The Miracle of the Sun and Halloween

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On October 13, 1917 the final Marian Apparition at Fatima, Portugal took place.

I know I’m a few weeks late with this, but upon reflection, I decided to push back writing this until today, the Feast of All Hallow’s Eve (a/k/a “Halloween”). I’ll explain at the end.

Seventy thousand people attended the event, which was supposed to have a miracle promised by the Virgin Mary so that all may believe.

Amongst those present were representatives of the Portuguese media, all socialist and all anti-clerical (theophobes who despised the Catholic Church, professed atheism, and who cooperated in what they hoped would be the eventual destruction of the Church in Portugal. The country had undergone a revolution in 1910 which deposed the Catholic monarch and imposed restrictions on the Church.)

Our Lady appeared as promised, but not alone. St. Joseph also appeared, holding the Christ Child.

Oh, yes: the sun also danced in the sky. Witnessed by all those in attendance, and by more hundreds of miles away, the sun whirled about in the sky, terrifying the witnesses.

It also appeared to hurtle towards the Earth, convincing people that the World was ending (and this part of the Apparition is why I decided to take advantage of my posting tardiness and write this today.)

One note on the sun dancing: for anyone who may be skeptical, one evidence that “something” happened lays in the fact that it had been raining heavily all day long, so much so that the ground throughout the area was drenched. Saturated with water, and combined with the foot traffic of 70,000 attendees, it was a horrific muddy mess.

Until the sun dried it. Nearly instantly. According to all those present, after the Apparition was over and the sun returned to its normal state, the ground was hardened as though it had not seen rain for weeks.

And another note for skeptics: this was all duly reported by the anti-clerical media. The reporters had gone there hoping (or rather assuming) that the whole event would be a non-happening; that the seers would be shamed,the Church embarrassed and once and for all the foolish belivers would have their religious superstitions exposed for what they are – nonsense.

But no, they couldn’t deny the event, their skepticism and non-belief didn’t prevent them from witnessing the Miracle of the Sun, nor acknowledging the effects on the physical environment.

So much for that.

Now, as to why I “reframed the situation” and took advantage of my lateness in posting this.

As the sun plunged to the Earth the believers were understandably freaked out. They thought the world was ending.

The liturgical calendar for the Catholic Church has tomorrow as the Solemnity of All Saints, and after that the Memorial of All Souls. All Saints is for all those in Heaven, officially canonized by the Church or not; and All Souls is for the Faithful Departed who are undergoing purification in Purgatory.

These two days are there (amongst other reasons) to remind us of our ultimate end. Someday we will all die. There is no escaping that.

Maybe this is something for you to consider, before God decides to hurl the Sun at you.

(This is the last post on the Marian Apparition at Fatima, Portugal for 2014. As I’ve stated before, I plan to write on this Apparition around the anniversaries of each apparition in the months they occurred through the centenary anniversary in 2017. The Apparition happened on the 13th of May, June, July, September and October, as well as a late one on August 19th. I do this because upon my research into the the Apparitions, I find many things useful to Catholics in addiction recovery. To discover more, please see the “Fatima” category in the drop-down Category menu in the sidebar.)

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!!)

Awestruck Network USA Tour 2014

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UPDATED (see below after the strikethrough):

Some South African Catholics who’ve started the “Awestruck Catholic Social Network” will be travelling to the USA in November to film a guest spot on EWTN’s “Life on the Rock” show. This is a wonderful opportunity for you all to engage in some Works of Mercy, meet people from a far country and help the Church fill a critical need.

First, a little bit about Awestruck (from the network’s “About” page):

“The main-stream media is not in the business of promoting the Church nor the message of the Gospel. Giant social networks like Facebook, because of their necessarily inclusive approach, often overstep the mark by tolerating and even promoting content radically opposed to the faith and to good morals. For example: Vimeo and Tumblr are infested with porn and repeated attempts to close a number of hate groups on Facebook have not been successful. This situation calls for a niche social network dedicated to celebrating the faith and promoting the Church. A trusted space where Catholics can feel “at home”, discover trusted Catholic content through our feeds, and have the tools to easily share this content to networks outside of Awestruck. That’s Awestruck in a nutshell.”

The network was started a few years ago and has grown steadily. One upcoming boost in its global profile and exposure will be their appearance on EWTN next month. And hence the reason for this post.

