Sober
for Christ
S piritually O bedient B eatitude E ucharist R econciliation
The Rosary vs. Concupiscence
My name is John W.
Garcia and I am a Catholic Christian from
This story of how
the Blessed Virgin Mary intercedes for me is truly a gift to share with all who
may read this. It is the graces from meditating on the mysteries, which are the
life, death, and resurrection of Christ that our Blessed Mother is able to
intercede for us by crushing the enemies head. The Blessed Virgin Mary aids me
in vigilance to control “the tinder to sin” or “Concupiscence.” Concupiscence
is an inclination to sin which calls us to a spiritual battle on a daily basis.
This Concupiscence can and will manifest itself in addiction unless we combat
it with the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist.
I grew up in an
emotionally abusive family. I was molested and saw a lot of drugs and
infidelity. After finally receiving my Sacraments I fell away from
As someone who
lived it, I must now share with all addicts that the real cure is Christ Jesus,
the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church, the intercession of His Blessed Mother the
Virgin Mary (Praying the most Holy Rosary), living a Virtuous life, and total
obedience to serving the LORD our GOD by Obeying the 10 Commandments. There is
no other Cure on the face of this Earth other than Church that can lead us to
salvation.
Archbishop Fulton
J. Sheen says in one of his sermons “An addict is someone who is suffering from
a moral heart attack”.
By falling away
from a Sacramental life and a life in the Church Christ instituted I led a life
of addictions and sin. After my mother died; it would be seven years of pain
and suffering before I would listen to God in my heart as He was always calling
me to himself for Christ Crucified is Salvific.
In 1997, my first
love from 7th grade would re-enter my life. She was the one at age 12; I knew
God had chosen for me. To this day my wife still has those love letters I wrote
to her in 1984. Laura has always been a devout servant of the Lord. She is the
reason I came home to the Church. How can you bring someone back to
It was also in
1997 that I attended my 1st Catholic Family Conference. I heard Dr. Scott Hahn,
Tim Staples, Jesse and Johnny Romero. I even met Fr. Corapi at another
conference and he shared his story of addictions and how the Sacrament of
Penance is the Sacrament of Healing. I also met many orthodox lay faithful this
year that would become a part of my family’s life who all display what Pope
John Paul the II called the greatest theological virtue, “Charity”. I remember
telling my wife that I would one day follow in their steps as I knew in my
heart that God was calling me to share my story to give others who suffered as
I did HOPE. I became a Catechist and played a significant role in our Parish,
although my addictions continued to be a problem for I could not combat them
and so relapses were frequent.
A few of the great
joys of my life in the next nine years is that my wife and I were married in
August 21 of 1999. Our daughter Faith was born on July 21 in the Jubilee Year
and our daughter Hope was born on November 2 (All Souls Day) in 2006. There were
great sufferings as well. I was diagnosed as being Bi-polar and put on
medication. I even attempted suicide. Homes and cars were taken away. I spent
time in treatment centers. I joined 12 step programs pursuing sobriety but
could never reach a year. I spent time in detox centers, a 30 day treatment
center, and a 90 treatment center which focused on a “higher power” and the 12
steps (not the Eucharist and Penance). It was until going through what I did
until I realized that only
In early 2006 I
relapsed and spent construction funds to support my addictions. For the first
time in my life criminal charges were made against me. I then lost my job and
my wife and I separated. I would have only had to do community service and
re-pay the money, however I missed two court dates as a result of further
relapses and went missing for two weeks before I was finally arrested after
praying to God and telling Him “I surrender and whatever your will is, let it
be done”. It was my beloved wife who made the 911 call that led to my arrest.
In February of
2007, I was sentenced to 16 months in State Prison where I only served 8 1/2
months. I was spiritually broken. God knew what He was doing by sending me to
prison where I would spend the next 6 ½ months of life in a two man cell with a
hard core gang members.
I immediately
began praying the Rosary on a daily basis and asked for the Blessed Virgin
Mary’s help. I was given a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe from my cell mate
and immediately taped it to my wall. My cell mate showed me how to make string
from the thread from our boxers and I literally made a Rosary from this string.
