Not Saints Yet

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Paul

Number 9, over at Catholic Alcoholic mentioned today about a new organization for Catholics suffering from addictions. Called Not Saints Yet, it is, to quote from their website, “…a new organization whose goal is to evangelize, or re-evangelize, Catholics, especially those in recovery.”

It is run by Ken J, of the Calix Society in Philadelphia. I remember Ken J from several years ago when he was a member of Catholics in Recovery (later Recovery for Christ), a now defunct online social network for Catholics suffering from addictions.

In addition to their above-named mission of evangelizing Catholics, Not Saints Yet also seeks to become a clearinghouse of information about other organizations that are helping Catholics in recovery.

You can find more information about the Calix Society at this link.

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!!)

Year of Faith

Posted on November 17, 2012 by Paul

On October 11, 2012, the “Year of Faith” began. Announced a few months ago by Pope Benedict XVI, the latest in a series of “Years of…” is intended to aid Catholics in learning more about their Faith. Given the horrific catechesis since the 1960’s and the woeful knowledge of the Faith that too many Catholics now possess, this is long overdue.

The general idea is that Catholics learn about the Faith through reading the Catechism, becoming better acquainted with the Bible, study the documents of Vatican 2 and maybe get involved in whatever Diocesan- or Parish- based programs that are being offered.

I waited a while in blogging about it, as I wanted to see just how well I was doing regarding my own plans. And so here it is.

I am doing two things, and will start a third.

The two things that I am doing are reading a few sections or pages of the Catechism as a part of my Morning Prayer. I had been doing this off-and-on, but since the Year of Faith began, way more on than off. 😉 In the evening I have been reading the Documents of Vatican 2. I have found that they are not as dry or inaccessible as I had thought and am thinking that perhaps if more people actually read them back in the 1960’s, we’d be better off today and could have dispensed with the silly “Spirit of Vatican 2” nonsense long ago.

The third thing that I will be doing harkens back to the reason I started this blog way back in 2007. That is to reach out to Catholics who have fallen away from their Faith due to their alcoholism and/or subsequent participation in a secular or non-denominational recovery programs. Too often in my experience in Twelve Steps I have witnessed Catholics leaving the Church due to their exposure to non-Catholic spirituality and the effects of “indifferentism.” Indifferentism is the sin that “it doesn’t matter what you believe in, as long as you believe in something.”

And so I will try and delve into the core values of this blog and its primary purpose. I will endeavor to link things like Scripture and the Catechism to recovery, more so than perhaps I have done. Not that I have strayed away from that, but I think I can do better than I have been.

At any rate, I hope to make it more obvious to Catholics in recovery the very existence of this blog, and to perhaps bring more of them along for the ride.

Here are some excellent web resources to help your Year of Faith journey:

Home Page of the Year of Faith

Catechism of the Catholic Church – Table of Contents

The Holy See – The Roman Curia – Congregations – Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Holy See – Archive

Aleteia (Beta): Seekers of the Truth

BIBLIACLERUS

Inter Mirifica.net – Catholic Mass Media Directory

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!!)

54 Day Rosary Novenas

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Paul

The Rosary has been an important part of my devotional and spiritual life ever since I sobered up and reverted to the Church in 2001/02. I have said it daily (most of the time 😉 ) and have even used it as a part of Novena prayers.

One thing I hadn’t done until this year was say a 54-day Rosary Novena. This is mainly due to my feeling that normal novenas take a lot out of me. I don’t know why, maybe it is the stress of maintaining it daily for 9 days. This is any novena, Rosary or otherwise. There is an irrational fear that if I skip a day, the prayers and petitions are wasted (I don’t think they are.)

And a ROSARY Novena, not just for the usual nine days, but FIFTY-FOUR?!?!?!? Seemingly impossible! Out of the question!

But I tried it earlier this year, twice. And some strange things happened, both times it felt easy. No stress or strain of just getting through nine days. It was as if I was sailing through the days. Also, although the petitions have not been fully answered, yet (they’re doozies), I do feel that movement is being made and that things are sorting out towards resolutions that I will be happy with. God’s will works in mysterious ways.

So, what exactly is a 54 day Novena? It is simply saying three consecutive Rosary Novenas in petition for a favor or intention, (that’s 27 days) followed by three consecutive Rosary Novenas in thanksgiving for whatever God’s will was in regards to the petition (there’s the other 27 days. Total: 54).

This means it is an act of faith and trust, you are thanking God for His response without waiting to see what His answer is.

I am starting another 54 day Novena. There is a critical US Presidential election this year (every US Presidential election has seemed “critical,” at least going back to 2000. I really am starting to think that democracy is overrated and that we should take a look at a monarchy again). Without divulging who I’m voting for, I have created “Events” in Facebook, Google+ and ProLifeBook, listing the Novena and how to say it.

Here’s the text of the Event:

“For Catholics and other interested Christians: September 14th is the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross (a/k/a the Exaltation of the Cross). This is a fitting day to begin a 54 day Rosary Novena for God’s will to prevail in the upcoming USA Presidential election, which is November 6th, (54 days after the Novena begins.)