Norm and Cris (the two “Awestruckers” appearing on the show) will be doing some travelling about the States while here. They are travelling with almost no money – trusting in Divine Providence and remembering that He sent the 12 out with not even a change of cloak!

As we read in the Gospels:

Matthew 10:10 “…no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick.”

And remember: Matthew 10: 11-13 “Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you enter a house, wish it peace. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.

And here’s a biggie: Matthew 25:35 “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me…”

Have you ever read those passages and wondered what you might have done if people sent by Our Lord and Saviour Himself appeared in your town and perhaps your door and needed a place to stay or some other help? Or what if the visitor was Him? Now’s your chance! While not implying that Norm and Cris are the equvalent to the Apostles or Jesus (but they are disciples of Jesus, as are you and I), they are taking upon themselves an enormous challenge in travelling all the way from South Africa to the United States on this mission that benefits the Church and Catholics worldwide.

This takes guts and heroism. Cape Town is nearly 8,000 miles (14,000 km) from New York City. A long trip, and they’re traveling another few thousand after arriving!

Their itinerary:

  • Arriving in the US on 5 November – first stop New York City for 3 nights.
  • Flying to Pittsburgh, PA on 8 November for 2 nights to visit the nearby Franciscan University of Steubenville.
  • Leaving for Dallas, TX on 10 November and staying for 1 night.
  • Onward to Birmingham, AL and EWTN on 11 November for 3 nights.
  • Then on to Atlanta, GA on 14 November from where Cris will return to Cape Town.
  • Norm to remain for the night of 14 November in Atlanta from where he will leave for home on 15 November.

***The guys are really needing some help in Pittsburgh/Steubenville, Dallas and Atlanta. Anyone around those places who can support their cause with beds and meals?***

UPDATE: They have places to sleep in all of their stops, although Dallas had to be dropped. But there is still the issue of money, for some meals and also some travel expenses.

So, since some of their material needs are being met (beds) can you help out financially? You can do this by several ways:

  • joining up at Awestruck and providing a financial contribution through a PayPal button. How to join? Again, quoting from their network on signing up: “Join thousands of fellow Catholics. The easiest way to register is to simply “Login with Facebook”, then, access all sites on the network, make friends, follow feeds, create open or closed social networks for your parish/group/organization, discover, post and share from the stream at will.” But you needn’t use your Facebook login (I didn’t, I registered and created an account separately. But that’s easy, too!) Awestruck is found here: “Awestruck”.
  • If you’re not willing to join Awestruck, you can send a donation to me through PayPal, my donation button is near the top of the blog, you can’t miss it. Please just make a notation as to what it is for (the “Awestruck Tour” will do). I will then transfer it along to them ASAP.

And if you do join, you can find me here and send a Friend Request: My profile.

This endeavor has a Group on Awestruck that you can join and learn more or give advice:
Awestruck USA Tour 2014

I sincerely hope that if you are reading this you can do several things:

  • Support Awestruck in some way, either by sending a financial contribution to their PayPal
  • and/or by helping out the intrepid Awestruck travellers in some way.
  • Just joining the network, help it grow by spreading the word about it
  • Make use of it in some way! Make it an integral part of your online life!

Finally, a greeting from Awestruck:

“Awestruck will be shooting a “Life on the Rock” show on 13 November at EWTN Studios, Birmingham which will be aired on 10 December 2014!
We are extremely keen to meet up (socially) with any Awestruckers along the way. Coffee anyone?”

Coffee?!?!? Did someone mention coffee?????

Special thanks to Awestrucker Ana St. Paul for some of the information for this post. (I hope you didn’t mind my copy/pasting of your stuff. 😉 )

Let me know what you can do via the comments or by email (sobercatholic at gmail dot com).

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!!)

EWTN’s Fr. Groeschel passed away

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Father Benedict Groeschel, CFR, 81, died at St. Joseph’s Home for the elderly in Totowa, New Jersey, USA at 11PM on October 3, 2014, after a long illness. He was a noted author, speaker, psychologist, and spiritual director familiar to many from his shows and appearances on EWTN as well as from his numerous books.

