May 6, 2025 • 52 mins
Far beyond mere willpower, true freedom comes through supernatural strength.
What if I told you that you already possess "supernatural superpowers" specifically designed to help you break free from alcohol's grip? This special episode takes you inside a transformative workshop from my Sacred Sobriety Lab, revealing how the Holy Spirit serves as your ultimate ally in the battle against cravings and temptation.
We explore the distinct roles the Holy Spirit plays in your life - as comforter when you're distressed, counselor when uncertain, helper providing support, intercessor bridging differences, and strengthener during temptation. I break down the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and explain how each directly empowers your sobriety journey.
Perhaps most importantly, I share how to distinguish God's loving voice from the enemy's vicious cycle of temptation followed by shame. When you recognize whose voice you're hearing, everything changes. You'll learn practical ways to cultivate genuine intimacy with God through prayer, scripture, adoration, and spiritual practices that strengthen your connection to divine guidance.
This episode offers a powerful perspective on alcohol freedom that addresses the whole person - mind, body, and spirit. I invite you to commit to a nine-day novena to the Holy Spirit, opening yourself to the supernatural strength that transforms struggling into thriving.
Ready to discover how God's power dwelling within you can accomplish what willpower alone cannot? Listen now, and please share this episode with someone who might need these words of hope and practical spiritual guidance.
Want to feel more present, less anxious, and more in control?
Then join me for the Sober-ish Summer Challenge: Take Alcohol or Leave it With Peace
This 62-day Sober-ish summer challenge for Catholic women helps you drink less and live more—with faith and support.
Things kick-off on July 1st! https://courses.drinklessornotatall.com/courses/soberishsummer62
I'm here for you. I'm praying for you. You are NOT alone!
Please subscribe to this podcast so you won't miss a thing!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, the
go-to resource for women seekingto have a deeper understanding
of the role alcohol plays intheir lives, women who are
looking to drink less or not atall for any reason.
I am your host, christi Walker.
I'm a wife, mom and ajoy-filled Catholic, and I am
(00:22):
the Catholic Sobriety Coach, andI am so glad you're here.
Hello everyone, I am giving youa sneak peek inside the Sacred
Sobriety Lab again today.
This week's episode actuallycomes from a workshop that I did
with my Sacred Sobriety, from aworkshop that I did with my
(00:51):
Sacred Sobriety Lab ladies, andI just was going through it and
as I was giving the workshop, Irealized it was too good to keep
just to the lab.
I knew that all of you wouldbenefit from hearing it as well
and I just wanted to share itwith you.
So the focus of this I'mactually going through my Sacred
Sobriety Lab, module by module,with my ladies, and the first
(01:14):
thing I have them do, evenbefore diving into module one,
is a novena to the Holy Spirit,because I know how important the
Holy Spirit has been in my lifeand my transformation and I
know that the Holy Spirit isthere for you, wanting to help
(01:35):
you get through those cravingsand reduce or eliminate alcohol
from your life so that you canlive the life that God desires
for you.
So this episode, again, isabout the Holy Spirit.
It is also about how to createintimacy with God, because the
Holy Spirit does not speak onhis own behalf, and so if you
(01:59):
want to hear the Lord's voicemore clearly, then that
connection, tuning in to theHoly Spirit and your spiritual
gifts, is so critical.
But to do that, sometimes weneed to know how to do that
right.
So that is why I'll also betalking about creating intimacy
with God, which is actually atthe end.
(02:19):
Maybe I should have put it atthe beginning.
I don't know, it's just kind ofhow it shook out.
So I hope you enjoy thisepisode.
If you have any questions orcomments, I would love to hear
them, and please remember thatthere are other women who could
benefit so greatly from thispodcast, from the encouragement,
(02:39):
from the guests I have, fromthe knowledge.
So please do not keep it toyourself.
Share it with a friend,subscribe, leave comments, rate
it if you love it, and if youdon't love it, you don't have to
rate it.
So fine, you don't, but if youlove it, please rate it so that
this podcast will get shown toother people as well.
(03:00):
So enjoy.
Hello and welcome everyonetoday to our group coaching
session.
So today I wanted to start withthe first part of the program,
which is the welcome and thenovena to the Holy Spirit.
I think it's very appropriateas we are in the Easter season
(03:23):
and moving toward Pentecost,which is my favorite.
I love Pentecost.
I remember when I read in Acts2 the descent of the Holy Spirit
and how all of the apostleswere so scared after the
ascension.
Jesus went up but he said Ihave to go so that the helper
(03:45):
will come.
And I remember you know it'ssomething that I've heard
forever, my entire life.
I'm a cradle Catholic and soI've heard this story renewed
(04:06):
mind and how mind-blowing it wasfor me, how it was mind-blowing
and it was this light bulbmoment.
You see, the apostles just holdup in their room and they're
shaking and they're nervous andthey're not sure what's going to
happen.
And you know, jesus has lefthim and he's talking about this
(04:33):
helper.
And then, all of a sudden, assoon as the Holy Spirit descends
on them, they are transformed,they go out and do things that
they did not think they could do.
They spoke in languages thateveryone there was able to hear.
That was one of their giftsthat they had at that time, and
(04:53):
they were able to do things inthe name of Jesus, not from
themselves, but in the name ofJesus, by the power of the Holy
Spirit, and so, that said, thisis one of my favorite topics to
talk about.
I actually have done many talksto groups about the Holy Spirit,
the gifts of the Spirit, fruitsand charisms many, many times
(05:16):
and discipleship, because Ibelieve in it so much and I have
experienced it for myself.
And so I feel like when youexperience a transformation and
I hear this all the time when Ihave guests on my podcast or I'm
talking to clients that havecome from where they were to now
(05:38):
they're walking in freedom Ijust see them reaching out
because they feel thisexcitement and this equipping to
be able to pass that on toothers.
You know, if you're justsitting there chained, you can't
really do anything, but onceyou're free, you can just say,
(06:02):
look, I did it.
You can do it too, and,honestly, this is why I do the
work that I do because I waschained, I was able to overcome
it by the power of the HolySpirit, with God's grace,
because I not only had thedesire for change, but I had the
willingness to change.
(06:24):
The desire for change.
I had the willingness to change, and I know you do too, and
that's why you're here.
So let's start out with a prayerto the Holy Spirit.
So let me share my screen.
Let's pray this together In thename of the Father, son, holy
Spirit.
Amen.
Come, holy Spirit, fill thehearts of your faithful and
(06:46):
kindle in them the fire of yourlove.
Send forth your Spirit and theyshall be created and you shall
renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray, o God, who havetaught the hearts of the
faithful by the light of theHoly Spirit, grant that in that
same Spirit, we may be trulywise and ever rejoice in His
(07:10):
consolation through Christ, ourLord.
Amen In the name of the Father,son, holy Spirit.
Amen.
Oh man, I love that prayer.
I just like whenever I say it,I feel instantly like calm and
peace come over me, and I hopeyou do too.
So the first thing I'm going todo is talk about just briefly.
(07:35):
Again, I'm not trying to makethis a two hour talk or even a
one hour talk.
I just want to kind of touch onit briefly, because and I'm
actually not going to touch onI'm going to talk about the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, butI'm not going to talk about the
fruits and charisms this time,because I have all that included
(07:56):
in the last module, which isyou are made for greatness, and
so I will talk more about thatin that module.
But the reason why I start withthe novena to the Holy Spirit
and I want to talk about it nowis because I want you to know
(08:17):
that you are equipped with giftsfrom God, supernatural
superpowers from God,supernatural superpowers.
You are equipped with giftsfrom God that are going to help
you break free.
The Holy Spirit is going tohelp you break free.
(08:40):
How do I know that, christy?
How do you know that?
Number one, god is a promisekeeper.
He keeps his promises.
He has our best interests inmind.
He doesn't want to leave usfending for ourselves.
He wants to give us what weneed to combat the enemy, to
(09:06):
combat all of the things that weexperience in our humanness, to
resist temptation, to root outvice and cultivate virtue, and
he has given us the Holy Spiritand spiritual gifts to help us
do that.
Okay, so who is the Holy Spirit?
(09:30):
That seems pretty simple, right?
We know, we think, we know.
I thought I knew for years andyears and years, but I really
didn't until I started exploringwho the Holy Spirit is.
I started exploring who theHoly Spirit is, what he means to
(09:50):
my life, what he means to myspiritual life, and once that
happened I was like, oh mygoodness, like I see how he has
been with me throughout my life,even in those super dark times
when I didn't feel like God waswith me.
I realized he was closer thanever but was having trouble
(10:12):
breaking through because of, youknow, the veil over my eyes,
because of my sin, because of myunwillingness to change,
because of my not knowing who Iwas, not knowing my identity as
a beloved daughter of God, as atemple of the Holy Spirit.
