Category Archives: Humility

Do not fret because of the wicked

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The excerpt for today is from the Office of the Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours for Tuesday of Holy Week and is Psalm 37:1-4:

Do not fret because of the wicked;
do not envy those who do evil:
for they wither quickly like grass
and fade like the green of the fields.

If you trust in the Lord and do good,
then you will live in the land and be secure.
If you find your delight in the Lord,
he will grant your heart’s desire.

Source: Divine Office.org

This, then, is envy and resentment. You stopped drinking and using and have received some of the promises and benefits from sobriety, but you haven’t gotten the hang of it entirely. And your ol’ drinkin’ buddies are still havin’ a grand time out there, celebrating and carousing, and maybe teasing you for being a quitter.  

Or, you’ve been clean and sober for a nice long time, and once in a while you just watch people enjoying the gentle conviviality of a few glasses of wine during a dinner or a beer while watching a game on TV. Or, have a crisis, binge all weekend, emerge all right and not touch the stuff for a year because they didn’t have to and don’t “need” it. 

While not implying that your ol’ drinkin’ buddies are wicked (it could be used as a metaphor) the idea that someone, somewhere, out there, is having a good time doing something that could kill you if you returned to doing it does burn. I mean, even I, at times, just wish that I could, you know, have just one little…

But no.

Those who continue drinking and using go on to their own reward, which could be nothing harmful at all if they employ moderation; or they could wind up in the rooms of AA next to you. I can see it now: you’re in some church basement awaiting the start of your Thursday Night 8PM Home Group and someone sits down right next to you; but you’re so engrossed in reading a post from SoberCatholic.com that you don’t notice it’s Norm/Norma with whom you used to go around town barhoppin’. They nudge you in the shoulder and you turn and see them pointing to my post on your phone and they say “Hey, Ron/Rhonda! I read that earlier today! Funny meeting you here!” A pause and then they say “Hey,” again pointing to the SoberCatholic.com page on your screen, “Do you have this? That guy wrote it.” And they pull out and well-worn copy of “The Sober Catholic Way.” You reply, “Yeah, I got that! It changed my life! I bought a boxful off of Amazon and put them in my parish’s reading room and Adoration Chapel!” And so you renew acquaintances.

Or, your reading on that same phone the obituaries and a familiar name shows up on your doomscrolling. “Died suddenly.” You know what that means. 

On the other hand, if you trust in the Lord and do good,
then you will live a decent life and be secure.
If you find your delight in the Lord,
he will grant your heart’s desire (continued sobriety.)

Please by my book! Link in the image (or click on this):
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Thank you!

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!!)

Countering Adam and Eve’s pride

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The excerpt from Second Reading of the Mass of Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion is from Phillippians 2: 6-8.

Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,

he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death,

even death on a cross.

Courtesy USCCB

I’ll take my inspiration for this post from my pastor’s homily (we attend the Vigil Mass.) He pointed out the Christ’s humility as mentioned in this passage, undid the pride of Adam and Eve. Whereas Jesus did not regard His divinity as “something to be grasped,” unlike Adam and Eve, who grasped the apple in an attempt to grasp something more: the false promises of Satan to become like God. 

Jesus’ humilty rendered His godhood as unimportant to His mission of redemption (althoiugh it was key) in dorect opposition to Adam and Eve’s belief that they’ll become like God.

Something to ponder as we think about our own pride.

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!!)

If you are a Simon of Cyrene…

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The Second Reading from the Office of Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours for the Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent is from a homily by Saint Gregory Nazianzen, bishop:

If you are a Simon of Cyrene, take up your cross and follow Christ. If you are crucified beside him like one of the thieves, now, like the good thief, acknowledge your God. For your sake, and because of your sin, Christ himself was regarded as a sinner; for his sake, therefore, you must cease to sin. Worship him who was hung on the cross because of you, even if you are hanging there yourself.