Fr. Groeschel was very important in my reversion to the Catholic faith, as well as on how I maintained my sobriety. Although he wasn’t an alcoholic or an addict, he was a psychologist with a unique insight into things that I found applicable to addiction recovery. Perhaps this was also due to him being a priest. It was  his recognizing our fallen nature and the manifestations of that nature within our minds and “inordinate attractions” that inspired me to buy and read a great number of his books. He ministered to that fallen nature, appropriate for a priest, but with his added psychology credentials.

Many of his books dealt with spiritual development, growing closer to God and just “coping.” Coping with death and grief. Coping with daily trials and troubles. Hence why I feel that if you’re a Catholic in recovery from addictions of any sort, start getting his books.

I learned much from his books and television appearances on the healing power of Catholicism, from her Sacraments to prayer life and devotions to spiritual reading and the like.

As we see in the Gospel of Jesus according to Mark:

{2:17} Jesus, having heard this, said to them: “The healthy have no need of a doctor, but those who have maladies do. For I came not to call the just, but sinners.”

via Catholic Public Domain Version of the Sacred Bible.

Fr. Groeschel was a wonderful example of this.

Information on his death, memorial services, a Facebook Group in his memory and where donations can made is found here: Statement On Father Groeschel by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal.

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!!)

“Death is Gain”

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Reblogged from The Four Last Things:

“The Second Reading from Today’s Mass for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Philiippians:

Philippians 1: 20C-24: “Brothers and sisters: Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, for that is far better. Yet that I remain in the flesh is more necessary for your benefit. Only, conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

via USCCB.

This is one of the two essential “missions” for this blog. One being to discuss certain things that don’t get much traffic in Twelve Step meetings; the other is a way to express my yearnings for the afterlife.

The latter is by no means a suicidal wish for I will remain on the Earth for as long as God wishes to keep me here.

But I do long to “depart this life and be with Christ,” for that is truly better. But, unless I am mistaken, I feel that He still has plans for me in this life, plans I continue to discern and carry out to the best of my ability. Which quite often seems very insufficient.”

My “yearnings for the afterlife” do not get much time here on Sober Catholic, nevertheless a desire to go “Home” is strong with me. That is why I created the “sister blog” to Sober Catholic, to give airings for things not suitable for here. I hope you read the “4LTs” as well as this one.

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 September 13, 1917 Marian Apparition at Fatima

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The Marian Apparition at Fatima, Portugal on September 13, 1917 was marked by increased crowds as news of the previous appearances of the Blessed Virgin continued to spread throughout the country.

For this particular one Mary told the seers to prepare for the next one on October 13th, that St. Joseph will also appear with the Christ Child to bless the world; and that Mary herself will appear as Our Lady of Sorrows as well as Our Lady of Carmel.

The seers were instructed to continue to pray the Rosary for the end to the War (World War I was still raging).

She reminded the seers that for the last Apparition for 1917, a miracle will occur that will cause many to believe.

This is also the next-to-last post on the Fatima Apparitions that I will write for 2014; as I have stated previously, I am undertaking a series of posts on the most famous of Our Lady’s apparitions as I feel the Fatima message (of penance, prayer and reparation for sins) is important for Catholics in general, but there are specific aspects of them that are applicable to Catholics suffering from alcoholism and addictions. You can follow them by clicking on the “Categories” menu over on the right, and looking for “Fatima.” Click on that category and all of the posts on Fatima and its message will appear.

And once again, these posts will appear in every month that the Apparition occurred and within a week or so of the date (the 13th of May through September) until the centenary of the Apparitions in 2017. Simple at first, I will gradually delve more into them as time goes on.

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!!)

Obsessing! And for what?

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All that worrying…

A few days ago on one of the online recovery sites I’m a member of, I posted a reply to someone who bashed belief in a Higher Power. He was all about multiple paths to sobriety, which is fine. I agree with that. If you’re into a non-spiritual, non-religious method, great, as long as it works and you are sober. But he couldn’t “get” AA or the Big Book, hated being “preached to” about “recovery industry dogma” and subsequently called belief a nasty word.

I charitably pointed out that his attack on belief was in contradiction to his desire for tolerance for his own path. I didn’t call him a hypocrite, even though he was being one. I wished him well on his path, and also that he gets peace (for he indeed seem angry, irritable and resentful). That’s all. I was careful to phrase things so as to be not unkind (because if I have a mind to, I can easily tear you to shreds using the written word. But I was careful.)

