I remember a conversation that I had with my dad years ago. He said, "I don't think I pray good." He and I never really had these types of conversations, so I was taken by surprise. He prayed before meals, went to church, recited the rosary. And I pointed these things...
Over the past two years, I have had many people ask me to explain what finally freed me from pornography. As I have pondered this question, I have come to appreciate that the freedom was not found through a practice, discipline, program, therapeutic intervention,...
“The Serenity Prayer” God, Grant me the Serenity To accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things that I can And Wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace....
One of my local churches has recently distributed signs stating very simply, "We all have questions." Sometimes we question the very existence of God. Sometimes we question His nature: is He truly all powerful? Omnipresent? All knowing? All merciful? All loving? Can...
When I started recovery, the stories that people told me about both their addictions and the families they came from fascinated me. As a man named “Dan” once said, “My family put the fun in dys-FUN-ction.” Over and over again at 12-step meetings, I have heard people...
Step Ten: Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. Step Eleven: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to...
Over the last couple of years I have made a decision to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation as often as I can. One church in the area makes the sacrament available on weekdays, although most churches make it available on Saturday afternoons. Since I am an in-home...
The disease of addiction is devastating on families. Everyone related to the addict often struggles immensely to live with and try to help the person they love dearly and desire more than anything to help. However, many times with our attempt to help our loved one we...
Step Six: Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Step Seven: Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. When I asked a friend in another 12-step program what advice he would give to someone doing Step Six and Step Seven for the first...
A few years ago, I was at a wedding when I was struck by the particular charism of the priest offering the ceremony. He was warm, relaxed, and extremely welcoming. He also could read a room, which was reflected in the way he presented his homily to a largely...