First Sunday of Advent

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From the Second Reading from today’s Mass for the First Sunday of Advent:

Romans 13:11-14;

Brothers and sisters:You know the time; 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 lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

Today the Church begins a new liturgical year with the start of Advent. Why is this particularly useful for us sober alcoholics? Because Advent is the time during which we prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus. Advent means that Christmas (or Jesus’s Birth) is near. If you had been attending Mass or studying the Sunday and Daily Mass Readings during November you would have noticed that the Church was focusing on death and the end of the world (or the Second Coming of Jesus). Fitting, as November is dedicated to the blessed dead. The Church was reminding us of our own mortality and also that of the world’s. Immediately following that month, we are happily reminded of Jesus’ First Coming, His birth as a mortal human. So for two months or thereabouts, the Church is trying to get us to prepare for the arrival of Jesus in our lives. Why?

From today’s Gospel Jesus says:

Matthew 24:42-44;

Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into.

So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

Are we prepared in our internal spiritual lives and in our external moral lives? Are we ready for Him to come? When He arrives, either in our commemoration of His Birth or sometime in the future when the world ends, would He find in us people of strong moral character, of strong faith in Him and in His Church? Or will He find us caught up in the distractions of the world, in our own selfishness and sinful ways? Will He find us as Christians, true followers of Him?

Start preparing for the arrival of Jesus. Advent has a penitential character like Lent, although not a sorrowful style as we are awaiting His birth, a joyous event. God deigned to become one like us (in all ways but sin), and as a humble, innocent little baby. He didn’t have to. The least we can do is examine and inspect our lives and humble ourselve to admit our imperfections and sinfulness and struggle to overcome them. We amend our lives. We repent and confess our sins and struggle to not repeat them.

Start using this Advent and work on those areas of your life that need improving. No one should be content with the state of their moral and spiritual lives. We can all maintain and improve our spiritual progress.

Keep your eyes on the prize: Jesus is coming! Are you ready?

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!!)

New Matt Talbot site!

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There is a new site, actually a blog, dedicated to Matt Talbot. A Sober Catholic reader is the creator of the site, called “The Venerable Matt Talbot Resource Center”, and it can be found here:

http://venerablematttalbotresourcecenter.blogspot.com/

Matt Talbot was an Irishman and alcoholic who died in 1925. He will probably be the Patron Saint of Alcoholics if he ever gets around to being canonized by the Church. He was declared “Venerable” in 1975, meaning his life is worthy of study and emulation. All he needs are two miracles attributed to his intercession and canonization is a done deal.

Go to this site, I highly recommend it. Online Catholic resources for alcoholics are few (which is why I started Sober Catholic) and Matt Talbot is a sure guide and model for us Catholic alcoholics and this new site fills a void. I have also added the link in my sidebar.

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!!)

Sober Catholic is Back!!

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After a delay of a few weeks, I am able to announce that I am back to blogging.

The long version of the story (there is no short version):

I relocated in October to be closer to my girlfriend, who I met in an online Catholic dating website. This was facilitated by my finding a job in early October.

So far, so good. Unfortunately (or not, depending upon how you look at it) I had to begin this job right away. So for a few weeks I had to split time between staying in my old place (200 mi/320 km East of her) and in accommodations near her. The weekly 3.5 hour commute was tiring and my free time in the old place was spent boxing up and packing, not blogging.

When I was able to find an apartment (which took up my time while I was in my new area) I thought I would be able to resume blogging by early November. But no! My girlfriend’s sister had decided that she no longer liked the details and situations involved with home ownership and wanted to move out of her house. She offered to rent her house to me at a fraction of the mortgage, with the notion that after my girlfriend and I marry in early-ish 2008 she’d move in (as wives do tend to live with their husbands!) and we’d pay the rest of the mortgage. Good deal. But, there was some misunderstanding or miscommunication about when I can move into the house, and although I thought I’d be living there by the end of November, it turns out that it won’t be until towards the end of December.

While I was under the original understanding of a November move, I decided that I wouldn’t bother with turning on all the utilities as I would be leaving in a few weeks anyway. So no gas heat or Internet at the new apartment. I didn’t want to go through the whole unpacking and setting up of my Mac for just a short period. I’m not that much of a computer geek concerning hardware. I could have blogged from my girlfriend’s computer, but she has an old “1990’s style”, dial-up connection 🙂 and I didn’t want to tie up her phone line for the hours that I would be on. An alternative was to have written blogposts offline an uploaded them later, but I chose not to do that.

