I chose Saint Augustine as my confirmation saint because his story offers hope of sainthood to wild men like me and because of his motto: Caritas, Veritas, Unitas (Charity, Truth, Unity). He understood these must work in harmony to build God’s kingdom. Love without...
I never imagined that God would use my theatre degree to save my life. Since I received my acting and directing training before Method Acting got its current bad reputation, I was trained in what’s called Stanislavski’s Method, which involves a number of exercises an...
What the Church means by “chastity of the eyes” relates to the notion of avoiding the “near occasion of sin.” And understanding the Church’s meaning behind chastity of the eyes can help all of us struggling with addictions, compulsions, or unhealthy attachments avoid...
Recovery is not just about staying free from sin and addiction, it’s about rebuilding the whole person—body, mind, and soul. This happened for me by adopting spiritual strategies when I was in early recovery to deepen my faith in Christ and engage in spiritual...
Attachment, as we have seen in previous articles (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four), is central to addiction, recovery, and spiritual growth. St. Ignatius of Loyola describes his Spiritual Exercises as “every way of preparing and disposing the soul to rid...
On occasion, I’m asked by a CIR newcomer, “How did you find recovery”? This person in active addiction is usually looking for a silver bullet to take down those “werewolves” of addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments. A full answer to such a question, in my...
In my own recovery, I have found many helpful tools in St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises. I could almost call the Exercises a recovery program for addiction and codependency. Within these exercises, St. Ignatius offers rules for the “discernment of...
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...
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...
One of the more memorable characteristics of the therapists I had when I was a client at The Ranch was his uncanny ability to tell you exactly what you needed to hear. Many of the men who were in the Sexual Recovery Program (SRP) were there because they realized they...