Category Archives: Virtue

Take up your cross

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In the Gospel for today’s Mass for the Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Jesus exhorts us to come and follow Him. However, there’s a catch. The road isn’t easy.

Luke 9:22-25

Jesus said to his disciples:

“The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected

by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,

and be killed and on the third day be raised.”

 

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?

The path to following Jesus isn’t always strewn with flower petals with birds singing and butterflies fluttering. It is a hard one since in following Christ, you are essentially telling the World with its transitory and vain ways that, “Sorry! I’m rejecting you! You may claim that the World’s ways are just and true and so forth; I know different! The World’s path leads to despair and emptiness. Many are aware of this but know not what to do except to fill that emptiness with immorality. Again, sorry! I will not comply!”

And so the World reacts by persecuting you. If not outrightly, then by mockery and other means of tearing you down.

You must reject your baser instincts that desire the World and its falsehoods and take up the counter-cultural path of following Jesus. It doing that you will save your life.

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 2023

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Since this blog is about “Conversion, Prayer, Fasting, Repentance, and Penance,” amongst other things, Lent is a natural time to blog a lot since those ‘abouts’ correspond to the season. I have often in previous Lents blogged daily, or at least a few times a week, taking inspiration from the daily Mass readings or the Divine Office. I might try that this year, but don’t hold your breath. I know I’ve done it throughout the season several times, tried and fell short a few other times, and didn’t even make the attempt in many years. 2023? Who can say? Anyway, here goes this one for today, Ash Wednesday.

In this excerpt from the First Reading for the Mass for today, the Old Testament prophet Joel says:

(Joel 2:12-14)

Even now, says the LORD,

return to me with your whole heart,

with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;

Rend your hearts, not your garments,

and return to the LORD, your God.

For gracious and merciful is he,

slow to anger, rich in kindness,

and relenting in punishment.

Perhaps he will again relent

and leave behind him a blessing,

Offerings and libations

for the LORD, your God.

That’s the blueprint for Lent. Wherever you are, return to the Lord. Fasting, sorrow, and mourning for your sins are the method by which you do that.

Rending your hearts means true contrition and repentance. Always be mindful of the mercy of God, how gracious He is to those who come back to Him.

He is merciful, meaning He knows your weaknesses and knows the deep down reasons for your sinning. His grace flows into strengthening you for the battle.

Make this a good Lent. Go to Confession often. Maybe it’ll become a habit that you’ll keep for the rest of the year. Somewhere Pope St. John Paul II said that Catholics who wish to grow in holiness should go to Confession at least once a month. 

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!!)

16th Bloggaversary of Sober Catholic: How I stayed sober for almost 21 years

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Today marks the 16th Bloggaversary of Sober Catholic. In honor of that, I’ve edited and cleaned up a messy note I wrote who-knows-when on “The Sober Catholic Way.” It is a summary of everything I’ve been doing since I became sober on May 22, 2002. Some I do better than others. 

This was originally a long, 2,000ish word post. There was the summary you see in the next paragraph followed by a longer version that fleshed out the details. But then I decided this morning during a feeling-sorry-for-myself pity party that the longer version is itself a summary of an even much longer version that’s been lurking in my head for 15 or so years. That being a book on the topic of “The Sober Catholic Way of Sobriety.” Or something like that. I shall begin working on that right away. I do not know when it will be finished.

The summary of the ‘Sober Catholic Method’ or ‘Way’ or ‘whatver’ is:

Wow, that’s a long list, Paulcoholic? Isn’t a Twelve-Step program simpler? Yeah, maybe. But doing the above has kept this sick puppy sober for over 20 years and I knew that AA couldn’t. Some people demand happiness in this life and they find it often by avoiding suffering all costs and more and more turn to things which can only be called ‘addictions.’ Whether it is the typical alcohol or drugs, or an inordinate attraction to the self, or to the Internet and social media, or  to fandoms (pop culture things like TV franchises, movies, comics or other entertainment stuff.) Someone may not be an alcoholic or a drug addict, but I betcha they’re ‘addicted’ to something. You need a lot of tools to crowd all that stuff out or at least keeping them in their proper perspective is an attribute of the Sober Catholic Method. Or Way. Or whatever… 😉 So this all could be a wholistic approach to dealing with life in general and addictions in particular.

There are probably books or devotions that should be on there, but this my list. Yours may be slightly different. Anyone who takes a look at the list will arrive at the conclusion that it is simply a decent Catholic lifestyle. We are all supposed to go to Mass, Confession, and live the Gospel life which is learned by studying the Bible, Catechism, lives of the Saints and their teachings along with a few particular devotions to assist us on our way – to help us ‘stay on the beam.’ So be it. What makes it a ‘Sober Catholic Way?’ Life hasn’t been perfect for me nor am I a serene, happy saint-to-be. Life sucks at times, and I am often cranky and melancholic. But God never promises happiness and peace in this life. Only in the life to come. This should help me get there.