And that is something I'm sopassionate about and why I do
(10:39):
the type of coaching I do, why Iam a Catholic sobriety coach,
because I know that we havethese gifts.
And if we don't, if I don'tspeak to that, that is a huge
disservice.
That is not helping to heal thefull person.
(11:00):
It's not helping you to, youknow, get the freedom, the full
freedom that you want, becauseit's mind, body and spirit, and
so that's where the HolySpirit's power will just help
you so much if you know thesethings, and that's why it's so
(11:22):
important to me that I talkabout this today.
So who is the Holy Spirit?
He is a comforter.
The Holy Spirit is our comfort.
He is there for us in our timesof distress, so we can call
upon him to be our comforter.
(11:42):
When I am in, when I'm feelinganxious, when I'm feeling
uncertain, when I am feeling anyof those negative emotions that
are keeping me stuck or makingme feel stuck or making me feel
(12:05):
less than a cherished daughterof a king, I call upon the Holy
Spirit, I call upon him tostrengthen my spiritual gifts,
to pour forth his graces, togive me supernatural peace that
surpasses all understanding.
I light a candle, sometimes Iplay some like Gregorian chant
(12:30):
or instrumental music, I take alot of deep breaths and I pray,
and pretty soon I am socomforted and a lot calmer to be
able to move forward and askfor what I need, or have the
clarity that I need to moveforward and kind of get unstuck
(12:54):
from whatever it is that'sholding me back.
The Holy Spirit is also ourcounselor.
He is the one whose professionit is to give advice and manage
causes.
So one of our spiritual giftsthat we'll talk about later is
(13:15):
the gift of counsel.
So when you just don't knowwhat to do, ask the Holy Spirit,
pray to the Holy Spirit, prayfor that guidance, pray for a
strengthening in the gifts ofwisdom and knowledge and counsel
, and allow him to work throughyou and give that to you.
(13:35):
The Holy Spirit is also yourhelper.
That's kind of the one that wethink about.
I think a lot is that he's ourhelper, and so he is the one who
furnishes you with relief orsupport.
And this is what you need rightnow, as you're walking through
(13:56):
this journey toward sobriety orreducing the amount of alcohol
you're consuming Calling uponthe Lord, asking for his
supernatural grace to strengthenyou, to strengthen that gift of
fortitude, to help facilitatethat fruit.
(14:19):
You know, bring about thatfruit of temperance,
self-control.
You know, pray for thatindwelling of the spirit.
There's so many songs out there.
I actually have a Spotifyplaylist.
Maybe I'll put that in thebonus section of the Sacred
(14:42):
Sobriety Lab.
It's called Come, holy Spirit.
I know that kind of music isn'tworship, praise and worship
music isn't for everyone.
I have a deacon friend.
He can't stand it.
It's not his jam at all, but ifyou do like it you can listen
to it.
You can fast forward throughsongs you don't like.
But it's called Come HolySpirit.
I've tried to cultivate aplaylist I like to listen to
(15:05):
that really kind of just pumpsme up in the spirit and gets me
calling upon the Holy Spirit tocome down and rest on me and
allow the Lord to work throughme for his purpose and his glory
.
And also, again, with the HolySpirit being the helper.
(15:26):
When you don't know what to donext, when you don't know how to
take that next step, he isthere and you can call upon him.
The Holy Spirit is also apowerful intercessor.
So ask the Holy Spirit for hisintercession.
(15:48):
He will help reconcile thosedifferences, bring you to the
foot of the Lord, lord, andreally just intercede on your
behalf.
Of course also we have our Lady, our Blessed Mother, who wants
to intercede so that she cantake our intentions to her Son
(16:10):
on a silver platter and just sayJesus, here are these beautiful
intentions from your beloveddaughters.
And I know some of you, most ofyou probably have other patron
saints that you like to ask foryour intercession, the more the
merrier.
Right we just ask for prayerfrom our loved ones and the
(16:35):
saints in heaven who arebeholding the face of God, and
so allowing the Holy Spirit tobe your intercessor is so, so
powerful.
And then, finally, the HolySpirit is your strengthener.
So in those times when you'refacing temptation, when you are
(16:55):
feeling like you can't call uponthe Holy Spirit for his
guidance, for his strength,again, for strengthening those
gifts, your supernaturalspiritual gifts, that allow the
(17:17):
fruits of the spirit to come tofruition, to grow and flourish.
And yeah, I think that if youcan just do that and remember
who the holy spirit is he's yourcomforter, your counselor, your
helper, intercessor and yourstrengthener.
And if you can remember thosethings, it will be so beneficial
(17:43):
when you are facing suffering,when you're facing those
temptations, and just allow himto work in you and through you.
And you know the Holy Spiritthis is another important aspect
to mention is that the HolySpirit is literally the voice of
God.
He is the breath of God, he isthe voice of God.
(18:05):
So when you hear God speakingto you, that's the Holy Spirit
speaking to you.
The Holy Spirit does not speakon his own behalf.
He speaks the word of God toyou.
So you can always be assuredthat when you hear from the Holy
Spirit, when you hear from God,it is going to be loving, it is
(18:29):
going to be comforting, becausehe is speaking to you with the
heart of God Father for you, toyou with the heart of God Father
for you.
Okay, so when you first come tothe Sacred Sobriety Lab, you are
going to come to the Welcome.
The Welcome is the first module.
I guess it would be like modulezero.
(18:50):
I didn't number the modules.
I used to have them numbered,but I decided not to number them
because I feel like I'm justgoing to be adding to this or
tweaking different things as theLord moves me to do so or as
you move me to do so.
If you have something thatyou're like oh wow, it would be
really helpful, christy, if youspoke to this or if you gave me
(19:14):
tips about this.
I'm all ears, I am down for it.
So definitely feel free tooffer your suggestions for the
lab.
I have it priced really low nowbecause I'm still trying to
kind of make sure that I get allthe things ironed out and I get
(19:36):
what is most valuable, what isgoing to be most valuable for
those who do the lab.
So I just encourage you to gothrough it and give me your
feedback good or bad, it's justgoing to make things better in
the future.
So you've come into the lab atan exciting time and I'm just so
glad that you are here.
(19:57):
So for the welcome, of course,you have your welcome video.
Then you have the workbooks.
I actually go through theworkbooks and before you look at
the workbooks, I actually gothrough them and tell you what
is in them and how to use it ifyou want to use it.
And then this is actually whatI wanted to talk about today,
(20:21):
which is the Holy Spirit, novena.
So I would encourage you, fornine days, to if you can not
drink for nine days and do thisnovena, if you can't abstain the
whole nine days, you knowthat's what it is, but I would
(20:42):
encourage you to at leastgreatly reduce it if possible.
But it would be so beneficialif you could really make your
best effort not to drink forthese nine days.
Just tell your brain it's justfor nine days and I'll be
praying the whole entire time,and so and you will have the
power of the Holy Spirit.
(21:03):
So, again, remembering to askfor God's grace and his, the
strengthening of those gifts,asking the Holy Spirit just to
come and be with you again inthose times of temptation, will
be very beneficial.
(21:24):
So, as we go through this HolySpirit novena, you can see that
the prayer is the prayer that Isaid before.
It's an old prayer, the comeHoly Spirit prayer.
You'll say that first, and theneach day, I have just a little
prayer to say afterwards andthis is going to help you ask
for.
So the first one is knowledge.
Day two is piety.
(21:45):
Day three is fortitude.
Day four is wisdom.
Day five is understanding.
Day six is counsel.
Day seven is fear of the Lord.
Day eight is peace.
Peace is a fruit.
Day nine is joy, and that's afruit.
(22:06):
I guess I don't have virtues inhere, but I think some of those
can be virtues as well.
So I think fortitude is also avirtue and a gift.
Anyway, you have this that youcan do.
That said, you can start today.
(22:29):
That'd be amazing, but if youwant, if you're like I'm not
ready right now, you could startthe day after the Ascension.
So this year, 2025, theAscension is on the 29th of May,
the 29th of May.
(22:50):
So if you wanted to, you couldstart this Novena to the Holy
Spirit the Friday after whichwould be May 30th.
That will take you to Pentecost.
So you will be doing the HolySpirit novena leading up to
Pentecost.
Now I was given something aboutthis, about the novena to the
Holy Spirit, and it says thatthe novena to the Holy Spirit is
(23:11):
significant because it was thefirst novena Before Jesus
ascended to heaven.
He instructed Our Lady and hisdisciples to return to Jerusalem
, to pray and wait for thepromise of the Father, which was
the helper, the paraclete thatwas coming.
So, as Our Lady and thedisciples waited, they prayed,
(23:35):
and so that is why starting itthat Friday after the Ascension
is so beautiful as well.
The one other thing I justwanted to share, this quote from
Saint Ignatius of Antioch doeverything as if he were
dwelling within us, everythingas if he were dwelling within us
(24:01):
.
