Category Archives: Meditations

Lighting the darkness

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The recent posts of mine in the “Daily Wisdom Dose” project reminded me of a couple of verses from Psalms that have helped me innumerable times:

Psalm 18:29-30;

You, LORD, give light to my lamp; my God brightens the darkness about me.
With you I can rush an armed band, with my God to help I can leap a wall.

The progression of the psalmist’s prayer is gradual and beautiful, making it relatively easy to memorize.

The lighting of my lamp, coming from God, brightens the darkness about me. Perhaps growing in wisdom and understanding is making you see things more clearly, either Divine Truths or just the world as it is?

With the resulting awareness, backed by God, you can now have the strength to undertake any venture. Fear is overcome, it is scattered by illumination. “Leap a wall”: any obstacle, whether it’s a serious difficulty or just interior demons haunting you, telling you that you will fail, can be surmounted.

Take the time to memorize this verse, ponder its meaning and say it to yourself the next time you are pining away for a drink, or facing something that caused you to drink in the past.

The obstacle is diminished.

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 the Lord

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Today’s Daily Wisdom Dose:

This is the introduction to the Book of Proverbs (Chapter 1:1-6):

The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:

That men may appreciate wisdom and discipline, may understand words of intelligence;
May receive training in wise conduct, in what is right, just and honest;
That resourcefulness may be imparted to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
A wise man by hearing them will advance in learning, an intelligent man will gain sound guidance,
That he may comprehend proverb and parable, the words of the wise and their riddles.

Now, for the actual dose (Proverbs 1:7):

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; wisdom and instruction fools despise.

“Fear” doesn’t mean cowering in terror, it means the proper reverential respect due to God, recognizing His supreme sovereignty over the Universe and your life. Starting out from this necessary act of humility, you are now open to receiving God’s wisdom and inspirations. Your human self and its attachment to things of the world, no longer get in the way. Excess attachment to the self and satisfying its worldly desires blocks off the streams of God’s grace. It is through His grace that we grow spiritually and are better able to accept the commitments and obligations of Christianity. And subsequently, we are able to grow stronger in our sobriety as we cast off (or better cope with) our human weaknesses. We see them in light of God’s plan for us, and we adjust and adapt to our circumstances. We are stronger, and fear less as we know we are continuing to walk with God.

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!!)

Be sober and vigilant

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There was a recent reading in the Liturgy of the Hours (a daily prayerbook used along with the liturgical season, there’s a big link above the posting area that takes you to Universalis, where they explain the LOTH) that I like.

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.

The “sober” doesn’t refer to “not drinking” or a “state of sobriety”, it means to be clear and emotionally level-headed, the better to be vigilant about what is going on about you. But nevertheless, I cannot read the word “sober” without thinking of “not drinking” and how to keep to it. “Avocational hazard”, I suppose.

Anyway, there follows a warning that the devil is also vigilant, constantly on the prowl looking for victims to devour. All Satan needs is a weakness, a lack-of-resolve in your Faith that he can use to exploit.

I’ve written before about how easy that can happen. One needn’t relapse when the alcohol goes down your throat. The relapse happens before the actual event. Once the thought process starts that accepts the safety of drinking, that thought needs to be rooted out and tossed on the spiritual compost heap to wither and decay. Otherwise a type of parallel thinking occurs in which the thought of a drink lurks and waits until a vulnerability opens up. This may be the “cunning, baffling and powerful” refrain heard so often in AA meetings about drinking again sneaks up on people. This is mentioned in AA’s basic text: Alcoholics Anonymous in the chapter entitled “More About Alcoholism” (page 37) “But there is always the curious mental phenomenon that parallel with our sound reasoning there inevitably ran some insanely trivial excuse for taking the first drink. Our sound reasoning failed to hold us in check. The insane idea won out.” In the last paragraph in that same chapter: (page 43)“The alcoholic at certain times has no effective mental defense against the first drink. Except in a few rare cases, neither he nor any other human being can provide such a defense.” It concludes with the declaration that such defense must come from a “Higher Power”, and from the perspective of this blog, that HP is God.

God can provide the effective mental defense against drinking, if you turn your reliance on alcohol to solve things over to Him. Make your Faith your automatic reaction for when things go bad. Jesus is there for you, if you’re Catholic He’s accessible directly through the Eucharist, either in receiving Holy Communion or in Adoration. You can also go to confession and receive powerful graces from that sacrament. Being steadfast in your faith offers a strong resistance to the temptations of the Devil.

