Category Archives: Meditations

Day 6 of the Novena to the Holy Spirit for Alcoholism and Recovery

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On this day of the novena to the Holy Spirit, we petition for the gift of fortitude.

As before, we start with the prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Fortitude is inner strength, a courage to face adversity. We also know this as the ability to endure and suffer through trials, troubles and tribulations.

We alcoholics know all these way too well.

Lack of true fortitude drove us to drink. Alcohol afforded us a false sense of fortitude. We needed to “fortify” ourselves before any stressful endeavor. Anything that we knew would be a source of anxiety was an excuse for a drink.

Alcoholics and addicts sometimes talk of a “hole in the soul” that their addiction filled. Upon recovery that hole is filled by the grace of God and His increased presence in it. Fortitude may be one of the most direct gifts of this “hole filling” presence of God. With an increased devotion to the Lord, and a transfer from alcohol and drugs to God for our spiritual fulfillment, we may find the inner strength needed to take on and handle our daily troubles.

Oh, Holy Spirit, bestow upon me the gift of fortitude so that I may see through my sufferings today and bear witness to the strength that faith and hope in You brings. I ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

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!!)

Day 5 of the Novena to the Holy Spirit for Alcoholism and Recovry

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On this day of the novena, we petition for the gift of counsel.

Like before, we start with the prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Counsel is the enlightening of the mind by the Holy Spirit so as to better discern God‘s will in choosing between right and wrong. (I usually get counsel confused with knowledge.)

We alcoholics are experts at choosing between right and wrong. Unfortunately we almost always picked the wrong choice while drinking. The first major right choice we made was when we arrived at the “jumping off” point, that moment when we hit bottom and decided between life and death. Life, meaning not drinking may be actually better than drinking. “If I continue to drink, I will die. If I stop drinking, I may only want to die.”

After sobriety sets in, we face countless right-or-wrong choices. As alcoholics, these decisions go deeper than “normal” people (those who can drink safely). As alcoholics, we need to learn how ourselves to handle sobriety. We need to retrain ourselves in how we react to situations and events that “normal” people take in stride without a thought. My favorite personal example are intersections and grocery stores. I need to think in advance while stopped at a red light that sometimes people may actually take 5 or more seconds to hit the accelerator after the light turns green. By think I mean ponder and remind myself. Most people are probably just on automatic and go on green after a habit-formed period of time passes, allowing for traffic conditions. No, not me. I have to meditate because I am convinced that after waiting at the red light for however long it’s on, people forget that green means “go”. For grocery stores is similar. I have to remind myself that people are not intentionally moving their shopping carts slowly down the middle of the aisle just to inconvenience me, or that the checker is intentionally driving me insane by slowly running the items over the scanner and bagging them.

Those two personal examples are moments when I need the gift of counsel, this inner light of reason as to which path to take (in my examples the path of patient waiting or impatient burning).

Counsel is like the Holy Spirit is your personal Twelve Step sponsor.

Oh, Holy Spirit, give me the gift of counsel so that I may always choose right over wrong. I ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

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!!)

Day 4 of Novena to the Holy Spirit for Alcoholism and Recovery

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Today we pray for knowledge.

As before, we start with the prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Knowledge of what? Knowledge of God’s will and knowledge of ourselves. The better we know ourselves the better we can discern God’s will for us.

One way to know ourselves is to sit still and listen. We listen to what’s going on inside of us. We pray and meditate and listen while we do that. Most of the time we can hardly hear ourselves above the cacophony of the world about us, and the world prefers it that way. Many people are uncomfortable with being alone, as if being alone is bad or scary and being contemplative and introspective is difficult and frightening. Most may not come out and admit it, but how many people are comfortable with being alone by themselves?

The world prefers our attention to its noise than to our inner life because it serves to distract us from knowledge. We do not know ourselves and therefore never get the connection between our life and the supernatural. We fail to think of God much, if at all.

When we focus on getting to know ourselves in this perspective, we see our shortcomings and work to remove them. We develop our spiritual lives and seek to grow closer to the only real Higher Power, God. We pray and meditate and seek His will above all things.

Oh, Holy Spirit, I long to do God’s will. Give me knowledge of that will and guide me along its path so that I may please Him and help build up His Kingdom on Earth. I ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord.

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!!)

Day 3 of Novena to the Holy Spirit for Alcoholism and Recovery

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On this third day of the novena, we pray for the gift of understanding.

As usual we say the beginning prayer (actually an old, common prayer for the Holy Spirit):

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

As alcoholics we were seriously misunderstood. That’s one reason why we drank, to escape from those around us who didn’t understand us and to escape into a fantasy world where everything made sense. And we mattered.

Let us not in our sobriety do unto others what had been done unto us. We perhaps deserved being misunderstood. Perhaps we expected others to just get us and just allow us into their lives. We wanted to be accepted for ourselves on our own terms and that was that. When we didn’t fit in to other people’s expectations (or we refused to) we ran off and drank.

We pray today for the gift of understanding. We do not know what is going on in someone else’s head or heart. We do not know what is going on in their life. We shall not judge from outward appearances what could just be a snapshot of a momentary period in their life.

We let it go, or perhaps don’t pick it up.

Oh, Holy Spirit, enable us to see others as the Father sees them. That all whom we meet are children of the Father like us, and just like us are broken and wounded though perhaps in ways we may not understand. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord.

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!!)

Day 2 of Novena to the Holy Spirit for Addictions and Recovery

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On this second day of this novena, we pray for the gift of wisdom.