Thus, we shall be his templesand he will be within us as our
God, as he actually is.
Saint Paul tells us that we aretemples of the Holy Spirit, that
the spirit of the one whoraised Jesus from the dead
dwells in us, that power dwellsin us.
So when we think I can't, wecan't in our humanness, but God
(24:27):
can and he dwells within us.
So I just want you to rememberthat and feel so encouraged that
you know maybe no, you can't,but God can, and you just have
to ask him, just invite him,because he's not going to force
(24:48):
you to stop drinking, he's notgoing to force you to use your
spiritual gifts.
He's not going to force you todo these things.
He loves you, he values yourfreedom, and in order for you to
actually have freedom, you haveto have free will, and so you
have that free will to do as youwish.
(25:13):
But if you ask him for his help, he will help you.
So let's just talk briefly, butI just want to touch briefly
upon the gifts of the HolySpirit and what they actually do
.
So the gift of wisdom, thesupernatural gift of wisdom, is
the ability to see things withGod's eyes and to make good
(25:36):
judgments.
So we see things from aheavenly perspective and not a
worldly one.
But what I like to say is thatwe see things with God's heart,
and that's something that I'velearned.
I think I've mentioned manytimes that I'm a student of
Encounter School of Ministries,and that is the one thing that I
(26:06):
will take away from that schoolis to try to see things with
God's heart, whether that'ssituations with family members,
with obstacles I face, with waysthat I'm thinking about myself
or things that I've done, orthings that I need to do like
really inviting the Lord in andseeing with his heart, which
helps see with his eyes, andthen that just helps us make
(26:27):
those good judgments.
The other is understanding,which is the ability to
comprehend God's thoughts and tounderstand the teachings of the
church.
Again, all of these are poweredby the Holy Spirit.
It's not something that we just, it's not something that we
(26:52):
just, you know, do on our own.
It's something that the HolySpirit helps breathe into us so
that we can do that when we needit most.
The other is counsel, theability to make choices in
communion with God and to givegood advice.
So the gift of counsel is agood one if we're trying to make
good choices, if we're tryingto make the best choices for our
(27:14):
health, for our family, for ourministries, for our church, for
our world, and then you canalways call upon the gift of the
Holy Spirit of counsel, youknow if you have to have a tough
conversation.
Sometimes when we are looking toreduce or eliminate alcohol, we
(27:34):
do have to have toughconversations with people that
we love, with our husbands, withour parents, with our friends,
siblings.
You know, sometimes peopledon't always understand our
decisions to want to drink lessor not at all.
Having those conversations isso necessary at their allotted
time.
Again, that's where coachingcomes into play.
(27:55):
I can help you talk throughthese things before you actually
have to have thoseconversations.
I know from experience this canbe so helpful.
So that is something I highlyencourage you to bring to
coaching.
The other gift is the gift offortitude, the ability to stand
up for God and his truths and tohave courage and determination.
(28:17):
So it does take courage anddetermination to decide and make
that decision and don't decideagain, right?
One of my friends says decideand then don't decide.
You decide this is what I'mdoing and then nothing else
needs to get in the way of that.
(28:38):
So, like for me, recently Itold you I would say let you
know what my struggle lately hasbeen, because during Lent I
gave up sugar.
I'm doing awesome with that.
That's great.
I was noticing that I had anuptick in my social media use
and I was using a lot of it.
It was keeping me from doingthings I needed to do around my
(29:01):
home, in my business and, mostof all, things that God was
asking me to do.
I took it to prayer, I took itto confession and after
confession I was prompted thepriest didn't give this to me
for my penance, but the HolySpirit did give it to me later
was to delete my social mediaapps off my phone.
(29:22):
Now I've thought about it.
I've said, oh, I should do thatmany, many, many times, but
I've also have a gazillionexcuses about why I couldn't do
it.
Now, you know, I've used socialmedia a lot for my business,
for communicating with people,for letting people know that I'm
here and what I do, so that ifthey are suffering with a
problem of overdrinking ormisusing alcohol, I would be
(29:44):
there for them and that voice.
But the Lord was just tellingme like this is an obstacle to
me, this is an obstacle to thework that I need to do through
you, and so I deleted myInstagram and my Facebook.
That's not to say I never usethem, but I use them on my
desktop when I do need to use itlike, let's say, I do need to
(30:05):
post something on Instagramwhich I haven't in.
I think I posted one thing inseveral, several weeks and then
I immediately deleted Instagramoff.
So I just put it on my phonefor what I needed it for and
then I took it off right awayBecause I would find myself just
mindlessly picking up my phoneand just scrolling and you know,
(30:28):
I've curated my social media sothat things I didn't think that
things were bothering me thatmuch by what I was seeing, but
at the same time it was justlike too time consuming.
I actually was getting anxiousabout things and I decided it
was something that I needed todo.
So I actually had to have thatdetermination.
(30:48):
Like you know what, christy,you're going to stop talking
about it and you're just goingto do it.
And that's what I did.
And I have no plans to put itback on permanently on my phone
because it just I'm I feel somuch freer without it and I'm
noticing those benefits.
I'm noticing more clarity, moreproductivity more, I'm hearing
(31:11):
God speaking to me even more andspeaking to my heart more, and
it has just been a huge benefit.
Do I get FOMO about not knowingevery single detail going on in
people's lives or the world, oryou know certain accounts,
influencers, that I like tofollow, sure, but I love my
(31:34):
freedom more than that, and so Ihad to pray for that courage
and that fortitude.
I asked for that.
Anyway, that's my little story,and you can apply that to your
efforts to drink less or not atall, as well.
So the next gift is the gift ofknowledge, which is the ability
(31:55):
to understand God's meaning andpurpose and to learn and acquire
information.
So this, sometimes we thinkthis means like being super
smart or you know, just knowinga lot of things about church
teaching and those types ofthings.
But it's also understandingwhat God is saying to you,
(32:18):
understanding his meaning andhis purpose for you.
Knowing something like what?
What can you use that for?
To help someone else or to helpyourself learn exactly what
you're doing right now.
You're acquiring information sothat you can break free from
(32:41):
the cold that alcohol has on youright now.
You can break those chains off,and I just want you to know
that you have that gift.
You have been given thatsupernatural gift, so just ask
the Holy Spirit to strengthenthat so that when you are
reading scripture, when you aretrying to figure out different
(33:02):
things and getting informationthat you need that's going to
help you move forward in yourjourney of drinking less or not
at all.
You can do that.
The next is piety.
It's the ability to live adecent life devoted to God and
to worship and serve God.
So in Matthew 16, 14, jesusclearly lays out the conditions
(33:26):
for discipleship right To live alife devoted to God, to emulate
Him to.
You know, try to live as Christlived, and that is to deny
ourselves, to take up our crossand to follow Him.
It's really as simple and asdifficult as that, and the gift
(33:47):
of piety helps us do that.
So if we just pray that we canbe more pious people, that we
can have that heart of piety,that gift can be strengthened,
that we can be more devoted toGod, so that we want to live a
life that glorifies Him, wherewe are worshiping and serving
God, and I know so many of you,all of you actually do this on a
(34:11):
daily basis.
But there's something else thathe's asking of you.
There's something he needs youto hear, to see, to feel, to
walk through that you are notable to because you are attached
to this thing your freedom isnot intact right now, your
(34:37):
complete freedom is not intactthat you are called to be a
disciple.
We all are as Christians, andso we have to ask ourselves
(34:58):
continually.
We all have to ask ourselvescontinually what do I need to
deny myself so that I can takeup my cross and follow Jesus?
What is it Right now?
For you, that is alcohol andfor me, that is my social media.
So you know that's we're allworking on.
(35:19):
We're all working on ourselvesall the time.
The last gift is fear of theLord.
Now, this is not being afraidof God.
This is the ability to have aweand reverence and respect for
God and to acknowledge thateverything comes from God, and I
think that you all really havethat.
(35:43):
I don't know if that'ssomething that you don't have.
That's something that you don'thave.
I think that when I think backto fear of the Lord because I
used to misinterpret this a lotbefore I really started studying
the Holy Spirit and gifts ofthe Spirit and things I thought
it meant being afraid of God,being afraid of His punishments
(36:04):
or something like that, andthat's not what it is at all.
It's this awe and reverence ofnot wanting to offend him
because I love him so much.
So that's my prayer, lord.
What is it that I'm doing thatis offending you?
What am I doing that is notshowing you reference, that is
(36:26):
not showing you respect and, youknow, really taking that to
heart and listening to him?
I was only going to talk forlike 20 to 30 minutes, but I
might as well share some of thiswith you too, because I think
it could be helpful cultivatingintimacy with God.