If you do not know how to pray a 54 day Rosary Novena, it is simple: you pray 3 consecutive 9 day Rosary Novenas in petition for some favor or intention, followed by 3 consecutive 9 day Rosary Novenas in thanksgiving for God’s answer (whatever it might be.)

This means it is an act of faith and trust, you are thanking God for His response without waiting for it.

If you do not know how to pray the Rosary, here is a handy link: How to Pray the Rosary. You can also download a PDF image file here: How to pray the Rosary PDF. In addition, here is a link showing how the Rosary is rooted in Sacred Scripture: Scriptural Rosary.

This event is also listed on Facebook; on Google+; as well as on ProLifeBook

So, if you are on those social networks, invite friends and spread the news!!”

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!!)

Emergency Prayer Request (UPDATED)

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Paul

The mother-in-law of a friend of mine on Google+ may face imminent discharge from a hospital because “she has already cost the insurance company too much money.” She has been diagnosed with a pancreatic tumor. She was due to receive surgery for it when the insurance company called and stopped all further payment due to the costs. The surgery cannot be approved. My friend issued an urgent prayer request on Google+, which has been picked up by others and posted to other social networks. The prayer request is here:

“We need prayers here! It’s been like an episode of House trying to figure out what’s wrong with my mother-in-law.

They figured out it is a pancreatic tumor and are ready to remove it and insurance called in a 100% full stop to payments saying she’s cost them too much to approve surgery now, too. We have 4.5 hours before the hospital discharges her.”

The 4.5 hours is up at about 3:00 ET (USA) or 1900 GMT/UTC.

This is grossly unconscionable to place money above the life of a person. This is a basic decency. No matter what the cost, or whatever the survival rate is, to put money before a life is pure evil.

This quantification of a human life, that after a certain point “you are just too much of a burden,” or “too much of a cost” is reprehensible and not at all defensible from any valid moral standpoint.

It is a symptom of the sickness of society, that a life has a dollar value (or Euro, Pound Sterling, whatever) and after a point, just pull the plug.

Western civilization is in a decay. It needs to be revived and the only way to do that is to get out there and evangelize. Speak the Gospel Truth, live it as best one can, and confront the forces of evil and darkness when they present their ugly agenda.

One of Christianity’s best teachings is that we are made in the image and likeness of God and that we have an inherent dignity for that reason. Plus, we are adopted children of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. No other religion claims anything like that. Judaism may be close inasmuch they are our elder family in the Faith, and they are the Chosen People of God. But, Judaism is not a faith that seeks to convert others. We Christians can go out and bring people into the fullness of Divine Truth, and in doing so heal humanity of the sickness that is going on that allows my friend’s mother-in-law to possibly die without the surgery that can enable her to live. All because she “costs too much.”

An update from my friend: “Last night I contacted their state assemblyman and I wrote the Dept. of Insurance. The surgeon has pulled major, major strings behind the scenes with the hospital as well. The phone started ringing at 8:05 this morning. The insurance company is now caving on almost everything, but it isn’t definite yet.

They approved her ICU stay.
They approved all her tests and procedures.
The surgeons are confidant that they’ll have the surgery approved, but it isn’t yet. The surgeons are saying they’re doing the surgery no matter what.
They are denying her hospital stay on the regular floor saying she did not need to be in-patient in between ICU and surgery. This is 4 days in the hospital they’re refusing to pay for.

Everyone knows if she’d left she’d not be able to get the surgery covered so that isn’t an option, and this is definite improvement as the most expensive stuff is covered, but the outstanding approval for surgery in the morning and then the insurance nightmare that will be waiting post-surgery are the big issues right now, which is such a huge relief compared to last night! Please keep up the prayers today!”

UPDATE FROM TODAY: “My mother-in-law is now recuperating from surgery! They removed her tumor and everything was as perfect as possible! We haven’t heard anything from insurance or the business office.

Please pray in gratitude for the surgery. For her swift, full, and uneventful recovery. For God’s blessings on her surgeon, Michael. For our children who are missing home. And for the financial situation to be worked out to provide for all involved as they need. Thank you prayer warriors for storming heaven!

…

Thank you, thank you, thank you!! She’s not coming to as we would hope. Over 24hrs later and she’s still pretty out of it. We were also told today that no headway has been made on the insurance.

The nurses and docs continue to be fantastic. My husband is flying home today in a lightning storm. I’m enjoying while I can that vegetarianism is taken for granted here so choices are clearly labeled and abundant. Small pleasures. 🙂 “

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!!)

Matt Talbot Way of Recovery

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Paul

The launch of the “revived Catholic-based recovery network” is on! I actually started it last night, on the Vigil of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is called the “Matt Talbot Way of Recovery.” Although Matt Talbot is widely associated with recovery from alcoholism, his way to sobriety can be applied to all addictions. His model of sobriety is a good, Catholic-based one that can serve as a framework and guide.

The Group is on Yahoo, I chose that rather than start a standalone website like a discussion forum or social network as it is easier. Past attempts at a Catholic-based recovery network have ended in failure for a number of reasons, this way of an email discussion list is less risky. If it proves to be very popular and successful, then perhaps sometime down the road a discussion forum-type of site can be done. I am not looking that far ahead.