And Satan exists. It is said that Satan’s greatest victory these past few centuries is the growing conviction that he’s a medieval Catholic fairy tale, and therefore doesn’t exist. For if he doesn’t exist, why do you need any defense against him? He exists, and the Faith is your only weapon.

Be steadfast.

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!!)

Solemnity of the Annunciation, Part 2 (On Humility)

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In the previous post I started out by discussing the Annunciation, and the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary that relates to it. Now, I’ll conclude with a bit on what actually was announced.

An angel appeared to Mary and told her that she was to bear a child and that He will be the Messiah, the Son of God. OK, now here we get into the whole thing about humility.

We are basically saying that God, the creator of the Universe, from the largest galactic super cluster and all the trillions of stars, down to the smallest subatomic particle, and everything in between, was going to be born into humanity. As a baby.

Think about that.

Why? Not about the thinking part, but why as a baby?

Because God wanted to teach us about humility. He became born into humanity so that He can eventually die for us, thus paying the price for our Original Sin. The only other way for its price to be paid would be our extinction as a species. The Original Sin was the Fall of Adam and Eve as told in Genesis, Chapter 3. What exactly happened is unknown, it probably wasn’t literally Satan posing as a talking snake conning some naked lady into the idea that if she and her husband ate an apple then they would be like God and possess His wisdom. But something occurred that convinced our Original Parents that they could find fulfillment outside of God’s will. That they could be like God and determine for themselves what is right and what is wrong. That is Pride, the opposite of humility. And such an evil thing was this expession of pride that we almost died as a species.

For God to teach us this lesson on humility, along with redeeming us for our sin of pride, He bacame a little baby.

He could have come down from Heaven as a mighty force laying waste to enemies of His will, but that would serve no teaching purpose. Humility is learned.

You learn humility by being humbled. By accepting little humiliations and getting stronger as a result.

By these ways we learn that humility is accepting reality for what it is, adjusting your life to that reality, and being content with the result.

We can accept all that more easily by thinking about the result of the Annunciation (the birth of Jesus nine months later). If the God of the Universe can incarnate (become flesh, as opposed to remaining a Spirit) Himself as a baby, and suffer all sorts of indignities as a part of His human-ness, then who are we to complain about the ordinaries of daily living? Of course, He was God, and knew it, and therefore probably had superior coping mechanisms, but He was fully human, and still suffered the ordinaries of being human. Exactly how this is so is a puzzle not comprehended by 20 centuries of Christians, but it was so.

Meditate on this next time you have a lousy day. Like I said at the end of Part 1, stuff like this keeps you sober. It also brings you closer to God.

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!!)

Symbolism and Spirituality of Cleaning

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There is an inherent symbolic and spiritual aspect of cleaning.

Think about it.

Whether it’s dishes or laundry, you have a stack or pile of stuff that’s dirty. You submit them to a cleansing process and afterwards they are clean, free of anything and everything that soiled or dirtied them before.

Sort of like our souls before and after sacramental Confession. The graces of God that flow to us through the priest cleanse our souls, and make us as new as the day of our baptism.

There is also a therapeutic side to cleaning. You can mentally force a symbolism onto things laying about in a messy residence, weeds in a garden, or the pile of dirty clothes and stack of dishes. Each item that needs to be removed or cleaned off can represent a resentment, an envy or anger, or something bad that disconnects us from God and others. Imagine the resentment going away as things get more organized. As you forgive.

Thinking of cleaning in this manner is somewhat better than regarding it as a chore or drudgery.

Anyone that knows me is aware of a connection between my state of life and how well the apartment looks.

I’ve been doing a lot of cleaning and organizing lately.

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 whole lot of forgiving going on

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In the Gospel from today’s Mass, Peter poses a question:

Matthew 18:21-22

Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.”

Jesus then goes on with the parable of the servant who was to be sold along with wife and family and possessions to pay off a debt, then begged and received forgiveness. In turn, this same servant failed to show the same leniency in forgiving a debt that he was owed. He paid for his lack of forgiveness. (Read the full Gospel reading at Matthew 18:21-35.)

What does this mean for us sober alcoholics? Quite simple, as we have made amendments to God and to others for our past wrongdoings and have sought and perhaps received forgiveness, so must we show forgiveness to others for their transgressions against us.