If you’ve appreciated this blog as well as this post, you can PayPalMe a non-tax deductible donation (my real name is Paul Sofranko, like the destination link says.) I will greatly appreciate every donation. (I do have plans for the money; plans to buy software which will help out in the production and marketing of self-published books. I figure that if I can raise sufficient funds through the kindness of strangers, then I’ll feel responsible and actually start working on the planned books. More on that later. )

 Or, you can just buy a lot of my books I’ve already done:

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!!)

St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, patron saint of drug addicts?

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St. Mark Ji Tianxiang was born in Hebei, China on 1834 into a Catholic family where he was raised in the Faith. He was a doctor, and in his early thirties he suffered from a stomach ailment for which he treated himself with opium. This cured him, but he developed an addiction to it. In 19th Century China, this was a severe problem, just like the opiate epidemic is today. Addiction was not understood then, by anyone, anywhere in the world. His addiction was regarded as sinful; a lack of proper willpower or moral fortitude.

He tried to overcome his addiction through the sacraments: frequent reception of Communion and especially Confession. However, his confessor concluded that since Mark Ji was confessing the same sin again and again, he did not have a firm purpose of amendment, thus rendering the confession invalid. He was forbidden from going to confession again until he stopped using. This also unfortunately prevented him from receiving Holy Communion.

Before anyone complains about this, this was correct in the context of the times, as well as being in accord with the sacramental norms today. You cannot go to confession and confess your sins if you have no intention of stopping them. You do not go to confession to ‘wipe the slate clean’ so you can sin again. Although Mark Ji had every intention to stop, he couldn’t. This, however, wasn’t believed due to the poor understanding of addiction in those days. His confessor did not technically make a mistake; although by today’s understanding, he did. But those days were not today’s. Mark Ji was guilty of causing public scandal by being an addict.

Mark Ji was trapped in an addiction from which there were no ‘Steps’ to climb out of, no treatment centers, no nothing. And there was nothing he could do.

He desperately wanted to receive the sacraments but couldn’t due to the contemporary understanding of his illness. He suffered this for the remaining thirty years of his life. He wanted to quit using but couldn’t; he wanted to receive the sacraments and thus hopefully assure himself of eternal life. That was at risk due to the prohibition of him receiving.

What to do?

Saint Mark Ji Tianxiang

Mark Ji prayed for martyrdom. If you die for the Faith, your salvation is assured. Now, in Catholicism, martyrdom is when you are killed for being a Catholic. Being a Catholic was unpopular since it was regarded as a foreign religion; a Western colonial import. Nevertheless, the Faith grew.

In 1900, there was turmoil in China; the Boxer Rebellion broke out. Its goals were the total expulsion of all Western influence from China. And Christians were obvious targets.

Mark Ji and his family were arrested and in 1900, suffered beheading. Mark Ji’s prayers were answered. He refused to renounce his Catholic Faith. He reportedly requested to be executed last, after his family, so he could encourage them and that none would die alone.  This was granted. He was lead to where he’d be executed, singing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary the entire time, including up to when the blade separated his head from his body.

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I learned about this saint last night during my weekly Knights at the Foot of the Cross virtual meeting on Google Meet. My new good friend Harold Gomes of Chariot Fire mentioned him during the discussion. I had never heard of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang and looked him up right away and was astounded by his story.

Now, it’s interesting that I heard of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang during a meeting of the Knights at the Foot of the Cross. St. Maximilian Kolbe founded the Militia of the Immaculata, of which the ‘Knights at the Foot of the Cross’ are an apostolate. (The KFC was actually established first in the USA in the early 1980s. If you are in the KFC, you are also an MI.) St. Maximilian was named the patron saint of addicts due to the manner of his execution (lethal injection.) St. Max never touched drugs or alcohol (he even banned smoking cigarettes in his friaries.) So, him being named the patron saint of addicts always seemed like a stretch to me. Granted, St. Maximilian suffered through Hell while in Auschwitz. And he brought the breath of life and humanity into that horrid place. But in light of the existence of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang, I don’t think he should be the primary patron saint for addicts. St. Mark Ji Tianxiang should be.

Please bear in mind that St. Maximilian Kolbe is my favorite saint; I’ve read 2500 pages of his writings and several bookshelves of stuff on his life and teachings. So I’m not disrespecting him. He is already the patron saint of a number of other things (notably, the pro-life movement, given that abortion ‘clinics’ are mini-Auschwitzes and while in the real one, he never subscribed to the idea that living a horrible existence justifies the termination of a life, like so many pro-choicers think. I’m referring to their argument that abortion is a viable option to keep people from being born into poverty or dysfunctional families. As if people are better off dead rather than to try to improve society and families. Killing people is easier, I guess.)