So if we want to hear God'svoice, if we want to be able to
(36:49):
hear those promptings of theHoly Spirit, those nudges of the
Spirit, if you will, we need tocultivate intimacy with God,
just like we would cultivateintimacy with a friend, a family
member, you know, or somethinglike that.
And in order to cultivateintimacy, there are some things
we have to do, but what doesintimacy with God look like?
(37:13):
So, intimacy with God gives youaccess to God, and the Lord
loves to share his plans in hisheart with you.
So the more you talk to him,the more you go off into those
quiet spaces, even ladies, evenif it's folding laundry, even if
(37:34):
it's on a walk, even if it's asyou're doing dishes in the
evenings.
I know that I've spoken to somany of you who struggle with
that nighttime drinking like asyou're preparing dinner and or
cleaning up the kitchen.
What if you could turn thatinto a prayer where you're just
(37:55):
speaking your heart to God andasking him to share his plans
with you and his heart with you,and then having intimacy with
God helps you recognize hisvoice so that you can tell the
devil like dude, I see whatyou're doing.
I am not taking this abuseanymore, because what happens is
(38:18):
and I've heard this also we goto confession.
This happens to me.
We go to confession, we confessour sins, you confess over
drinking or whatever.
It is the minute you step outor I step out of the
confessional, you know, I say,father, you know I haven't been
(38:40):
a good steward of my time.
I am reliant, I am usingdistractions, I'm making an idol
of social media.
Then I leave my husband'sdriving and what do I do?
I open up my phone and I checkFacebook.
Hello, what?
Why did I do that?
I just confessed.
I just, with a contrite heart,said I'm not going to do this,
(39:01):
and then I didn't.
Why did I do that?
It is because the enemy isgoing to be on the attack right
after that, because you arefresh and clean and you've, you
know, reconciled yourself to theLord and the enemy's like nope.
I need to get that.
I need to get that strongholdback on her, I need to get my
(39:24):
claws in her again, thatfoothold in her.
And what he does is he tempts usto sin, he makes it seductive,
he makes it alluring, he makesit seem like we deserve it.
He makes it seem like we'remissing out if we don't.
He makes it seem like we arenot capable.
So he speaks all these littlelies coded in truth, coded in a
(39:46):
thin coating of truth so that ithelps it go down a little bit
easier.
And the minute we do that, hepummels us with just shame and
condemnation.
You are worthless.
Like, why are you doing this?
(40:07):
You can never do this, you'renever going to get it, you have
no willpower, just, whatever hespeaks to you, then the enemy is
just going to pummel you.
First he entices you to sin andthen, once you give into it, he
pummels you with shame, with allof his tricks to make you feel
(40:28):
like dirt.
And then what does that do?
It puts you in that shame cycleagain, to where you don't trust
yourself, you have broken trustwith yourself.
You feel terrible.
But God doesn't talk to youlike that.
He loves you.
He might convict your heart,but not in a condemning way, in
(40:51):
a way again with that fear ofthe Lord, because you love him
and you want to do right by him.
You want to do the things rightthat are going to make him
happy, because they're actuallyultimately going to make you
happy and give you thatsustained joy.
(41:12):
Like alcohol might make youhappy for a little bit Happiness
is fleeting, but that joy, thatsupernatural joy, that is
something that is sustaining andcannot be shaken.
If you have that.
And so when you recognize theLord's voice, that just helps
(41:34):
strengthen your hope, your joy,your peace and all of those
fruits that help you moveforward, that help you break
away from the vice.
You move forward, that help youbreak away from the vice.
So recognizing the Lord's voicemakes it so much easier when
(41:54):
that temptation comes, when yougo to confession, let's say, and
you get all snowy white, you goout, you're feeling great, you
go home, you see that bottle ofwine and the enemy is just going
to be like girl, you deserve it.
You just went to confession andyou deserve it.
And then you're not going togive into it.
You're going to be like no, no,no, sir, I see what you're
(42:17):
doing and we are not doing this.
So you take it, you move it,you pour it down the drain,
whatever it is, whatever youhave to do, whatever you have to
do, and that is your first stepin strengthening your muscles
so that you can continue toresist temptation.
And it gives you the clarityyou need to recognize the Lord's
(42:40):
voice.
And what he's going to say is Iam so proud of you, you did it
and you're going to feel so goodabout your choices.
The other thing aboutcultivating intimacy is that it
and you're going to feel so goodabout your choices.
The other thing aboutcultivating intimacy is that it
keeps you in rhythm, soeverything you do is with him.
I just love to think of beingmeek to the Lord and doing
(43:04):
everything with him.
Like Jesus is just my co-pilot.
We're just doing life and he'swith him.
Like Jesus is just my co-pilot,we're just doing life and he's
with me.
But he's not going to justbarge in.
He's going to wait for me toinvite him in.
He's knocking at the door of myheart.
There's no, there's no doorknobfor him just to barge into my
(43:25):
heart.
Nope, there's nothing there.
He's knocking and it is myresponsibility to open that and
allow him in, allow him to workin me and through me.
The other thing is that intimacywith God allows you to love
well, not just those close toyou, but you know, those within
(43:45):
your sphere, those you know withthose that, quite frankly, are
hard to love.
When you can love well, thatmeans you can love others and
you can love yourself enough tokeep your promises to yourself,
so that you don't break trustwith yourself.
And finally, cultivatingintimacy with God allows you to
(44:07):
know who you are and whose youare.
Because when you understandthat I think, as Catholic women
especially, like we know that weare God, but sometimes we just
feel like we are unworthy.
Or maybe it's not all the way,or maybe that's for others, but
(44:28):
not me, but I assure you it isfor you.
You are his and he is yours.
Go read Isaiah, chapter 43, atleast the first, at least the
first verse, but I would readall of it.
So it's so good.
The Lord loves you.
So the only time that our Lordasked the apostles for anything
(44:52):
was the night he went into agony.
Not for activity did he plead,but for an hour of companionship
.
Our Lord just wants to spendtime with us.
He just wants us to invite himand ask him to be with us.
We can do this throughadoration, eucharistic adoration
(45:14):
, which St Pope Paul VI tells usis the best way to grow
spiritually outside of mass.
And then St Therese of Lisieuxtells us that the Blessed
Sacrament is expressly for youalone, that Jesus is burning
with a desire for you to comeinto your heart.
(45:36):
He just wants you to sit at hisfeet.
That's such a great time toreally focus on your goals.
Maybe do some journaling askfor that supernatural
strengthening of gifts and allof that.
John 16 13 says but when he, thespirit of truth, comes, he will
(45:56):
guide you into all truth, forhe shall not speak from himself,
but whatever he hears, thatshall he speak, and he will show
you things to come.
That is what I was trying tosay in the beginning is that the
Holy Spirit doesn't speak onhis own behalf.
He speaks what he hears and hewill show you things to come.
(46:17):
It's right there in scripture.
We must carve out time to spendwith him.
It's so easy to get busy andmaybe you are a person who does
carve out time and you have thattime, and if you do, that's
amazing.
And maybe you are a person whodoes carve out time and you have
that time, and if you do,that's amazing and I'm so glad.
But for a lot of us, we justlet busyness and different idols
, you know different things thatwe continually go to, instead
(46:40):
of God come before him.
Some tools that you can use tohear the voice of God, which can
be really, really difficult forsome people, is prayer, reading
, scripture, doing spiritualreading.
I actually listened to apodcast that was going through
the diary of St Faustina.
(47:01):
That was so beneficial for me,because if I had to just sit
down and read it on my own, Idon't know if I could have made
it through, but this lady wentthrough it in a year and it was
so wonderful because now I cansay that I've read it and I
actually want to do it again andI got so much out of it and
such a deeper appreciation fordivine as well.
(47:24):
You can also hear God's voicespoken through music, adoration.
I also like you know because Isay it all the time right, have
a notebook and I like to put Godnotes in here.
So if you feel like God has saidsomething to you that you need
to write down whether he said itto you or you read it or you
(47:46):
heard it or whatever it is writeit down so you can capture it.
And then you'll be prompted atsome time to kind of go back.
And it is amazing, when I writethat stuff down, how I can go
back to it and see, oh my gosh,the Lord asked me to write that
down.
I wrote it down and now I canuse it in maybe a talk I'm
(48:06):
giving, maybe I can use it toencourage someone, maybe I can
use it for myself because I needthat encouragement.
So I suggest keeping a notebookof God notes and then you can
kind of capture these words thatyou get from the Lord, whether,
again, it's through prayer,scripture, spiritual reading,
music, things you hear, thingsyou see and all of that.
(48:27):
And then the last thing is justto pause to really notice what
you are thinking.
I think that's very, veryimportant.
So, all right, well, I could goon for days on this because, as
you can tell, I'm pretty firedup about it.
I love talking to people aboutthe Holy Spirit, about spiritual
(48:47):
gifts, about how we areequipped and how much God loves
us.
