Ash Wednesday-Lent begins

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Today marks the beginning of Lent. For the next 40 days (Sundays excluded) we prepare for the Passion of Christ (the trial, sentencing, Crucifixion and Death of Jesus , the Son of God).

Forty is a significant number in the Bible. It usually marks a time or period of trial or a passage through some thing to somewhere (symbolizing conversion). It rained on Noah and company for 40 days and nights. The Israelites wandered about the Sinai desert for 40 years. Elijah spent 40 days traveling to Mount Horeb from a spot in the desert outside Beersheba. Jesus went into the desert for 40 days and was tempted by Satan.

Fasting and abstinence marks the period of Lent. Catholics are bound by certain obligations regarding such. You can check with a priest to learn what they are (usually listed in the parish bulletin) or you can go to the EWTN website in the sidebar, click on “Lenten Reflections” and then click on “Fast and Abstinence”. Trying to link to it in yesterday’s post caused me much trouble and made me lose the post.

Anyway, fasting involves not eating. There’s more to it that just that. When a Christian fasts, they are linking the act to prayer. Their sufferings of the fast are being offered up to God as a sacrifice. This transcends ordinary prayer, which is powerful, but as you are linking a physical act to the prayer, it is more poignant. God hears all prayers, but the prayer of fasting rings through more clearly and is an acceptable offering pleasing to Him.

Abstinence involves not eating meat. Again, like fasting, abstinence involves much more than the Lenten regulations. The forsaking of something and offering it up as a prayer assists you in detaching yourself from worldly concerns and desires. It liberates your mind to dwell more deeply in God’s Truths, eschewing merely human concerns. Abstinence is the “What are you giving up for Lent?” question. But you do not have to just “give up” something. You can take on additional tasks. Increased prayer and meditation, especially on the Lord’s Passion are fruitful, as well as doing things for others. By doing things for others, it can be said that you are abstaining from the self.

Lent is also and excellent time to start work (or continue) on ridding yourself of character defects and personality problems. What better time to focus on and accelerate your conversion than the season of Lent? It’s perfect, because you are not alone on the journey. Other Catholics are along as well.

Have a productive Lent.

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!!)

Lent 2007

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I had a post marking the beginning of Lent, which starts tomorrow, but lost the whole thing during an edit. I took it calmly. Really. I shall attempt to re-write it tomorrow.

So instead, a small plea: If you are Catholic, please go to Mass tomorrow and receive the mark of ashes on your forehead. It is a wonderful sign of public witness to your Faith. It is a reminder to others that there are considerations besides the purely secular.

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!!)

Patience and Endurance

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The First Reading from today’s Mass

Sirach 2:1-11


My son, when you come to serve the LORD,
stand in justice and fear,
prepare yourself for trials.
Be sincere of heart and steadfast,
incline your ear and receive the word of understanding,
undisturbed in time of adversity.
Wait on God, with patience, cling to him, forsake him not;
thus will you be wise in all your ways.
Accept whatever befalls you,
when sorrowful, be steadfast,
and in crushing misfortune be patient;
and worthy people in the crucible of humiliation.
Trust God and God will help you; trust in him, and he will direct your way;
keep his fear and grow old therein.

You who fear the LORD, wait for his mercy,
turn not away lest you fall.
You who fear the LORD, trust him,
and your reward will not be lost.
You who fear the LORD, hope for good things,
for lasting joy and mercy.
You who fear the LORD, love him,
and your hearts will be enlightened.
Study the generations long past and understand;
has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed?
Has anyone persevered in his commandments and been forsaken?
has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?
Compassionate and merciful is the LORD;
he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble
and he is a protector to all who seek him in truth.

There are many actions and promises listed in the passage from Sirach. It is important to read and re-read the above quotation, for it addresses numerous issues familiar to people in recovery.

“Prepare yourself for trials.” We are acquainted with this. In our ill-preparation for trials, we were unable to meet them. Defeated by them, we drank for solace.

“…receive the word of understanding,
undisturbed in time of adversity.”

