Why be Catholic?

Posted on March 19, 2007 by paulcoholic

One may ask, “Why be Catholic?” Or, “Why the Church for help in one’s sobriety? It’s just a Church, full of rules and regulations that just get in the way. Why not just have a personal relationship with God?”

Well, you can. And the best place for that to happen is within the Catholic Church. It is the historical church established by Jesus Christ and His Apostles and it bears all the hallmarks of a Church established by Him. There are four marks, or signs, usually named to identify the church founded by Jesus. Those four marks are that it is one, holy, catholic and apostolic.

It is one: Jesus established only one church, not numerous churches. The apostles, as they scattered about spreading the Gospel, established churches in their journeys, but all were subject to the authority of Peter, the first Pope, and his successors. Some churches may have held a large degree of autonomy, but ultimately they were united under the leadership of what would eventually be known as the Papacy.

It is holy: It’s holiness is not found in the actions and behavior of its members, from the rank-and-file butts in the pews and the clergy, to the Pope. It’s holiness is derived from its establishment by Jesus, the miracles God works through it, and the lives of the saints and martyrs.

It is catholic: “catholic” means “universal”. This means that it holds the fullness of the Gospel truths taught by Jesus. The Catholic Church has never discarded as inconvenient or irrelevant any of the teachings of Jesus. It teaches everything that Jesus taught, with no redactions. As such, its teachings are applicable to everyone, in every place in every time and in every situation. Other Christian denominations, while they are to be respected for the sincerity of their member’s beliefs, have over the centuries discarded (or “reinterpreted”) various of His teachings.)

It is apostolic: It traces its history back to the time of the apostles. The apostles were entrusted by Jesus to teach and spread His message to all nations. The twelve apostles were the bishops of the early Church, they in turn passed their authority to teach to their successors. This has been transferred down the centuries to today’s bishops.

If you examine Catholic history, you will see a history replete with heresy (rejection of Catholic teaching), schism (rejection of Catholic authority), scandals, crimes and corruption. Yet it survives. It survives due to the actions of the Holy Spirit to maintain it despite its leadership and membership. It survives because Jesus said that He will be with it even until the end of time, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. Its history has shown that Hell has sought to prevail, and while Hell has had some success it causing the above mentioned troubles, in the end it will fail.

No mere human-founded organization has such a guarantee of survival. Not a bad thing to link your sobriety to.

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 your convenience

Posted on February 22, 2007 by paulcoholic

I have added some tools to this blog make it more convenient to read and access.

If you scroll down the sidebar, you’ll notice that I’ve added links to enable you to add Sober Catholic to your customizable MyYahoo and Google pages. The same for a customizable MyCatholic.com page, but please bear in mind that MyCatholic.com doesn’t have a login service, so chances are you will not be using it from a public access computer. It remembers your settings by IP address and browser. Aside from that, it’s a great Catholic portal, enabling you to subscribe to up to 20 blog feeds, in addition to their own optional default feeds. You can also grab up to 20 links, great place to have all your morning daily perusal links.

You can also subscribe to sober Catholic via email, the link for that is in the Feedburner section of the sidebar. Whenever I add a post, you get an email.

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!!)

Hi, I'm Paul, and I'm an alcoholic!

Posted on January 5, 2007 by paulcoholic

Give yourself a few points if you’re automatic reaction was to say “Hi, Paul!” It means you’ve been to some 12-Step Meetings and know the routine. The purpose of this blog is to fulfill a need I’ve had, and one that I haven’t found addressed sufficiently elsewhere. And that is to show how the richness and beauty of the Catholic Christian Faith and its centuries-old spirituality can be invaluable in keeping oneself sober. It can be applied to other addictions, too, but I will be writing about only what I know, and that is alcoholism.

I will be bringing into this blog only my own experience, strength and hope. I am not a psychologist, counselor or therapist. I am just a recovered alcoholic who reverted to the Faith after years of being away. My full reversion was soon after I stopped drinking and started paying attention at 12-Step meetings. I know the Catholic Faith pretty well, and the 12-Steps of AA. In another post I will tell my reversion story, and in another I will go on and on with my drunkalogue.

In “Sober Catholic” I will be writing about how I have used the Sacraments and devotions of the Church in keeping and maintaining my sobriety. I will write about the Mass and Eucharistic Adoration; about going to Confession and how it utilizes the 12-Steps if you use it the way it’s supposed to be used. I will tell you about how reading the Bible is necessary, usually around meditating on daily Mass readings. I will describe how meditating on the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and the Stations of the Cross enriches your soul. I will write about the importance of maintaining a regular prayer life, and how that is essential in keeping your head focused. I will discuss the seasons of the Church’s liturgical year and how they are a great way of getting though the calendar. I will also talk about various saints, particularly around their feast days.

A tall order, and I’ll get to each in due time. I may also babble on occasion about off-topic stuff, but that’ll be minimal.

In short, my name is Paul, I’m an alcoholic, and a Catholic, and I’ll be writing about both.

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!!)