Perhaps that was a bad decision, but I’m sticking with it as in all honesty, I’m not sure that I could have focused on Sober Catholic as much as I’d like to. So I’d just login to Blogger once in a while and write a short post to let anyone interested that I’m still alive and that the blog will return. I figured that new Sober Catholic readers would just spend the time getting caught up with old posts and older readers re-reading them, as many are long. Or everyone would avail themselves with exploring all the links in the sidebar as I occasionally exhort readers to do. After all, Sober Catholic is about using your Catholic Faith and spirituality in staying sober. The links are comprehensive sites all about the Faith, so why not explore?

At any rate, personally I was trying to cope with a whole host of new things all at once, and it was an effort to maintain sanity and sobriety. Figure this: in the last 2 months I moved from my hometown to get closer to my beautiful, holy, prayerful future wife, and all the discernment that is necessary for that, get a handle on a new job, get settled into a new place (or make that places, as I will be in this apartment for another month, I decided to get gas heat last week and early this week Internet access. I thought there’d be additional hook-up charges but was wrong. If I’d have known that a few weeks ago, I’d have gotten them done then) and how to get around a new area.

I was never in danger of relapsing, but getting used to many major, fundamental new things all at once was trying and stressful, and a test of faith and sobriety. Not a test inasmuch as losing either, but of a strengthening kind. At least regular blogging can resume, and perhaps within a few weeks can develop into a daily effort. My new job is 2nd shift (3:30-11:30 PM) meaning that when I awaken each morning I shall spend a good part of it writing. I wasn’t able to do that before, hence the average 2-4 posts a week. I have aspirations towards writing fiction, but after my morning prayer/breakfast/hygiene rituals, blogging will be first as it is a great way to get the brain engaged. I have plans to start another blog related to Sober Catholic. Early afternoons and evenings off will be devoted to fiction. My lady and I have plenty of time daily for each other, too.

So life is good and getting better. If this is God’s will for me, then my dreams are starting to be realized. If there is any lesson for anyone in all this, it is that you shouldn’t lose faith in your dreams, if they are meant to be, they will come true. Perhaps in God’s time and manner, not yours. Persevere and things will turn out well and the time it took to achieve them may have been fruitful. Maybe not the way you want, but in the way you need.

I apologize to anyone who didn’t like Sober Catholic going silent for nearly 2 months. I hope you accept and understand my reasoning, even if it might have been flawed at points. Be that as it may, I have engaged in a tremendous amount of growth and have an increased understanding of sobriety. I have learned to cope with negative developments and situations in my life these 5.5 sober years, and now I was tested with positive changes. They can be equally threatening to sobriety. I hope to bring that to Sober Catholic and hopefully the blog will be better as a result.

I had mentioned that I will be moving again in the latter half of December, that move however won’t be as disruptive. I doubt there will be any interruption in blogging, or at least not much.

Anyway, I’m back here. Enjoy Sober Catholic, and the new blog as well, which will be at http://the-four-last-things.blogspot.com sometime in December 2007 or January 2008.

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!!)

Admin Update

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For any interested readers of this blog, there will be a delay in its resumption.

As I’ve said before, Sober Catholic will resume, but due to a few things connected with my ISP and a happy change in my living situation, the blog’s return may be delayed to the end of November.

Thank you for your patience.

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!!)

Admin Notes/Blog Hiatus/Rosary Meds Update

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Just a short note to inform anyone wondering that posting will resume either next week or mid-November, depending on how well I can pack for the move.

If I can wedge a small, old, beat-up typewriting table in my car then I can probably resume blogging next week, assuming of course the phone company remembers to switch my DSL service to my new apartment.

If the table can’t be wedged then blogging won’t resume until I can rent a van after the first week in November and haul my furniture to the new place. Inability to stuff the table in the car isn’t likely as I can jam pretty much anything into something if my mind is set to it, and I’m not too concerned about appearance, after all, the table is old, as is the car. Besides, I think that’s how I moved it in the first place. Anyway, what’s a few more dents and dings and tears?)

There is the possibility of borrowing a table if wedging can’t be done.

I wonder if there’s a patron saint of packing and moving?

At any rate, the rosary meditations that I had hoped would be done by now will be very much late. My apologies.

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!!)

Admin Notes/Sporadic Hiatus (Rosary Meds)

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Dear Readers,

Just a short note to say that due to a sudden change in my personal and professional life, the Rosary meditations that I have been writing are being put on hold.