It was shortly after praying the Rosary I stopped taking psychiatric meds. I
have never needed them since. Thanks be to God.
I read the Holy
Bible in 2 ½ months and understood the truths it contains. So many things were
revealed to me about our faith. All I wanted to know about sobriety was right
there in the written word. Here are just a few passages:
Jesus says in Luke
21:34-36 / “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and
drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise
like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the
earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape
the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the son of man.”
1 Peter
1 Peter 4:7 / The
end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious and sober for your prayers.
1 Peter 5:8-11 /
Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith,
knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same
sufferings. The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ
Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you
have suffered a little. To Him be dominion forever. Amen
Galatians 5:19-25
/ Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness,
dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.
I warn you as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not
inherit the
Romans 12:3 / For
by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more
highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the
measure of faith that GOD has apportioned.
1 Corinthians 5:11
/ But I now write to you not to associate with anyone named a brother , if he
is immoral, greedy, an idolater, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a robber, not even
to eat with such a person.
1
Thessalonians 5:6-11 / Therefore, let us
not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober. Those who sleep go
to sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we are
of the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and
the helmet that is hope for salvation. For God did not destine us for wrath,
but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that
whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him. Therefore,
encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.
1 Titus 2:1-5 / As
for yourself, you must say what is consistent with sound doctrine, namely, that
older men should be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith,
love, and endurance. Similarly, older women should be reverent in their
behavior, not slanderers, not addicted to drink, teaching what is good, so that
they may train younger women to love their husbands and children, to be
self-controlled, chaste, good homemakers, under the control of their husbands,
so that the word of God may not be discredited.
One night while
meditating on the Rosary in my cell, this came to my mind…..Soberly means:
S Spiritually
O Obedient
B Beatitude
E Eucharist
R Reconciliation
L Love
Y Yiso
This; my brother
and sisters is our Faith and the way to sobriety and the way to eternal life.
This is what the word sober means to me which I believe was inspired by our
Blessed Mother (the new Eve).
I received my
first package from my wife in April and it contained an Armed Forces Prayer
Book where I furthered my meditation on the mysteries of the Rosary and what
they contained. I also received a Catholic Study Bible, a Vatican 2 Sunday
Missal and a Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) from a brother in Christ at
my parish.
My prayer life was
primary as it was all I could do besides study our faith. I love how Bishop
Fulton Sheen describes the three different types of prayer;
- In Vocal Prayer
we go to God on foot
- In Meditation we
go to God on horseback
- In Contemplation
we go to God in a jet
The Catechism
taught me how to pray in all three ways. It took me three weeks to read the
Catechism, which changed the direction of my life. In 1986, Pope John Paul the
II entrusted a council headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to give us the first
new Catechism of the Catholic Church in 400 years. If Cardinal Ratzinger, now
Pope Benedict the XVI and Pope John Paul the II, the successors of Saint Peter,
tell me that the Catechism will prepare me for eternal life, then this simply
explains why it has engraved in my heart the three things it contains:
- Sacred Scripture
- Sacred Tradition
- Sacred
Magisterium
Then I read this
in the Catechism and realized the importance of living our Faith.
At the heart of
catechesis: Christ
(CCC) 426 "At
the heart of catechesis we find, in essence, a Person, the Person of Jesus of
Nazareth, the only Son from the Father. . .who suffered and died for us and who
now, after rising, is living with us forever. "To catechize is "to reveal
in the Person of Christ the whole of God's eternal design reaching fulfillment
in that Person. It is to seek to understand the meaning of Christ's actions and
words and of the signs worked by him. "Catechesis aims at putting
"people . . . in communion . . . with Jesus Christ: only he can lead us to
the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy
Trinity."
What is
Concupiscence and why do we wrestle with it? How does it relate to addictions? The
Catechism of the Catholic Church (Sacred Scripture / Sacred Tradition / Sacred
Magisterium) tells us why we are called to the spiritual battle of addictions
and a BLUE PRINT how we combat it:
(CCC) 377 The
"mastery" over the world that God offered man from the beginning was
realized above all within man himself: mastery of self. The first man was
unimpaired and ordered in his whole being because he was free from the triple concupiscence that subjugates
him to the pleasures of the senses, covetousness for earthly goods, and
self-assertion, contrary to the dictates of reason.
