Declare your sins to one another

Posted on March 6, 2026 by Paul

The Reading from the Evening Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours for Friday in the 2nd week of Lent is:

Declare your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may find healing. The fervent petition of a holy man is powerful indeed. My brothers, the case may arise among you of someone straying from the truth, and of another bringing him back. Remember this: the person who brings a sinner back from his way will save his soul from death and cancel a multitude of sins. (James 5:16, 19-20)

Courtesy: DivineOffice.org

Lent is upon us! Many parishes have Lenten penance services scheduled so that people have easy access to a priest to confess the sins they’ve been shedding all season. Usually there’s an abundance of priests from all over. Perfect time to confess to a priest who doesn’t know you all of those embarassing peccadilloes you’re ashamed to confess to your regular confessor. PRO TIP: your regular confessor “has heard it all before” and likely isn’t surprised by anything; so, if you missed the penace service or if there isn’t one, apart from travelling to a different parish, just suck it up and go to Confession this weekend at your parish! Try to go more than you normally do outside of Lent. Pope St. John Paul II suggested long ago that Catholics who wish to progress spiritually should go to Confession at least once a month.

Another thing you can do: start a Catholic spirituality blog, podcast or YouTube Channel. Talk about hown the Catholic faith and her sacraments, the Mass, prayers and devotions can assist anyone in growing closer to God. You can even clear the way for your eventual death and enter Heaven. “Remember this: the person who brings a sinner back from his way will save his soul from death and cancel a multitude of sins.” Just make sure you know what you’re talking about and it’s Catholic teachings you’re promoting, not your own masquerading as Catholic. There’s too much masquerading going around.

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!!)

Resist the devil and he will take flight

Posted on March 5, 2026 by Paul

The Reading from the Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours for the Thursday of the Second Week of Lent is from James 4:7-8, 10.

Submit to God; resist the devil and he will take flight. Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you backsliders. Be humbled in the sight of the Lord and he will raise you on high.

Courtesy: Divine Office.org

Abuse of the drink is a tool of the Devil to pry you away from God. The hole in your soul, which everyone has, is supposed to be filled by God. Everyone pursues God, even atheists. However, the pursuit is often misdirected and the person fills that hole in the soul with anything but God. Porn, prostitutes, greed, power, you name it. And then there’s addiction.

Turn to God and resist the call of the drink or drug. Satan will take flight and leave you.

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 God alone is my soul at rest

Posted on March 4, 2026 by Paul

The excerpt from the Evening Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours for the Wednesday of the Second week of Lent comes from Psalm 62:1-2.

In God alone is my soul at rest;
my help comes from him.
He alone is my rock, my stronghold,
my fortress: I stand firm.

Courtesy: DivineOffice.org

The world is currently ablaze in war; Russia’s Fascist aggression against Ukraine is now over 4 years old and virtually every country in the Middle East is involved to one degree or another in the joint US/Israeli military action against Iran. Things could get nuclear. Political discord is increasing exponentially in the United States. The US and global economy is being victimzed by idiotic political decisions..

There are plenty of reasons to return to drinking and drugging; it could make “things go away” temporarily or at least make them seem manageable.

The first two verses from Psalm 62 which form the first psalm reading from tonight’s Evening Prayer is a worthwhile passaage to meditate on and perhaps even memorize for when you have the urge to drink or drug again when things get tough. They’re going to get tougher. Only God can be the fortress within which you can take refuge in. For 2,000 years Catholics going throught wars, plagues, oppression and poverty have known this and have sought refuge in the Faith. Faith helps you rise above the temporary things that disturb us. Countries come and go, wars are always fought and won or lost, leaders become full of their own ego and narcissism and bring socieities down. The Catholic Church and her adherents remain.

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!!)

Return to me with your whole heart

Posted on March 3, 2026 by Paul

The reading from the Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours for Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent is from Joel 2:12-13.

Return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the Lord, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.

This is not just the essence of Lent, but the meaning of addiction recovery itself as we proceed down the path towards freedom.

Return to me with your whole heart: replace the hole in your soul that was previously occupied by your addiction with God.

With fasting, and weeping, and mourning: Shed the desirw for alcoho or drugs, repent and have remorse for your sins.

Rend your hearts, not your garments: Practice deep, interior conversion rather than outward signs of ‘spritual progress.’

And return to the Lord, your God: pretty much what it says. Come home to the Father like the Prodigal Son did.

For gracious and merciful is he: God loves a repentant soul and He will shower you with the graces you need to tay on the path, and if you are truly repentant and confess your sins, you will be forgiven.

Slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment: as I said earlier in Gracious and merciful is he,

He is gracious, merciful, slow to anger (likely due to He knows we are weak and frail,) rich in kindness and will relent in His punishments. All we need to do is truly come to terms with our sins, see them in light of the eternity that awaits us, and cast off the behavior that separates us from Him. And when we do that, He will open His arms wide to embrace us.

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!!)

Do not conform yourselves to this age

Posted on March 2, 2026 by Paul

This excerpt from the Evening Prayer for the Monday of the Second Week of Lent is from Romans 12:2.

Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.

Courtesy: DivineOffice.org

This was the very first Scripture verse I even memorized because I found in it the central theme of addiction recovery by the graces of the Catholic Church.

