Why do things happen? Huh?

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This post may not make much sense, but I’ll write it anyway.

Today has been so far, a lousy day. Details are unimportant. At any rate, in the past few years I’ve learned that everything happens for a reason, even though that reason may elude our attempts to discern it right away.

I think I am learning a lesson from today (a day which isn’t over yet.) That lesson is manifold but it relates to one consistent theme I’ve been taught in learning from events. That theme is that suffering (great or small) is necessary for our salvation. It is part of our Christian path that we must accept. It’s part of any decent Christian writing on the nature and necessity of suffering. No major discovery on my part. I’ve always felt that there was an additional reason for suffering. Perhaps dwell on it and discern from it a reason apart from basic acceptance of suffering. Maybe there is not always any reason apart from mere acceptance. Maybe there is, and we just may not find out the “why’s” right away. Or maybe we will and the answer may surprise us and we’ll be amazed at how God works things. Clearly we humans do not grasp the Big Picture and do not see how our suffering, whether it is a major thing or something that turns out to be minor fits into to God’s salvific plan for ourselves and for the rest of humanity. We don’t see all the interconnectedness between us and other people, be they acquaintances and total strangers. A solution may be right around the corner and we’ll feel stupid for having worried so much. Or be grateful.

I was teed off at God today, and yes I know He’s big enough to take it. But still it bordered on despair. Makes me wonder just how deep my faith actually is if I can bail over what may eventually turn out to be nothing. (I bet you’re just wondering what’s bugging me. HAH! Don’t even bother asking.) Anyhow, when times get tough, regardless of the severity, ranting and raving at God is OK, He understands, as long as in the end the despair is a false one, a temporary by-product of your human weakness. An Act of Contrition, said sincerely, along with the Serenity Prayer (which I just now remembered is available to say. DOH!) and you’ll get through. Oh, continue to rant and rave, but later you’ll be stronger for having kept your faith. Perhaps wondering if your faith is weak is akin to wondering if you’re crazy. If you have to ask, the answer is probably “no.”

Have a nice day. Even if it kills you. 🙂

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

My Way or His Way

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In my spiritual development (or “spiritual progress” as they like to say in AA) I have found that there is a very useful method by which one can come to terms with Church teaching and also discerning the meaning of the Bible. That method is to shift one’s perspective.

In what way?

To view things not from a human perspective, but from God’s.

Although that is difficult for a limited human to do (and we all are limited) it is possible.

Too often when we try and grasp Church teaching or try to interpret or understand the Bible we do it from the approach of our own selfish human ego. This will never work. The Bible and Church teachings are, in general, opposed to the human ego’s natural desire to want for itself and to satisfy its own cravings.

One short way of discerning God’s will that is applicable to this is the order of importance in who an individual serves or is concerned with. You are seeking God’s will if you:

  1. Put God first;
  2. Put other people second;
  3. Put yourself third.

(For married people I would assume that Number 2 can be broken down into 2a: Spouse; 2b: Children; 2c: other family members; 2d: other people.)

Taking this to the task of understanding Church teaching and developing a proper sense of Bible interpretation more in line with the Church’s authoritative interpretation we can ask:

  1. How does this passage or teaching best help us serve God?
  2. How does this passage or teaching best help us serve others?
  3. How does this passage or teaching best help us get us closer to God and building His kingdom? (For in doing so we develop spiritually.)

This is an act of humility. It deflates the ego, (EGO: Easing God Out) and allows the grace of God to enter and illuminate our soul.

Takes some time to develop the habit, but it works after a fashion.

Your way, or His way. How has your way been doing lately?

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!!)

Trust Not in Ourselves but in God

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Today’s Office of Readings during Morning Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours had this interesting passage from the beginning of Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians:

2 Cor 1:8-11

We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction that came to us in the province of Asia; we were utterly weighed down beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.
Indeed, we had accepted within ourselves the sentence of death, that we might trust not in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.
He rescued us from such great danger of death, and he will continue to rescue us; in him we have put our hope (that) he will also rescue us again,
as you help us with prayer, so that thanks may be given by many on our behalf for the gift granted us through the prayers of many.

The thing that struck me was that this was Paul talking, he and whomever was traveling with him preaching the Good News in Asia (what is now modern-day Turkey) had been enduring suffering and persecution almost beyond their endurance. They didn’t break, but survived whatever it was they were being subjected to.

Yes, they didn’t break, they trusted in God to deliver them from their peril and He rescued them. Paul also credits the prayers of others, probably the Corinthians he was writing to. Another thing to think about. We are a community, we pray for each other.

Remember this next time you feel that as a Christian you feel you should be secure from worldly attacks. If anything, being a Christian (especially a Catholic one) may make you a special target of worldly attacks. Some Christians feel that due to their Christianity, they should be rewarded with health and wealth, and given special treatment by God. His Son didn’t receive any, His Apostles didn’t, neither should we.

Same in our sobriety. We will probably feel the temptation to drink or drug or whatever until the day we die. Keep trusting in God.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Snatched from the grave

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

Psalm 107:17-20

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

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

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

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

We were all at the “gates of death”.

