Category Archives: Musings

Mountain Climbing

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Psalm 24 recurs frequently in the daily prayer of the Church known as the “Liturgy of the Hours”. The following excerpt appeals to me:

Psalm 24:3-6;

Who may go up the mountain of the LORD? Who can stand in his holy place?
“The clean of hand and pure of heart, who are not devoted to idols, who have not sworn falsely.
They will receive blessings from the LORD, and justice from their saving God.
Such are the people that love the LORD, that seek the face of the God of Jacob.

That passage resonates with me as I regard the “mountain of the Lord” to be the goal of our life and sober existence. To me the “mountain” symbolizes the summit of our lives, that is to become closer to God by shedding our character defects and weaknesses and striving to progress spiritually by seeking to better understand the teachings of the Catholic Church and the Bible. Neither are easy to comprehend, constrained as we are by our human limitations.

Nevertheless, as we struggle to come into full communion with Church teachings and struggle to live by the Bible’s ways, we come closer to ascending the mountain of God. We shun idols (anything that distracts us from God or takes us away from Him) and we live honest, truthful lives (as best we can.)

Every moment or opportunity to better ourselves in accord with the Church and the Bible gets us closer to the summit of the mountain. We may never reach its zenith, but the point is that we are trying.

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!!)

Trials Permitted to Happen for a Reason

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While randomly flipping through the Douay-Rheims translation of the Bible last night while in Eucharistic Adoration, I chanced upon this passage from Tobias (Tobit in the NAB. Please note that the translation in the NAB is very different from the D-R. If you don’t have a copy of the D-R, there’s a link to it in the blog’s sidebar in the “For all things Catholic” section).

Tobias 2:12-14

Now this trial the Lord therefore permitted to happen to him, that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, as also of holy Job. For whereas he had always feared God from his infancy, and kept his commandments, he repined not against God because the evil of blindness had befallen him, but continued immoveable in the fear of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life.

Tobias had become blind, despite having led a virtuous and faithful life in very trying circumstances. (Why do bad things happen to good people?)

Note that the passage says that the Lord permitted this trial to happen to him, meaning perhaps that God could have prevented it.

But the passage also states that there was a reason for the trial’s happening, “so that an example might be given to posterity for his patience.”

OK, so a bad thing happened to a good person. And perhaps such things fit in with God’s overall plan for your life, that a bad thing occurs so that something good is drawn out of it. In Tobias’ case, it was so that others would benefit from his patient endurance.

How do you react to your alcoholism or addiction? Are you angry and resentful that you cannot drink like normal people? (You might know the joke told in AA meetings: “If I could drink like a normal person, I’d drink all day.”) Or do you accept your addiction, deal with it, incorporate the principles of your recovery program into your life and seek to determine how you can learn from your experience and apply it to other people and situations?

In my cessation from drinking, I learned I needed more that what AA’s spirituality offered. I returned to the Catholic Faith, feeling that only a 2,000 year-old religion with its breadth and depth can truly keep me sober and alive. AND I eventually started this blog, with the idea that there are other Catholics and spiritual seekers who need to dive into deep waters to sustain them, because other spiritual solutions are unsatisfying.

So, what are YOU doing with your sobriety? If your sobriety is a private affair, that is wonderful, you are still an example to others in a little way. But if you feel called to do something more than just not drink, that is wonderful also, as you are seeking to reach out to others and bring the Gospel message to those who need it.

Do whatever is within your abilities and don’t apologize for not doing more, if more is beyond your reach. As long as you end up viewing your sobriety as a gift, and your recovery as something that brought you closer to God. We are not all called to start Catholic sobriety blogs, or whatever else. We are meant to stay sober and draw closer to God. Whether in small ways or big ways, you’re doing God’s work. This is more than most.

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!!)

Awaking from sleep

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This was a reading in the Liturgy of the Hours from a few days ago:

Romans 13:11-14;

…it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
Let us then throw off the works of darkness (and) put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

People in recovery can see in this Scripture passage their own awakening in sobriety. When we stop drinking and enter the sober life, we “awaken from sleep”, inasmuch as while we were drinking we were asleep to real living, caught in the nightmare of our own making. Having made the first forays into sobriety, we realized that life is worth living and starting to work out our salvation. Much time was lost, but regardless of how much time is left, our new day is dawning.

