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...
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...
Step Four: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Step Five: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. I was warned by my sponsor that many people find Step Four and Step Five very difficult—some...
One of the keys to moving away from habitual sin is spending time daily with Scripture and in prayer. Most of us have heard this for years and our immediate response might be, "I don't have time." I felt this way 10 years ago. But I can tell you today, as I enjoy over...
One of the tools that I learned as I went through the Consoling the Heart of Jesus: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat spiritual practice to help navigate challenging situations was a beautiful breathing exercise. Even today, over three years clean of my porn addiction, when...
Step Two: Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. I remember telling my sponsor early on that the first few steps in my 12-step program didn’t pose much of a challenge to me because I already believe in a “Higher Power.” I...
Love and service go hand in hand, whether it be within our families, communities, Catholic in Recovery groups, 12-step fellowships, or parish ministries. We are called to pour the love and blessings we have received from God out onto others. In recovery, we learn to...
Step One: We admitted that we were powerless over [ ] - that our lives had become unmanageable. I like to say I walked into overeaters anonymous looking for help with my “diet” problems and walked away with something else entirely. Step One was a jarring experience...
As I started looking back on my grace-filled release from my porn addiction, I tried to understand and explain to others my escape route. Many have asked me over the last two years what the "secret" is. After almost 40 years of being trapped, now being at the point of...
When many of us in recovery approach Step Four (make a “searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves”), it often seems like a daunting task. Most of us living with an active addiction do not spend a lot of time looking at ourselves in a critical way. For many...