Beginning Prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

The last petition of the Serenity Prayer is for wisdom to know the difference between the things we can change and those we cannot. Sometimes we alcoholics have a muddled way of looking at things; are too influenced by internal conflicts and interior change, and as a result have a warped perspective on what we can and cannot do. We need external guidance and help.

Beg of the Holy Spirit today for the gift of wisdom. The gift to discern between right and wrong action, and to always seek God’s will above all. True peace and security always lies in doing this, despite it not always being apparent at first. This is what most discover, and this is what separates those who sincerely are seeking genuine spiritual growth from those seeking the easier, “safer” path. The lowest common denominator is always the easier way and less demanding.

Wisdom helps you detach from the false attractions of the world and enables you to see its empty promises for what they are. Wisdom is a sustenance unlike anything that the world can give.

Oh, Holy Spirit, give me the gift of Wisdom so that I can truly follow the path that God has set out for me. We ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord.

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!!)

Day 1 of Novena to the Holy Spirit for Addictions and Recovery

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Beginning Prayer:

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and rekindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the Earth.

Ask the Holy Spirit for healing during this Novena. Regardless of how long you have been sober, most of us are all still one or more drinks away from returning to our previous status as practicing alcoholics. Even if you are still in the death grip of alcohol, there is still time. When there is still life, there is still hope. God allows u-turns!

Why might there still be the threat of drinking? Perhaps we still are at odds with how to handle sobriety. Reality is still difficult to cope with on its terms. All of us, sober or not, need the Advocate, the Holy Spirit to guide us on our way. He is the real “Higher Power,” the only One through whom God the Father guides and protects His own.

We have nine days of prayer and meditation before Pentecost Sunday. Spend the time wisely. Daily petition the Holy Spirit to help you. Reciting the prayer beginning each day’s novena is good, as well as adding your own humble requests.

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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!!)

A different kind of peace

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An excerpt from the Gospel according to John, from today’s daily Mass:

John 14:27;

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

The only true peace is found in Jesus. The world abuses the notion of peace, calling it the absence of war or fulfillment of personal needs and wants or some other such falseness. But whatever the world’s definition of peace is, there is still a certain lack of it. There is never enough to satisfy if your definition of peace is centered upon the world and its values.

In our alcoholism, we found a type of peace after drinking sufficiently. We all know that feeling of seeming oneness with all creation or of a special insight into truth or the divine. We have all had that wispy certitude that we know what’s up. But after a fashion, that was never enough. The more we drank, the more we needed to drink as our search for peace was never satisfied. Just as in the world there is never enough satisfaction with what one has, therefore we seek to get more.

In Christ is the only true peace. His incarnation means He loves us enough to become like us, His dying for us on the cross meant He loves us to the point of ultimate sacrifice. This is a full, consummate love. And in Him is the summation of all our Hope. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and only in Him can we find our true selves because in Him we can detach from the world and its shallow meaningless values. The world serves only to distract. Jesus serves to bring us to the Father, in Heaven.

Know Jesus, know peace. No Jesus, no peace.

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!!)

Help for those who are tested

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From the Second Reading from today’s morning Mass, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord:

Hebrews 2:14-18;

Since the children share in blood and flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the Devil, and free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life. Surely he did not help angels but rather the descendants of Abraham; therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

I’ll repeat the last line: Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Every one of us faces tests on a daily basis. Some of us more than others. For anyone suffering from an addiction, either still enslaved by it or recovering from it, the tests can be brutal. All sorts of things attack us daily and the answer is sometimes presented as: “Just one wouldn’t hurt. What harm can just one do?”

Plenty, as we all know.

Because Jesus Himself was tested, He can assist us, we can call upon Him to increase our strength, (or increase His strength within us). He was tested for 40 days in the desert by Satan, He was tested for 3 excruciating, agonizing hours on the Cross, we can place our sufferings and temptations in light of His. We can get strength from Him.

It’s an emotional exercise, more than anything else, but then again when we are suffering through trials and temptations, our emotions are engaged and our higher rational thinking is absent.

Look upon the Cross.

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!!)

Gratitude

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Gratitude is wanting what you already have, and being thankful to God for it.

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!!)

Withdraw to deserted places

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There is a line in the Gospel from today’s Mass (Friday after Epiphany) that I found interesting. Please pay particular attention to the part I italicized:
  

Luke 5:16-17;

The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.

Jesus had just healed a man of his leprosy, and news of this spread all about. “Great crowds assembled”, and this probably pressed Him in His daily life. Not that He minded much, and He was doing His Father’s  will, but nevertheless He was seriously occupied. 
“He would withdraw to deserted places to pray.” Why deserted places is obvious, He needed to be alone, or with His disciples. But He still occupied His time, He didn’t get away from the crowds to just do nothing. He prayed.

Perhaps prayer gave Him the strength or focus needed to cope with the multitudes that came to Him to learn and be healed.  Or maybe He was just creating an example for us. Just as He needn’t have been born a baby of a woman, but chose to do so anyway to teach us the value of humility, He chose to pray when it doesn’t seem that He would need to do that. Why would God be praying? 
Praying in deserted places frees you from distractions and assists in your growing closer to God. Now it doesn’t mean that you literally escape to a desert and engage in prayer, it could mean that you just make time for prayer. Create a “desert” in your day, when nothing from the outside world can enter and thrive. The outside world hates prayer. It thinks it a strange waste of time. It knows that when a person is in solitude, he or  she may get reflective and ponder too much upon the follies and fallacies of the world. People who pay too much attention to God have little regard for the world’s silliness.
Go to a deserted place. Perhaps it is outside. A forest or a beach. Or just an interior place created within yourself that is shielded from the world. The place where you exist.
Go to your deserted place and pray. You may find that you can face the multitudes more easily.
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!!)