That was the last thing I did before going off to work. All the way to work I regretted posting my reply, for although I wasn’t angry or hostile, most of the replies in his thread to that point were backing his viewpoint, and I expected there to be a “flame war.” And I really didn’t wish to be a part of one. It has been my experience in some online forums (not always, but often enough to cause me this fear) that people hostile to belief (including the “tolerance and diversity” crowd) tend to overreact when faith or belief is mentioned, even casually. Or, if not some of his supporters, then he’d get all hostile. I know that believers can sometimes be obnoxious and go ballistic, too. Hence my own restraint.

But, being me, I tend to obsess about things, and my regret over replying to this person dominated my thoughts en route to work, and pretty much all morning. As a result, I was mentally preparing all sorts of responses to every reply I anticipated, planning and preparing for all sorts of conceivable responses I’d read. So, more time wasted obsessing. And chastising myself for replying in the first place.

I tend to avoid online debates because of what AA’s “Big Book” says about anger and resentment, etc. I can easily obsess about “DON’T YOU KNOW JUST HOW WRONG YOU ARE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? LET ME GIVE YOU A PIECE OF MY MIND AND CORRECT YOUR THINKING!!!!” and such. I am never this way in real life. At least I don’t think so. I guess in my alcoholism, I can exhibit “troll” behavior when online. There are clouds of wounded and dying electrons dotting the internet circa the late 1990s early 2000s. As such, I typically avoid online debating. I forget about this and pay a price, now and then. The result of which is that I renew my resolve. I do once in a while get into a discussion over something relatively innocuous, only to get my dander up when the other person just cannot see the wisdom and rationality of my point. But no major political or religious debates. Which kills me as I’m rather political and religious.

But anyway, after a while I got over my posting and just focused on my work.

And so when I got home, first thing I do when getting online is to log into that site and look for the carnage.

Nothing. A few replies that were supportive, some critical. Where’s mine???? I scroll up and down.

GONE! Deleted!!!!!!! I know it was posted as I was getting notifications from the thread.

Wow. I guess it struck a nerve he couldn’t handle, or something.

“All that worrying.”

My lesson, which I need beaten into me, and rooted in the Big Book, “No more posts of that kind. No more engaging in online discussions like that. Maybe, some exceptions, like a newcomer or chronic relapser wanting to go back out, or some other “constructive criticism,” diplomatically and charitably offered (and read a dozen times over to ensure nothing offensive).” And if someone still takes issue, walk away.

Sometimes it’s tougher, harder, and requires more courage and fortitude to “just walk away” than to succumb to the intoxicating passions of righteous rage and anger.

“Anger and resentment, the dubious luxuries of normal people.”

“We cease fighting everything, even alcohol.”

“How important is it really? How important is it compared to my serenity, my emotional sobriety?”

(The quotes are approximate, my Big Book is in the other room and I’m too lazy to get up off the couch to get the exact quotes.)

GONE?!?! Deleted!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Why, the nerve…. I oughta go back there and…!

NOTE: This post was taken from a something I had written in an online discussion forum for people in recovery. I edited it somewhat.

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!!)

Gratitude: Wanting what you have

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In the rooms of AA, I’ve learned that gratitude means “wanting what you have.” At first I had thought this was silly and trite. Of course, I “want what I have!” But upon further thinking it became obvious the trite phrase has a deeper meaning.

In our alcoholism, one drink was never enough. The idea of just having one rarely enjoyed consideration. If one is good, then ten is awesome! Only ten?

And so we eventually found out the detrimental side effects of this attitude. If you’re an alcoholic, you know what those are.

But if you’re in recovery, even for a long while, a type of addictive thinking can still affect you. You may be dissatisfied with your material possessions. What you have isn’t enough. A better car, bigger residence, nicer computer, a smartphone with more bells and whistles, whatever, what you own that actually serves your needs somehow is no longer satisfying.

I think this is still a residual addiction. Although you no longer drink, the addictive side of your personality still craves something more. Not satisfied, it comes up with justifications for wanting more.