Courtesy: Divine Office.org

We are all Simon of Cyrene. We all are called to take up our Cross and follow Christ (Matt 16:24) Or, help Him carry His. (Colossians 1:24)

We have been crucified because of the sins of our addictions and through the process of recovery. This passage from St. Gregory Nazianzen is a call for us to acknowledge who is the source of our recovery and the new life in Christ we now have. And then what? We show Him gratitude: we worship Him and pay Him homage. Our sins don’t excuse us.

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!!)

Happy the man who considers the poor and the weak

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The excerpt from the Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours for Friday in the 5th week of Lent from Psalm 41:1-3

Happy the man who considers the poor and the weak.
The Lord will save him in the day of evil,
will guard him, give him life, make him happy in the land
and will not give him up to the will of his foes.
The Lord will help him on his bed of pain,
he will bring him back from sickness to health.

Courtesy: Divine Office.org

Let’s say you’ve been clean and sober for a while now. What have you done with it? I know I’ve asked that question at least once before during these daily Lenten bloggings. It’s important. Maybe you should now consider “giving back” which could mean any one (or more!) of a number of things. If a recovery movement really helped you, keep on attending meetings and help out the newcomers who remind yu of what you were like when you first stumbled into the rooms. Or, take a more active role in your parish. Parishes live on volunteer work as it saves them from hiring people. Plus, if you need it, you can add your volunteer jobs to your resume. Employers LOVE volunteer stuff on resumes. Check out your parish bulletin and see if therea re any requests for help of some kind; otherwise, you can email the parish office and see if they have the inside scoop of stuff that needs doin’ but doesn’t get in the bulletin. Visit a nursing home or hospice. You can sit with the dying and pray with them. We all will eventually cross the veil separating us from eternity, you may want to begin familiarizing yourself with the possibility. 

Or, think of something else you can do to “give back.” Recall the words of Pslam 41:1-3!

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!!)

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your  will

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The refrain from the Responsorial Psalm for the Mass on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is adapted from Psalm 40:8-9

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.

Courtesy: USCCB

If you are reading this blog, then I am assuming you have some degree of sobriety behind you. What have you done with it? If you are doing your best to lead a normal life, being a responsible family person (husband, father, wife, mother, sibling) or citizen (gainfully employed and such like) then that is great! But you can do more. if you are specifically reading this blog because you are Catholic, then perhaps you are seeking “what to do” about your Catholcism. It’s OK to “just be responsible.” Most people aren’t. But you can do so much more. God may be calling you to be a Christ-bearer to others, just like Mary!

Botticelli, annunciazione di cestello 02.

Here I am, Lord; I come to do your  will. Pray to the Holy Spirit for discernment in how to do that. If you need help, there’s 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.

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!!)

From his misery he raises the poor

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The excerpt from the Psalmody for Evening Prayer I for the Solemnity of the Annunciation on the Tuesday in the 5th week of Lent (that’s a mouthful) is from Psalm 113:7.

From the dust he lifts up the lowly, from his misery he raises the poor.

Courtesy: Divine Office.org

As alcoholics and addicts we were shunned and cast off towrds the margins of decent society. And rightfully so, for our actions caused this. Nevertheless, God loves each and everyone of us as we are, even in the depths of our sins. He made us, how can it be otherwise? We all have equal dignity in His eyes regardless of our worldly status. So, when He sees us deep in our addiction, He is at the ready to help. Sometimes He waits for us to reach out to Him, and at other times He doesn’t wait.

Just as Mary said “Yes,” to when the Archangel Gabriel announced to her that the Holy Spirit desriref to overshadow her so as the Second Person of the trinity could manifest Himself in her and redeem the world, you can say “Yes” to Him and become another Christ-bearer to others. 

The annunciation 1667.jpg!Large.