We cast aside our old, alcoholic and addictive ways, and don a new set of clothing, our new selves wrought by our program of recovery and also our Catholic Faith. We learn a new way of living, a new way of reacting to things, and proper conduct amongst other people. We now know (or are learning to) how to relate to others.

“…Not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness…”. I am using words from the passage directly now instead of in a rough paraphrase. One thing I’ve noticed amongst some (not a lot) in early recovery is a fast and loose regard for morals and the dignity of others. Halfway houses where people in early recovery live with other genders (a violation of Catholic teaching about living with the opposite sex outside of marriage), and Internet use by said residents visiting public libraries where their online activity is on lewd dating and soft-porn sites. This is why I put the “For those addicted to porn” links in the sidebar. As we begin to value our own new lives, we should also learn to value and appreciate other people as dignified children of God, and not as sexual objects, stripped not just of their clothing, but also of their value as unique human beings, with intellect and immortal souls.

The selfishness (“rivalry and jealousy”) we exhibited in our alcoholic state is past. Entering into our new sober living, we decide to make the best of our past. Instead of moaning about it, we seek to help others and with God’s assistance, establish mutual support. Either formally or informally we seek to help others regardless of who they are. We were wounded. We are still wounded. We heal our wounds in the healing of others.

We are drawn to Jesus Christ, and to His Church. We seek to become like Him, as Christians are obligated to do. We “make no provisions for the desires of the flesh”, meaning that as Christ, the Son of God died in His body, we as Christians, die to our flesh, we follow the spirit of Truth and not the morals and ways of the world. Truth liberates, the world enslaves and denigrates.

How awake are 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!!)

That you may not grow weary and lose heart.

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You’re struggling with your alcoholism or addiction. You think there’s no point in going on, of even trying. Take heart with this:

From the Second Reading of the Mass from the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C):

Hebrews 12:1-4

Brothers and sisters:
Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us
and persevere in running the race that lies before us
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the leader and perfecter of faith.
For the sake of the joy that lay before him
he endured the cross, despising its shame,
and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.
Consider how he endured such opposition from sinners,
in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin
you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

As I’ve written before, you’re not alone in your struggle. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, gain strength and perseverance from the suffering that He endured. Offer your suffering up to God, in imitation of the Son of God’s crucifixion and death for our sake.

People may reject you for your intention to become sober and or clean. They may oppose your efforts to survive. They may despise your struggle to live the Catholic Faith to keep sober and clean.

He suffered on the Cross to the extent that He did so you can draw upon that strength in your own trials.

Do not weary and tire. Do not lose heart. In your struggle to survive in a sober and clean life you are cooperating in building up the kingdom of God, that is working to transform the world from its destructive ways and towards a culture of life.

Choose to live. You are not alone in the struggle.

For an explanation as to why you’re reading this on a post date of “Thursday” instead of the expected “Sunday”, read this post .

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!!)

Novena Through St. Maximilian Kolbe – Day 3

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On this, the third day of our novena to St. Maximilian Kolbe, please again, go here and say the prayer, thinking of someone you love and know who’s is addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. The consider the following:

The person that you are praying for is probably seeking a short term solution to a long term problem. In a way, this can be a form of suicide, which is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Either way, the person is taking a huge gamble with their immortal soul.

The Church regards addiction to be a mitigating factor if the addictive behavior would otherwise normally be a mortal sin. According to the Catechism, paragraph 1857:

For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”

Addiction would eliminate the “deliberate consent” condition, and possibly the full knowledge of its mortal nature.

The gamble I was referring to is the possibility of the fine line being crossed if relapse occurs. While the argument can be made that the addictive personality of the individual may always be in place and therefore would always mitigate the mortal nature of the sin, I dislike the potentially cavalier reliance on “mitigation” as it may be a dangerous assumption. If one has relapsed, the possibility remains that the person may satisfy all three conditions of a mortal sin. And that is the reason for this post, while the mitigating factor may always be in place, the danger to their immortal soul is too great to completely discount the possibility of a mortal sin being committed.

