remaining a drunk would be of use to her.

And so on October 7, 2002, on the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, I gave myself to Mother Mary. I joined the M.I. which “is a universal and international public Association of the faithful, erected by the Holy See. The MI was founded by St. Maximilian Kolbe, OFMConv., in 1917, is open to Catholics, of all walks of life, and encourages all people of good will to develop a trusting relationship with Our Lady. The aim of the MI is to win the whole world for Christ through the Immaculata, Mother of God and of the Church.

“The MI is a global vision of Catholic life under a new form, consisting in the bond with the Immaculata, our universal Mediatrix before Jesus.” -St. Maximilian Kolbe.

The MI offers programs that:

-Provide formation in the teachings of the Catholic Church
-Foster love for Jesus in the Eucharist and for the Sacramental life
-Promote a deep understanding of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role in the plan of Salvation and of the gift of consecration to her in the spirit of St. Maximilian Kolbe.
-Ignite with the zeal to become generous instruments of evangelization in one’s own environment, giving witness to the Truth and promoting the sacredness of human life.

M.I. members, mindful of their call to evangelize, strive to give witness to the Faith everywhere. They seek to reach out to their own families, friends, co-workers, fellow parishioners, the sick and elderly, youth, adults, and whomever they meet, in order to lead every individual with Mary to Christ, Our Savior and Our Hope.

(Above quote courtesy of M.I. You can also visit that link to learn more about the MI and St. Maximilian Kolbe, along with possibly joining yourself!)

I think Mary started using me right afterwards. She strengthened me against what I perceived as attacks against my Faith in my AA Home Group as well as giving me the courage to stop attending meetings regularly in 2004. Not that I am advocating everyone should stop going to meetings; on the contrary, if you enjoy and need regular meeting attendance, by all means do it. It just wasn’t for me.

Once I drifted from AA, I began looking into what recovery resources the Church offers. You can read about that here: “About this blog.” After a whle I just decided to start Sober Catholic; I mentioned in some earlier post that I believe the Blessed Virgin Mary “inspired” me to do it. A “fruit,” if you will, of of my M.I. Consecration. Not that I received any interior locution or some such thing, just a desire that since no one else was doing this at the time, I might as well. I doubt I’d have the courage on my own.

So there’s the story: A apparition of the Blessed Mother; a saint’s taking that apparition and message and developing it; and a marginal ex-drunk finding a personal mission in it – Trudging the Road of Happy Destiny and taking whoever bothers to read this stuff along with him.

So that’s that! The sanctuary or Our Lady of Lourdes in France is famous for miraculous healings wrought there. Because of that, Pope St. John Paul II also declared today to be the “World Day of the Sick” in 1993. We alcoholics, even though we may be sober, are still “sick.”

(To be continued…)

(You can learn more about Lourdes at these sites: EWTN Lourdes and Official Sanctuary Site in Lourdes, France.

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 note to email and feed subscribers…

Just a little while ago you received in your inbox or feed reader a Sober Catholic post entitled “Consecrating Sober Catholic to Mary.” That was published my mistake; I had accidentally clicked on the “Publish” button in the blog’s draft editor. This explains why the post, although long, ended abruptly.

I hope to finish the post tonight, but it is taking longer than I thought and is rather complicated. I may do an abbreviated version and publish that soon, with an edit of the original out tomorrow maybe. That might be better and in some ways sensible.

Sorry for the confusion!

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!!)