Man's first sin
(CCC) 397 Man,
tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and,
abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin
consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of
trust in his goodness.
(CCC) 399
Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and
Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness. They become afraid of the
God of whom they have conceived a distorted image - that of a God jealous of
his prerogatives.
(CCC) 400 The
harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now
destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is
shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their
relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is
broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man. Because of man, creation is now subject
"to its bondage to decay". Finally, the consequence explicitly
foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will "return to the
ground", for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human
history.
The consequences
of Adam's sin for humanity
(CCC) 402 All men
are implicated in Adam's sin, as St. Paul affirms: "By one man's
disobedience many (that is, all men) were made sinners": "sin came
into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to
all men because all men sinned." The Apostle contrasts the universality of
sin and death with the universality of salvation in Christ. "Then as one
man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness
leads to acquittal and life for all men."
(CCC) 405 Although
it is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a
personal fault in any of Adam's descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but
human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural
powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death,
and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called
concupiscence". Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ's grace,
erases original sin and turns a man back towards God, but the consequences for
nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to
spiritual battle.
And so I found a
truth I had never known before; a truth that would change my view on
temptation, addiction and why I relapsed.
A hard battle. . .
(CCC) 407 The
doctrine of original sin, closely connected with that of redemption by Christ,
provides lucid discernment of man's situation and activity in the world. By our
first parents' sin, the devil has acquired a certain domination over man, even
though man remains free. Original sin entails "captivity under the power
of him who thenceforth had the power of death, that is, the devil".
Ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded nature inclined to evil gives rise
to serious errors in the areas of education, politics, social action and
morals.
(CCC) 428 Whoever
is called "to teach Christ" must first seek "the surpassing
worth of knowing Christ Jesus"; he must suffer "the loss of all
things. . ." in order to "gain Christ and be found in him", and
"to know him and the power of his resurrection, and (to) share his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible (he) may attain
the resurrection from the dead".
These paragraphs
explained to me the spiritual warfare that had taken place in my life. I
understood at that point that the battle would never end either. It would be a
life long task. Then, I read these paragraphs relating to the “Creed”:
One Baptism for the
Forgiveness of Sins
(CCC) 977 Our Lord
tied the forgiveness of sins to faith and Baptism: "Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized
will be saved." Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of
sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our
justification, so that "we too might walk in newness of life."
(CCC) 978
"When we made our first profession of faith while receiving the holy
Baptism that cleansed us, the forgiveness we received then was so full and
complete that there remained in us absolutely nothing left to efface, neither
original sin nor offenses committed by our own will, nor was there left any
penalty to suffer in order to expiate them.... Yet the grace of Baptism delivers no one from all the
weakness of nature. On the contrary, we must still combat the movements of
concupiscence that never cease leading us into evil "
This gave me a new
meaning of praying the Creed. I now must remember I will be in spiritual combat
for the rest of my days. What followed on concupiscence under the Sacrament of
Baptism is this:
(CCC) 1264 Yet
certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering,
illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character,
and so on, as well as an
inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically,
"the tinder for sin" (fomes peccati); since concupiscence "is
left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but
manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ." Indeed, "an
athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules."
After reading this
I found my Hope in what I read on the Eucharist and on the Sacrament of
Penance.
THE SACRAMENT OF
THE EUCHARIST
(CCC) 1322 The
holy Eucharist completes Christian initiation. Those who have been raised to
the dignity of the royal priesthood by Baptism and configured more deeply to
Christ by Confirmation participate with the whole community in the Lord's own
sacrifice by means of the Eucharist.
(CCC) 1324 The
Eucharist is "the source and summit of the Christian life." "The
other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the
apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in
the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church,
namely Christ himself, our Pasch."
(CCC) 1326
Finally, by the Eucharistic celebration we already unite ourselves with the
heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all.
(CCC) 1327 In brief, the Eucharist is the
sum and summary of our faith: "Our way of thinking is attuned to the
Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our way of thinking."
Why a Sacrament of
Reconciliation after Baptism?