The act of alcohol or drug abuse is always a grave matter. But the other two conditions which may not be met due to the addiction, may be met because of the new knowledge the person has about him/herself and the substance abuse. They may have full knowledge of the act’s mortal nature due to their recovery program and Catholic spirituality, and their consent may be a willing consent. It may be a deliberate act, not linked to the corruption of the will by addiction.

The argument can go back and forth, all hinging around whether the person’s consent was freely given and whether they fully understood the act’s mortal nature. A problem lies with whether or not the individual recognizes the distinction between mortal and venial sins, or even recognizes the existence of the two kinds. Sin is either deadly (mortal) or not deadly (venial).

From the First Letter of St. John,

1 John 5:16-17

If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray.
All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.

One could argue that why bother being Catholic and developing a strong Catholic spirituality? Ignorance will prevent one from committing mortal sins. Well, the answer is easy. With Catholic Christianity you have the only sure road map, drawn by God Himself, to achieve eternal salvation. And with the sacraments, you have the best way to cleanse yourself of all sin, mortal or venial.

Addictive behavior is still sinful, albeit venial. While there is no mathematical formula that states that a certain number of venial sins equates with one mortal sin, the accumulation of venial sins will still distance yourself from God and His graces.

There is an additional component to the gamble one plays. The short term relief and pleasure achieved by the addictive act, if mortal, trades away the possibility of eternal life with God and loved ones in Heaven. A soul with one or more mortal sins condemns itself to Hell. The few seconds, hours or days of pleasure and relief costs the soul an eternity in paradise.

A stupid gamble.

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!!)

Snatched from the grave

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While praying the Liturgy of the Hours recently a line from a Psalm popped out at me and demanded attention:

Psalm 107:17-20

Some fell sick from their wicked ways, afflicted because of their sins
They loathed all manner of food; they were at the gates of death.
In their distress they cried to the LORD, who saved them in their peril,
Sent forth the word to heal them, snatched them from the grave.

I’m not sure as to the authoritative Church interpretation of this passage, but it struck me a pretty apt description of an alcoholic careening towards their bottom, and then asking for God’s help.

Our “wicked ways” are all the harm we have caused to happen to other people that we will clean up in the Steps and in our own conversion process within Catholicism.

“Loathe all manner of food”, well, I lost a ton of weight towards the end. I could barely stomach food. Said stomach couldn’t handle it, and besides, it minimized the effect of alcohol consumption.

We were all at the “gates of death”.

And most assuredly, even if we didn’t know it, in our “distress” we “cried to the Lord”, who indeed saved us from our peril. We wound up in AA or some alternative program of recovery, and I’d like to think you found this blog as a part of His response to you pleading.

His Word healed us, we were snatched from the grave.

Edited 24 July 2007. Left out “their sins” in Scriptural quote in original post. Ooops.

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!!)

Wrestling

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An excerpt from the First Reading from today’s Mass:

Genesis 32: 25, 31:

Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.
Jacob named the place Peniel, “Because I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.”

The “some man” was an angel of the Lord, a representative of God. And perhaps, to Jacob, enough for his comments in verse 31. He wrestled with an emissary of God and did not lose.

We all wrestle with things. If you are a reader of this blog, you probably wrestle quite often with the urge to drink. Like Jacob, you might be wrestling with the urge for a long time, and it might feel as if you are wrestling with God, or a powerful angel.

As a matter of fact, you might be. You may be wrestling with an angel not of God, but one that turned it’s back on God. In other words Satan or one of his demons.

The existence of demons is still taught in the Church and such teaching is shared with the Jews and Muslims. It is not a medieval fairy tale that parents use to frighten their children in order to be good. Satan’s greatest victory after the Fall of Adam is the general conviction that he is a myth. You don’t defend yourself or be vigilant against a myth.

If Satan is aware of your struggles with alcohol, or any other addiction, he may make it more difficult for you. Sometimes interior promptings are not of God, or your Guardian Angel, they may be suggestion planted in you by one who wishes to see you destroyed. He knows that you are struggling to stop drinking (or stay stopped) and embark upon whatever mission God has planned for you. We are all born for a reason. God has a plan for each one of us. Addiction gets in the way and derails that plan.

