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 …
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 …
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. …
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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 …
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Mike, over at What Does Mike Think?, reminded me that tomorrow, August 18th, is the start of a Novena to St. Monica. She was the mother of St. Augustine. St. Monica is the Patron Saint of “Alcoholics, Married women, Mothers, Wives and Difficult Marriages.” My friend Number 9, over at Catholic Alcoholic, reports on why …
Reblogged from last year: “Second Lent” is upon us again!” For the past few years I have been announcing what I like to call “Second Lent,” an highly unadvertised and unannounced additional penitential period that the Church offers. It begins on the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6th) and end on the Feast of the …
It is early August and that means that it is trime for the annual novena through St. Maximilian Kolbe for alcoholics and addicts. It starts August 6th and ends on his Feast day, August 14th. Although some sources begin it today, the 5th. Here are links to two prior blog posts on the Novena, the …
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I recently found out that Twitter has a follow limit of 2,000. That’s the maximum number of accounts that you can follow. So I decided to review who or what I’m following and “cull the herd,” so to speak. I chose to trim my “recovery” list. As I am not a recovery professional, I decided …
The “Five First Saturdays” were instituted at the request of Mary in 1925, during an Apparition to Lucia, one of the then only surviving seers of Fatima. Our Lady requested that the faithful, on the first Saturday of the month for five consecutive months: • Go to Confession • Receive Holy Communion • pray the …