Category Archives: Service and Volunteering

Denying yourself and taking up the Cross

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An excerpt from the Gospel Reading for today’s Mass:

Luke 9:23-25: “Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?”

via USCCB.

Lent is a time of penance, of fasting from certain things and denying… the self? Are you using Lent as a means of denying your self-will, of choosing your will over God’s, in placing yourself above other people? Is God first, other people second, and yourself third on the list of priorities?

In the Gospel passage, Jesus lays down the conditions of discipleship. If you are to be a follower of Christ, you must place yourself at the service of others, serve them and their needs (to the best of your ability) and “take up the Cross.”

And what does that mean, to “take up the Cross?” As Jesus accepted the Cross on His way to Calvary, so to must we as we trudge along the road of happy destiny. The Cross symbolizes our willing acceptance of what it means to be Christian, as well as to accept and endure the daily trials and tribulations that come into our lives. We don’t shirk from them, we “offer them up” (donate spiritually) for our sins and those of others.

So, as you start Lent, take a look at how you are “denying yourself,” and how well you “take up 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!!)

A Walk With the Novena of Mary, Undoer of Knots, Day 8

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Today is Day 8 in our The Novena of Mary Undoer of Knots. We ask Mary’s intercession for us “to practice the virtues of courage, joyfulness, humility and faith…”

It has never been easy to be a Christian, even in supposedly Christian countries. The pressing needs of daily living stress us to the point of neglecting or compromising our Faith.

We should be joyful; after all God became man to be one with us and to pay the price for our sins. We became His adopted children. We will gain Heaven if we follow His will, as best we are able.

We humbly pray that our Faith is increased, we have the courage to practice and follow it and to use it to make a difference in the world.

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 Walk with the Novena of Mary Undoer of Knots, Day 2

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Today we cover “sins of egoism, pride, rancor and … lack of generosity and humility…” in our daily walk with The Novena of Mary Undoer of Knots.

These sins blind you. The more of your “self” that you are bound up in, the less you are open to God’s graces, the less you see Jesus in other people. You adopt a “me versus them” attitude, with the “me” feeling inherently superior.

And leave it to an alcoholic to feel superior to others, even with all the serious character defects these sins reveal.

Work on becoming smaller. To quote St. John the Baptist:

John 3:30 He must increase, while I must decrease.

via John – Catholic Public Domain Version of the Sacred Bible.

Becoming “smaller” is also the “Little Way” of St.Therese of Lisieux, who taught that one should do everything with love, even the smallest, most insignificant task. Nothing is too small for God if done with Love.

So perhaps do “little things” as if they were the most important things in the world at the moment.

They just might be, to someone.

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!!)

Being Fat, Dumb and Happy for Jesus

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Way back in the day when I lived in California I was introduced to the phrase “fat, dumb, and happy.” It is said after you’ve eaten a particularly large and sumptuous meal. I have no idea if that saying is a “California-ism,” but that’s where I first heard and used it.

The thought ocurred to me after overeating this past Thanksgiving holiday that maybe we can be “fat, dumb and happy” for Jesus. Here’s how:

Become fat: gorge yourself on Sacred Scripture, the Catechism and the Sacraments. Read the Bible daily, soak up the Word. Go to Mass daily (if possible) and visit the Blessed Sacrament whenever you can. If a parish nearby has Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, sign up for a Holy Hour. Go to Confession at least once a month. I go every 2-3 weeks.

Be dumb: Be a fool for Christ. Be counter-cultural. The World has a different understanding on what it meands to be “counter-cultural,” but true counter-cultural attidues and actions run against the World’s transient values and morals. No better way that to live out the prophetic call of the Gospel message. Be Christian. The World will think you’re an idiot, but so what?

Be happy: Living the Gospel is “joyful,” and that is something Pope Francis seems keen on getting across. Jesus is our brother, God our Father, how can that not make us happy? We know we’ve won, all that remains is the mopping up action of winning souls for the Lord and building the Kingdom of God on Earth. We know we will prevail in the end. Again, how can we not be happy? Am I always happy? No! I’m a weak, flawed, fallible human! Daily living gets me down. But oftentimes I rise above it. Perhaps not often enough.

So, start now! Let’s start a Movement! Be Fat, Dumb and Happy for 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!!)