Listen with a receptive spirit and you will receive God’s word, you will receive comfort, and be undisturbed in time of adversity. People of deep faith are routinely shown to have fewer problems with anxiety and fear. The experience those things, but they are not controlled by them. They handle adversity with apparent calmness.

The next two sentences, from “Wait on God… through …grow old therein.“ show how important this steadfast faith is, and how we need to be patient with God’s benevolence and guidance. Things happen in God’s time, not ours. Adversity is to be accepted as part of the deal, but God is supporting you throughout. (We accept His Cross, and He will help us carry it. Read this.) In time we will be shown through our troubles, and be marked as people worthy of His love. Bemoaning adversity solves nothing.

In the next paragraph, “Fear the Lord…” means respect. It doesn’t mean cringe in terror. Study the promises of what happens when you respect God, and “wait”, “hope” “trust” and “love” Him.

You will be saved and protected. And reap much enlightenment along the way. Faith and perseverance on the long road to Heaven brings that reward.

In our drinking days and also in the early times of our recovery, we were impatient. We wanted what we wanted, and we wanted it NOW. This is not the way. We learn nothing from immediate gratification. In our recovery, we do learn that the journey itself is part of the destination. Take that to heart.

Now go read Sirach.

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!!)

Accepting the Cross

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From the Gospel reading for Friday, February 16:

Mark 8:34-38

Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake
and that of the Gospel will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
What could one give in exchange for his life?
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words
in this faithless and sinful generation,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of
when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

The life of the Christian is not intended to be easy. No special material or other worldly favors are granted those who are followers of Jesus. As the above Scriptural passage indicates Christians are expected to accept the cross of Jesus and and all the contradictions that go with it. “Lose life to save it…” and so on. Christ died on the Cross and saved us from damnation, we must “die on the cross” to free ourselves from our worldly orientation which says “Suffering is bad. Flee from it any way you can.”

We can see the parallels in our suffering from alcoholism. We turned away from the troubles of life, to ease our pain from them, by seeking medication in alcohol. This did not make our troubles any easier, or make them go away. It appeared so at first, because like normal drinkers who can use alcohol to “take the edge off”, we also found things soothing at first. But not for long.

To be a Christian means to accept suffering. One cannot avoid it, it is a natural part of human existence because of Original Sin. To avoid it only makes it worse. We need to recognize this and make a turnaround in our approach to suffering.

By accepting the cross, that is, to accept suffering as a part of our lives means to allow Jesus to assist us. By resisting suffering, we refuse Jesus’ help. We become one with Him, when we take up His cross. He becomes to us what Simon of Cyrene was to Him, a person pressed into service to bear the weight of suffering.

By turning into it, instead of fleeing, the trials and tribulations of life seem lesser. They aren’t, but by fleeing from them our perception of them makes them seem scarier. By turning into them and acccepting them, they are cut down to size.

This is not easy. We are like an ocean liner or oil tanker which takes miles of travel before turning. But eventually, and with persistence, it will work.

There will be backsliding. Times when things seem too much and we scream “ENOUGH!” But if we have the fortitude, we’ll recognize these for what they are and orient ourselves properly.

All this does not mean that we seek out suffering. We do not become masochists and take pleasure in it. We simply humbly accept whatever burdens come our way, acknowledge them and work through them. We roll up our sleeves and say “This pretty much sucks, but complaining about isn’t gonna help.”

In a way, we become martyrs, but without all the blood. That part of ourselves which yells “Run away! Run away!!” becomes quieter, and we become stronger, more able to overcome.

Face the monster of suffering. Make it shrink.

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!!)

Healing and Patience

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From the Gospel reading from today’s Mass:

Mark 8:22-26

When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida,
people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.
Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on the man and asked,
“Do you see anything?”
Looking up the man replied, “I see people looking like trees and walking.”
Then he laid hands on the man’s eyes a second time and he saw clearly;
his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.
Then he sent him home and said, “Do not even go into the village.”

We are alcoholics for whatever the reason, whatever the origins. We want and need a healing. Not necessarily with the idea of ever drinking again, but a healing of the craving and compulsion to drink.