And He is not frightening, either. This is why He came to the world as an infant. God, the Creator of All, King of the Universe (and Multiverse, if that exists) entered intto human existence as a baby. He humbled umself that much just so as to be approachable. If it helps you to approach God in thaty manner, that is, regarding Him as an infant, that is perfectly acceptable! There is a old, venerable Catholic devotion known as the Devotion to the Infant Jesus (usually involving the “Infant Jesus of Prague.”) 

BY THE WAY: THIS ISN’T A DEVOTION FOR WOMEN, ONLY! Although it appears that women would be more attracted to this, it is a great way for men to learn humility. 

These websites have detailed information on the devotion to the  Infant Jesus. 

The Story of the Infant Jesus of Prague

Infant Jesus of Prague History & Devotion

Infant Jesus of Prague Novenas, Chaplet & Devotions

Prayers and Devotions to the Divine Infant Jesus of Prague

The Infant Jesus of Prague (EWTN!) Mother Angelica had a huge devotion to the Infant Jesus! See:

“Build Me a Temple”: Mother Angelica’s Mystical Visions of the Divine Child Jesus,

Mother Angelica describes her vision of the Divine Child Jesus,

and finally: Divino Niño Day

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

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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. 

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!!)

BOOK REVIEW: “Encouraging Words to Live By: 365 Days of Hope for the Anxious and Overwhelmed” by Anne Costa

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“Encouraging Words to Live By: 365 Days of Hope for the Anxious and Overwhelmed” by Anne Costa was published through The Word Among Us Press in 2019, and I wish I had it back then as it would have helped me better deal with anxiety and recurring feelings of being overwhelmed.

The book is aptly named.

What is it about? 

From the site blurb:

Feeling overwhelmed, anxious, or sad? Here is a collection of daily reflections that will lift your spirits and give you a sense of direction with reminders of God’s great love and acceptance. Drawing from Scripture, the wisdom of the saints, and pastoral expertise, Anne Costa has written a spiritual resource that will enable you to look upon each day with hope.

This book will help you (or a loved one) when overwhelmed by life or struggling with anxiety or depression to renew your connection with God and others.

Encouraging Words to Live By.

I began reading it this year (2026.) With the world and nation going increasingly insane and daily living threatened by the actions of stupid political leaders in ways previously unheard of (due to things being amplified by social media and 24/7 news channels) this book will provide a sane and soothing respite for the few minutes every day that you take to read and ponder the wisdom of Anne as well as from those sources she’s culled it from. You might even be inspired to grab your Bible afterwards and look up the Scripture passage.

My favorite day so far (and NOT the only one in my two weeks of reading) is the entry for January 5th. 

Excerpt: 

…How we talk to ourselves—the messages we send—can either feed or starve our souls. We shouldn’t let our inner chatter drown out the voice of God, who is love….

…Let the condemning thoughts die down like a distant echo and allow the whisper of the One who loves you fill your listening heart….

I think I need to place that page on my printer, make a copy, and tack it onto the wall next to me. I have mentioned at least once before about “inner voices” running me down. They typically sound like the voices of family members who had driven me to consider self-harm, but often it’s a generic voice not associated with any particular person. But it’s always a running critical commentary, but sometimes petty and ridiculous; like the source of the voice can’t come up with anything big so it resorts to something stupid. 

Each page has a quote from Scripture, followed by Anne’s “Encouraging Words,” basically a short inspirational passage she wrote, based on the Scripture passage and often tied to the liturgical feast of that day. The day’s reading concludes with a nice, short prayer. 

After I finish writing and publishing this review, I’m going to go back through the entries for January 1 through 16 and highlight certain passages, maybe scribble a note or underline with a pen.  I rarely do that, but when I do, it “annoints” the book with a sort of personal blessing. “This book is essential to my well-being” and “It’s important in helping me cope.” I’ll be keeping the highlighter and pen next to it. Within a few years the book will show evidence of heavy-duty highlighting, underlining, and annotating. There’s no entry for February 29: on that day I’ll just flip through and reread other days.