Many times in meetings you hear the phrase, “Stick with the winners.” It is good advice for newcomers; they are told to seek out those in sobriety who “have what they want,” namely a good, sustained quality of sobriety. Unfortunately, some use the trappings of materialism to determine that good sobriety. The idea is that after you’ve been sober for a while, you begin to recover many things that were lost, including material wealth. If you never had it, then you’ll get it. It is even inferred in the so-called “Twelve Promises,” found on Page 83 of AA’s “Big Book.” (See the online version at Alcoholics Anonymous. It is available as a PDF.)

Somewhere I’ve heard that to determine who’s a “winner,” you check out the vehicles people drive away from meetings in. The better, the more “successful.” There are other ways of determining material success, of course.

To me, the only real manner in which a person should be judges on their sobriety, how much of a “winner” they are, is how long have they been sober? Do they take life in stride? Have they been the target of a lot of “stuff” that life throws at them? Do they bear their Crosses well?

Although I’ve typically loathed discussions on ‘”gratitude” during meetings, I have now come to realize that gratitude is an essential tool in recovery, for it helps to retard or curtail “addictive thinking” elsewhere, and especially the draw of materialism. In my previous post, Be transformed!, I quoted Jesus’ saying “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”

Indeed!

It is not enough to just maintain sobriety, one also has to express gratitude for it, but also for everything else one has in life. If you are truly grateful for what you have, and your needs are consistently supplied, then you will have little desire for the “wants,” as they are rarely what you “need.”

Focusing on your “wants” is an addictive thought process: it means you are not satisfied with your needs, and you want more. Just as “one drink” was never enough, whatever you have in life now may not be enough, even though it adequately supplies your needs.

Think about it. Sometime ago, you got some “things.” They were fine and supplied your needs. Then they no longer did, or so it seemed, and so you got “more things.” After a while, it happened again; they no longer seemed sufficient and you went out and got “still more things.”

Really? Was all that necessary? What was different between the time you had just the “things” and then “more things,” and so on to “still more things?” What changed? Did they really not satisfy your needs, or was the accumulation just serving your “wants?” On Page 559 of AA’s “Big Book” there’s a line that says something like “our needs, which are always satisfied; and our wants, which never are.” I think that is the core. Our “wants” never are satisfied and so we desire “more.” Even though our needs were taken care of. That’s addictive thinking. One drink isn’t enough. Another is needed. And another. And so it is with material possessions. The car we drive isn’t good enough. (Yes it is, we just don’t want to see it. We see people in AA meetings drive better ones and we have to show our success in sobriety and get a newer one.) The computer we have isn’t powerful or fast enough. (Yes it is, we just feel self-conscious when we don’t have the latest Mac or Windows PC. That machine is from 2006???)

I am just putting this out there for consideration and discernment. Just an admonishment towards those who do see success in material terms. I do notice many people in recovery have a more relaxed attitude towards material possessions and are truly grateful for what they have. After all, there’s a reason why “gratitude” is a popular topic in meetings. We need to hear it, perhaps there’s an understanding of the danger in not being grateful for what we have. Especially since many have lost so much.

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!!)

Be transformed!

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The Second Reading from Today’s Mass of the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time has one of my favorite Scripture passages, and the first one I ever attempted to memorize. To me, it is at the heart of being a person in recovery:

Romans 12:2 “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”

In recovery, we are essentially becoming transformed. We live by the principles of our recovery program (be it Twelve Step or something else) and if we are Christian, we seek out what the Church has to offer people struggling with their addictions. And one key thing, and this is something I’ve stressed from time to time: you don’t conform to this age, you do not seek value in the so-called “morals” of the World. They do not offer anything of substance and certainly they do not offer anything good for your salvation.

In this “transformation” and our “renewal” we gain the capacity to discern what is the will of God, “what is good and pleasing and perfect.”

How to discern the Will of God? Reading Sacred Scripture is one way. In the Gospel Reading for today’s Mass, Jesus tells His disciples:

Matthew 16:24-27 “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct.”

Mass Readings via USCCB.

Again, “taking up the Cross” is essential to our recovery. We do not seek to run away from our troubles, all of the problems, big or small, that life throws at us daily. That is what we did while drinking. Everyone has troubles, it is a fact of human existence. We now have to tools to effectively deal with them, and perhaps even people around us who can assist us.

But it’s more than that. It’s building a new life in recovery, and becoming a better follower of Jesus Christ! Our lives today are better than when drinking. And even better than before we first picked up a drink due to our “renewal” and “transformation.”