In cruder terms, we screw-ups generally recognize such behavior in others and should be more forgiving of it. We’ve been there, we’ve done that. How can we, of all people, sit in judgment of others?

As Christians, we can judge another’s behavior to a degree, but we cannot judge the person. In judging another’s actions, we must be charitable and understanding of that person’s dignity as a child of God. We do not tolerate and condone sinful behavior, we just retain awareness that we also were gravely sinful, and caution others in a loving manner of what we see as a wrong.

We sinned. We’ve asked forgiveness. We’ve received it. Others sin against us, and whether they ask for it or not, we forgive them. This cuts the bond that the trangression holds over us. As the servant in the parable failed to forgive the debt owed to him, and as a result was sent to prison to be tortured for his treatment of the other servant, so too, will our lack of forgiveness be like a prison of torture for us, as long as we hold onto the resentment over the action.

It goes deeper. In the Lord’s Prayer, also known as the “Our Father”, which is said at the end of many AA meetings in North America, there are the words: “…forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

In other words, there is more to forgiveness than merely releasing resentment against another. The degree to which we forgive other people is the degree to which we will be forgiven by God. No matter how much we beg forgiveness for ourselves, if we lack forgiveness for others, it will be lacking towards us from God.

It is only fair. We want something for ourselves, we should aid others in receiving 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!!)

My Daily Bread

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Time for another VERT prompt. Owen this time asks his bloggers to write about a book we are reading now, or, a book that helped us come home. For me, that would be My Daily Bread by Anthony J. Paone, SJ; Confraternity of the Precious Blood; Brooklyn, NY; 1954. Still in print, and I’ve seen it in the devotional racks of Catholic bookshops, where prayer books and missals are kept. Major Catholic mail-order catalogs offer it.

It’s a small book, it can be read in one sitting, but I think that it is best if you use it as a daily meditation and read one chapter a day. This would give you time to savor, meditate on, and incorporate each chapter into your spiritual development.

It is divided into 3 parts. “Book One” is “The Way of Purification”, and is subdivided into “Conversion”, “After Conversion” and “Temptation”.

Book Two is “The Way of Imitation”, and is subdivided into “Following Jesus in Daily Life”, “Virtues Leading Directly to God”, “Man’s Relationship with Neighbor and Himself”, and “The Spiritual Combat”

Book Three is “The Way of Union”, and is subdivided into “Union Through the Holy Eucharist” and “Union Throughout the Day.”

The above gives you a very good idea as to the intensity, the scope and breadth of the book. It is intimate. Not as in small, but it takes you deep inside yourself and assists you in starting or continuing your conversion process. If you’ve been Catholic for a long while, it will help you to develop your Catholicism far more seriously, and far more deeply spiritual than it was before.

You will learn about the importance of the interior spiritual life, the need to become closer to God and to be obedient to the authentic teachings and legitimate authority of the Catholic Church, and how this is liberating, and not confining.

The book is basically a boot camp on getting your soul in order. It explains how adopting the proper perspective towards God, the Bible and His Church frees you from the narrow, limiting human way of thinking, which follows the passing fancies of the World. This helps you to understand God, the Bible and the Church better. Too many people approach them from a human point of view, this book helps you to adopt a God-centric perspective (as best as any human can do that).

My Daily Bread was key in my thinking that the Catholic Faith can and should take primacy in maintaining ones’ sobriety. The universality of the Church and Her teachings, along with her primary task of safeguarding the Gospel and Apostolic Truths, are driven home. Much of the Gospel is about healing, and peaceful, proper, holy living. No better textbook.

It was the first step that led me years later to start Sober Catholic.

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!!)

"Does this Shock You?"

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Take into consideration the following passages from the Gospel according to John:

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 6: 35, 48-58, 60-66 (see John 6: 22-71 for the entire passage)

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
I am the bread of life.

Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;
this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”

Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him.
And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”

As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

This first passage is from the start of John’s Gospel of Jesus. It defines just who Jesus is.

Jesus is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity (I’ll explain the Trinity in a later post, hmm-mmm!). John refers to Jesus as “The Word.” Jesus is the Word of God. The Bible is also the Word of God. Jesus is the Bible. The Bible is Jesus.

In the beginning was Jesus, and he was with God, and was God (a glimmering of the Dogma of the Trinity) and was in the beginning with God.