So that's kind of what I'vedone today and I hope it's been
helpful for you.
I would encourage you to prayon this, to do the Novena to the
Holy Spirit.
Maybe you can go into themessage board and let us know if
you are doing it.
(49:08):
So take care, I am praying forall of you and God bless.
Well, that does it for thisepisode of the Catholic Sobriety
Podcast.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand I would invite you to share
it with a friend who might alsoget value from it as well, and
make sure you subscribe so youdon't miss a thing.
(49:28):
I am the Catholic sobrietycoach, and if you would like to
learn how to work with me orlearn more about the coaching
that I offer, visit my website,thecatholicsobrietycoachcom.
Follow me on Instagram at theCatholic sobriety coach coach.
(49:49):
I look forward to speaking toyou next time and remember I am
here for you, I am praying foryou.
You are not alone, thank you.
Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, the
go-to resource for women seekingto have a deeper understanding
of the role alcohol plays intheir lives, women who are
looking to drink less or not atall for any reason.
I am your host, christi Walker.
I'm a wife, mom and ajoy-filled Catholic, and I am
(00:22):
the Catholic Sobriety Coach, andI am so glad you're here.
Hello everyone, I am giving youa sneak peek inside the Sacred
Sobriety Lab again today.
This week's episode actuallycomes from a workshop that I did
with my Sacred Sobriety, from aworkshop that I did with my
(00:51):
Sacred Sobriety Lab ladies, andI just was going through it and
as I was giving the workshop, Irealized it was too good to keep
just to the lab.
I knew that all of you wouldbenefit from hearing it as well
and I just wanted to share itwith you.
So the focus of this I'mactually going through my Sacred
Sobriety Lab, module by module,with my ladies, and the first
(01:14):
thing I have them do, evenbefore diving into module one,
is a novena to the Holy Spirit,because I know how important the
Holy Spirit has been in my lifeand my transformation and I
know that the Holy Spirit isthere for you, wanting to help
(01:35):
you get through those cravingsand reduce or eliminate alcohol
from your life so that you canlive the life that God desires
for you.
So this episode, again, isabout the Holy Spirit.
It is also about how to createintimacy with God, because the
Holy Spirit does not speak onhis own behalf, and so if you
(01:59):
want to hear the Lord's voicemore clearly, then that
connection, tuning in to theHoly Spirit and your spiritual
gifts, is so critical.
But to do that, sometimes weneed to know how to do that
right.
So that is why I'll also betalking about creating intimacy
with God, which is actually atthe end.
(02:19):
Maybe I should have put it atthe beginning.
I don't know, it's just kind ofhow it shook out.
So I hope you enjoy thisepisode.
If you have any questions orcomments, I would love to hear
them, and please remember thatthere are other women who could
benefit so greatly from thispodcast, from the encouragement,
(02:39):
from the guests I have, fromthe knowledge.
So please do not keep it toyourself.
Share it with a friend,subscribe, leave comments, rate
it if you love it, and if youdon't love it, you don't have to
rate it.
So fine, you don't, but if youlove it, please rate it so that
this podcast will get shown toother people as well.
(03:00):
So enjoy.
Hello and welcome everyonetoday to our group coaching
session.
So today I wanted to start withthe first part of the program,
which is the welcome and thenovena to the Holy Spirit.
I think it's very appropriateas we are in the Easter season
(03:23):
and moving toward Pentecost,which is my favorite.
I love Pentecost.
I remember when I read in Acts2 the descent of the Holy Spirit
and how all of the apostleswere so scared after the
ascension.
Jesus went up but he said Ihave to go so that the helper
(03:45):
will come.
And I remember you know it'ssomething that I've heard
forever, my entire life.
I'm a cradle Catholic and soI've heard this story renewed
(04:06):
mind and how mind-blowing it wasfor me, how it was mind-blowing
and it was this light bulbmoment.
You see, the apostles just holdup in their room and they're
shaking and they're nervous andthey're not sure what's going to
happen.
And you know, jesus has lefthim and he's talking about this
(04:33):
helper.
And then, all of a sudden, assoon as the Holy Spirit descends
on them, they are transformed,they go out and do things that
they did not think they could do.
They spoke in languages thateveryone there was able to hear.
That was one of their giftsthat they had at that time, and
(04:53):
they were able to do things inthe name of Jesus, not from
themselves, but in the name ofJesus, by the power of the Holy
Spirit, and so, that said, thisis one of my favorite topics to
talk about.
I actually have done many talksto groups about the Holy Spirit,
the gifts of the Spirit, fruitsand charisms many, many times
(05:16):
and discipleship, because Ibelieve in it so much and I have
experienced it for myself.
And so I feel like when youexperience a transformation and
I hear this all the time when Ihave guests on my podcast or I'm
talking to clients that havecome from where they were to now
(05:38):
they're walking in freedom Ijust see them reaching out
because they feel thisexcitement and this equipping to
be able to pass that on toothers.
You know, if you're justsitting there chained, you can't
really do anything, but onceyou're free, you can just say,
(06:02):
look, I did it.
You can do it too, and,honestly, this is why I do the
work that I do because I waschained, I was able to overcome
it by the power of the HolySpirit, with God's grace,
because I not only had thedesire for change, but I had the
willingness to change.
(06:24):
The desire for change.
I had the willingness to change, and I know you do too, and
that's why you're here.
So let's start out with a prayerto the Holy Spirit.
So let me share my screen.
Let's pray this together In thename of the Father, son, holy
Spirit.
Amen.
Come, holy Spirit, fill thehearts of your faithful and
(06:46):
kindle in them the fire of yourlove.
Send forth your Spirit and theyshall be created and you shall
renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray, o God, who havetaught the hearts of the
faithful by the light of theHoly Spirit, grant that in that
same Spirit, we may be trulywise and ever rejoice in His
(07:10):
consolation through Christ, ourLord.
Amen In the name of the Father,son, holy Spirit.
Amen.
Oh man, I love that prayer.
I just like whenever I say it,I feel instantly like calm and
peace come over me, and I hopeyou do too.
So the first thing I'm going todo is talk about just briefly.
(07:35):
Again, I'm not trying to makethis a two hour talk or even a
one hour talk.
I just want to kind of touch onit briefly, because and I'm
actually not going to touch onI'm going to talk about the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, butI'm not going to talk about the
fruits and charisms this time,because I have all that included
(07:56):
in the last module, which isyou are made for greatness, and
so I will talk more about thatin that module.
But the reason why I start withthe novena to the Holy Spirit
and I want to talk about it nowis because I want you to know
(08:17):
that you are equipped with giftsfrom God, supernatural
superpowers from God,supernatural superpowers.
You are equipped with giftsfrom God that are going to help
you break free.
The Holy Spirit is going tohelp you break free.
(08:40):
How do I know that, christy?
How do you know that?
Number one, god is a promisekeeper.
He keeps his promises.
He has our best interests inmind.
He doesn't want to leave usfending for ourselves.
He wants to give us what weneed to combat the enemy, to
(09:06):
combat all of the things that weexperience in our humanness, to
resist temptation, to root outvice and cultivate virtue, and
he has given us the Holy Spiritand spiritual gifts to help us
do that.
Okay, so who is the Holy Spirit?
(09:30):
That seems pretty simple, right?
We know, we think, we know.
I thought I knew for years andyears and years, but I really
didn't until I started exploringwho the Holy Spirit is.
I started exploring who theHoly Spirit is, what he means to
(09:50):
my life, what he means to myspiritual life, and once that
happened I was like, oh mygoodness, like I see how he has
been with me throughout my life,even in those super dark times
when I didn't feel like God waswith me.
I realized he was closer thanever but was having trouble
(10:12):
breaking through because of, youknow, the veil over my eyes,
because of my sin, because of myunwillingness to change,
because of my not knowing who Iwas, not knowing my identity as
a beloved daughter of God, as atemple of the Holy Spirit.
And that is something I'm sopassionate about and why I do
(10:39):
the type of coaching I do, why Iam a Catholic sobriety coach,
because I know that we havethese gifts.
And if we don't, if I don'tspeak to that, that is a huge
disservice.
That is not helping to heal thefull person.
(11:00):
It's not helping you to, youknow, get the freedom, the full
freedom that you want, becauseit's mind, body and spirit, and
so that's where the HolySpirit's power will just help
you so much if you know thesethings, and that's why it's so
(11:22):
important to me that I talkabout this today.
So who is the Holy Spirit?
He is a comforter.
The Holy Spirit is our comfort.
He is there for us in our timesof distress, so we can call
upon him to be our comforter.