Here is the link to click on to join:

Matt Talbot Way of Recovery

Here is some important information about the Group:

Once you submit a request to join, your request must be approved by a Moderator. So far, I am the only one. Please be patient, I should get back and approve your request within a day.

Afterwards this is the email address to post messages to the Site and Members: MattTalbotWayofRecovery@yahoogroups.com

You can also access messages and post new ones just by going to the Group’s web page at (in case the above link doesn’t work, copy-and-paste this: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/MattTalbotWayofRecovery/

These are the site’s settings(as of now, can be changed later):

Membership requires approval (probably not going to be changed. Need to keep out spammers and bigots)

Messages from new members require approval (I think once your first message or two is approved, you’re then unmoderated)

All members can post messages

Email attachments are distributed, not archived

Members cannot hide email address (therefore it is important that you have an email address that has a good spam filter, or one that is just devoted to online recovery work. This is to preserve anonymity, if that is important to you.

Listed in directory (again, see the email address suggestions in the previous point)

After you’re in, you can the determine how you wish to interact. As stated above, you can either post and reply to to messages either by way of email, or by going to the Groups web address. You can decide which way by the following settings:

So, you can receive each email as it comes in, or just a digest of all emails for that day, or for that week. Or, just visit the website. You can visit the website anytime, even if you subscribe to emails. This is useful if you wish to search through the archive of past messages.

As far as I know, that is it! If I have forgotten anything, I’ll add it later. Jump in, join, and let’s have fun! 🙂

Back story: Revived Catholic-based recovery network possibly starting on Monday (Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe)

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!!)

Revived Catholic-based recovery network possibly starting on Monday (Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe)

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Paul

There is a tentative plan for a new Catholic-based recovery network to start on Monday, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. OLG has nothing to do with addiction recovery, but I just think that it would be nice to start it on one of Mary’s holidays.

I have sent emails to the people who have expressed interest in joining, and this is a reminder to them and especially anyone else. If you would like to be notified, please email me at paulcoholic at gmail dot com.

I am also tentatively thinking of starting it on Yahoo, as an email subscription service (the idea is described here: Reviving a Catholic-based recovery network. But, in short, discussion on recovery issues and personal struggles are conducted by way of emails. Anonymity is assured, if you so desire it. That is basically up to you and what email address you use and what the username is. BTW, the email address need not be a Yahoo.com one. Any email address can be used for a YahooID. If not, then a Yahoo.com email address is free anyway, so no trouble there.

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!!)

Out of touch

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Paul

As the owner/operator of a niche blog I more than likely exist along the margins or back alleys of the Catholic blogosphere. Not that I don’t have any friends or contacts amongst other bloggers, ’cause I do. However, due to a variety of circumstances within and beyond my control, I just haven’t paid too much attention to what other bloggers have been doing these past few months. Sometimes it is a hassle to keep up with all the writing going on. At times the information overload is a bit boggling. That is no excuse for not reading a select few blogs though. So, if you have posted something that you’d hope I’d notice in the past couple 2-3 months, I didn’t. That will be rectified as my blog reader still has posts going back that far. So, the select few blogs that I should be paying attention to shall get some belated love over the holidays.

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!!)

Clearing your mind of distractions

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Paul

There was a commercial that ran on American TV a decade ago. I do not remember for what product. Anyway, it featured Phil Jackson, the Head Coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, as a cab driver. Some high-powered looking lawyer/executive couple (man and woman) had simultaneously climbed into the back seat of his cab and gave differing destinations. If I recall, they were confused about them. Cabbie Phil spouted a New-Agey philosophical observation on “Clearing your mind of all distractions and focusing on the business at hand is pivotal.” (I wrote it down as I was in early sobriety and was keen on extracting bits of wisdom from any source. I copied it into my Big Book.)

Some other time, doesn’t matter when as I watched re-runs of it whenever I could, I saw an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” entitled Birthright, Part II (Via Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki.) In it, there is a scene in which Lt. Worf is doing the “mok’bara”, which I always took to be Klingon Tai chi chuan (Via Wikipedia.). As he is explaining the practice, he says “The form clears the mind, and centers the body.” (I wrote that down too, in my Big Book. Still in early sobriety at the time.)

Perhaps developing a ritual in that which is important come first: Matthew 6:33: “Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Via DRBO.)

Begin the day with prayer and meditation (See: Keeping Your Head on Straight, Part 1 (Regular Daily Prayer) and Keeping Your Head on Straight, Part 2 (Regular Daily Prayer)) Then write and blog for however long until the feeling of “being productive” hits.

Save email, RSS feeds and daily news reviewing as well as social network checking in for some time AFTER a measure of blogging and writing have been done. Same goes for all the “tools” for getting organized. Look at those at the end of the day to get an idea of what the next day holds and then glance at them after the hour or so of creative work.

The “form” clears the mind of all distractions and centers the body, so that focusing on the business at hand is possible. Huh. Maybe.

I just wrote Faithful in small matters. This is sort of a follow-up.

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!!)

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