Lenten Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows: Day 3

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Day 3 (Friday)

The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple

We all know the story: Joseph and Mary make an annual pilgimage to Jerusalem and of course, bring along Jesus. Upon the return, they discover after a day or so that Jesus wasn’t with them; assuming He is with family and friends elsewhere in the caravan, they go looking. They do not find Him. In great haste they return to Jerusalem searching for Him, eventually finding Jesus speaking with the doctors of the Law in the Temple. He is nonchalant about the whole thing, apparently oblivious to their concern. (Kids…) 

The theme to ponder on are the emotions of Joseph and Mary when they discovered He was missing. What all manner of thoughts ran through their minds in the three days they took to return and conduct a search? The utter horror of thinking of what might have happened to their son…. yes, they are aware that He is the Messiah, but still, they are quite like us that despite “knowing” that God has assured us in the past and brought us through a crisis, at the moment when the crisis is happenning, we’re not thinking about that. Joseph and Mary are quite human in their response to Jesus’ absence.

How have you lost Jesus? Did you, at some point in your life, reject Him and all organized religion? That was deliberate choice that you can reverse on your own time. You still lost Him and wandred about looking for a substitute to Him. Perhaps you fell into your addiction. What about those times when you greviously sinned and despaired? Didn’t He seem far away, and that your sin was too great for Him to forgive? Or, that you were too ashamed to confess it? Or, you never really gave Him up, but because of your addiction, lost Him through inattention. The hole in your soul where He used to be became filled with liquour or drugs.

Perhaps you lost Jesus after the death of someone close to you. The utter devastation of the loss was so great that you felt God had left or abandoned you; or, thet He took that loved one away from you to leave you in grief and despair. 

Meditate on all the times that you lost Jesus, either deliberately or through the consequences of other choices. 

Is there one who would not weep,

Whelm’d in miseries so deep,

Christ’s dear Mother to behold?

Can the human heart refrain

From partaking in her pain,

In that Mother’s pain untold?

(Stabat Mater)

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!!)

Many are the troubles of the just

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This excerpt from the Responsorial Psalm for the Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent is from Psalm 34:19-20;

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
Many are the troubles of the just man,
but out of them all the LORD delivers him.

Courtesy:  USCCB

Alcohol and addiction have broken you down; you are at your bottom: that place where you know that if you continue to drink it will kill you, but you know that if you stop drinking, the difficulty in coping without your crutch may only make you wish for death.

In looking at those options, you decide to choose the latter as that has some hope in it; hope for some kind of life.

At this time in your life, you were crushed in spirit; despairing of ever having a life that is respectable in some way. Perhaps not the one you dreamed of growing up, but a life that you’re not embarrassed about. 

Crushed in spirit, He reached down to you and saved your from the path you were on. You started a new life, perhaps with the aid of a recovery program, perhaps through a devotion to Matt Talbot or “just” using the Church and Her sacraments. Has life been all hummngbirds and marigolds? No, for many are the troubles of the just person, but out of them all the LORD delivers them. Just like He delivered you from the clutches of your addiction, He will deliver you from your troubles. Have faith (and patience) and make use of redemptive suffering: offer up your troubles and the pain they are causing you to the Lord for the redemption of not just yoiurself, but of others, too. 

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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!!)

Lenten Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows: Day 2

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Day 2 (Thursday)