Anyway, St. Mark Ji Tianxiang is likely the best candidate to be the patron saint of addicts. Especially given that he was never able to break the addiction. He died using. Not his fault; nor should he be condemned by people in recovery for that: he had no choice given the powerful addiction as well as having absolutely no recovery resources.

Mark Ji was beatified on November 24, 1946 by Pope Pius XII and canonized on October 1, 2000 by Pope St. John Paul II. His feast day is July 7. His story is, I think, one of faithful perseverance and a fervent desire for salvation, despite being prevented from participating in the means to gain it. Most people would have turned away and left the Faith. How many people today just abandon the Faith because they’ve gotten a divorce and remarried, and thus can’t receive Communion? Or some other ‘crime’ of the Church? St. Mark Ji Tianxiang persevered. He knew that participating in the sacramental life of the Church was a key to gaining Heaven. And despite being kept from them, he didn’t despair. He remained a Catholic, raised his family in the Faith an desired salvation so much that he prayed for the only means available to him that would assure him of salvation. Martyrdom.

Regarding St. Maximilian and retaining the memory of his death, perhaps he should be the patron saint of death row inmates. Even though he committed no crime deserving of death (just like Jesus!), those on death row need all the intercessory help they can get so that they can receive the grace of conversion, repentance and final perseverance. Take a look at Kolbe Prison Ministries.

Here are several links to articles on him:

He was an opium addict who couldn’t receive the sacraments. But he’s a martyr and a saint

St. Mark Ji Tianxiang couldn’t stay sober, but he could keep showing up

The life of St. Mark Ji Tianxiang: Persevering in faith despite addiction

The Saint Who Was Addicted to Drugs for 30 Years

ST MARK JI TIANXIANG (1834-1900) – Husband, Father, Grandfather, Doctor, Martyr, Opium Addict, Intercessor For Addicts, Patron Against Despair, Patron Of The Opiate Crisis

Addict, Martyr, and Saint

This Addict Is a Saint

Mark Ji Tianxiang

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!!)

Let there be Life

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It’s all over the news, so I won’t post any links, but what has been known for months due to a leak has now become official: the utterly barbaric USA Supreme Court decision from 1973 known as ‘Roe vs Wade’ has been overturned by the current Supreme Court. Protection of the unborn now reverts to the States and the laws that were on the books in 1973, or laws passed afterwards that are set to be ‘triggered’ into effect once Roe v Wade was overturned

This is a great day for those who believe that life begins at conception and that all human life is sacred from womb to tomb. I am hoping that this will have a cumulative effect of propagating more ‘life affirming’ laws and actions: from extensive and comprehensive affordable healthcare, to a more defensive-oriented military policy (the US Armed Forces to be used only for the defense of the US, and not for military adventurism and the expansion of the ‘American Empire’), prison reform, labor and workplace protections, and so on down the line.

It is interesting that this Supreme Court decision became official on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the traditional date for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (who was an unborn child when he first heard the Word, Who was Himself an unborn child….)

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 St. Joseph

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On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis issued the Apostolic Letter Patris Corde which established these upcoming twelve months as the “Year of St. Joseph.” This had long been speculated by those who do that sort of thing, and they were finally proven correct. Like other “Year of’s…” the faithful among us are to delve more deeply into the lives of the saint or doctrine so honored and to become more spiritually enriched as a result.

I really enjoy these “Year of…” declarations. My wife and I still continue the practice we did when Pope Francis announced the Year of Mercy a while back; that of jointly praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I had dug more deeply into St. Faustina’s Diary throughout that Year and added several more books to my Divine Mercy bookshelf. For the previous “Year of Faith” I studied the Catechism of the Catholic Church and studied a few other books on Catholic Dogmas and Doctrines.

This Year of St. Joseph will be no different. I already had a collection of books on the Foster Father of Our Lord and Saviour, but hadn’t yet gotten to reading them. That will change. First up to be read will be The Life and Glories of St. Joseph by Edward Healy Thompson, M.A. From TAN Book’s description, “No words of St. Joseph are recorded In Scripture. In fact. little mention is made of him there. Yet. despite these seeming limitations. the Church nonetheless possesses an indescribably rich knowledge of St. Joseph and of his cultus. This book will astound most readers both with its scope and with its profundity. Based mainly on Scripture. but supported also by Tradition and the depositions of saints. it is a carefully reasoned analysis of the entirety of that great saint’s role in the history of Salvation and the life of the Church. Includes details about his spiritual life and noble lineage; how he was prefigured in the Old Testament; his relationship to Mary and Jesus; why he has been named by Pope Pius IX “The Patron of the Universal Church;” and so forth. Many beautiful insights.” 