All things (everything) came to be (were created) through Him, and nothing that was ever created, was created without Him. All of creation came to be through Him, including life. Especially human life.

He was the beginning, and was in the beginning, and was God, and was with God, and everything came into existence through Him.

Sounds rather confusing from a human perspective, almost as if it were a riddle, which in a way it could be. But not so much if you relax and ponder it prayerfully.

If you read this carefully, the implication is staggering. Jesus wasn’t just some itinerant First Century Palestinian Jewish preacher who claimed to be God and backed it up by performing miracles. Nor was He a just a wise man who had a lot of nice things to teach us about how to live and get along.

He was (for lack of a better word) the instrument through which the Creator – God the Father – the First Person of the Trinity- created the Universe. The single point through which all of Creation came into existence.

And then He, Himself, became a man and lived among us. Billions and billions of years after the Universe was created through Him, He did not come down to us in some majestic, overpowering Olympian way to do His teaching among us. He was born a vulnerable and innocent baby in difficult circumstances, as if He was using His own beginning as a human as a teaching lesson.

Now, the second group of passages are from John’s 6th Chapter. This is the “Bread of Life Discourse”. In it Jesus is telling His listeners that He is the “Bread of Life”, the truest path to salvation (eternal life with God the Father). Only through Him is the way to the Father fully revealed. And He just happens to mention that it is His own flesh that is this “Bread of Life”, and by eating His flesh one can attain eternal life. Naturally this disgusts some of His listeners and they cannot accept this difficult teaching of His, and they leave.

They are disgusted because He was speaking literally, and not symbolically, and they knew this. If He was speaking symbolically, they wouldn’t have left, or if so because of a misunderstanding, He would have corrected them. He would be a shepherd, going after lost sheep. But instead, He was literally referring to His flesh as bread, that when eaten will grant eternal life. This was too difficult to accept, his listeners left, and He didn’t change His story to accommodate them.

The entire passage (John Chapter 6, verses 22-71), forms the basis for the Catholic Church’s Doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The wafer that Catholics receive during Communion is literally, and not symbolically, Jesus. Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, He’s all there, in the form of a little piece of bread. The priest utters the words at Mass which in some mysterious way humans can never completely fathom, transubstantiate (change the substance) of the bread into His Body. And yet it remains looking like bread. We cannot ever comprehend how this can be, it is a Divine mystery. But we have Jesus’ testimony in John’s Gospel that this is so.

Just as astonishing as God becoming human as a little baby, Jesus today is physically present among us as the Communion bread (the Eucharist). Humans just can’t make this stuff up. It would have been laughed at into oblivion 2,000 years ago. But they believed because they understood the symbolism of the bread, and accepted Jesus’ connecting it to His Body in a literal manner, and something about Him helped convey its truthfulness into their receptive hearts and minds. They didn’t understand it, but His followers accepted it. They knew it to be a Divine mystery and thus not to be understood completely. They trusted Jesus.

The Jesus in John 1:1-5 is the same Jesus in John 6:22-71. The instrument or point through which all of Creation was made is fully there in the form of bread.

Catholics have a devotional practice called “Eucharistic Adoration”. In thousands of Churches and Parish Halls and whatnot around the world, there are rooms or chapels in which the consecrated (transubstantiated) Eucharist is kept exposed in a receptacle known as a monstrance. It is common to spend 15-60 minutes every so often in prayer before the Eucharist. In some churches it’s done on a regular schedule.

To spend time in prayer with the Eucharistic Jesus. With Him, through Whom all things were made and through Whom all pass through to the Father, (and, as stated in the Book of Revelation, through Whom all things are made new again after the End).

OK, now
. If that idea doesn’t shake you a bit to the marrow of your bones…

NOTE: This post was edited on April 28, 2009 to reflect changes in links referenced in the original version. The URL cited previously is no longer valid and so was deleted. Since I often refer to this post, I figured an edit was needed.

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!!)

Ash Wednesday-Lent begins

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Today marks the beginning of Lent. For the next 40 days (Sundays excluded) we prepare for the Passion of Christ (the trial, sentencing, Crucifixion and Death of Jesus , the Son of God).

Forty is a significant number in the Bible. It usually marks a time or period of trial or a passage through some thing to somewhere (symbolizing conversion). It rained on Noah and company for 40 days and nights. The Israelites wandered about the Sinai desert for 40 years. Elijah spent 40 days traveling to Mount Horeb from a spot in the desert outside Beersheba. Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and was tempted by Satan.

