We could not do the important work we’re doing without your generosity, support, and prayers. The Catholic in Recovery Workbook is the first step-by-step guide for working through the Twelve Steps of recovery from a Catholic perspective. CIR retreats provide participants opportunities to receive healing from the effects of addiction through access to fellowship with others in similar situations, as well as through the grace and mercy to be found in Catholic sacramental life. If you struggle with addiction,dependency, or unhealthy attachments—or love someone who does—this book will help you discover the life-changing mercy of Jesus Christ through Church tradition and the grace of the sacraments.
A reflection for the eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
When her parish priest advised her to get into recovery for substance abuse, he helped her discover a local, in-person CIR meeting. She now also attends several virtual CIR meetings per week, often serving as a meeting leader and helping others to take service positions, as well. Meetings are a warm and welcoming environment where the strength of our Catholic faith is alcohol withdrawal joined with 12-step principles to enhance the healing process. If anything you’ve read resonates with you, know that you are not alone. CIR offers a place to feel connected without judgment or expectation, connected to a new and indescribable hope. My human pride, manifested in all of the unhealthy choices I make outside of God’s will, could be the measure of my sins.
A time to reflect
Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives. Awe can link nature with spirituality since it is often the experience of the natural world and its many wonders that help us gain perspective and move us forward. For example, one study found that veterans and at-risk youth had a 29 percent reduction in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms following a whitewater rafting experience (Anderson et al., 2018). Such anger and violence occur even as Catholics attend church services and profess to hold dear teachings in which peace and its pursuit are central. Loving others and caring that they live in peace brings the teachings of Christ to fruition, the pope says.
What does the church teach about self-defense?
The journey first took the biologists to work with a private collection on an oasis in Qatar. When the birds were transferred to a nonprofit organization, the couple moved with them to Germany. Spirituality and religion can play an important role in helping people cope with overwhelming events, trauma, medical and health challenges, loss, and grief.
Scott Weeman
However, to access all of the many benefits and resources available requires joining CIR+ Premium for $12/month or $120/year. The goal of CIR+ is to help nourish and sustain CIR members on their recovery and spiritual journeys by offering life-saving content and resources, opportunities for deeper fellowship, and courses, videos, and written materials related to recovery and the Catholic faith. When we are baptized in Christ, we are plunged into the living waters of renewal and healing. Similarly, we are invited to “plunge” into the first few steps of recovery by turning away from our addictive habits and unhealthy thinking patterns, as well as our denial, shame, and fear. We take this plunge when we’re ready to admit our powerlessness and our need for God.
Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry So Much!
Each day, well lived, can produce opportunities for growth and getting to know more about yourself and your Creator. You may find some difficulties facing the realities that you were previously hiding from, but the fruit of that comes in the form of being able to hold your head high and look yourself and others in the eye knowing that you’ve done your best today. Addiction does not happen in a vacuum, and it is important to seek help for yourself. Fellowships such as these provide an opportunity to share experience, strength, and hope for what can seem like a hopeless situation.
She also described how the power of the sacraments were at work on the retreat. In the future, you’ll be able to “pay it forward” by inviting and paying for another person to have full access to CIR+ as well. You can also join CIR+ for free to access and trial limited resources available on the membership website. Early on, one invitation to speak led Scott to other avenues for spreading the word and as a result, Catholic in Recovery meetings began to spring up across the states.
Federal police escorted them to breeding and reintroduction facilities accessible by a 1-hour drive on a rough dirt road, where the Purchases live and work for the nonprofit. In November, two federal research institutes released a study of rainfall water loss in plants and soil between 1960 and 2020. It showed that northern Bahia state, including Curaca, where the Spix’s macaws are trying to survive, is now consistent with a desert area. It also identified the expansion of semi-arid climate in the Northeast, where nearly 55 million people live. This familiarity offers a glimpse of the South African couple’s commitment to saving one of the world’s most critically endangered species.