(11:42):
When I am in, when I'm feelinganxious, when I'm feeling
uncertain, when I am feeling anyof those negative emotions that
are keeping me stuck or makingme feel stuck or making me feel
(12:05):
less than a cherished daughterof a king, I call upon the Holy
Spirit, I call upon him tostrengthen my spiritual gifts,
to pour forth his graces, togive me supernatural peace that
surpasses all understanding.
I light a candle, sometimes Iplay some like Gregorian chant
(12:30):
or instrumental music, I take alot of deep breaths and I pray,
and pretty soon I am socomforted and a lot calmer to be
able to move forward and askfor what I need, or have the
clarity that I need to moveforward and kind of get unstuck
(12:54):
from whatever it is that'sholding me back.
The Holy Spirit is also ourcounselor.
He is the one whose professionit is to give advice and manage
causes.
So one of our spiritual giftsthat we'll talk about later is
(13:15):
the gift of counsel.
So when you just don't knowwhat to do, ask the Holy Spirit,
pray to the Holy Spirit, prayfor that guidance, pray for a
strengthening in the gifts ofwisdom and knowledge and counsel
, and allow him to work throughyou and give that to you.
(13:35):
The Holy Spirit is also yourhelper.
That's kind of the one that wethink about.
I think a lot is that he's ourhelper, and so he is the one who
furnishes you with relief orsupport.
And this is what you need rightnow, as you're walking through
(13:56):
this journey toward sobriety orreducing the amount of alcohol
you're consuming Calling uponthe Lord, asking for his
supernatural grace to strengthenyou, to strengthen that gift of
fortitude, to help facilitatethat fruit.
(14:19):
You know, bring about thatfruit of temperance,
self-control.
You know, pray for thatindwelling of the spirit.
There's so many songs out there.
I actually have a Spotifyplaylist.
Maybe I'll put that in thebonus section of the Sacred
(14:42):
Sobriety Lab.
It's called Come, holy Spirit.
I know that kind of music isn'tworship, praise and worship
music isn't for everyone.
I have a deacon friend.
He can't stand it.
It's not his jam at all, but ifyou do like it you can listen
to it.
You can fast forward throughsongs you don't like.
But it's called Come HolySpirit.
I've tried to cultivate aplaylist I like to listen to
(15:05):
that really kind of just pumpsme up in the spirit and gets me
calling upon the Holy Spirit tocome down and rest on me and
allow the Lord to work throughme for his purpose and his glory
.
And also, again, with the HolySpirit being the helper.
(15:26):
When you don't know what to donext, when you don't know how to
take that next step, he isthere and you can call upon him.
The Holy Spirit is also apowerful intercessor.
So ask the Holy Spirit for hisintercession.
(15:48):
He will help reconcile thosedifferences, bring you to the
foot of the Lord, lord, andreally just intercede on your
behalf.
Of course also we have our Lady, our Blessed Mother, who wants
to intercede so that she cantake our intentions to her Son
(16:10):
on a silver platter and just sayJesus, here are these beautiful
intentions from your beloveddaughters.
And I know some of you, most ofyou probably have other patron
saints that you like to ask foryour intercession, the more the
merrier.
Right we just ask for prayerfrom our loved ones and the
(16:35):
saints in heaven who arebeholding the face of God, and
so allowing the Holy Spirit tobe your intercessor is so, so
powerful.
And then, finally, the HolySpirit is your strengthener.
So in those times when you'refacing temptation, when you are
(16:55):
feeling like you can't call uponthe Holy Spirit for his
guidance, for his strength,again, for strengthening those
gifts, your supernaturalspiritual gifts, that allow the
(17:17):
fruits of the spirit to come tofruition, to grow and flourish.
And yeah, I think that if youcan just do that and remember
who the holy spirit is he's yourcomforter, your counselor, your
helper, intercessor and yourstrengthener.
And if you can remember thosethings, it will be so beneficial
(17:43):
when you are facing suffering,when you're facing those
temptations, and just allow himto work in you and through you.
And you know the Holy Spiritthis is another important aspect
to mention is that the HolySpirit is literally the voice of
God.
He is the breath of God, he isthe voice of God.
(18:05):
So when you hear God speakingto you, that's the Holy Spirit
speaking to you.
The Holy Spirit does not speakon his own behalf.
He speaks the word of God toyou.
So you can always be assuredthat when you hear from the Holy
Spirit, when you hear from God,it is going to be loving, it is
(18:29):
going to be comforting, becausehe is speaking to you with the
heart of God Father for you, toyou with the heart of God Father
for you.
Okay, so when you first come tothe Sacred Sobriety Lab, you are
going to come to the Welcome.
The Welcome is the first module.
I guess it would be like modulezero.
(18:50):
I didn't number the modules.
I used to have them numbered,but I decided not to number them
because I feel like I'm justgoing to be adding to this or
tweaking different things as theLord moves me to do so or as
you move me to do so.
If you have something thatyou're like oh wow, it would be
really helpful, christy, if youspoke to this or if you gave me
(19:14):
tips about this.
I'm all ears, I am down for it.
So definitely feel free tooffer your suggestions for the
lab.
I have it priced really low nowbecause I'm still trying to
kind of make sure that I get allthe things ironed out and I get
(19:36):
what is most valuable, what isgoing to be most valuable for
those who do the lab.
So I just encourage you to gothrough it and give me your
feedback good or bad, it's justgoing to make things better in
the future.
So you've come into the lab atan exciting time and I'm just so
glad that you are here.
(19:57):
So for the welcome, of course,you have your welcome video.
Then you have the workbooks.
I actually go through theworkbooks and before you look at
the workbooks, I actually gothrough them and tell you what
is in them and how to use it ifyou want to use it.
And then this is actually whatI wanted to talk about today,
(20:21):
which is the Holy Spirit, novena.
So I would encourage you, fornine days, to if you can not
drink for nine days and do thisnovena, if you can't abstain the
whole nine days, you knowthat's what it is, but I would
(20:42):
encourage you to at leastgreatly reduce it if possible.
But it would be so beneficialif you could really make your
best effort not to drink forthese nine days.
Just tell your brain it's justfor nine days and I'll be
praying the whole entire time,and so and you will have the
power of the Holy Spirit.
(21:03):
So, again, remembering to askfor God's grace and his, the
strengthening of those gifts,asking the Holy Spirit just to
come and be with you again inthose times of temptation, will
be very beneficial.
(21:24):
So, as we go through this HolySpirit novena, you can see that
the prayer is the prayer that Isaid before.
It's an old prayer, the comeHoly Spirit prayer.
You'll say that first, and theneach day, I have just a little
prayer to say afterwards andthis is going to help you ask
for.
So the first one is knowledge.
Day two is piety.
(21:45):
Day three is fortitude.
Day four is wisdom.
Day five is understanding.
Day six is counsel.
Day seven is fear of the Lord.
Day eight is peace.
Peace is a fruit.
Day nine is joy, and that's afruit.
(22:06):
I guess I don't have virtues inhere, but I think some of those
can be virtues as well.
So I think fortitude is also avirtue and a gift.
Anyway, you have this that youcan do.
That said, you can start today.
(22:29):
That'd be amazing, but if youwant, if you're like I'm not
ready right now, you could startthe day after the Ascension.
So this year, 2025, theAscension is on the 29th of May,
the 29th of May.
(22:50):
So if you wanted to, you couldstart this Novena to the Holy
Spirit the Friday after whichwould be May 30th.
That will take you to Pentecost.
So you will be doing the HolySpirit novena leading up to
Pentecost.
Now I was given something aboutthis, about the novena to the
Holy Spirit, and it says thatthe novena to the Holy Spirit is
(23:11):
significant because it was thefirst novena Before Jesus
ascended to heaven.
He instructed Our Lady and hisdisciples to return to Jerusalem
, to pray and wait for thepromise of the Father, which was
the helper, the paraclete thatwas coming.
So, as Our Lady and thedisciples waited, they prayed,
(23:35):
and so that is why starting itthat Friday after the Ascension
is so beautiful as well.
The one other thing I justwanted to share, this quote from
Saint Ignatius of Antioch doeverything as if he were
dwelling within us, everythingas if he were dwelling within us
(24:01):
.
Thus, we shall be his templesand he will be within us as our
God, as he actually is.
Saint Paul tells us that we aretemples of the Holy Spirit, that
the spirit of the one whoraised Jesus from the dead
dwells in us, that power dwellsin us.
So when we think I can't, wecan't in our humanness, but God
(24:27):
can and he dwells within us.
So I just want you to rememberthat and feel so encouraged that
you know maybe no, you can't,but God can, and you just have
to ask him, just invite him,because he's not going to force
(24:48):
you to stop drinking, he's notgoing to force you to use your
spiritual gifts.
He's not going to force you todo these things.
He loves you, he values yourfreedom, and in order for you to
actually have freedom, you haveto have free will, and so you
have that free will to do as youwish.
(25:13):
But if you ask him for his help, he will help you.
