by Chris | Jan 15, 2025 | Family, Help from the Saints, Pornography & Sexual Addiction, Prayer, Saints—On Earth & in Heaven, Sex/Pornography, Spiritual Tools
The month of March is an important month in the Catholic Church’s liturgical calendar. Not only does this month occur during the Lenten season, but over thirty saints are celebrated over the course of the month’s 31 days. What a gift that the Church holds up so many...
by Chris | Jan 8, 2025 | Getting Sober, Spiritual Tools
When a person seeks addiction recovery, they’re usually after one goal—to become free of disordered behaviors and addictions. However, for those of us in CIR, we’re also after another goal. We don’t only strive to stop our addictions, compulsions, or unhealthy...
by Chris | Dec 18, 2024 | Addiction, General, God, Help from the Saints, Saints—On Earth & in Heaven, Spiritual Tools
Read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. Growth in Virtuous Love To undergo real transformation in holy love, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux asserts that three commitments are required of any person, three essential conditions that should sound awfully familiar to us in...
by Chris | Dec 11, 2024 | Addiction, Getting Sober, God
Every 12-step novice is familiar with the term “surrender” and its significance for finding recovery. However, as often as the word is used in recovery groups, the word itself does not appear in any of the Twelve Steps. I’ve spent decades in recovery and attended...
by Chris | Dec 4, 2024 | Mercy, Reconciliation
To ask for forgiveness is one of the greatest challenges we face. It demands peace in our hearts. It invites us to confront and overcome our emotions of anger and hurt to practice virtue and mercy. It is a risk. It is a risk for anyone—especially for those of us in...
by Chris | Nov 27, 2024 | Compulsive Eating Behaviors
Holidays can be a challenging time for those dealing with food addiction, compulsive eating and restricting, and other food-related challenges. Yes, you can still maintain your program through the holidays! But it will require planning, intentionality, and support....
by Chris | Nov 20, 2024 | Addiction, General, God, Help from the Saints, Saints—On Earth & in Heaven, Spiritual Tools
Read Part 1 of this series. 2nd Observation: God Is the Very Source of Our Love Saint Bernard’s second observation for why we should love God is that God, who is Love itself, is the absolute origin of our own individual yearning to love and be loved, and as such He is...
by Chris | Nov 18, 2024 | Addiction, First Step, God, Help from the Saints, Saints—On Earth & in Heaven, Second Step, Spiritual Tools, The Twelve Steps, Third Step
“Then one of the scribes…asked Jesus, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,...
by Chris | Nov 6, 2024 | Family, Help from the Saints, Loved One of an Addict, Saints—On Earth & in Heaven, The Blessed Mother
The phone rang. I was 23 years old and hadn’t heard from my friend Sara in five years. We grew up together. “What have you been up to?” Sara asked. “Well, I’ve had a life-changing experience and I’ve become a born-again Christian!” I exclaimed, waiting for the usual...
by Chris | Oct 30, 2024 | Adult Children of an Alcoholic, Help from the Saints, Loved One of an Addict, Saints—On Earth & in Heaven, Spiritual Tools
Saint John Henry Newman’s distinction between notional and real knowledge offers profound insights for the journey of recovery as an adult child of a dysfunctional home. Recovery, much like Newman’s view of the Christian life, involves moving from a theoretical...