As with other “Year of…” declarations, we will have to opportunity  to gain Plenary Indulgences. These are pious practices that we can perform that, if fulfilled correctly and with the proper attitude, can obtain for us the complete remission of our sins.

These pious acts “must be accompanied by sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the pope’s intentions; the usual conditions to obtain any plenary indulgence.”

The pious acts for gaining the indulgences are listed here, in this article from CNA, as well as at: Aleteia.

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!!)

On humbly submitting to Church authority on private revelations

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In a recent post, Plenary Indulgence for Cemetery Visits in November Extended, I mentioned something at the end about coping in these uncertain times (please note the bold italics:

“Hang tight, pray the Rosary daily and stick close to the Church. And by that I mean the Mass and Sacraments, your Catholic Bible, the Catechism (The ‘Roman Catechism’ of the Council of Trent and/or the 1994 Catechism of Pope St. John Paul II) and if you’re going the route of private revelations, educate yourself and please only place your faith in the approved ones. And have the humility to submit to Church authority in determining what is approved; your personal opinion on the private revelation should always be subject to the Church’s authority.“

I administer an unofficial Militia of the Immaculata Group on Facebook (there’s an interesting story about how I came to be in charge of it. Maybe I’ll tell it someday.) Recently I had to deal with a member of the Group who repeatedly posted links to a false and fraudulent private apparition that has become popular this past decade. I finally had to “get tough” and remove her from the Group because she refused to accept the Church’s decision that this particular revelation is false.

I am really getting tired of ostensibly ‘orthodox’ Catholics who think they are more knowledgeable than the Bishops and more pious than other faithful and defy the decisions of the Bishops on such matters. You are exhibiting pride and and are unaware that you are doing Satan’s work in undermining the Church. Sounds drastic? Yes, it is.

If a private revelation has not been approved, I strongly suggest that you do not invest much faith and emotion into it, lest the Church condemn it and you face a crisis of fidelity. Too many dissent or go schismatic when their favorite revelation is condemned; they regard the Church is ‘wrong’ and spare no few words of vitriol in being critical of the Church and how Her error is evidence of Satan’s influence. In doing so they basically have established their own magisterium (like anyone who thinks the Church is ‘wrong’ on matters of faith and morals) and go off and do their own thing.

Bad idea.

Our Lord and Saviour willingly submitted to the legal and authentic religious authorities of His day, and they condemned Him to death. He knew they were wrong, but did He use that as an excuse to rebel against their authority? No, and given that Jesus is God, He was the authority over them, but did He use that? No. He submitted and opened not His mouth.

The three little shepherd children of Fatima obeyed the Portuguese Church authorities when they were ordered to keep silent about what they were seeing in the Cova da Iria. Even though they knew the Bishop and priests were wrong, they obeyed.

St. Pio of Pietrelcina obeyed the Church authorities when they ordered him to stop public celebration of the Mass. He knew they were in error in telling him this, but he obeyed.

The Divine Mercy Message was suppressed for several decades, until there was evidence that Her initial decision was based on flawed translations of St. Faustina’s writings. The curators of the Divine Mercy message knew that Rome was wrong, nevertheless they obeyed.

There are probably other examples throughout Church history when she was wrong about some ongoing thing, but later rescinded the ban or prohibition when the truth comes out. And that is key: if something is True, it will eventually become known and the Church will acknowledge this.

If you honestly believe that whatever private revelation that you support is true, then there is no reason to defy the Church if she initially declares it to be false. Although I know of no private revelation where the Church reversed her decision on its veracity, nevertheless, in all humility if the Bishop or Rome itself declares it to be false, then accept that. Offer the pain up, if needed.

In light of the examples given above, do you think that you can defy the Church when Jesus Himself did not defy the Jewish authorities? Or the Fatima children? Or St. Padre Pio? Who are you to say that you can reserve such a right to yourself?

Such people need to be prayed for. I just walk away when I encounter them in social media forums; there rarely seems to be any point in arguing the Church’s decision. Their mind is made up and that’s that and any attempt to change their minds is met with stubborn, pride-filled resistance.

So ends this rant. You’re welcome!

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 of Novenas IX: Our Lady of Sorrows & Saint Archbishop Oscar Romero

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Today begins the Ninth of the Nine Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation, and this one is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows & Saint Archbishop Oscar Romero. It runs from August 31 through September 8, 2020.

I will not post this every day as the prayers and intentions are the same for each day. I’ll just leave it here for nine days; if I need to blog in the interim, I will just blog a reminder afterwards. For the background, please read this post (especially if you need to learn about who Bob Waldrop, the creator of this Novena, was, and why I am introducing it to you.) Or go here: A Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation.

Don’t worry if you jump in at some point later in the 81 days. To paraphrase Bob “just pick up whenever you happen to join in.”