Fasting and abstinence marks the period of Lent. Catholics are bound by certain obligations regarding such. You can check with a priest to learn what they are (usually listed in the parish bulletin) or you can go to the EWTN website in the sidebar, click on “Lenten Reflections” and then click on “Fast and Abstinence”. Trying to link to it in yesterday’s post caused me much trouble and made me lose the post.

Anyway, fasting involves not eating. There’s more to it that just that. When a Christian fasts, they are linking the act to prayer. Their sufferings of the fast are being offered up to God as a sacrifice. This transcends ordinary prayer, which is powerful, but as you are linking a physical act to the prayer, it is more poignant. God hears all prayers, but the prayer of fasting rings through more clearly and is an acceptable offering pleasing to Him.

Abstinence involves not eating meat. Again, like fasting, abstinence involves much more than the Lenten regulations. The forsaking of something and offering it up as a prayer assists you in detaching yourself from worldly concerns and desires. It liberates your mind to dwell more deeply in God’s Truths, eschewing merely human concerns. Abstinence is the “What are you giving up for Lent?” question. But you do not have to just “give up” something. You can take on additional tasks. Increased prayer and meditation, especially on the Lord’s Passion are fruitful, as well as doing things for others. By doing things for others, it can be said that you are abstaining from the self.

Lent is also and excellent time to start work (or continue) on ridding yourself of character defects and personality problems. What better time to focus on and accelerate your conversion than the season of Lent? It’s perfect, because you are not alone on the journey. Other Catholics are along as well.

Have a productive Lent.

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!!)

Patience and Endurance

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The First Reading from today’s Mass

Sirach 2:1-11


My son, when you come to serve the LORD,
stand in justice and fear,
prepare yourself for trials.
Be sincere of heart and steadfast,
incline your ear and receive the word of understanding,
undisturbed in time of adversity.
Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not;
thus will you be wise in all your ways.
Accept whatever befalls you,
when sorrowful, be steadfast,
and in crushing misfortune be patient;
and worthy people in the crucible of humiliation.
Trust God and God will help you; trust in him, and he will direct your way;
keep his fear and grow old therein.

You who fear the LORD, wait for his mercy,
turn not away lest you fall.
You who fear the LORD, trust him,
and your reward will not be lost.
You who fear the LORD, hope for good things,
for lasting joy and mercy.
You who fear the LORD, love him,
and your hearts will be enlightened.
Study the generations long past and understand;
has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed?
Has anyone persevered in his commandments and been forsaken?
has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?
Compassionate and merciful is the LORD;
he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble
and he is a protector to all who seek him in truth.

There are many actions and promises listed in the passage from Sirach. It is important to read and re-read the above quotation, for it addresses numerous issues familiar to people in recovery.

“Prepare yourself for trials.” We are acquainted with this. In our ill-preparation for trials, we were unable to meet them. Defeated by them, we drank for solace.

“…receive the word of understanding,
undisturbed in time of adversity.”

Listen with a receptive spirit and you will receive God’s word, you will receive comfort, and be undisturbed in time of adversity. People of deep faith are routinely shown to have fewer problems with anxiety and fear. The experience those things, but they are not controlled by them. They handle adversity with apparent calmness.

The next two sentences, from “Wait on God… through …grow old therein.“ show how important this steadfast faith is, and how we need to be patient with God’s benevolence and guidance. Things happen in God’s time, not ours. Adversity is to be accepted as part of the deal, but God is supporting you throughout. (We accept His Cross, and He will help us carry it. Read this.) In time we will be shown through our troubles, and be marked as people worthy of His love. Bemoaning adversity solves nothing.

In the next paragraph, “Fear the Lord…” means respect. It doesn’t mean cringe in terror. Study the promises of what happens when you respect God, and “wait”, “hope” “trust” and “love” Him.

You will be saved and protected. And reap much enlightenment along the way. Faith and perseverance on the long road to Heaven brings that reward.

In our drinking days and also in the early times of our recovery, we were impatient. We wanted what we wanted, and we wanted it NOW. This is not the way. We learn nothing from immediate gratification. In our recovery, we do learn that the journey itself is part of the destination. Take that to heart.

Now go read Sirach.

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!!)