Reader help (no longer) needed to support Sober Catholic (UPDATE)

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UPDATE: Thanks to a few readers and friends, I have received enough in donations to renew the hosting account, as well as the domain names, for three years. I am very grateful to them that they think enough of this work. So, the Sober Catholic bleg drive is over. If you were thinking of donating, but hadn’t yet, please consider some other worthy blogging endeavor, or contribute to your parish. Perhaps your parish has a website? Maybe they could use financial help with their hosting fees.

I am asking for help from readers. The various fees associated with running and maintaining this blog are due for renewal in a month, namely for web hosting and domain name registration, and I need your assistance as we cannot afford to pay them…

Bloggers sometimes bleg (“bleg” means “blog beg”) when money is needed. It could be for any reason. My wife and I have incomes, live frugally, make do with what we have and are grateful for them, but we have had some financial hits recently and the cost of renewing Sober Catholic is coming at a bad time.

So, if you appreciate the work behind this blog, the PayPal “donate” button is way over in the upper left hand corner of the blog, where it says, “Please consider donating, if you like this work.” It’s between the blog title and the “Follow me on Twitter” widget. Nearly $300 is needed (if we were to renew for the most “cost effective” term of 3 years.) Any amount donated in your one-time gift would be appreciated. If you don’t like to use PayPal, you can email me at sobercatholic at gmail dot com to obtain other contact info (or use any method in the How to find and contact me Page.) Prayers are, of course, also appreciated!

We have explored other hosting options, there are none really cheaper. In anticipating a probable common reaction, “Why don’t you just move to a free host?” That is an option of last resort, and one that I am unwilling to do for several reasons:

1) Traffic and readership would be lost. Sober Catholic was originally hosted for free, and when I went to a paid hosting service many people did not follow along, despite numerous notices left up at the old site. Also, links everywhere point to this location.

2) Paying for a host rather than going free establishes “brand name” credibility if your blog is about a service. If I only had a personal blog about my own joys and sorrows, thoughts and opinions, that would be free. But I feel that Sober Catholic deserves its own location. I don’t feel that Sober Catholic is completely mine, it also belongs to those who appreciate it and have been helped by it. I do have 2 other blogs hosted on this account, but Sober Catholic is the only reason the account exists.

3) Having its own location guarantees independence; one isn’t subject to the whims and decisions of a free host. There is greater control over what one can do if the hosting is paid for by the owner or from revenue that is generated.

As I said above, any help to defray or cover the cost is greatly appreciated. Every donation adds to the total.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Paul Sofranko (a/k/a “paulcoholic”)

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!!)

Growing in holiness during Lent

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Lent began today. Traditionally, people give up stuff for Lent as a sign of repentance. That’s nice but it may be a downer, especially if it isn’t combined with something that may help you grow in holiness. Giving up something to achieve something is tough. Ask an athlete, especially an Olympian or a champion.

Another option to giving up something is to take up something. Adding something to help you achieve something, like holiness, may be easier. Increase your virtue. This link: Virtues and Vices has a list of the seven deadly vices and the virtues that can help you overcome them.

Serve and volunteer.

Increase your prayer life. Read Sacred Scripture, daily. Attend Daily Mass, if possible. If not, then maybe catch it online at a more convenient time.

And then perhaps maybe someday you can deprive yourself of something, because with the increased holiness, you’re more apt to select a deprivation and combine it with growing in holiness. This can merit itself at other times of the year when you suffer, now you know better how to “offer it up.” 😉

Joel: 2:13:

“Rend your hearts, not your garments,

and return to the LORD, your God,

For he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love,

and relenting in punishment.”

(Via USCCB.)

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!!)

To Bury the Dead

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To bury the dead is the last of the Corporal Works of Mercy. It is an act of kindness, and of hope in the resurrection of all when Jesus return to judge the living and the dead.

The graves remind us always of our last end, and that there is an eternity afterwards. Time spent in a cemetery is time well spent both honoring those buried there, as well as reminding ourselves of our own mortality.

Bury the dead. In a metaphorical context applied to this blog, it can also mean to bury our past. Our past is back there, dead, but not forgotten. We no longer live back there, but we can remember the pain.

What do we do with the time remaining? As alcoholics and addicts we had lost considerable time to our addiction. Time can be redeemed by learning from our mistakes and applying that knowledge to the future. It is called “experience.” We can take what we know and teach it to others.