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

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

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

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Resentment

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I was in Holy Hour last night and chanced upon a passage from Genesis:

Genesis 4:6-7
So the LORD said to Cain: “Why are you so resentful and crestfallen?
If you do well, you can hold up your head; but if not, sin is a demon lurking at the door: his urge is toward you, yet you can be his master.”

Setting aside the whole thing about Cain and the First Murder, this passage offers an interesting comment on the dangers of resentment.

To resent something means to relive a hurt or wrong done unto you and to nurture that feeling.

It is seductive as it can make you feel like a “victim” and worthy of pity and therefore a just reason for keeping the wound bleeding.

It is dangerous as it will weaken your sobriety as you will lack serenity (or stable emotional well-being). It is also dangerous as it may cause you to sin. Resentment will open the door to a temptation to sin and Satan is always on the prowl looking for a weakness to exploit and thus lead you away from God.

Get over it, or if that’s honestly too hard, work towards getting over it. In a way, the fact that the next scene in Genesis 4 involves Cain murdering his brother Abel is appropriate. Sin can be a deadly thing, particularly if is a mortal one. See 1 John 5:16 –

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

Remember:

1 Peter 5:8 –

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour.

Don’t let yourself get devoured.

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!!)

More than you can handle

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Does God give you more than you can handle? Does it seem like you are burdened with “life” to the breaking point? Does God permit this to happen, that the trials and tribulations of daily living may seem beyond your ability to cope?

No.

While God permits evil to occur (so that good can be drawn out of it), He never allows us to become overburdened by troubles. He always gives us the graces needed to overcome whatever is befalling us. Whether or not we choose to accept and cooperate with that grace determines how well, or if, we survive. We still have free will and can reject God’s help.

From St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians:

1 Cor 10:13

No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.

It is my understanding that the above passage refers mainly to temptations, but I also feel that it refers to any trial.

To think that God intentionally loads up pain and suffering upon an individual implies a God with a serious personality disorder. It does not speak of a God who is kind and loving, a Father.

Moreover, no one is promised a life free of suffering. Even Paris Hilton went to jail. (!) The degree to which we accept suffering in our lives as a necessary component of our salvation is the degree to which we will be able to cope with whatever sorrow and sadness comes our way.

Sometimes it seems overwhelming. Sometimes it seems that God has abandoned us. I feel that way more often than not. But after a fashion I come around and realize that as a Christian I have no right to bemoan and bewail suffering. “Why me?” becomes “Why not me? Who am I that I can be above what Jesus Himself felt? Rejection, betrayal, aloneness, pain and agony?”

It is during these times that we gaze upon the crucifix, at the broken and bleeding body of Christ on the Cross and gain strength. It is not an easy task to meditate on, but the exercise is usually fruitful. Meaning, we gain from the attempt. Especially if we see our own suffering in perspective.

Burdens can be strengthening. If we survive this, we can beat the next thing more easily. We learn to rely upon a trust in God more. Therefore, we become closer to God. Through our pain and suffering we realize that we are being treated the way His own Son was treated. We may not be crucified in the sense of an Imperial Roman capital punishment, but we are crucified in other, smaller ways. But still painful, especially when we feel so alone.

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!!)

Virtue to love

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Last Friday night I went to my weekly Holy Hour. What’s a Holy Hour? See here.

Anyway, while in my Holy Hour I chanced upon this passage from The Second Letter of Peter:

2 Peter 1:5-8

…make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge,
knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion,
devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love.
If these are yours and increase in abundance, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The passage makes a continuous connection of a right living that will bear fruit in growing into a deeper relationship with Jesus. You will not be idle (spiritually stagnant or lukewarm?) and will instead grow in the knowledge of the Lord.

Starting with virtue and concluding with love, the Letter provides a roadmap for living and loving the Way of Jesus. We should not be content to merely provide lip-service to our Christian vocation. We are instead called to live by it fully. It isn’t just for Sunday morning. It’s a way of living out our full lives.

All the more reason to continue with, or struggle towards, a clean and sober 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!!)

Jesus is the center of all things

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The Second Reading from today’s Mass is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians:

Col 1:15-20

Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.

Just as the beginning of the Gospel of John (John 1:1-3) states that Jesus is the Word become Man, and was in the Beginning of everything:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.

…in Colossians Paul states the same thing. Jesus wasn’t just some itinerant preacher or ancient hippie and a great guy who taught nice things about how to get along. The New Testament declares some pretty heavy stuff concerning Christ’s place in the general scheme of things.

Yes, He was and is God. But the New Testament further defines His role in things beyond His primary purpose as humanity’s Redeemer. He is the Word of God, the part of the Divine Trinity through which God the Father enters into all created things and through which all things are created.

If creation was made perfect originally through Him (until Adam’s Fall caused sin and death to enter), then through Him we can be healed of our addictions and afflictions. (Either a divine miraculous healing or an increase in the courage to see a doctor.) Turn to Him who is the Divine Physician and petition Him to heal you of what ails you.

Just be open to hear the still, small voice within guiding you and pointing the way.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Wrestling

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

Genesis 32: 25, 31:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Destroyer has no chance.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Perseverance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is how saints are made.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)