(CCC) 1425
"YOU were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." One must appreciate
the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the sacraments of Christian initiation
in order to grasp the degree to which sin is excluded for him who has "put
on Christ." But the apostle John also says: "If we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." and the Lord
himself taught us to pray: "Forgive us our trespasses," linking our
forgiveness of one another's offenses to the forgiveness of our sins that God
will grant us.
(CCC) 1426
Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and
the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us "holy and
without blemish," just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is
"holy and without blemish." Nevertheless the new life received in Christian
initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination
to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such
that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the
struggle of Christian life. This is the struggle of conversion directed
toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.
(CCC) 1496 The
spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are:
- reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
- reconciliation with the Church;
- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
- an increase of spiritual
strength for the Christian battle.
Here were my answers
to freedom from concupiscence. I knew at this moment I had a chance for eternal
salvation. I recognized I need to live a Sacramental life in
Here are just a
few highlights pertaining to the Virtues, Sin, Sobriety concupiscence:
The cardinal
virtues
(CCC) 1805 Four
virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called "cardinal";
all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude,
and temperance. "If anyone loves righteousness, [Wisdom's] labors are
virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage."
These virtues are praised under other names in many passages of Scripture.
(CCC) 1806
Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good
in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; "the
prudent man looks where he is going." "Keep sane and sober for your
prayers." Prudence is "right reason in action," writes St.
Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle. It is not to be confused with timidity or
fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the
charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and
measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. the
prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this
judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular
cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil
to avoid.
(CCC) 1807 Justice
is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their
due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the "virtue of
religion." Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each
and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with
regard to persons and to the common good. the just man, often mentioned in the
Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the
uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor. "You shall not be partial
to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your
neighbor." "Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing
that you also have a Master in heaven."
(CCC) 1808
Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and
constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist
temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. the virtue of
fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials
and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in
defense of a just cause. "The Lord is my strength and my song."
"In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world."
(CCC) 1809
Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and
provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mastery
over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. the
temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and
maintains a healthy discretion: "Do not follow your inclination and
strength, walking according to the desires of your heart." Temperance is
often praised in the Old Testament: "Do not follow your base desires, but
restrain your appetites." In the New Testament it is called
"moderation" or "sobriety."
We ought "to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world."
Saint Augustine
said “To live well is nothing other than to love God with all one's heart, with
all one's soul and with all one's efforts; from this it comes about that love
is kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb
it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only (God) (and this is justice), and is
careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery
(and this is prudence).”
(CCC)
1865
Sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same
acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt
the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and
reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root.
(CCC)
1866 Vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be
linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished,
following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called
"capital" because they engender other sins, other vices. They are
pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia.
(CCC)
1867 The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are "sins that cry
to heaven": the blood of Abel, the sin of the Sodomites, the cry of the
people oppressed in Egypt, the cry of the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan,
injustice to the wage earner.
(CCC)
1868 Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins
committed by others when we cooperate in them:
- by participating
directly and voluntarily in them;
- by ordering, advising,
praising, or approving them;
- by not
disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so;
- by protecting
evil-doers.
(CCC)
1869 Thus sin makes men
accomplices of one another and causes concupiscence, violence, and injustice to
reign among them. Sins give rise to social situations and institutions
that are contrary to the divine goodness. "Structures of sin" are the
expression and effect of personal sins. They lead their victims to do evil in
their turn. In an analogous sense, they constitute a "social sin."
(CCC)
1961
God, our Creator and Redeemer, chose
(CCC)
1962 The Old Law is the first stage of revealed Law. Its moral prescriptions
are summed up in the Ten Commandments. The precepts of the Decalogue lay the
foundations for the vocation of man fashioned in the image of God; they
prohibit what is contrary to the love of God and neighbor and prescribe what is
essential to it. The Decalogue is a light offered to the conscience of every
man to make God's call and ways known to him and to protect him against evil:
God wrote on the
tables of the Law what men did not read in their hearts.
(CCC) 1963
According to Christian tradition, the Law is holy, spiritual, and good, yet
still imperfect. Like a tutor it shows what must be done, but does not of
itself give the strength, the grace of the Spirit, to fulfill it. Because of
sin, which it cannot remove, it remains a law of bondage. According to
III.