And so we turn to Jesus, who came not for the healthy, but for the sick.
(Mark 2:17 Jesus heard this and said to them (that), “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”)

And so Jesus healed the blind man. But one curious thing, the man was not healed immediately. Why? The notes in the NAB translation say that it is symbolic of the gradual illumination of the Apostles eyes to the wisdom of Christ’s teachings. Probably, but let us take a harmless liberty and approach it from the perspective of this blog.

In our alcoholism, we frequently wanted things, and wanted them NOW. The same may be true in our recovery. We want to be better right away.

As this Gospel example shows Jesus healed the blind man, but gradually. We need to take this to heart. We can prayerfully request for Jesus to heal us of our afflictions, but the healing may take time. But as the episode shows, it will occur.

We have to learn patience and in God’s time we will be healed.

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!!)

Leaven: relapsing before the event

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From the Gospel according Mark 8:15
He enjoined them, “Watch out, guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”

This was from today’s Gospel reading.

Jesus was warning His disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod. Leaven is that substance, such as yeast, which starts the fermentation process by which bread is made.

Since he was specifically singling out dark and evil individuals that were opposed to His teachings, we can surmise that Jesus was warning against the influence of these people. The slightest suggestions, arguments or persuasions may set a person on a course away from Jesus and His Way. The smallest seed of doubt planted can grow into something that may be difficult to uproot.

Such as it is with us alcoholics and addicts. It is said that relapses just do not happen. They don’t suddenly occur. There is the idea that a person mentally relapses which sets up the later action of walking into a liquor store and walking out with a bottle of vodka. Something happened which placed inside the mind of the alcoholic that there was a need for a drink. It does not matter what. But the seed germinated and like a vine wrapped itself around the person’s desires and the relapse happened.

Going to meetings interrupts the thought processes which lead to relapse. As Catholics, we also have additional tools at our disposal.

I believe that the fertile ground for the leaven is isolation. We are alone. Our thoughts develop in separation from each other and also from God. With little positive external input, the darkness grows and your perception is warped and skewed and then after a while the idea of a drink is attractive. And so you drink.

We can end the isolation and dry up the fertile ground through contact with others. One way is found in the bloggings I’ve done under the “Service and Volunteering” labels. Another way is through prayer.

Prayer puts you back on the path to God and orients your mind in the proper way. It interrupts the dark thought processes by which you think that drinking is a nice idea. It cleanses you. It releases and frees you.

Grab your Catholic Bible, whether its the New American Bible used in the USA or another Catholic translation, get it and prayerfully read the Gospels. Meditate on them and slowly absorb and assimilate their wisdom.

Connect with Jesus.

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!!)

Hope is the Lord and His Church

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From the First Reading of the Mass for the Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (11 Feb 2007)

Jeremiah 17:5-8

Thus says the LORD:
Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings,
who seeks his strength in flesh,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a barren bush in the desert
that enjoys no change of season,
but stands in a lava waste,
a salt and empty earth.
Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
it fears not the heat when it comes;
its leaves stay green;
in the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still bears fruit.

The first two sentences can be thought to describe how we were during our drinking careers. Although we didn’t necessarily trust in human beings while we were drinking, we wanted to. And because we were untrustworthy, we were shunned, and we turned farther away from the Lord, to stand in a lava waste, a salty and empty earth.

After hitting bottom, we turned back to the Lord, by whatever means we had. We eventually ended up learning how to stay sober in AA, and thus were introduced to the concept of a Higher Power as an aid in keeping us sober.

By our own understanding, we came to believe that Jesus is that Higher Power, and by our own willingness were guided by the Holy Spirit in seeking out the Church. Many people in AA are suggested they seek out the Church of their youth as a possible source for spiritual growth and succor. Many Catholics return to the Faith. Many grow in it, but are arrested in their development by accepting too greatly the “Higher Power” concept and regard the Catholic Church as just one of another of Christian denominations. (It isn’t, and I’ll be starting a series of irregular postings on the subject of “Why the Church?” sometime soon.)

