Sober October
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But you, brothers, and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. 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 Thessalonians 5:4-11
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An invitation from Father Luke
This October, I invite you to participate in a completely optional but potentially super helpful month of asceticism and prayer I’m calling Sober October. Sober October is one month of stepping away from the things that dull our senses, darken our intellects, soften our bodies, and weaken our resistance to temptation. It is one month of allowing the light of Christ to fill us more completely and help us see more clearly, live more attentively, and love more fully. We’ll refrain from some things and attend to others.
During this month, we will eliminate alcohol, social media, screens at meals, and sweets and snacks.
We will moderate our screen time, with a maximum of 2.5 hours of recreational screen time each week. This includes movies, video games, television, and browsing the Internet – basically anything on a screen that is not necessary for our life or livelihood. The aim is to eliminate as much as possible but not so much that we starve, lose our job, miss our payments, fail our classes, or anything like that.
And we will invigorate Mass, prayer, confession, exercise, and reading. We’ll commit to Mass every Sunday, prayer for at least 15 minutes each day using a special prayer guide, confession at least once during October, exercising at least 15 minutes each day, and reading for at least 15 minutes each day.
Engaging in these disciplines can have many benefits, including increased energy, better sleep, a stronger immune system, a more balanced mood, clarity of thought, and reduced anxiety. Even better, they allow us to give more time and attention to the Lord and more time and attention to others. These disciplines can help us assess our attachments to earthly things, see ourselves more clearly, simplify our lives, give room for the Lord to speak to us, open our hearts to God’s love, and more intentionally love and live for heavenly glory.
Please pray about whether the Lord is calling you to participate in these disciplines.
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