Blogging over the next month may be far more sporadic than usual as I have accepted a job offer in another city, so I have to prepare to relocate and move.

This blog will continue, it will not be abandoned. But for the next few weeks my priorities will be concerned with moving and starting up a new life a few hours away from where I am now.

Check in to Sober Catholic now and then, or better yet, subscribe via email or one of the feeds so you’ll know when there’s activity (look in the sidebar under the “subscriptions” stuff).

Pray for me as I always pray for my readers.

Take care, and God Bless. I shall be around here.

Love,

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!!)

Consecration Anniversary

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Today marks the fifth anniversary of my consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary as a member of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s apostolate, the “Militia of the Immaculata”. An apostolate is a Catholic organization, or the work of one Catholic, to spread the Gospel of Jesus. In the sidebar, if you scroll way down you’ll see a collection of links under “Militia of the Immaculata – St. Maximilian Kolbe” that can tell you anything that you want to know about the MI and St. Max.

Being consecrated to Mary means that you’ve given yourself to her, or sworn yourself to live for her honor. This may be a little hard or strange to comprehend if you’re new to the Catholic Faith, either as a convert, a revert (one who went away and then came back), or you’re just exploring Catholicism. Don’t stress out about it, just put it in the back of your mind for future reference or consideration.

I’ve often wondered as to the effect or impact on my life that my consecration has. I do believe that it has been important to my sobriety. I struggled very hard with my sobriety early on. It took 7 months of AA meetings before I sobered up and even then it was due more to a physical inability to get to a liquor store than any 12-Step living. Even after I stopped, I relapsed after 3 1/2 months, and after that my sobriety was wobbly. Yeah, I was not a model member of AA.

Perhaps it ended up as a result of just an evolving clear headedness or sustained sobriety, but my sobriety (sober date 22 May 2002) has survived a considerable number of shocks to it. And through it all I have felt a steady, guiding hand. Perhaps the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and my receptivity to its promptings, or maybe also the guidance and maternal protection of the Spirit’s spouse: Mary. Throughout these shocks, from my own Earthly mother’s decline in health and subsequent death, to job and financial struggles and also familial rifts, there has been this soft, loving presence in along with the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit.

Mothers are usually the glue that holds a family together. Everything revolves around Mom. Mom provides the healing touch, the kiss on the boo-boo or the unconditional understanding and love when you mess up. Mom is always there for you, no matter what you do.

Mary, it is often mentioned in Catholic devotional literature, often makes up for what we are lacking in our prayer life. At least for those devoted to her. Whether we are distracted in prayer, or our prayer is stumbling and flawed, she corrects it for us on its way to God.

If those devoted to her are themselves stumbling and flawed (and who amongst us isn’t?) then her maternal protection and correction helps us along.

My consecration to her 5 years ago I do believe strengthened my sobriety for the tougher times I was going to face in the next 5 years (and long into the future). This is my belief, and I have no empirical data to support it. Such is the way of faith. But there is a strong part of me that shudders to think of what the last 5 years would have been like for me without my consecration to Our Lady.

Now, the Militia of the Immaculata is NOT a recovery organization, nor is it a rehabilitation or treatment center. But I think it was important enough for my sobriety that I included all those links to it in the sidebar to my blog. Visit them when you can.

Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee, for all those who do not have recourse to thee, for enemies of the Catholic Church, and for those recommended to you. St, Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us. Amen.

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!!)

The Rosary

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The Rosary is an ancient devotion used by Catholics. It has been around for about 800 years. I have added links in the sidebar (See “Rosary”) that go into its history and development in more detail than what I shall do here.

The Rosary isn’t about the Blessed Virgin Mary, it’s about Jesus. In Catholic teaching, Mary points the way to Jesus. We received Him through her; the first prophecy of Him during His life was after Simeon took Him from Mary’s arms during His presentation in the Temple; His first public miracle was after her prodding (wedding feast at Cana); and she became our Mother after He gave her to his disciple John on Calvary. Mary is the path to Jesus.

It is Scriptural. I said it’s about Jesus. The Bible is the Word of God and Jesus is that Word of God made flesh (Incarnate), therefore the Bible is Jesus.

It is also Twelve-Step friendly. The 11th Step of AA reads:

“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God (as we understand Him), praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out.” (from Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th edition, New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001. Also known as “The Big Book”)

You want to know God’s will for you? The Bible is a good place to start looking. You want a great model for following the will of God? His own Mother is perfect. By saying the rosary you will be meditating on her and the Scriptural passages each section to the Rosary refers to. You can nicely combine Mary’s submission to God’s will with direction from Sacred Scripture.