“Do not conforme yourselves to this age:” We are Catholic. We reject the false morality of the secular world which would have us murder unborn babies; treat with grave inhumanity undocumented immigrants fleeing poverty, violence and corruption; accept sexual deviancy as normal; and acept the general dehumanization of everyone through economic exploitation.

“But be transformed by the renewal of your mind:” Through prayer and the reading od Sacred Scripture and good spiritual reading, we can help our mind become renewed in Jesus.

“So that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect:” And once that renewal has begun, we are better able to see God’s will in our lives and in the society around us.

I have written about this passage numerous times before:

Be Transformed by the Renewal of Your Mind

Transformed

Renewing Your Mind

What is Good and Pleasing and Perfect

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!!)

Run so as to win

Posted on March 1, 2026 by Paul

The Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours for the Second Sunday on Lent is from 1 Corinthians 9:24-25;

While all the runners in the stadium take part in the race, the award goes to one man. In that case, run so as to win! Athletes deny themselves all sorts of things. They do this to win a crown of leaves that withers, but we a crown that is imperishable.

Source: DivineOffice.org

If athletes can deny themselves all sorts of things for a prize that is transtory (after all, who remembers who won a particular championship years ago? And if that team hasn’t won one since, is that much comfort to fans who want a championship this year?) then we, as sober(ing) Catholics, can deny ourselves the allures of the immediate gratification of alcohol and drugs for the ultimate prize: Heaven.

Keep your eyes on the prize as you trudge your road of happy destiny.

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!!)

Wash yourselves clean!

Posted on February 28, 2026 by Paul

The Reading from the Morning Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours for Saturday of the First Week of Lent comes from Isaiah 1:16-18

Wash yourselves clean!
Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes;
cease doing evil; learn to do good.
Make justice your aim; redress the wronged,
hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.
Come now, let us set things right,
says the Lord:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be crimson red,
they may become white as wool.

This is similar to yesterday’s lesson. This is also the process of recovery: in ‘washing ourselves clean’ we cast away our character defects and through our fearless and searchiung moral inventory, discover how deep our “evil” had been. And then we begin to fix things. We mend our relationships with those we have wronged, we give help to those who need it when we are capable; and we seek to be outside of ourselves, we turn outward after fixing our interior and we try to make right the ills of the things around us. “Outside issues” may be a way to keep societal wrings and injustices out of the discussion in recovery meeting rooms (and rightly so, for they distract from the immediate issue of recovery) but in our lives “out there,” in society, we can take the lessons from the Church as she teaches us through Scripture and prayers and the sacraments, and try to heal the world around us.

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!!)

Make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit

Posted on February 27, 2026 by Paul

The Verse before the Gospel for the Friday of the First Week of Lent comes from Ezekiel 18:31.

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the LORD,
And make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

Courtesy USCCB

This is essentially what we do in recovery; our ‘crimes’ being our character defects and shortcomings, and the wrongs we committed as a result. “Cast away” from us means we leave them behind, once we’ve worked the Twelve Steps (if that’s your recovery program) or have committed ourselves to a method of recovery encompassing spiritual growth though the Church and sacraments, they are no longer a part of us. We have made for ourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

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!!)

Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

Posted on February 26, 2026 by Paul

The Responsorial Psalm for the Mass for Thursday of the First Week of Lent is:

Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me

Courtesy USCCB

Gratitude is the topic for today. When you were at your bottom, when all seemed lost and life was at its darkest, when you wished for death to escape the slavery of addiction, you called on God for help. It may notn have been in any recognized prayer, or even words, (mental or spoken.) But in some manner of will or action, you cried out to God for deliverance. And He responded. Somehow, you got the help you needed and yoiu’ve been clean and sober since then. One day? Twenty-five years? Not matter. How have you responded to His aid?

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!!)

To behold his temple

Posted on February 25, 2026 by Paul

From the Evening Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours for Wednesday of the First Week of Lent:

There is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
to savor the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple.

Source: DivineOffice.org

Lent is a journey. We begin on Ash Wednesday and arrive at the Easter Triduum of Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday; and hopefully throughout the season we grew to match the image and likeness of God (the natural result of our fasting, penitential prtactices, and shedding of character defects.)

In a manner of speaking, it is a metaphor for living. If we desire to progress spiritually and enliven our souls with God’s graces through the sacraments of the Church, we eventually arrive at the time of our death in a condition ready to be accepted into God’s home for all eternity. To be united with God and the Communion of Saints and enjoying the sweetness of life there…. that is the ultimate goal of every Christian. And Lent is that “training ground” to prepare our souls for that eventuality.

To behold his temple. Spend this Lent wisely. Regardless of when you start to take the penitential practices of the season seriously, it’s never too late to have a good Lent. Heaven depends on it.

Image: JillWellington.

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!!)

Sober Catholic

Catholicism, Recovery, Sobriety, Conversion, Prayer, Fasting, Repentance, Penance

Resist the devil and he will take flight

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In God alone is my soul at rest

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Return to me with your whole heart

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Do not conform yourselves to this age

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Run so as to win

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Wash yourselves clean!

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Make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit

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Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.

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To behold his temple

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