AFTER THIS SENTENCE, THE WRITING IS ALL THAT OF BOB WALDROP, not me, Paulcoholic.

…

Our Lady of Sorrows & Saint Archbishop Oscar Romero

General Intention: For the creation of new structures within the crumbling ruins of the old. 

Spiritual Works of Mercy: Convert the sinner. Instruct the ignorant. Counsel the doubtful. Comfort the sorrowful. bear wrongs patiently. Forgive injuries. Pray for the living and the dead.

Act of Caring for Creation: Reduce, reuse, repair, recycle, make it over, made do, do without.

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make has to help me.
+ Let us pray together in peace, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, help the helpless, strengthen the fearful, comfort the sorrowful, bring justice to the poor, peace to all nations, and solidarity among all peoples.  Give us strength to stand against the demonic powers which prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Open our eyes to see the beauty, joy, redemption, and goodness which comes through obedience to your Son our Lord. Teach us to be a refuge of hope for all who are oppressed by injustice and violence.

Our Lady of Sorrows, most holy and afflicted mother,  of martyrs, you stood beneath the cross and witnessed the agony of your dying Son. In this world of violence, we ask you to pray for those who will die today because of war, economic chaos, injustice, and exploitation, especially the children.

Prepare them for the agony, despair, and terror of the violence that is upon them. Comfort them and hold them close to the bosom of thy Wounded Heart as they drink deeply of the bitter cup which is forced upon them.

Wipe their tears, calm their fears, welcome them to peace and safety. Eternal rest grant to them, and may perpetual light shine upon them. Amen.

Saint Romero, During a time of grave evil, you spoke with courage to rebuke the powerful, pleading with them to cease their violence, and repent of their murders. You called upon the rich to end their greed, to embrace just economic systems, and to relinquish their power. In solidarity you comforted the poor, gave them hope and strength, and witnessed the crimes against them, always speaking truth, justice, mercy, and love.

Teach us to understand our complicity with the sins of empire. Help us end our support for the structures of sin that bring violence and injustice into the world. Be our guide as we build structures of justice, mercy, love, and beauty.

O God, who by the preaching and teaching of Oscar Romero has given us an example of love and fortitude in the face of violence and greed, grant that we who reverence his life and ministry may also imitate his fidelity to truth, justice, and peace. Soon come the promise of Mary, that all tyrants will be cast down, the proud scattered, the lowly exalted, and the hungry filled with good things. through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Novena to St. John Chrysostom on behalf of the
Bishops of the United States of America 

Most Glorious and Venerable St. John Chrysostom,
Grace shining forth from your lips like a beacon has illumined the universe.
It shows to the world the treasures of poverty; it reveals to us the heights of humility.
Teaching us by your words, O Father John Chrysostom,
intercede before the Word, Christ our God, to save our souls!

Pray for the bishops of the United States of America,
who do not teach or practice the Catholic faith in its fullness,
that God will deliver them to orthodoxyand reform their ways of living,
so that as exemplars of orthopraxis, they will protect all life,
from the moment of conception to the time of natural death.

Teach them true solidarity with the poor, so that they
understand the consequences of their moral abandonment
of entire nations of human beings to a collective fate of cruelty and violence
because they were in the way of the American Empire and
its gluttonous lust for oil, supremacy, and blood.

As you refused to obey the aristocratic commands of your era,
help our bishops turn away from the political demands
that cause them to preach a false gospel of moral relativism regarding war and peace.

Having received divine grace from heaven,
with your mouth you teach all people to worship the Triune God.
Instruct our bishops with the wisdom of the Gospel,
so that they repent of their material cooperation with the objective evil of unjust war, and call all people, in authentic word and deed, to live in solidarity, peace, and justice.

All-blest and venerable St. John Chrysostom,
we praise you, for you are our teacher, revealing things divine!
Pray for us that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

O God, Who by the preaching and teaching of Saint John Chrysostom
has given us an example of fortitude in the face of persecution and political corruption, grant that we who reverence his life and ministry may also imitate
his example of fidelity to wisdom, truth, justice, and beauty,
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Our Father . . . Hail Mary… Glory be. . .

 

Thoughts for the journey.

Traditionally, we recall “seven sorrows of Mary”: the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the three-day separation from Jesus, and four incidents along the Via Dolorosa (Mary meets Jesus on the way to the crucifixion, the crucifixion, the taking down of his body, the burial).  Today, the sorrows multiple beyond our ability to comprehend. The daily news is a litany of horrors. Just when you think you have heard the worst, along comes something even worse.

In the face of the steady onslaught of violence, all of us are at risk of despair.

After the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, someone paid for billboards to be put up all around the city, quoting the Apostle Paul’s advice to the Romans:  “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  That is the plan. It begins with our relationship with Jesus, continues in prayer and bears fruit in the way we live our lives.