So let's just talk briefly, butI just want to touch briefly
upon the gifts of the HolySpirit and what they actually do
.
So the gift of wisdom, thesupernatural gift of wisdom, is
the ability to see things withGod's eyes and to make good
(25:36):
judgments.
So we see things from aheavenly perspective and not a
worldly one.
But what I like to say is thatwe see things with God's heart,
and that's something that I'velearned.
I think I've mentioned manytimes that I'm a student of
Encounter School of Ministries,and that is the one thing that I
(26:06):
will take away from that schoolis to try to see things with
God's heart, whether that'ssituations with family members,
with obstacles I face, with waysthat I'm thinking about myself
or things that I've done, orthings that I need to do like
really inviting the Lord in andseeing with his heart, which
helps see with his eyes, andthen that just helps us make
(26:27):
those good judgments.
The other is understanding,which is the ability to
comprehend God's thoughts and tounderstand the teachings of the
church.
Again, all of these are poweredby the Holy Spirit.
It's not something that we just, it's not something that we
(26:52):
just, you know, do on our own.
It's something that the HolySpirit helps breathe into us so
that we can do that when we needit most.
The other is counsel, theability to make choices in
communion with God and to givegood advice.
So the gift of counsel is agood one if we're trying to make
good choices, if we're tryingto make the best choices for our
(27:14):
health, for our family, for ourministries, for our church, for
our world, and then you canalways call upon the gift of the
Holy Spirit of counsel, youknow if you have to have a tough
conversation.
Sometimes when we are looking toreduce or eliminate alcohol, we
(27:34):
do have to have toughconversations with people that
we love, with our husbands, withour parents, with our friends,
siblings.
You know, sometimes peopledon't always understand our
decisions to want to drink lessor not at all.
Having those conversations isso necessary at their allotted
time.
Again, that's where coachingcomes into play.
(27:55):
I can help you talk throughthese things before you actually
have to have thoseconversations.
I know from experience this canbe so helpful.
So that is something I highlyencourage you to bring to
coaching.
The other gift is the gift offortitude, the ability to stand
up for God and his truths and tohave courage and determination.
(28:17):
So it does take courage anddetermination to decide and make
that decision and don't decideagain, right?
One of my friends says decideand then don't decide.
You decide this is what I'mdoing and then nothing else
needs to get in the way of that.
(28:38):
So, like for me, recently Itold you I would say let you
know what my struggle lately hasbeen, because during Lent I
gave up sugar.
I'm doing awesome with that.
That's great.
I was noticing that I had anuptick in my social media use
and I was using a lot of it.
It was keeping me from doingthings I needed to do around my
(29:01):
home, in my business and, mostof all, things that God was
asking me to do.
I took it to prayer, I took itto confession and after
confession I was prompted thepriest didn't give this to me
for my penance, but the HolySpirit did give it to me later
was to delete my social mediaapps off my phone.
(29:22):
Now I've thought about it.
I've said, oh, I should do thatmany, many, many times, but
I've also have a gazillionexcuses about why I couldn't do
it.
Now, you know, I've used socialmedia a lot for my business,
for communicating with people,for letting people know that I'm
here and what I do, so that ifthey are suffering with a
problem of overdrinking ormisusing alcohol, I would be
(29:44):
there for them and that voice.
But the Lord was just tellingme like this is an obstacle to
me, this is an obstacle to thework that I need to do through
you, and so I deleted myInstagram and my Facebook.
That's not to say I never usethem, but I use them on my
desktop when I do need to use itlike, let's say, I do need to
(30:05):
post something on Instagramwhich I haven't in.
I think I posted one thing inseveral, several weeks and then
I immediately deleted Instagramoff.
So I just put it on my phonefor what I needed it for and
then I took it off right awayBecause I would find myself just
mindlessly picking up my phoneand just scrolling and you know,
(30:28):
I've curated my social media sothat things I didn't think that
things were bothering me thatmuch by what I was seeing, but
at the same time it was justlike too time consuming.
I actually was getting anxiousabout things and I decided it
was something that I needed todo.
So I actually had to have thatdetermination.
(30:48):
Like you know what, christy,you're going to stop talking
about it and you're just goingto do it.
And that's what I did.
And I have no plans to put itback on permanently on my phone
because it just I'm I feel somuch freer without it and I'm
noticing those benefits.
I'm noticing more clarity, moreproductivity more, I'm hearing
(31:11):
God speaking to me even more andspeaking to my heart more, and
it has just been a huge benefit.
Do I get FOMO about not knowingevery single detail going on in
people's lives or the world, oryou know certain accounts,
influencers, that I like tofollow, sure, but I love my
(31:34):
freedom more than that, and so Ihad to pray for that courage
and that fortitude.
I asked for that.
Anyway, that's my little story,and you can apply that to your
efforts to drink less or not atall, as well.
So the next gift is the gift ofknowledge, which is the ability
(31:55):
to understand God's meaning andpurpose and to learn and acquire
information.
So this, sometimes we thinkthis means like being super
smart or you know, just knowinga lot of things about church
teaching and those types ofthings.
But it's also understandingwhat God is saying to you,
(32:18):
understanding his meaning andhis purpose for you.
Knowing something like what?
What can you use that for?
To help someone else or to helpyourself learn exactly what
you're doing right now.
You're acquiring information sothat you can break free from
(32:41):
the cold that alcohol has on youright now.
You can break those chains off,and I just want you to know
that you have that gift.
You have been given thatsupernatural gift, so just ask
the Holy Spirit to strengthenthat so that when you are
reading scripture, when you aretrying to figure out different
(33:02):
things and getting informationthat you need that's going to
help you move forward in yourjourney of drinking less or not
at all.
You can do that.
The next is piety.
It's the ability to live adecent life devoted to God and
to worship and serve God.
So in Matthew 16, 14, jesusclearly lays out the conditions
(33:26):
for discipleship right To live alife devoted to God, to emulate
Him to.
You know, try to live as Christlived, and that is to deny
ourselves, to take up our crossand to follow Him.
It's really as simple and asdifficult as that, and the gift
(33:47):
of piety helps us do that.
So if we just pray that we canbe more pious people, that we
can have that heart of piety,that gift can be strengthened,
that we can be more devoted toGod, so that we want to live a
life that glorifies Him, wherewe are worshiping and serving
God, and I know so many of you,all of you actually do this on a
(34:11):
daily basis.
But there's something else thathe's asking of you.
There's something he needs youto hear, to see, to feel, to
walk through that you are notable to because you are attached
to this thing your freedom isnot intact right now, your
(34:37):
complete freedom is not intactthat you are called to be a
disciple.
We all are as Christians, andso we have to ask ourselves
(34:58):
continually.
We all have to ask ourselvescontinually what do I need to
deny myself so that I can takeup my cross and follow Jesus?
What is it Right now?
For you, that is alcohol andfor me, that is my social media.
So you know that's we're allworking on.
(35:19):
We're all working on ourselvesall the time.
The last gift is fear of theLord.
Now, this is not being afraidof God.
This is the ability to have aweand reverence and respect for
God and to acknowledge thateverything comes from God, and I
think that you all really havethat.
(35:43):
I don't know if that'ssomething that you don't have.
That's something that you don'thave.
I think that when I think backto fear of the Lord because I
used to misinterpret this a lotbefore I really started studying
the Holy Spirit and gifts ofthe Spirit and things I thought
it meant being afraid of God,being afraid of His punishments
(36:04):
or something like that, andthat's not what it is at all.
It's this awe and reverence ofnot wanting to offend him
because I love him so much.
So that's my prayer, lord.
What is it that I'm doing thatis offending you?
What am I doing that is notshowing you reference, that is
(36:26):
not showing you respect and, youknow, really taking that to
heart and listening to him?
I was only going to talk forlike 20 to 30 minutes, but I
might as well share some of thiswith you too, because I think
it could be helpful cultivatingintimacy with God.
So if we want to hear God'svoice, if we want to be able to
(36:49):
hear those promptings of theHoly Spirit, those nudges of the
Spirit, if you will, we need tocultivate intimacy with God,
just like we would cultivateintimacy with a friend, a family
member, you know, or somethinglike that.
And in order to cultivateintimacy, there are some things
we have to do, but what doesintimacy with God look like?
(37:13):
So, intimacy with God gives youaccess to God, and the Lord
loves to share his plans in hisheart with you.
So the more you talk to him,the more you go off into those
quiet spaces, even ladies, evenif it's folding laundry, even if
(37:34):
it's on a walk, even if it's asyou're doing dishes in the
evenings.
I know that I've spoken to somany of you who struggle with
that nighttime drinking like asyou're preparing dinner and or
cleaning up the kitchen.
What if you could turn thatinto a prayer where you're just
(37:55):
speaking your heart to God andasking him to share his plans
with you and his heart with you,and then having intimacy with
God helps you recognize hisvoice so that you can tell the
devil like dude, I see whatyou're doing.
