Today, June 26th, is the fifth anniversary of my mother-in-law’s death. I never knew her as I met my wife in 2007, but through my wife she has had some impact on me. I would have loved her greatly. A number of posts on this blog indicates that I think of death quite a lot. …
The Second Step of 12 Step recovery movements is: “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” “Came to believe” implies a process in which you once didn’t believe, but eventually adopted a belief. This is known as conversion. “Recovery” is a distinct form of conversion, as you undergo …
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’ »
“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.” And thus is the First Step of 12 Step alcohol recovery groups. (Other addictions are appropriately substituted for alcohol in other 12 Step movements). In essence it reflects a corruption of the will, with the references to powerlessness and unmanageability. Our …
Continue reading ‘The First Step: Powerless and unmanageable’ »
A few Sundays ago there was this Gospel reading at Mass: John 2:13-22: “Since the Passover of the Jews was near,Jesus went up to Jerusalem.He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves,as well as the money-changers seated there.He made a whip out of cordsand drove them all out of the …
The Fifth Step on St. Benedict’s Ladder of Humility is that a person does not conceal any sinful thoughts, or any wrongs committed in secret, but humbly confesses them. The Step was intended for monks to do this in respect to his abbot (man who is in charge of the monastery), but we also can …
Continue reading ‘St. Benedict's Ladder of Humility: Step 5’ »
The second step on the Ladder of Humility is that a person should not love his own will nor take pleasure in satisfying their own desires. This is very similar to the Third Step of 12 Step recovery movements: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God …
Continue reading ‘St. Benedict's Ladder of Humility: Step 2’ »
John, from the Venerable Matt Talbot Resource Center emailed me a link to an interesting series of blogposts on AA’s Twelve Steps, this time with a Catholic perspective. Adrienne, of Adrienne’s Catholic Corner has written 12 Steps for Catholics from March through June of this year. That last link in the previous sentence is a …
An excerpt from the First Reading from today’s Mass for the First Sunday of Lent: Genesis 3:1-7; Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the animals that the LORD God had made. The serpent asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?” …
The Rosary is an ancient devotion used by Catholics. It has been around for about 800 years. I have added links in the sidebar (See “Rosary”) that go into its history and development in more detail than what I shall do here. The Rosary isn’t about the Blessed Virgin Mary, it’s about Jesus. In Catholic …