There are four groups of “Mysteries” of the Rosary. A Mystery is something Divine we cannot fully understand.

The first are the “Joyful Mysteries”. These relate to Jesus’ birth. The five Joyful Mysteries are the Annunciation, in which the Archangel Gabriel announced the coming of the Messiah to Mary, pursuant to her acceptance of her role. (The will of God thing.) The second Joyful Mystery is the Visitation, in which Mary ran off and visited her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with the precursor to the Messiah, John the Baptist. The third is the Birth of Jesus, Himself (the Incarnation). The fourth is the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, in which the prophet Simeon publicly acknowledged Him to be the Messiah, and foretold His role in Jewish history. And the last Joyful Mystery is the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. Apparently when Jesus was twelve, Mary and her husband Joseph lost track of Him when they were celebrating Jewish Holy Days in Jerusalem. He was missing for two days before they noticed. (“I thought He was with you!” “No, I thought He was with you!” Oy, vey!!!) Anyway, they went looking for Him and found Him in the Temple, speaking with the scribes and other teachers of the Law.

Next up are the Luminous Mysteries, which concern the life of Jesus. The first Luminous Mystery is the Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. The next is the Wedding Feast at Cana. The third Luminous Mystery is the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God. The fourth is the Transfiguration, in which Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus on Mount Tabor, and they clue Him in to what awaits Him in His upcoming Crucifixion. The last is the Establishment of the Eucharist (the Last Supper).

The next group of Mysteries are the Sorrowful, which concern the Passion of Jesus. First up is the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the second is the Scourging at the Pillar. The third Sorrowful Mystery is the Crowning with Thorns. The fourth is the Carrying of the Cross. The last Sorrowful Mystery is the Crucifixion.

The last group of mysteries are the Glorious, which involve His post Crucifixion life and also involve Mary herself. We start with the Resurrection, followed by the Ascension into Heaven, after which is the Descent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost). The next two involve Mary, and although are not explicitly referred to in Scripture, are strongly implied if you comprehend Biblical theology about Original Sin and the importance of Mary and her acceptance of God’s will. “Strongly implied” like the Trinity is strongly implied even though there is no specific reference to God being a Trinity of Divine Persons, although still just one God. The fourth Glorious Mystery is the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. Rather than dying and suffering the corruptibility of death, at her death she was bodily assumed into Heaven. (She was free of Original Sin, being immaculately conceived, and bodily decay is a consequence of Original Sin. Read Genesis 3. I’ve written about the Immaculate Conception before, in this post .) The last is Mary’s Coronation as Queen of Heaven. This is significant as Mary is the daughter of God the Father, the mother of God the Son, and is the spouse of God the Holy Spirit. She was handpicked from all eternity to be the woman fulfilling those roles. Of all of our Fallen Race, she is the best.

Common practice holds that the Joyful Mysteries are recited on Monday and Saturday, the Luminous on Thursday, the Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday, and the Glorious on Wednesday and Sunday. This isn’t mandatory, but following this custom united your prayers with all those who are also praying the Rosary that day.

You can read about how to pray the Rosary here . If you have speakers on, the site plays a nice song to Mary. Turn off your iTunes and listen. 🙂

Why am I bringing up all this about the Rosary? Sober Catholic is a blog about Catholic spirituality and how it can be the primary tool to achieve and maintain your sobriety. The Rosary is probably, after the Mass, the most common Catholic spiritual practice and devotion. It can be a means by which you can focus your sober Catholic spirituality.

Plus, I am going to plant myself in front of my iMac and write 20 posts this weekend about the Rosary. One post for each Mystery. Makes up for my relative lack of posting this past week or so as I was mulling over how to do this.

PS: I just noticed that this is my 150th post. What is interesting is that the traditional Rosary had 150 “Hail Mary’s” said amongst the Mysteries (the non-traditional Mysteries are the Luminous ones. (They were added by Pope John Paul the Great in 2002. They are optional, but I recommend including them.) Nice coincidence.

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!!)

Our Lady of the Rosary

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October 7th is celebrated in the Church as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. It stems from a major naval battle that Catholic Christian forces won against a superior invading Moslem fleet. It was fought on October 7, 1571. You can read about it here.