Where to get it:

The book’s page on Anne’s website: Encouraging Words to Live By on REVIVE Hope and Healing Ministries 

Through Amazon

Barnes and Noble (and check out the Nook sample!)

Or visit your nearby local bookshop (especially if you have a Catholic bookshop around!) and politely request that they carry it. Buy two, one for yourself and for someone you know.

Anne’s website is REVIVE Hope and Healing Ministries. They have a Prayer Community on Facebook. Check out her podcasts (DISCLAIMER: she interviewed me last year.  That DID NOT influence my review. If I didn’t like the book, I wouldn’t have reviewed it.) A full list of where you can listen is on Podbean. 

I hope you enjoy reading it! If you do, spread the word! People need this book!

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!!)

Not a destructive drug among them

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From the Office of Readings for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time in the Divine Office:

For he fashioned all things that they might have being;
and the creatures of the world are wholesome,
And there is not a destructive drug among them
nor any domain of the nether world on earth,
For justice is undying.

Courtesy of Divine Office – Liturgy of the Hours of the Roman Catholic Church (Breviary)

The phrase “not a destructive drug among them” popped right out at me; I’m surprised I never noticed it before (perhaps I did, but don’t recall.) Anyway, the phrase is connected to ‘justice,’ which I consider to be significant. Whether ‘destructive drug’ is associated with alcohol or addictive substances, I doin’t know, but I’m associating it for the purposes of this blog! 

This is what the CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA has to say on Justice:

Justice is here taken in its ordinary and proper sense to signify the most important of the cardinal virtues. It is a moral quality or habit which perfects the will and inclines it to render to each and to all what belongs to them. Of the other cardinal virtues, prudence perfects the intellect and inclines the prudent man to act in all things according to right reason. Fortitude controls the irascible passions; and temperance moderates the appetites according as reason dictates. While fortitude and temperance are self-regarding virtues, justice has reference to others. Together with charity it regulates man’s intercourse with his fellow men. But charity leads us to help our neighbour in his need out of our own stores, while justice teaches us to give to another what belongs to him.

Ok, we see that justice is that ”moral quality or habit which perfects the will.’ We alcoholics and addicts hardly had a ‘perfected will,’ we were driven at great lenghts to support our habits and our wills were aligned to that, which often involved behaviour what was immoral, disorded and often criminal. We lacked the sense of justice in our lives. Our definition of what is ‘just’ was whatever was orderd to satisfy our needs and desires and we lacked consideration or compassion for anyone else.

From this arose the behaviour for which we had to make amends upon recovery.

Have we cultivated a sense of justice? Do we place God first, others second and ourselves third? Do we grant others that which is their due (“render to each and to all what belongs to them.”)? Once we have cultivated this sense of justice, when we seek only which is rightfully ours (and not so based on pride, vanity, ego, and selfishness) and we grant others the same right, could we reasonably claim to be “recovered” (or steadfastly “recovering”) from our addictions. 

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!!)

Fear of God

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The seventh of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit is “Fear of God,” or “Holy Fear,” as I’ve termed it.

According to Catholic Answers::

Fear of God is, in this context, “filial” or chaste fear whereby we revere God and avoid separating ourselves from him—as opposed to “servile” fear, whereby we fear punishment.

Fear of God/Holy Fear is closely related to the sixth gift, Piety. 

We revere God and avoid separating ourselves from Him because we love Him. Our love of God forms a filial relationship wherein we do not sin (at least, nothing serious;ly venial or mortal) because we’d rather not rupture our relationship with Him. It’s like a marital relationship: a husband or wife refuses to become unfaithful not out of fear of what the other spouse would do, but rather they value the relationship and want to nurture and maintain it. 

When we nurture this “Holy Fear,” we grow in love and humility and remain steadfast in our sobriety. It is only reasonable: in sobriety we find the clear path to God, with all the cruft and glop of sin and addiction swept away.

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!!)