The Flight into Egypt

Joseph is told in a dream to take Mary and the Child Jesus and flee to Egypt to protect the babe’s life as Herod is killing all the young male children in the region around Bethlehem. Herod is in a jealous rage that there may be a king to rival him. That this “rival” king is the Messiah and if Herod humbled himself to worship the Messiah, he would likely go down in history as perhaps one of the greatest kings ever, never occurred to him. Instead, he becomes a symbol for all tyrannical leaders, be they monarchs or republican despots, who rule through fear and terror. Furthermore, he is the prefiguring of all those politicians of any stripe who advocate for abortion and infanticide (i.e. ‘partial birth abortion’) as well as those who enact domestic policies that drive their citizens and subjects far from their homeland to become refugees and migrants. And yes, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were refugees and migrants as they had to flee their native province to a foreign one. Right-wing excusers for unjust immigration policies try to argue that they were not, on the silly basis that Palestine and Egypt were both parts of the Roman Empire. If that mattered, then why flee? Palestine was their homeland, Jesus’ life was threatened and they literally migrated to some land not their own for refuge. Otherwise, these same people hide behind the law as an excuse to support unjust immigration policies (“But they’re illegal aliens! They’re breaking the law!”) Hiding behind the law as an excuse to enable sin is only several degrees less than concentration camp prison guards citing “We were only following orders!” when accused of crimes against humanity. It didn’t work then; it shouldn’t work now. 

The points to ponder and meditate on are the fear and anxiety that permeates everyone’s lives today over the current global and domestic situation (“domestic” as in whatever country you may be reading this) as well as how Mary, herself, coped with it back then. Her “fiat” wasn’t just about accepting the fact that she was to be the Mother of the Messiah, she continually gave her “fiat” in every instance of her life. Her will was always God’s will, as St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe always taught.

Flight into egypt 768x512.

Children’s lives are threatened at every age and in many ways. From being murdered in the womb to shameless infanticide, and through pedophilia crimes that gets ignored if you’re wealthy and powerful enough. If that’s not enough, there’s the increasing sexualization of young people by pop culture. We can pray today and for the rest of Lent for the elimination of these grave crimes. 

There is plenty to be anxious and fearful in these turbulent times. Meditate on Mary’s fiat, and on your own trust in Divine Providence.

Oh, how sad and sore distress’d
Was that Mother highly blest
Of the sole-begotten One!

Christ above in torment hangs;
She beneath beholds the pangs
Of her dying glorious Son.

(Stabat Mater)

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!!)

For you my soul is thirsting

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The excerpt from the First Psalmody from the Morning Prayer for the Liturgy of the Hours for the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary is from Psalm 63:2;

O God, you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry, weary land without water.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.

Courtesy: Divine Office,org:

THIS is the prayer we should have used when were were still enslaved by alcohol, when we desired nothing more that “just one more.” We should take our Catholic Bibles and mark the page this psalm is on, and whenever we “feel the urge” to “test the waters” again, Psalm 63:2 should set our soul aright and remind us of what should rightfully fill that “hole in the soul,” previously filled by the drink and the drug. 

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!!)

Lenten Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows: Day 1

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There is an old, pre-1969 Catholic devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. Prior to the revision of the liturgical calendar in 1969, the Friday after Passion Sunday was known as the Feast of the Seven Dolors/Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. (It’s confusing as this is now the Fifth Sunday of Lent and it gets more confusing as the next Sunday is Palm Sunday with its Passion readings.) Since this Feast of Our Lady essentially duplicated the September 15th Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, it was deleted from the calendar in 1970. (I think it was a mistake to do this, but I was only six at the time and no one bothered to ask me.)

There was also a Novena as a part of this old liturgical date; I learned of it from an old prayerbook from 1953 entitled, “Mary, My Hope,” by Fr. Lawrence Lovasik. (There is an updated, post-Vatican II version released, I think, in the 1970s.) 

Since Our Lady told St. Bridget of Sweden that…

“I have obtained this grace from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son will be their eternal consolation and joy.”

… and since I really, really, really, want to skip Purgatory, I am going to “propagate this devotion” by posting every day from today through next Thursday, the Vigil of the deprecated feast, a short novena to Our Lady of Sorrows. (I only have nine previous posts on the Sorrowful Mother! I’d better get bloggin’!) Each day is based on one of her Sorrows. It’s not much, more like just some things for you to ponder.

Our Lady of Sorrows 1.
Here it goes:

Today: Day 1 (Wednesday)

The Prophecy of Simeon

We first learn of the sorrowful path Our Mother will trod during her life when we read of when she and St. Joseph took the Child Jesus to the Temple for the ritual presentation of the first born. St. Simeon saw the Christ Child and through the Holy Spirit was informed He is the Messiah. Simeon was promised that he would not die until he saw him. He did, and he approached Mary and Joseph and taking the babe in his arms, uttered the “Nunc Dimmittis,” which forms a part of the Church’s Night Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours.