To celebrate the decisive victory, which if lost would have opened up Europe to Muslim invasion and probable forced conversions to Islam, the Pope established the Feast of Our Lady of Victory. If you read the article in the link above, the victory was attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary’s intercession. The Feast was renamed “Our Lady of the Rosary” later on.

The following is a “Litany” which is a form of prayer in which a greeting to or title of the saint who’s intercession you are requesting is said, followed by a response. It can be said by one person, or in a group. If in a group, a leader reads the text not in italics, and the others gathered respond with the text in italics. Litanies are nice prayers because they can help you focus your mind on specific aspects of the saint and Catholic spirituality.

My thanks to Rose S., a non-alcoholic special friend of mine for finding this for me. 🙂

Our Lady of Victory Litany

Lord, have mercy on us,
Christ, have mercy on us,
Lord, have mercy on us,
Christ, have mercy on us,
Christ, hear us,
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us,
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

The response for the following greetings is ‘Pray for us.’
Our Lady of Victory,
Victorious daughter of the Father,
Victorious Mother of the Son,
Victorious Spouse of the Holy Spirit,
Victorious servant of the Holy Trinity,
Victorious in your Immaculate Conception,
Victorious in crushing the serpent’s head,
Victorious over all the children of Adam,
Victorious over all enemies,
Victorious in your response to the Angel Gabriel,
Victorious in your wedding to St. Joseph,
Victorious in the birth of Christ,
Victorious in the flight to Egypt,
Victorious in your exile,
Victorious in your home at Nazareth,
Victorious in finding Christ in the temple,
Victorious in the mission of your Son,
Victorious in His passion and death,
Victorious in His Resurrection and Ascension,
Victorious in the Coming of the Holy Spirit,
Victorious in your sorrows and joys,
Victorious in your glorious Assumption,
Victorious in the angels who remained faithful,
Victorious in the happiness of the saints,
Victorious in the message of the prophets,
Victorious in the testimony of the patriarchs,
Victorious in the zeal of the apostles,
Victorious in the witness of the evangelists,
Victorious in the wisdom of the doctors,
Victorious in the deeds of the confessors,
Victorious in the triumph of all holy women,
Victorious in the faithfulness of the martyrs,
Victorious in your powerful intercession,
Victorious under your many titles,
Victorious at the moment of death,

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Spare us, Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Hear us, Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Have mercy, Lord.
V. Pray for us, blessed Lady of Victory.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Our Lady of Victory, we have unshaken confidence in your influence with your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Humbly we ask your intercession for all of us associated under your title, Our Lady of Victory.

We beg your powerful assistance also for our own personal needs (Please mention here your special intention in your own words.) In your maternal kindness please ask Jesus to forgive all our sins and failings, and to secure His blessings for us and for all the works of charity dedicated to your name. We implore you to obtain for us the grace of sharing Christ’s victory and yours forever in the life that knows no ending. May we join you there to praise forever the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, one God, for all ages to come. Amen.

OK, I introduce this Litany aside from the fact that the Feast is tomorrow, because I am about to embark on a series of major postings on the Rosary this weekend. October is dedicated to the Rosary, and therefore it is a fine time to introduce this devotion to Sober Catholic readers who may be rusty or unfamiliar with it. It is a great method to focus your spirituality.

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 Relapse

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A troubling admission for an alcoholic is one in which you admit to having returned to drinking (No, don’t worry, I haven’t.)

The reasons for a relapse are as varied as the alcoholic. Relapses occur after one has had a period of sustained sobriety. Something happened which made you return. Life and it’s troubles and stresses got bigger than the tools you’ve used in the past to deal with them.

Do not be ashamed about a relapse. It happens. Just pick yourself up, talk to someone about and proceed forward. Think about it and analyze why it happened. As God brings good out of evil, you can bring some “learning experience” out of the relapse. If needed, go to a 12-Step Meeting and announce it. This is a profound act of humility but much compassion and understanding will be shown you.

The long darkness that led to your drinking again may be over. Or not. But if not, it will be by not using the relapse as an excuse to destroy yourself with thoughts and feelings of uselessness. They serve no useful purpose.

Just be aware that whatever it is you went through and experienced did not make you unique. What happened has happened to others. This is why talking about it with someone or attending a 12-Step meeting may be useful. Chances are others have also relapsed in the past. Perhaps someone is on the verge and your experience will prevent them from doing that.

Talk about it. You’ve lost nothing, just some time. Rise up, and be on your way again.

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!!)