THE NEW LAW OR THE LAW OF THE GOSPEL
(CCC)
1965
The New Law or the Law of the Gospel is the perfection here on earth of the
divine law, natural and revealed. It is the work of Christ and is expressed
particularly in the Sermon on the Mount. It is also the work of the Holy Spirit
and through him it becomes the interior law of charity: "I will establish
a New Covenant with the house of
THE FIFTH
COMMANDMENT
You shall not
kill.
You have heard that it was said to the men of old, "You shall not kill:
and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment." But I say to you that
every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.
(CCC) 2258
"Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative
action of God and it remains for ever in a special relationship with the
Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning
until its end: no one can under any circumstance claim for himself the right
directly to destroy an innocent human being."
Respect for health
(CCC) 2288 Life
and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God. We must take
reasonable care of them, taking into account the needs of others and the common
good. Concern for the health of its citizens requires that society help in the
attainment of living-conditions that allow them to grow and reach maturity:
food and clothing, housing, health care, basic education, employment, and
social assistance.
(CCC) 2289 If
morality requires respect for the life of the body, it does not make it an
absolute value.
It rejects a neo-pagan notion that tends to promote the cult of the body, to
sacrifice everything for it's sake, to idolize physical perfection and success
at sports. By its selective preference of the strong over the weak, such a
conception can lead to the perversion of human relationships.
(CCC) 2290 The virtue of temperance
disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco,
or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of
speed, endanger their own and others' safety on the road, at sea, or in the
air.
(CCC) 2291 The use
of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except
on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense. Clandestine production of
and trafficking in drugs are scandalous practices. They constitute direct
co-operation in evil, since they encourage people to practices gravely contrary
to the moral law.
THE NINTH
COMMANDMENT
You shall not
covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his
manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your
neighbor's.
Every one who
looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his
heart.
(CCC) 2514
(CCC)
2515 Etymologically,
"concupiscence" can refer to any intense form of human desire.
Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of the
sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason. The apostle
(CCC)
2517
The heart is the seat of moral personality: "Out of the heart come evil
thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication. . . . " The struggle
against carnal covetousness entails purifying the heart and practicing temperance:
Remain simple and
innocent, and you will be like little children who do not know the evil that
destroys man's life.
The
(CCC) 2520 Baptism confers on its
recipient the grace of purification from all sins. But the baptized must
continue to struggle against concupiscence of the flesh and disordered desires.
With God's grace
he will prevail
- by the virtue and gift of chastity, for chastity lets us love with upright
and undivided heart;
- by purity of intention which consists in seeking the true end of man: with
simplicity of vision, the baptized person seeks to find and to fulfill God's
will in everything;
- by purity of vision, external and internal; by discipline of feelings and
imagination; by refusing all complicity in impure thoughts that incline us to
turn aside from the path of God's commandments: "Appearance arouses
yearning in fools";
- by prayer: I thought that continence arose from one's own powers, which I did
not recognize in myself. I was foolish enough not to know . . . that no one can
be continent unless you grant it. For you would surely have granted it if my
inner groaning had reached your ears and I with firm faith had cast my cares on
you.
(CCC) 2529 The ninth commandment warns
against lust or carnal concupiscence.
(CCC) 2530 The
struggle against carnal lust involves purifying the heart and practicing temperance
(ONE OF THE FOUR CARDINAL VIRTUES).
THE TENTH
COMMANDMENT
You shall not
covet . . . anything that is your neighbor's. . . . You
shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant,
or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.
For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also.
(CCC)
2534
The tenth commandment
unfolds and completes the ninth, which is concerned with concupiscence of the
flesh. It forbids coveting the goods of another, as the root of theft,
robbery, and fraud, which the seventh commandment forbids. "Lust of the
eyes" leads to the violence and injustice forbidden by the fifth commandment.
Avarice, like fornication, originates in the idolatry prohibited by the first
three prescriptions of the Law. The tenth commandment concerns the intentions
of the heart; with the ninth, it summarizes all the precepts of the Law.
