For a long period of time in my own recovery, I found myself trapped in a “plateau” of sorts. I would fall, go to Confession, and be good for about a week. Hardly would a temptation enter my mind, then suddenly it was like a switch was flipped, and I would fall again....
The Fourth Stage of Love—Love of Self for God’s Sake The pinnacle of growth in virtuous love is rarified air, a degree of love that is truly mystical and extraordinary. It is a degree of love signifying complete union with God, and is entirely the prerogative of God...
The Second Stage of Love—Love of God for the Self’s Sake The love of God for the sake of self represents the first real movement of conversion within the sinner’s heart. The self-obsessed, narcissistic gaze in a fundamental way begins to turn outward from the egoic...
The following is an excerpt from The Recovery Rosary, a book offering 20 personalized meditations (one for each mystery of the Rosary) covering a variety of addictions, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, lust-related addictions, compulsive/disordered eating...
Read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. In the second part of our reflections on Saint Augustine and 12-step recovery, we examined how and why Augustine submitted himself entirely to the care of God as Augustine had come to know Him in his dramatic and grace-filled...
The following is an excerpt from The Recovery Rosary, a book offering 20 personalized meditations (one for each mystery of the Rosary) covering a variety of addictions, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, lust-related addictions, compulsive/disordered eating...
The following is an excerpt from The Recovery Rosary, a book offering 20 personalized meditations (one for each mystery of the Rosary) covering a variety of addictions, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, lust-related addictions, compulsive/disordered eating...
The following is an excerpt from The Recovery Rosary, a book offering 20 personalized meditations (one for each mystery of the Rosary) covering a variety of addictions, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, lust-related addictions, compulsive/disordered eating...
Read Part 1 of this series. In the first part of our exploration of the wisdom of Saint Augustine and 12-step recovery, we witness the dramatic change in awareness that led to Augustine’s recognition of his own powerlessness and of the one who is all-powerful, God....
Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this series. Having considered Saint Bernard of Clairvaux’s several observations for why we should love God as well as his description of the path of growth in virtuous love, we come now to that for which his work On Loving God is...