At the retreat, he received a whole new experience of God’s personal love for him. Meetings begin with a general group review of the workbook and discussion with all participants followed by break-out groups according to gender and recovery type (food, alcohol/drugs, lust, and family recovery). Start every single day by prayerfully reading a reflection from a fellow CIR member that relates to the day’s Mass readings and includes questions to prompt deeper engagement—all through a recovery perspective.
- Each meeting rotates a chairperson, and a three-page reflection on the Sunday readings guides our recovery discussion.
- Your support will help us bring hope, healing, and freedom to those struggling with addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments as well as their loved ones.
- Catholic in Recovery is a nonprofit organization less than 10 years old.
- You must register for CIR+ to access the membership website’s resources and benefits, including free resources such as limited video series, a customizable meeting calendar, and CIR weekly reflections.
- Most important in making the decision about who to find as a sponsor is ensuring that they have gone through all twelve steps and are continuing to practice recovery principles in all of their affairs.
Recovery volunteers have gotten the program off the ground and gracious facilitieshave offered meeting rooms. Each meeting rotates a chairperson, and a three-page reflection on the Sunday readings guides our recovery discussion. Virtual meetings of all types are available daily at catholicinrecovery.com. Catholic In Recovery has found its way to the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend and we are humbled to witness God’s tender and intentional guidance as it takes root. CIR’s founder, Scott Weeman, started a personal blog entitled Catholic in Recovery in his early years of sobriety.
Catholic prayers are included, and members encourage one other to lean on the power of the sacraments and Catholic sacramentals such as the Rosary. The Twelve Steps and the sacraments have the power to set you free, no matter what your addiction or unhealthy alcohol and drug attachment, and this workbook offers the steps, insights, and practices that can lead you to healing and recovery. Welcome to CIR+ and thank you for being part of a community committed to recovery and the sacramental life of the Catholic Church.
We recognize that the Sacraments have a visible and invisible reality, a reality open to all the human senses but grasped in its God-given depths with the eyes of faith. When parents hug their children, for example, the visible reality we see is the hug. 4 ways to stop alcohol cravings We cannot “see” the love the hug expresses, though sometimes we can see its nurturing effect in the child. Sponsorship is one of several overlaps between the way we work through the twelve steps of recovery and experience the sacraments of the Church.
This lack of peace may come in the form of crime, unjust economic systems, poverty, exclusion, destruction of nature and ecosystems, or war, to name a few examples. “I think as a country we need to really look inwardly” at what is causing the lack of peace, Park says. It provided an answer to her father’s question and set her on a path that has lasted a lifetime. In order to experience true Reconciliation—with God, with those we have hurt, with those who have caused us resentment, and with ourselves—we must first take inventory of our own resentments, fears, and sins. We are then invited into the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in which we, with willingness and humility, are freed from sin and able to experience Christ’s transformative love.
Catholic In Recovery meetings offer an environment for people to talk about their challenges while tying in the solutions offered by God’s love, the sacraments, and our Catholic faith. Catholic in Recovery is a nonprofit organization less than 10 years old. It seeks to serve those suffering from addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments.
As a CIR+ member, you can find these in “Daily Reflection” or sign up to have these reflections sent to your inbox every day. If you aren’t already attending a CIR meeting, we encourage you to start attending one today. In meetings, we encounter the healing and freedom that can only come through fellowship with others. As a CIR+ member, you can save the meetings you regularly attend on your profile under “My Account” for your convenience. Addiction cuts across all demographics, and even a life dedicated to serving the Church does not make one immune to the effects of alcoholism and addiction. In fact, there are some challenges that clergy face that make their circumstances more likely to create addictive behaviors.
In March, three more of the light pale blue chicks were born in the wild. Not only did they survive, but one of them also flew for the first time last week, a major breakthrough. All released birds were equipped with radio collars designed to resist macaws’ strong bills. The Purchases and their assistant check the birds’ locations three times a day. Get the help you need from a therapist near you–a FREE service from Psychology Today. Clinicians are increasingly challenged to help clients disentangle belief systems, often rooted in spiritual or religious ideas, that blur the lines between magical thinking and magic.