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in sight of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel.”

Luke 2:29-32 Courtesy: USCCB

Continuing on, St. Simeon tells Mary:

“Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35)

The points for you to ponder and meditate of are Mary’s foreknowledge of the suffering she (and Jesus) will endure and how she bore it throughout her life; and how Our Lady accepts this sorrow before it happens. Lent is a very appropriate time to think about these things…

Although the Scripture passages don’t mention this, it is likely that Simeon’s prophecy was among those things Our Lady kept in her heart and pondered during her life. So, this will be a further reminder about the contemplative dimension of Catholic prayer life: there is action (a good, especially the works of mercy) but there also is prayer, another good: that quiet prayer when you dwell within your soul and touch God who dwells there.

At the Cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last:

Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,
All his bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has pass’d.

(Stabat Mater)

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!!)

Come out, prisoners!

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The excerpt from the Reading for the Mass for Wednesday of the Fourth week of Lent is from Isaiah 49:9 and 15

Saying to the prisoners: Come out!

Courtesy😐 USCCB

This is God’s call to you still imprisoned by alcohol and drugs. 

Later on in the Reading, from Isaiah 49:15 God ensures you:

Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.

Come on out, recover your truer self, the person you were meant to be. Or, if you still feel the pull, recall “what it was like.” Your worst day in recovery is better than the best day you had drunk.

SoberCatholic offers three tools to help:

The Sober Catholic Way  helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety. Drawn from nearly two decades of blogging at SoberCatholic.com, “The Sober Catholic Way” shows the importance of the sacraments, the Bible, the Catechism and other books. It continues on with the various ways one can “live” out Catholicism by nurturing devotions to the Sacred Heart, Blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints. All of these contribute to sobriety as well as one’s spiritual progression!

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Discover the importance of the Real Presence, the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, St. Joseph, St. Therese (the “Little Flower”) and Matt Talbot. You’ll get ideas on how to apply the Beatitudes, the Divine Mercy Message, as well as learning about the Apparitions of Our Lady at Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima and how they can guide one’s life.

“The Sober Catholic Way” is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. This book does not guarantee anything, but doing these things have helped the author keep his sobriety intact since May 22, 2002. Will he ever drink again? Quite unlikely, but the tools to help recover from a relapse are in every chapter! The love and mercy of God is everlasting and endless!

Available here:  The Sober Catholic Way

Next up: and this is especially good for Lent, is “The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics,” which is a book that is rooted in an ancient Catholic devotion. It is intended to assist Catholics and other Christians find deeper meaning in their struggles with alcoholism, by connecting the oftentimes hard road of sobriety with Jesus’ suffering road to His Crucifixion. The reader sees that their old alcoholic ‘self’ is being led to the Cross and the joy of eventual resurrection of a new sober self can follow. Whether they are still drinking and struggling, or have been sober for many years and still have difficulties coping with sobriety, this book should help readers maintain that sobriety.

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Available through links found here: “The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics”

Lastly is: “The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts,” which helps people to reflect on their recovery and relationships with others, and ultimately with Jesus Himself. Whether people are still struggling with their addictions, or have been clean and sober for a few weeks, months, or years, the reflections will lead them to meditate on the spiritual growth they have achieved so far.

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The book takes a time-honored prayer and brings it into a useful format for people to pause and reflect on their recovery, their relationships with others, and ultimately with Jesus Himself. Whether people are still struggling with their addictions, or have been clean and sober for a few weeks or months, or many years, the reflections for each Mystery of the Rosary will help them meditate on the spiritual growth they have achieved so far. Over the years, their thoughts on each meditation may change, depending on “where they’re at” in their recovery journey.

Available through links found here: “The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts”

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!!)

God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress.

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The excerpt from the Responsorial Psalm for the Mass on Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent (Psalm 46:2):

God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress.