If you click on the image below, you’ll be taken to the “Works of Mercy” store at Artist4God (my wife’s online shop.) Buy anything from the “Works of Mercy” store and a portion of the proceeds go to life-affirming charities.

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!!)

Visit the Imprisoned

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Matthew 25:36: “…in prison and you visited me.’”

“Imprisoned” can mean many things. It may oftentimes mean the literal imprisonment of those who have committed crimes. “You do the crime, you do the time.” And so people regard with indifference or contempt those who are in jail.

While by no means suggesting that those in prison do not deserve their punishment, many in jail have repented of their crimes and corresponding sins. The intransigent and unrepentant, well, their place is deserved. But for those who have come to terms with the reality of what they did and why they are in prison, their spiritual needs must be met. There are plenty of opportunities for people in communities all over to visit those in prison and minister to them. Participate in a prayer group or Bible or Catechism Study. Whatever, just show them that there are people on the “outside” who haven’t forgotten them. One good organization is “Kairos Prison Ministry International”:

There are other forms of imprisonment. Addiction is a prime example and perhaps the reason why you are reading this blog.

I wrote a poem, it was triggered by an old AA friend from my old hometown who was picked up for DWI for the umteenth time:

Alone in Jail

I sit in the cell, trapped.

Trapped in the prison of my mind.

I wish to scream “Let me out!”

But the mind has no voice, silenced by shame.

My prison, and I am my jailer, and I have lost the key.

Perhaps you can be the key to let the prisoner of addiction out of their jail cell. Reach out and extend help. If they take the help, follow through! If they reject it, wait and offer it again when they are ready.

Although it may not seem like it, another way for people to be imprisoned is overt attraction to the things of “the world.” Be it money, power, lust, fine clothes and an outward appearance (at the expense of the inward appearance), such things imprison you as they get in the way of your true self. They are hardly satisfying. Do they help you in your relationship with God?

If you click on the image below, you’ll be taken to the “Works of Mercy” store at Artist4God (my wife’s online shop.) Buy anything from the “Works of Mercy” store and a portion of the proceeds go to life-affirming charities.

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!!)

Visit the Sick

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Matthew 25:36 “…ill and you cared for me…”

I feel that one of the tenderest and kindest things that you can do for another is to care for them when they are vulnerable, such as when they are suffering an illness. You’re putting your own health at risk from whatever they have, so in a way it is almost like the passage from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, According to John:

John 15:13: ” No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. “

For people to do this for a living, such as physicians and nurses, to home heath aides and the like, is a life of tremendous dedication to the vulnerable. For someone to do this without expecting anything in return, is love and sacrifice. Then again, love and sacrifice are quite often linked.

If you click on the image below, you’ll be taken to the “Works of Mercy” store at Artist4God (my wife’s online shop.) Buy anything from the “Works of Mercy” store and a portion of the proceeds go to life-affirming charities.

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!!)

Clothe the Naked

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Matthew 25:36 “…naked and you clothed me.”

I volunteer in a thrift store. While I haven’t done all that much as there seems to be an abundance of volunteers that coincided with my beginning there, I have learned a few things.

One nice thing is that they just don’t accept any kind of clothing for the store. It has to be in good condition, and perhaps not way out of date. There explanation is that there is a “dignity concern.” The people that shop there must not feel like they are getting cast-off junk. You may feel that “beggars can’t be choosy,” but essentially even if people are at the low end of the economic spectrum, they shouldn’t have to meekly accept junk just because they are poor. It may not be the finest clothing, nor the latest style, but they look decent.

That caused me to think about when people are vain about their appearance, declare that they must wear the finest clothing, that sort of thing. Is that really necessary? Vanity in regards to clothing is dressing inappropriately, to draw attention to yourself and to flaunt your wealth and physical attributes. Pride may also play a part. Does that make you a better person, looking better than others? How is your internal appearance? The appearance of your soul?

How will you look when you stand before God and are judged?

If you click on the image below, you’ll be taken to the “Works of Mercy” store at Artist4God (my wife’s online shop.) Buy anything from the “Works of Mercy” store and a portion of the proceeds go to life-affirming charities.

Clothe The Naked Sweatshirts
Clothe The Naked Sweatshirts by WorksOfMercy

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!!)