Digging out of a Deep Hole
I have had a long love/hate relationship with school. It has been both a rose and a thorn in my life, getting much more complicated when my addiction to alcohol, drugs, and other attachments ran rampant upon starting my freshman year of college. Growing up, I typically did well in school. However, as courses required…
Read MoreRecognizing the Lord in His Purest Form
This Sunday, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This experience, as witnessed by Peter, James, and John, took place on a mountain top. High elevation often suggests that a spiritual experience is to take place. In this week’s Gospel reading (Mt 17:1-9), we hear: “Jesus took Peter, James, and…
Read MoreA Glimpse into Another Dimension
I’m a pretty sensitive guy. When I get choked up at weddings or during special moments, it comes to no surprise to my wife, friends, or family members there to witness it. However, I have lately found myself getting even more emotional than usual. Just the other day, while driving with my wife, Jacqueline, a…
Read MoreFinding and Keeping God’s Treasure
“Half-measures avail us nothing,” are words spoken in Twelve-Step recovery that are meant to reveal the importance of keeping our recovery efforts on the front of our minds and actions. This day-at-a-time commitment to discovering a new way of life and maintaining it is no different than the converted Christian who is now armed with…
Read MoreGod Dwells Within Us
As we get further into our recovery journey, we find that prayer is at the heart of what helps get us sober and an essential element of keeping us in recovery. Our first admission of a problem may have been a prayerful, crying out to what seemed to be only ourselves. In moments like those,…
Read MoreWeekly Reflection: Shining Light on the Truth
True relationship with God is rooted in honesty. Honesty with ourselves, with others, and with God. We may recognize that we are engaging in the behavior of our addiction, but are we honest with the consequences of our actions and the division it is creating in our lives? We can approach honesty in different stages…
Read MoreTransformed and Unified: On the Eucharist and Recovery
The Twelve Steps of recovery and the sacraments of the Catholic Church work in a very similar way. While some of the steps and each of the sacraments have great ritual and reverence around them regarding initiation, each are to be continually practiced. Finding a source to continue practicing these principles in all of our…
Read MoreBishop Barron on Bread in the Desert and Addiction Recovery
This Sunday the Church celebrates the Feast of Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of Christ). All three readings this weekend move toward finding nourishment, perseverance, and true freedom after having to journey through a spiritual desert. The Egyptians traveled out of slavery but yearned for the comforts of old, even if they knew they…
Read MoreGod, the Trinity, and Recovery
Last week we celebrated Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that takes place 50 days after Christ’s resurrection. The Holy Spirit, along with God the Father and Jesus Christ, His son, complete what we call the Trinity, which is who we proclaim God to be. This can be theologically difficult, but does not…
Read MoreMoving Towards Baptism and Welcoming the Newcomer
The following is a short excerpt from Scott’s upcoming book, The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments: A Catholic Journey through Recovery: One of the most beautiful moments of the Catholic Church’s liturgical year takes place during the Easter Vigil when new members of the Church are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy…
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