Courtesy USCCB

Just a friendly reminder that no matter how chaotic the world is, or how chaotic our personal  life is, God does not abandon us. It may seem like it,  and when that happens, we must seek Him out with ever more desire for His comfort and His grace. They are always available when things get crazy. Recall all the times in the past when it seemed that ‘all was lost.’ And yet you got through it. You will again. If there is an Adoration Chapel near you, or a parish with Euscharistic Adoration, perhaps now is ia good time to visit. Jesus is there, and oasis of calm in a stormy, chaotic existence.

In Chapter 2 “Adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament” of my book, The Sober Catholic Way, I wrote a poem (of sorts:)

You are little…the World prefers big.
You are humble… the World demands pride.
You are still… the World is fast.
You are helpless… the World honors the strong.
You are mercy… the World teaches revenge.
You are forgiveness… the World nurtures resentment.
You are quiet… the World blares noise.
You are peace…the World is at war.
You are sacred… the World is profane.
You are trust… the World is in fear.
You are meek… the World encourages arrogance.

Go and see Him in the quiet of the chapel.

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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 past shall not be remembered

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The Reading from the Mass for the Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent comes from Isaiah 65:17-21; although I only excerpted this part:

The things of the past shall not be remembered or come to mind.

Courtesy:  USCCB

This chapter of Isaiah deals with God’s judgement and salvation for His people. I love this particular line because of the obvious: our sins and the stupid, embarrassing things we’ve all done are wiped clean; we will not be tormented by any memory of them. Makes you consider that the suffering we endure until our (hopeful) entrance into Heaven is worth the while. (If that’s not enough encouragement, then consider that many spiritual writers think that our sins follow us into Hell; there we will be perpetually tormented by what we’ve done.)

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 LORD looks into the heart

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This excerpt from the First Reading for the Mass of the Fourth Sunday of Lent is taken from 1 Samueal 16:7.

Not as man sees does God see, 
because man sees the appearance 
but the LORD looks into the heart.”

Courtesy: USCCB

I just love this. People habitually see just the exterior: a person’s race, gender, economic status, health. But God sees the whole person, and He knows the underlying causes for the exterior appearances judged by others. 

It’s shame that people cannot do similar; while we can never see into the heart of someone, we can look at other people and not just see them as typical representatives of their race or gender; or we can choose to not see them as an objective thing to use or judge or disregard.

This is a common theme in my book, Building a Civilization of Love: a Call to Creative Catholics:

 

 

Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics is a call to arms, or rather, a call to pens, paintbrushes, and video cameras, for creative Catholics to take up St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe’s call to infiltrate pop culture and help alleviate the ills that pervade contemporary society. St. Maximilian saw back in the 1920s how the use of cinema, radio, and mass-market books was corrupting society. He thought that those same tools could be used as a countercultural force to overcome this corruption.

Furthermore, it explains through the example of three critical apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Guadalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima how she herself suggested strategies and alternatives to the dehumanizing and increasingly pagan contemporary culture we have today.

Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics concludes by showing how the Catholic Faith can be used to provide a road map out of our current morass and a blueprint to build a more just and fair society constructed according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and other elements of traditional Catholic Social Teachings.

“Chapter III: Following Mary’s Example” dives into this.

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 will bind our wounds

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This excerpt from the First Reading for the Mass for Saturday of the Third Week of Lent is from Hosea 6:1

Come, let us return to the LORD,
it is he who has rent, but he will heal us;
he has struck us, but he will bind our wounds.

Courtesy: USCCB

That’s what Lent is all about! It is a time for returning to the Lord; we come to Him broken and wounded from our sins and from all the times we have abandoned Him. If God seems far away, it was you that moved! Go to Confession this weekend; maybe start spending the rest of Lent reading a good spiritual book. Regardless, there is no sin so great that God cannot forgive it; nothing is beyond His Divine Mercy.

Take your wounds to Jesus in the Sacrament of Confession and he will bind them in His Mercy.

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!!)