A few years ago while in very early recovery I had the time to spend getting deep into the 12 & 12 and culling from it what I could. (The “12 and 12” is a book of essays on the Twelve Steps of AA: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, …
Continue reading ‘A Spiritual Axiom: a Disturbance of the Spirit’ »
The intention of this novena was to focus attention on the healing aspects of Catholicism through a devotion to Mary, the Mother of God. Mary as Our Lady of Lourdes was chosen as she is an obvious recourse for Catholic addicts and alcoholics. She is our primary intercessor with the Trinity, and like any good …
Continue reading ‘Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes for Alcoholics: Day 9’ »
Recovery from addictions is quite often referred to as a “path” or “road”. In AA literature there is the often used phrase: “trudging the road of happy destiny.” Many times people fall away or drift off that road. This is a relapse. People relapse for many reasons. Some, like me, relapse early on in recovery. …
Continue reading ‘Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes for Alcoholics: Day 8’ »
Yesterday during the sixth day of this novena, I wrote about forgiveness. Today the subject is a related issue, that of resentment. Resentment it is said, means “to feel again”. We alcoholics all understand this. When we resent something we are reliving the event all over, we nurture the emotion and maintain the grudge against …
Continue reading ‘Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes for Alcoholics: Day 7’ »
This was originally written on February 29, 2008, which was a Leap Day. It was posted to a soon-to-be-discontinued blog of mine and is being transferred to this one like most of the other posts on it. I had kept it as a draft in my blog editor, postdated to February 29, 2012, but have …
We all bear grudges at one time or another. Someone has wronged us, either by a real infraction or a perceived one, and we are hurt. There is a wound on our psyche and we suffer. The hurt remains and we are tied to the person and the event by this feeling. This is maintained …
Continue reading ‘Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes for Alcoholics: Day 6’ »
Patience is a condition that we alcoholics have serious issues with. And these issues can continue well into our sobriety. It seems as if we can never ever fully get rid of the “I want what I want and I want it now” attitude, no matter how much we have worked on developing our sense …
Continue reading ‘Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes for Alcoholics: Day 5’ »
Grief. Mourning the death of a loved one and dealing with how to fill the hole created in your life by the loss may be the biggest threat to an alcoholic’s sobriety. The grand theological concepts of Faith such as an afterlife and a possible reunion with the beloved in Heaven only if you both …
Continue reading ‘Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes for Alcoholics: Day 4’ »
In the Daily Mass Reading for Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Ordinary Time we see another example as to why we must not reject suffering if we are to consider ourselves followers of Christ and children of God. Hebrews 12:4-7; 11-15: “Brothers and sisters:In your struggle against sinyou have not yet resisted to the …
Depression is another affliction for us alcoholics, especially in early recovery. With our moods swinging wildly from day to to day, and sometimes more quickly, we fall into a state of wondering “will it ever get better?” It becomes easy to lose hope and to wonder whether this sobriety thing is worth it if an …
Continue reading ‘Novena to Our lady of Lourdes for Alcoholics: Day 3’ »