Upon completely reading
the Catechism I can say I obtained a “Fullness of Truth” about our Catholic
Faith. Under the section titled “Christian Prayer” is where we find the three
different types of prayer, the Our Father” and the challenges with things of
this world that distract us from prayer. I knew that I needed to share what I
learned with the world; starting with the inmates in Prison.
The inmates nicked
named me “The Pope” because all I did was study our faith and catechize to
other inmates. I had two inmates during my stay in the two man cell. My first
cell mate “Big Flea” started reading scripture three days before he moved to
his designate location. My second cell mate was praying the Rosary with me
before I left to my next destination. I even gave him a Rosary made of boxer
string on his birthday.
I ended up at
another facility in a minimum yard. Since I was in the hispanic circle, I was
accepted as a “homey”, though I considered myself a disciple of Christ and
Roman Catholic. When asked who I rolled with, I always replied “I roll with
Jesus and the Catholic Church.” Shortly after my arrival, I was asked to stab
another inmate. I refused and exclaimed I am Roman Catholic. I was told to
return to my bunk (where I was in a 100 man dorm). After the inmate was brutally
beaten and stabbed by other mexican inmates, I learned that I would receive a
“calientada” the next morning. This means I will get a beating for 13 seconds
by 13 homies for not obeying an order from the “Big Homie”.
I could not sleep
that night. I prayed to Our Blessed Mother for guidance. The next morning I
walked up to a corrections officer and, from that point on, went into
protective custody. I was then sent to the central yard in a reception center
with all levels of inmates, including level 4 killers, rapists and homosexuals.
Since I was within the same prison I was told to use a different name so that I
would not be detected by one of the homies. They could easily get information
on the fact that I was the one who ran from the homies and I would then have to
be dealt with if I went in as John.
I was so afraid; I
requested to see a priest. I was in the worst living conditions ever. I was
there for seven days. On the 7th day I heard my name from across the gym where
200 men resided. I heard my name and in
the same sentence, “that is the John Garcia we need to take care of” I
found out the homies got word from the other yard and for a sack of tobacco
they were going to stab me for running from the homies.
That afternoon I
was visited by a nun who gave me a Green Scapular; (I still carry this same
scapular to this day). Our Lady wanted me to know she was with me. I prayed
once more for her aid and intercession. That day after dinner I told a
corrections officer of my situation. I was then sent to aggregate segregation.
I did not know what it was. It tuned out to be the HOLE. I was placed in a cell
with blood stained walls and a Satanist from
I immediately
turned to our Lady in the Green Scapular and prayed to GOD that he would spread
the blood of the lamb over the cell and protect us. We both rebuked Satan in
the name Jesus Christ and exclaimed we serve GOD and He was our master. For the
remaining days I was in that cell, Satan did not enter our cell. The next few
days evil demonic growls could be heard on the third tier floor outside our
cell. This man was praying the Rosary with me and reading scripture every day.
Thanks be to God. I spent my last month on another yard and was part of a
prayer group that met and prayed three times a day.
Finally upon my
release,I reunited with my wife Laura and two daughters Faith and Hope on
In 2008 my family
was consecrated to Our Blessed Mother through the Militia Immaculata which
Saint Maximilian Kolbe founded in 1917. We renew our consecration daily through
the prayers of the MI. We place ourselves under her protection. She enlightens
our minds, guides our will empowers our efforts and intercedes for us in a
special way before the throne of our Father in heaven.
Praying the Daily
Rosary with my family guides us closer to God, especially our children. This
past feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I woke up early to go to Mass and due
to a work injury I decided to go back to sleep and go to a later Mass. At
These paragraphs
in the Catechism describes so beautifully the Blessed Mother and Hail Mary:
(CCC) 971
"All generations will call me blessed": "The Church's devotion
to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." The Church
rightly honors "the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most
ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of 'Mother of
God,' to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs....
(CCC) 2675
Beginning with Mary's unique cooperation with the working of the Holy Spirit,
the Churches developed their prayer to the holy Mother of God, centering it on
the person of Christ manifested in his mysteries.