With Christ within us, it becomes easier to understand what is important.  So we always must ask — How is my life open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves me?  Jesus gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression. He was with Oscar Romero as he ministered to his people as they were persecuted and murdered by their own government.  Jesus was with Romero at the moment the bullet tore into his heart even as he elevated the Chalice during the Eucharistic Prayer. Jesus lives today and is at our side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, of our journeys of justice and peace.

The Blessed Oscar Romero of El Salvador knew something about hope in the face of horror.  Let us listen to some of his wisdom.

From the words of Romero. . .
Those who do not understand transcendence cannot understand us. When we speak of injustice here below and denounce it, they think we are playing politics. It is in the name of God’s just reign that we denounce the injustices of the earth.

Not just purgatory but hell awaits those who could have done good and did not do it. It is the reverse of the Beatitude that the Bible has for those who are saved, for the saints, “who could have done wrong and did not.” Of those who are condemned it will be said: they could have done good and did not. . .

Let us be today’s Christians. Let us not take fright at the boldness of today’s church. With Christ’s light let us illuminate even the most hideous caverns of the human person: torture, jail, plunder, want, chronic illness. The oppressed must be saved, not with a revolutionary salvation in merely human fashion, but with the holy revolution of the Son of Man, who dies on the cross to cleanse God’s image, which is soiled in today’s humanity, a humanity so enslaved, so selfish, so sinful. . .

A religion of Sunday Mass but of unjust weeks does not please the Lord. A religion of much praying but with hypocrisy in the heart is not Christian. A church that sets itself up only to be well off, to have a lot of money and comfort, but that forgets to protest injustices, would not be the true church of our divine
Redeemer. . .

Everyone who struggles for justice, everyone who makes just claims in unjust surroundings, is working for God’s reign, even though not a Christian. The church does not comprise all of God’s reign, God’s reign goes beyond the church’s boundaries. The church values everything that is in tune with its struggle to set up God’s reign. A church that tries only to keep itself pure and uncontaminated would not be a church of God’s service to people. The authentic church is one that does not mind conversing with prostitutes and publicans and sinners, as Christ did — and with Marxists and those of various political movements — in order to bring them salvation’s true message. . . .

Even when all despaired at the hour when Christ was dying on the cross, Mary, serene, awaited the hour of the resurrection. Mary is the symbol of the people who suffer oppression and injustice. Theirs is the calm suffering that awaits the resurrection. It is Christian suffering, the suffering of the church, which does not accept the present injustices but awaits without rancor the moment when the Risen One will return to give us the redemption
we await.

To be a Christian now means to have the courage to preach the true teaching of Christ and not be afraid of it, not be silent out of fear and preach something easy that won’t cause problems. To be a Christian in this hour means to have the courage that the Holy Spirit gives in the sacrament of confirmation, to be valiant soldiers of Christ the King, to make his teaching prevail, to reach hearts and proclaim to them the courage that one must have
to defend God’s law. . .

Everyone can contribute much that is good, and in that way trust is achieved. The common good will not be attained by excluding people. We can’t enrich the common good of our country by driving out those we don’t care for. We have to try to bring out all that is good in each person and try to develop and atmosphere of trust, not with physical force, as though dealing with irrational beings, but with a moral force that draws out the good that is in everyone, especially in concerned young people.

Thus, with all contributing their own interior life, their own responsibility, their own way of being, all can build the beautiful structure of the common good, the good that we construct together and that creates conditions of kindness, of trust, of freedom, of peace.

Then we can, all of us together, build the republic — the res publica, the public concern — what belongs to all of us and what we all have the duty of building. . . .

Let us not be disheartened, even when the horizon of history grows dim and closes in, as though human realities made impossible the accomplishment of God’s plans. God makes use even of human errors, even of human sins, so as to make rise over the darkness what Isaiah spoke of. One day prophets will sing not only the return from Babylon but our full liberation. “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. They walk in
lands of shadows, but a light has shone forth. . . :

Act of Caring for Creation: Reduce, reuse, repair, recycle, make it over, made do, do without.
We should respect the goods of Creation that God gives us so abundantly.  That means that we take care of what we have. The frugality of our grandparents served them well during the Great Depression.  Our profligate attitudes that trifle with the goods of Creation lay the foundation of ecological collapse.  It is far better to learn to live with less, so that there is more for others.

 

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!!)

Queenship of Mary

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Today, August 22nd, is a special day for everyone devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Traditional Liturgical Calendar it is the celebration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (which became a moveable memorial feast day in the New Calendar after Vatican II). In the New Calendar, it is the feast day of the Queenship of Mary.