So wrestle. You needn’t wrestle alone. Call upon the help of Jesus and the saints in Heaven. Despite the number of prayer requests they get, they can handle them all as they have all eternity to answer them (not that our prayers will be answered a thousand years from now). Time is mysterious on the other side. Just pray, hope and don’t worry. You have plenty of help in your wrestling match.

The Destroyer has no chance.

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!!)

Perseverance

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A true, abiding Christian faith should hold up under whatever circumstances that the individual finds his- or herself in.

A faith that gives peace when things are going well is fine, but a truer measure of the depth of the faith is what happens when you find yourself in trouble or in a serious disturbance.

Does the faith flee from you? In other words, when things are tough do you cast it aside? Is it because the faith becomes inconvenient or just that it is not well-developed and cannot handle to stress and pressure?

If it is the former, a matter of inconvenience, then it was a weak or false faith. Anyone can believe and be devoted when times are good.

If it is the latter, unable to handle the trouble, then perhaps the situation was permitted to occur by God as a test of that faith. Meaning, that God permitted the situation to happen so that you can strengthen your faith for later struggles.

Consider trials and tribulations as “training” for battles later on. Each struggle toughens you for the road ahead.

Do not worry if you collapse and sin. Just pick yourself up, pray, go to Confession and resolve to do better next time.

This is how saints are made.

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!!)

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you."

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The Gospel Reading from Today’s “Mass for Civil Needs: For Peace and Justice” (it being Independence Day in the United States):

John 14: 23-29,

Jesus answered and said to him, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name–he will teach you everything and remind you of all that (I) told you.
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.
You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.

Again, as with the other two readings for today, it’s about peace. It’s the peace that Jesus gives to us for following him, not the kind of peace that the world metes out to it’s followers, but a different kind. Christian concepts of a thing are markedly different from the world’s concepts of the same thing.

There is also a confidence bestowed: the confidence that the Holy Spirit will be with us to teach us and to remind us of what Jesus said while on Earth. This is done through the “Teaching Authority” of the Catholic Church. (You can look up the word “Magisterium” in any of the “For All Things Catholic..” reference links.) The Church, in the authority of the Pope, is preserved from teaching moral and doctrinal error by the protection of the Holy Spirit. The proof of this is in that for 2,000 years, the Catholic Church has never taught anything in contradiction to Sacred Scripture, and has never changed Her teachings to be fundamentally different from the Scriptural basis. Doctrines and Dogmas have evolved through a greater understanding of scripture and human behavior (The Holy Spirit’s guidance!) No mere human institution, whether secular or religious, can make this claim. Numerous people have purportedly “disproven” such claims, however such exposes have been from a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the teaching. Or abject misinformation.

Anyway, I digress. Love Jesus. Follow Him. You will be “In Christ” as He will dwell within you. And where He is, so will the Father be (and the Spirit, too!).

A peace that cannot be given by the world.

Human failures and weakness and pressures from the world may make that peace elusive at times, but it is always there for the asking.

Pray for 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!!)

Peace to the People

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From the Responsorial Psalm from Today’s Mass for Independence Day (United States). It was taken from The Mass for Civil Needs: For Peace and Justice:

Psalm 85: 9-14;

I will listen for the word of God; surely the LORD will proclaim peace

To his people, to the faithful, to those who trust in him.

Near indeed is salvation for the loyal; prosperity will fill our land.

Love and truth will meet; justice and peace will kiss.

Truth will spring from the earth; justice will look down from heaven.

The LORD will surely grant abundance; our land will yield its increase.

Prosperity will march before the Lord, and good fortune will follow behind.

Although this is directed at a “people”, we can also insert ourselves in their place.

The Psalmist states the he will listen for the word of God, and he has the faith and trust that God will speak. And the utterance will be a peace descending.

Consider how you feel after you’ve prayed, especially after you’ve read the Bible in a prayerful, reflective manner. Feel more peaceful?

Much of the rest are all the good things can can be had, in some manner by those who are faithful and trusting in the Lord. The good things may not in the manner quantifiable those who follow the world’s manner of determining what is good, in other words, “abundance”, “prosperity” and “good fortune” may mean something different to a Christian than to a materialistic worldling. But you will be happy, and at peace.

Got 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!!)