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 “Page 552 Prayer to End Resentments”

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On Page 552 of the “Big Book” of Alcoholics Anonymous (their basic text), there is a very helpful suggestion on how to rid yourself of resentments towards a person.

You pray for them every day for two weeks.

According to the writer of that Big Book chapter, they had held a deep resentment towards someone. They were seeking a way rid themselves of it when they chanced upon a magazine article. In this article a preacher wrote that if one holds a resentment towards someone or something (like a place, maybe), you pray for them every day for two weeks. You pray for their health, happiness and prosperity.

It doesn’t matter if you mean it or not, if it is “just words;” you do it anyway. You will find that by the end of the two weeks, you will come to mean it. This transformation will end the resentment towards that person.

A resentment, as we have learned, means to “re-feel” something; a negative sentiment is maintained, relived and nurtured over time. There’s a pretty good chance that if you are praying daily for their health, happiness and prosperity, this old, negative “sentiment” will erode and disappear.

I tried it and so far it is working. Being the person I am, I may have to do it again concerning this acutely annoying person. But I can attest to the fact that by the end of the two weeks, I genuinely desired “health, happiness and prosperity” for this person.

The writer didn’t give the words to the prayer, just describing the instructions. My prayer went as follows:

“Dear God in Heaven, if it be your holy will, look with favor upon the health, happiness and prosperity of …N…. . I ask You this in the Name of Jesus, the Lord.” (“N” being the name of the person you are praying for.)

That’s all. Simple and to the point. No complicated formula, nothing but a simple request. Although the target is the person you are praying for, in actuality you are praying for the removal of a resentment. Why not just pray for that? “Dear God in Heaven, if it be your holy will, please remove my resentment towards …N… . I ask You this in the Name of Jesus, the Lord.” You could do that. But I think the “Page 552 Prayer” is harder for us as we are doing something difficult. Someone hurt us and now we want good things for them? Sure, God can remove our resentment if we specifically ask for that; but recall the words at the end of the “Lord’s Prayer,”

“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive the trespasses against us.”

In praying for the person that hurt us, we are forgiving them. And thus we are forgiven for anything we might have done to them. The emotional tie is broken, the resentment ceases.

Unless we stoke the fires of it again, so vigilance is needed. Let it rest. Easy, if the person is out of our lives and exists in the past. It is certainly harder if they are not, are still annoying and “things happen” to make the resentment flare up again. If that is the case, just pray harder when you are aware of situations arising that involve them; otherwise avoid them, if possible.

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 Delayed Fatima Apparition of August 13

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The Fatima Apparition of August 13, 1917 did not occur when it was supposed to. The three seers of Fatima: Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, had been essentially taken “hostage” by the local government administrator just prior to the Apparition. As a result they were not present, but were miles away being threatened with torture (being boiled in oil) if they did not reveal the “Secret” that the Blessed Virgin Mary had shared with them earlier (a vision of Hell, amongst other things).

Nevertheless, Mary was not about to be upstaged or thwarted by a mere bureaucrat. Our Lady did appear to the shepherd children on August 19th.

During this Apparition, our Lady requested that the seers continue to return on the 13th of the month and to continue praying the Rosary.

Lucia asked her as to what they should do with the money that was beginning to be donated. Mary replied that two “litters” (like stretchers to carry someone) are to be made, one to be carried by Lucia, Jacinta and some girls, the other by Francisco and some boys, for the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Money left over is to be used for the construction of a chapel to be built on the site.

Mary concluded with, “Pray, pray a lot and offer sacrifices for the sinners. You know that many souls go the hell because there is none who pray for them.”

As I have said previously, I plan on blogging about these Apparitions in hopes that Catholics in recovery can find some additional tools to pack in their spiritual toolkit for fighting addictions. Every month from May through October, on or about the 13th, I shall post something on that month’s Apparition through the 100th Anniversary in 2017. Initially I’ll be very basic, but when the anniversaries approach again up through 2017, I hope to delve deeper. I am still beginning my journey of exploring the spiritual wealth of Fatima, and the more I read, the more I am coming to regard Fatima as an essential devotion to any Catholic in recovery from addictions.

You can keep up with Sober Catholic’s blogging on Fatima at this link: All the Fatima Posts.

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