This is one of those times when I think the New Calendar ‘gets it right,’ for just one week ago was the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven (and did I ever mess up in not writing about it; there’s always next year.) Today would mark the Octave, or eighth day of the feast. Octaves were much more popular a long time ago than in the post-Vatican II era. Octaves were celebrations of an important feast day for eight days; for example, Easter and Christmas are Octaves in the New Calendar, therefore it is ‘as if’ Christmas Day or Easter Sunday stretches out for eight days. Octaves establish that feast as being Really Important. So, the Queenship of Mary would be a perfect way to mark the Octave of the Assumption in that since Mary was Assumed into Heaven body and soul due to the divine prerogatives granted to her by virtue of her Immaculate Conception, what else could have happened on her glorious entry into Heaven than for her to be crowned Queen of the Universe and of All Creation?

Take Mary as your Queen. Consecrate yourself to her by either the method according to St. Louis de Montfort or St. Maximilian Kolbe. Entrust yourself to her motherly care and allow her to guide you in your daily actions. With her as a Mother, your sobriety is assured as your love for her and her Son Jesus will take away any need or desire for the drug or the drink.

 

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 of Novenas VII: Our Lady Queen of Peace and St. Joseph

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Today begins the Seventh of the Nine Novenas for Justice, Peace, and Creation, and this one is dedicated to Our Lady Queen of Peace and St. Joseph. It runs from August 13 through August 21, 2020.

I will not post this every day as the prayers and intentions are the same for each day. I’ll just leave it here for nine days; if I need to blog in the interim, I will just blog a reminder afterwards. For the background, please read this post (especially if you need to learn about who Bob Waldrop, the creator of this Novena, was, and why I am introducing it to you.) Or go here: A Novena of Novenas for Justice, Peace, & Creation.

Don’t worry if you jump in at some point later in the 81 days. To paraphrase Bob “just pick up whenever you happen to join in.”

AFTER THIS SENTENCE, THE WRITING IS ALL THAT OF BOB WALDROP, not me, Paulcoholic.

…

General Intention:  + For the creation of structures of beauty and goodness.

7th Work of Justice and Peace: Ensure fair distribution, subsidiarity, economic opportunity, justice, and food security for everyone everywhere.

Act of Caring for Creation: Get involved!  Support public and private initiatives that promote organic gardening and farming, public/community transportation, free range and pastured flocks and herds, energy conservation, urban agriculture, water conservation, local food systems, and community capacities for food and economic security.

God, come to my assistance. Lord, make haste to help me. +  Let us pray together in peace, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, help the helpless, strengthen the fearful, comfort the sorrowful, bring justice to the poor, peace to all nations, and solidarity among all peoples.  Give us strength to stand against the demonic powers which prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Open our eyes to see the beauty, joy, redemption, and goodness which comes through obedience to your Son our Lord.  Teach us to be a refuge of hope for all who are oppressed by injustice and violence.

Our Lady Queen of Peace, mystical rose, pray for all who create and sustain a culture of life and love that we will do so with endurance, hope, and abundance. May the candles we light glow bright with hospitality and hope, respect and love, peace and justice. Help us to turn away from war and embrace peace. Pray for us that we will reform our ways and manners of living so that the way we live calls for peace and not war.

Holy St. Joseph, Worker and Father, In faith you welcomed our Lord when He was yet within his Mother’s womb. You opened your heart in obedience to the Word of God. You protected Jesus and Mary and provided a home for them of peace, safety, and holiness. We honor you as patron of the Poor, and all who serve them, of Workers and Carpenters and Builders. Your heroic example shows us the way that we should go and we trust in you for protection in our time of need.

Holy St. Joseph, Guide and Protector, Open the minds and hearts of all who by their actions give power to structures of sin that enable oppression. Help us to understand the consequences of sins against justice, charity, and the care of Creation. Turn oppressors from ways of darkness, and help them to embrace the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Holy St. Joseph, help the helpless, comfort the dying, bring justice to the poor, and peace to all nations. Amen.

Novena to St. John Chrysostom on behalf of the
Bishops of the United States of America 

Most Glorious and Venerable St. John Chrysostom,
Grace shining forth from your lips like a beacon has illumined the universe.
It shows to the world the treasures of poverty; it reveals to us the heights of humility.
Teaching us by your words, O Father John Chrysostom,
intercede before the Word, Christ our God, to save our souls!

Pray for the bishops of the United States of America,
who do not teach or practice the Catholic faith in its fullness,
that God will deliver them to orthodoxyand reform their ways of living,
so that as exemplars of orthopraxis, they will protect all life,
from the moment of conception to the time of natural death.

Teach them true solidarity with the poor, so that they
understand the consequences of their moral abandonment
of entire nations of human beings to a collective fate of cruelty and violence
because they were in the way of the American Empire and
its gluttonous lust for oil, supremacy, and blood.