I am not taking this abuseanymore, because what happens is
(38:18):
and I've heard this also we goto confession.
This happens to me.
We go to confession, we confessour sins, you confess over
drinking or whatever.
It is the minute you step outor I step out of the
confessional, you know, I say,father, you know I haven't been
(38:40):
a good steward of my time.
I am reliant, I am usingdistractions, I'm making an idol
of social media.
Then I leave my husband'sdriving and what do I do?
I open up my phone and I checkFacebook.
Hello, what?
Why did I do that?
I just confessed.
I just, with a contrite heart,said I'm not going to do this,
(39:01):
and then I didn't.
Why did I do that?
It is because the enemy isgoing to be on the attack right
after that, because you arefresh and clean and you've, you
know, reconciled yourself to theLord and the enemy's like nope.
I need to get that.
I need to get that strongholdback on her, I need to get my
(39:24):
claws in her again, thatfoothold in her.
And what he does is he tempts usto sin, he makes it seductive,
he makes it alluring, he makesit seem like we deserve it.
He makes it seem like we'remissing out if we don't.
He makes it seem like we arenot capable.
So he speaks all these littlelies coded in truth, coded in a
(39:46):
thin coating of truth so that ithelps it go down a little bit
easier.
And the minute we do that, hepummels us with just shame and
condemnation.
You are worthless.
Like, why are you doing this?
(40:07):
You can never do this, you'renever going to get it, you have
no willpower, just, whatever hespeaks to you, then the enemy is
just going to pummel you.
First he entices you to sin andthen, once you give into it, he
pummels you with shame, with allof his tricks to make you feel
(40:28):
like dirt.
And then what does that do?
It puts you in that shame cycleagain, to where you don't trust
yourself, you have broken trustwith yourself.
You feel terrible.
But God doesn't talk to youlike that.
He loves you.
He might convict your heart,but not in a condemning way, in
(40:51):
a way again with that fear ofthe Lord, because you love him
and you want to do right by him.
You want to do the things rightthat are going to make him
happy, because they're actuallyultimately going to make you
happy and give you thatsustained joy.
(41:12):
Like alcohol might make youhappy for a little bit Happiness
is fleeting, but that joy, thatsupernatural joy, that is
something that is sustaining andcannot be shaken.
If you have that.
And so when you recognize theLord's voice, that just helps
(41:34):
strengthen your hope, your joy,your peace and all of those
fruits that help you moveforward, that help you break
away from the vice.
You move forward, that help youbreak away from the vice.
So recognizing the Lord's voicemakes it so much easier when
(41:54):
that temptation comes, when yougo to confession, let's say, and
you get all snowy white, you goout, you're feeling great, you
go home, you see that bottle ofwine and the enemy is just going
to be like girl, you deserve it.
You just went to confession andyou deserve it.
And then you're not going togive into it.
You're going to be like no, no,no, sir, I see what you're
(42:17):
doing and we are not doing this.
So you take it, you move it,you pour it down the drain,
whatever it is, whatever youhave to do, whatever you have to
do, and that is your first stepin strengthening your muscles
so that you can continue toresist temptation.
And it gives you the clarityyou need to recognize the Lord's
(42:40):
voice.
And what he's going to say is Iam so proud of you, you did it
and you're going to feel so goodabout your choices.
The other thing aboutcultivating intimacy is that it
and you're going to feel so goodabout your choices.
The other thing aboutcultivating intimacy is that it
keeps you in rhythm, soeverything you do is with him.
I just love to think of beingmeek to the Lord and doing
(43:04):
everything with him.
Like Jesus is just my co-pilot.
We're just doing life and he'swith him.
Like Jesus is just my co-pilot,we're just doing life and he's
with me.
But he's not going to justbarge in.
He's going to wait for me toinvite him in.
He's knocking at the door of myheart.
There's no, there's no doorknobfor him just to barge into my
(43:25):
heart.
Nope, there's nothing there.
He's knocking and it is myresponsibility to open that and
allow him in, allow him to workin me and through me.
The other thing is that intimacywith God allows you to love
well, not just those close toyou, but you know, those within
(43:45):
your sphere, those you know withthose that, quite frankly, are
hard to love.
When you can love well, thatmeans you can love others and
you can love yourself enough tokeep your promises to yourself,
so that you don't break trustwith yourself.
And finally, cultivatingintimacy with God allows you to
(44:07):
know who you are and whose youare.
Because when you understandthat I think, as Catholic women
especially, like we know that weare God, but sometimes we just
feel like we are unworthy.
Or maybe it's not all the way,or maybe that's for others, but
(44:28):
not me, but I assure you it isfor you.
You are his and he is yours.
Go read Isaiah, chapter 43, atleast the first, at least the
first verse, but I would readall of it.
So it's so good.
The Lord loves you.
So the only time that our Lordasked the apostles for anything
(44:52):
was the night he went into agony.
Not for activity did he plead,but for an hour of companionship
.
Our Lord just wants to spendtime with us.
He just wants us to invite himand ask him to be with us.
We can do this throughadoration, eucharistic adoration
(45:14):
, which St Pope Paul VI tells usis the best way to grow
spiritually outside of mass.
And then St Therese of Lisieuxtells us that the Blessed
Sacrament is expressly for youalone, that Jesus is burning
with a desire for you to comeinto your heart.
(45:36):
He just wants you to sit at hisfeet.
That's such a great time toreally focus on your goals.
Maybe do some journaling askfor that supernatural
strengthening of gifts and allof that.
John 16 13 says but when he, thespirit of truth, comes, he will
(45:56):
guide you into all truth, forhe shall not speak from himself,
but whatever he hears, thatshall he speak, and he will show
you things to come.
That is what I was trying tosay in the beginning is that the
Holy Spirit doesn't speak onhis own behalf.
He speaks what he hears and hewill show you things to come.
(46:17):
It's right there in scripture.
We must carve out time to spendwith him.
It's so easy to get busy andmaybe you are a person who does
carve out time and you have thattime, and if you do, that's
amazing.
And maybe you are a person whodoes carve out time and you have
that time, and if you do,that's amazing and I'm so glad.
But for a lot of us, we justlet busyness and different idols
, you know different things thatwe continually go to, instead
(46:40):
of God come before him.
Some tools that you can use tohear the voice of God, which can
be really, really difficult forsome people, is prayer, reading
, scripture, doing spiritualreading.
I actually listened to apodcast that was going through
the diary of St Faustina.
(47:01):
That was so beneficial for me,because if I had to just sit
down and read it on my own, Idon't know if I could have made
it through, but this lady wentthrough it in a year and it was
so wonderful because now I cansay that I've read it and I
actually want to do it again andI got so much out of it and
such a deeper appreciation fordivine as well.
(47:24):
You can also hear God's voicespoken through music, adoration.
I also like you know because Isay it all the time right, have
a notebook and I like to put Godnotes in here.
So if you feel like God has saidsomething to you that you need
to write down whether he said itto you or you read it or you
(47:46):
heard it or whatever it is writeit down so you can capture it.
And then you'll be prompted atsome time to kind of go back.
And it is amazing, when I writethat stuff down, how I can go
back to it and see, oh my gosh,the Lord asked me to write that
down.
I wrote it down and now I canuse it in maybe a talk I'm
(48:06):
giving, maybe I can use it toencourage someone, maybe I can
use it for myself because I needthat encouragement.
So I suggest keeping a notebookof God notes and then you can
kind of capture these words thatyou get from the Lord, whether,
again, it's through prayer,scripture, spiritual reading,
music, things you hear, thingsyou see and all of that.
(48:27):
And then the last thing is justto pause to really notice what
you are thinking.
I think that's very, veryimportant.
So, all right, well, I could goon for days on this because, as
you can tell, I'm pretty firedup about it.
I love talking to people aboutthe Holy Spirit, about spiritual
(48:47):
gifts, about how we areequipped and how much God loves
us.
So that's kind of what I'vedone today and I hope it's been
helpful for you.
I would encourage you to prayon this, to do the Novena to the
Holy Spirit.
Maybe you can go into themessage board and let us know if
you are doing it.
(49:08):
So take care, I am praying forall of you and God bless.
Well, that does it for thisepisode of the Catholic Sobriety
Podcast.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand I would invite you to share
it with a friend who might alsoget value from it as well, and
make sure you subscribe so youdon't miss a thing.
(49:28):
I am the Catholic sobrietycoach, and if you would like to
learn how to work with me orlearn more about the coaching
that I offer, visit my website,thecatholicsobrietycoachcom.
Follow me on Instagram at theCatholic sobriety coach coach.
(49:49):
I look forward to speaking toyou next time and remember I am
here for you, I am praying foryou.
You are not alone, thank you.
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