(CCC) 2676 This
twofold movement of prayer to Mary has found a privileged expression in the Ave
Maria: Hail Mary [or Rejoice, Mary]: the greeting of the angel Gabriel opens
this prayer. It is God himself who, through his angel as intermediary, greets
Mary. Our prayer dares to take up this greeting to Mary with the regard God had
for the lowliness of his humble servant and to exult in the joy he finds in
her.Full of grace, the Lord is with thee: These two phrases of the angel's
greeting shed light on one another. Mary is full of grace because the Lord is
with her. the grace with which she is filled is the presence of him who is the
source of all grace. "Rejoice . . . O Daughter of Jerusalem . . . the Lord
your God is in your midst." Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made
his dwelling, is the daughter of
(CCC) 2677 Holy
Mary, Mother of God: With
Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death: By asking Mary to pray
for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and we address ourselves to
the "Mother of Mercy," the All-Holy One. We give ourselves over to
her now, in the Today of our lives. and our trust broadens further, already at
the present moment, to surrender "the hour of our death" wholly to
her care. May she be there as she was at her son's death on the cross. May she
welcome us as our mother at the hour of our passing to lead us to her son,
Jesus, in paradise.
One day I was lead
to a book which was titled “The Virgin Mary and Theology of the Body”. When I
opened the book, I was on the page which was titled “Freedom from
Concupiscence”. This chapter is about how Mary was free from original sin and
the consequences of that original sin called concupiscence. I realized that her
intercession is necessary through the Most Holy Rosary to protect us as she was
the only human person besides Christ to walk the earth that was free from sin.
Thanks be to God. Her apparitions around the world speak for themselves. She is
always there for each of us who turn to her aid.
Finally, it is through
the intersession of the Virgin Mary though the Most Holy Rosary, a daily
consecration to her, and the receiving of the Sacraments we can overcome
addictions.
If I was asked how
I remain sober and overcome “concupiscence”, I would simply say;
- Prayer
- Penance
- Holy Eucharist
- Pray the Rosary
and bring the world to the Sacred heart of Jesus through consecration to the Immaculate
Virgin Mary; join the Militia Immaculata
- Follow the
spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius
We are all being
called to feed the LORD’S sheep. The sheep are our children. WE must protect
them and equip them with the tools to defeat the designs of the evil one. We
are here to praise, reverence, and serve the Lord, our God by this means to
arrive at eternal salvation. We are here to prepare our children for eternal
life by raising them in Jesus’ training and instructions by reading scripture
with them, through prayer, and by listening to GOD in our heart through our
moral conscience. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic
drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death (CCC 2563).
Freedom is not the
opportunity to do as we want; it is the power to do as we ought. With the
knowledge of truth comes great responsibility and we are here to share with
GOD’S children HIS love and to prepare them for eternal life and to save their
souls. Jesus said it is better to be hung from a millstone rather to cause one
of HIS little ones to sin. It is up to us – the parents, the 1st educators in
the faith. Know your faith and read the Catechism. Be an example of Christ.
Ten years later
after first hearing great speakers in sharing the Doctrine of the Faith I am
walking in their steps by sharing the truth about the Church Christ
started. It is our Blessed Mother who
guides and protects me by crushing the concupiscence within me.
It is clear that
The Rosary reigns victorious over Concupiscence.
God shows us His
plan by letting us see our weaknesses. By entering into Humility we find the
key to our ministry where we grow in patience and love.
I offer myself to
all those who suffer from addictions as a resource to how to battle
Concupiscence which can and will manifest itself in addiction. I am available
to anyone via email at Johnny@saintjoe.com. Please send this to anyone
who may need support, guidance, and prayer.
Today I speak to
wherever I can to spread the Gospel, the Catechism, and the miracles of the
Sacraments. I will be glad to come and share this powerful story of God’s grace
and mercy at your parish, retreat, or conference.
Attached to this
email is a flier for our Overcoming Addictions through Christ Workshop. All are
welcome to attend.
Remember….Praying
and meditating on all four mysteries of the Rosary, we are praying the GOSPEL.
Immaculata, please
intercede.....That as Mother of God, you open our eyes to the daily experience
of the Lord's presence so we may better live in His service. Jesus, Mary, and
Joseph we love you, save souls. May the souls of the faithfully departed, by
the mercy of GOD, rest in peace. Amen.
Your Brother in
Christ,
John W. Garcia