Rule 1 of St. Ignatius’ “rules of discernment” stands alone in many ways, describing the experience of one who is moving in the wrong direction, away from God, and towards vice and sin. In a modern sense, this first rule also describes those of us who are diving into...
As Catholics, we receive the Eucharist during Mass. However, there is another opportunity for us to experience the Blessed Sacrament through Eucharistic adoration. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains the importance of incorporating adoration into our prayers...
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...
Taking custody of the mind is a topic that always piques much interest when brought up in recovery meetings. Those of us who struggle with addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments recognize the mind as a battlefield. I was introduced to the concept of...
In part one of this series, Mark L. details how the first three Beatitudes can help us in our recovery and spiritual lives “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” This Beatitude suggests we must actively pursue God and...
The first formal Step Four a recovering person makes can be likened to the preparation for a “general Confession” made by a Catholic who has returned to the Church after being away or been received into the Church for the first time. This in-depth and thorough...
I just finished cleaning out our bathroom drains. There’s a Lenten lesson in here, I promise. When my daughters were little, I kept their hair shoulder-length. Anything longer was way too difficult to brush without all of us ending in tears. As soon as they were old...
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...
For quite some time now, the Holy Spirit has been nudging me to write about a very sensitive and difficult subject—the pain and trauma caused by abortion. With God’s strength and courage, I pray that we as members of the CIR fellowship will join in deep prayer and...
I live in rural Pennsylvania, where most of my neighbors are farmers, and many of them are Amish. For those who don’t know, the Amish are Christians whose faith practices include eschewing modern transportation in favor of horse-drawn buggies. All of this means that...