As you refused to obey the aristocratic commands of your era,
help our bishops turn away from the political demands
that cause them to preach a false gospel of moral relativism regarding war and peace.

Having received divine grace from heaven,
with your mouth you teach all people to worship the Triune God.
Instruct our bishops with the wisdom of the Gospel,
so that they repent of their material cooperation with the objective evil of unjust war, and call all people, in authentic word and deed, to live in solidarity, peace, and justice.

All-blest and venerable St. John Chrysostom,
we praise you, for you are our teacher, revealing things divine!
Pray for us that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

O God, Who by the preaching and teaching of Saint John Chrysostom
has given us an example of fortitude in the face of persecution and political corruption, grant that we who reverence his life and ministry may also imitate
his example of fidelity to wisdom, truth, justice, and beauty,
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Our Father . . . Hail Mary… Glory be. . .

Thoughts for the Journey.

In the May 1977 edition of the Catholic Worker newspaper, Dorothy Day wrote about events in the first years of the movement. . . “When bills piled up and creditors came, we used to go to church and pray, all of us taking turns, and we called this “the picketing of St. Joseph.” Once when I asked an unemployed chambermaid if she would take a half-hour of “picketing Saint Joseph” over at Precious Blood Church, she asked me if she was to carry a sign.”  There’s been a lot of picketing of St. Joseph since those days.

St. Joseph is our protector and guide. Each time I witness a blessing of a St. Joseph’s Table, I am always moved to tears at these words of that blessing. . . “All-provident God, the good things that grace this table remind us of your many good gifts. Bless this food, and may the prayers of Saint Joseph, who provided bread for your Son and food for the poor, sustain us and all our brothers and sisters on our journey towards your heavenly kingdom.”

Peter Maurin used to say that one of the goals of the Catholic Worker movement was to create a society “where it was easier to do good.”  It is often not easy to do good in our society, because there are great structures of sin that make it easy to do evil. But the spiritual truth of this is that every act of beauty, goodness, and wisdom weakens the structures of sin that make it easy to do evil, and strengthen the structures of beauty, goodness, and love that make it easier for us to do good.

In this year of our Lord 2018  we are 17 years into a series of unjust wars in the Middle East that originally were to protect our so-called “right” to oil and now have devolved into something we do, you know, because this is what we do. One thing has led to another thing and each new evolution of the situation is met with more violence, more war, more death and suffering. We wage war on poor people and kill them. Violence rules the day. The US Empire is presently at the top of the world heap, held up by structures of sin created by wealth and demonic evil, but like all empires, we have no place to go but down. Ash heap of history here we come! Our national bloodlust for war drives us toward that abyss.  Discerning eyes can see the coalition that is coming together that will challenge us for world hegemony. Sooner or later the rest of the world is going to gang up on us and do to us what we did to the Germans during World War II: totally destroy our nation. “Sow not in furrows of injustice, lest you reap a seven-fold harvest,” says the Bible and the prophet Sirach was surely talking to us.  That’s what structures of evil always do — collapse, crash, and burn.

Where is the Catholic Church in all this?  It is a tragedy of epic proportions faced with unjust war, the U.S. Catholic bishops did not take a stand for the Gospel of Life but instead opted for a position of moral relativism towards the unjust wars of the United States government. This gravely harms the Church’s witness to the protection of life from the moment of conception to the time of natural death. We obviously don’t believe that that’s true for the people of Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, or Iraq. If the Catholic Church in the US actually believed in their non-negotiable right to life, our bishops would have forbidden participation in those unjust wars.  The right to life is supposed to be a “non-negotiable” tenet of the Faith, but if you live in Afghanistan or Iraq, or are a soldier of the United States or one of our allies, the U.S. bishops have abandoned you to the not-so-tender mercies of unjust war.  Your right to life is apparently trumped by the American Nationalist demand for war, slaughter, death, and destruction.

Peace is the fruit of justice, as Pope Paul VI reminded us. All people are connected, rich and poor. The Gospel and these times call us therefore to the work of justice, to the celebration of life, goodness, beauty, virtue, responsibility, and joy. As we practice peace, non-violence, servant leadership, harmony, community, voluntary cooperation, and the proper stewardship of God’s creation, we may eventually get good at it, especially if we pray without ceasing.

With Christ within us, it becomes easier to understand what is important.  So we always must ask — How is my life open to the reality that Christ is alive and he loves me?  Jesus gave his life to save us and our societies from sin and oppression.  Jesus lives today and is at our side every moment of every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, of our journeys of justice and peace.

Act of Caring for Creation: Get involved!  Support public and private initiatives that promote organic gardening and farming, public/community transportation, free range and pastured flocks and herds, energy conservation, urban agriculture, water conservation, local food systems, and community capacities for food and economic security.

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!!)