But as a seed to that end, re-read the last two sentences of the Scripture quote above. They can be describing us, after we’ve discovered how to handle sobriety, and especially how we are after we’ve accepted Jesus and His Church as the wellspring of our new life. Our “leaves stay green” and in times of drought we “show no distress.”

The Catholic Church is the Church that Jesus established, and it is the guardian of the fullness of the Gospel and Apostolic teachings.

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!!)

Selfishness – self centeredness!

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“Selfishness – self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root or our troubles.” (from Alcoholics Anonymous , 4th Edition, 2001, page 62.) The paragraph details further aspects of this, namely self-delusion, self-seeking and self-pity. Another section of the basic text of AA talks about alcoholism as “self-will run riot”. (I can’t find the page, sorry.)

I think the key word in the above paragraph is “self.” Alcoholism can be a world view turned inward upon the self. We alcoholics have certain problems with the world. It is not ordered according to our liking and God did not consult us. Therefore we turn our backs on the world in a selfish manner and seek to recreate it in the fantasies aided by alcohol. This increases our isolation from the world and escalates our negative attitude towards it. The world is an even more unfair.

One thing that AA teaches is that in recovery we have to change how we react to things. Since our worldview was messed up to begin with we reacted in a way in keeping with our delusional, fantastic interpretation. If the world is against us everything is sucked in through that filter. We react in a way that mirrors the world’s perceived hostility. And the world get more hostile.

Therefore we need to change how we react to things. The world is just there. It is indifferent to us, although we are an important part of it. (Hence Jesus’ Death and Resurrection) People do not go around plotting ways to cause our demise or tick us off, although many times it seems that way. Through a slow process of conversion initiated by whatever got us to stop drinking, we gradually begin to reprogram ourselves and change how we interpret the world and what it does. Our recovery starts with an admission of our powerlessness over that which brought us solace (and others pain).

As we continue down this path or recovery, we gradually repair our relationships. Our physical, mental and finally our spiritual healing develops as we also repair our relationship with God and then others.

We can continue this outward sign of our recovery by a further giving of ourselves in service and volunteering. I wrote about this a few days ago. When we give of ourselves without expecting anything in return we enhance that healing and the world looks different. You begin to feel and sense joy.

This is not an overnight happening. It takes time and courage to keep going this route. But the giving of oneself, in a sense almost a sacrificial offering, is a saving act. We are bringing ourselves closer to God. We cannot save ourselves in the sense of meriting heaven by our own efforts, but we can open ourselves to God’s graces by being in service to our community.

The Church teaches that God never sends anyone to Hell. Hell is chosen by those who reject God. Their rejection is so total because they are consumed entirely by the self. There was no room in them for genuine love and sacrifice.

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

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

A prayer for alcoholics (who may still suffer)

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For a Recovering Alcoholic

Lord, alcohol addiction is such a
sad and destructive way of living
life. Give them the grace to
acknowledge their addiction and
powerlessness over alcohol.
Help them to accept the support of
counselors, doctors and friends to
sustain their resolve. May they be
deeply aware of Your love &
forgiveness as they are freed from
this addiction.

We ask you this through Our Lord,
Jesus Christ.

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!!)

Here I am, send me!!

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An excerpt from the First Reading from today’s Mass on the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time:

Isaiah 6:5-8
Then I said, “Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth with it. “See,” he said, “now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” “Here I am,” I said; “send me!”

The Twelfth Step of AA reads: “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”

We were doomed, with unclean lips, unworthy due to our alcoholism (it seemed to us). Yet as a result of our conversion, our recovery from alcohol, our wickedness has been removed (so to speak) and our sin purged.

Now anew, “new wineskins” receiving the “new wine” of the Gospel, are we prepared to seek out and carry out this message of redemption? That no matter what our past, we are now qualified by those experiences to bring the message to those who still suffer? And are we knowledgeable enough about our Catholic Faith to use it in bringing forth the fullness of Gospel and Apostolic truth that is the Catholic Church?

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Christian recovery websites and blogs. Almost all are Evangelical or non-denominational. That is one reason I started Sober Catholic.

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!!)