This was the third book I did in the Monastery. It is available on Amazon either as a Paperback or Kindle. All paperback sales go to support the monastery while the Sisters have graciously allowed Kindle sales to go to me.
God’s Surprises
by Sylvia A. Green – Pasadena, California
Last year the Lord called me to conversion through some amazing experiences. On New Year’s Eve of 2004, I read Father Gabriel Amorth’s book about exorcism and began to realize that my materialistic, partying, lesbian lifestyle was not only sinful but evil. Father Amorth says that going to confession and Communion are the best ways to remove evil from one’s life, so I began to do both.
After two months (the day I put on a blessed St. Benedict medal) I told my live-in partner that she and I would have to stop sleeping together. She was reluctant at first, but now she and I attend daily Mass and pray the rosary daily. The Lord and Our Lady have given us the grace to live together in chastity.
After our initial conversion, the Lord had more surprises in store for me. I have a long family history of alcoholism and was drinking heavily. I was concerned about my drinking but never seriously considered giving it up, even though it was affecting my life. My family would complain that I always got “drunk and stupid” at parties and events.
On the day before Passion Sunday last year, I went to confession at my local parish, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Pasadena, California. The pastor, Father Gerard O’Brien, was hearing confessions. I confessed that I thought I drank too much. He asked me how old I was (forty-two) and if my family knew about it. I told him they knew. Then he asked me if I were an alcoholic. I said, “I think so.”
He proceeded to tell me that I was too old to carry on like that and my penance was to go to Alcoholic’s Anonymous. Needless to say I was stunned, but I thought that God was obviously speaking through the sacrament and I was not going to ignore Him. I performed my penance and started going to AA.
After a couple of weeks I realized that I had very little craving for alcohol. I have been sober ever since and do not miss alcohol at all. After that I began to pray and go to daily Mass. I believe that God gave me not only a spiritual healing but healing from my addiction through the sacrament of reconciliation.
I tell my story to people and often get some strange reactions. The people in AA were very impressed by Father Gerard’s wisdom and insight. Some of my friends thought it was weird but it was good that I quit drinking.
God has continued to bless me and my family so abundantly that I cannot describe it. He invites me to come to adoration several times each week and Father Gerard even asked me to be a Eucharistic minister. I cannot begin to tell you how much happier and more fulfilled I am as a sober, chaste and faithful Catholic.Sylvia A. Green Pasadena, California