Catholics in 12 step groups

Not much activity here.

But, for the record, I've been clean for 9 yrs. & 7 months. Thanks be to God !

Like some others here, I found my way back to the Church through my 12 step program. I will be sober 4 years on January 30.

ML561, that is a great post. I really enjoy these types of stories. They bring me a lot of inspiration. In the readings this sunday Jesus tells us that with God all things are possible!!!

Peace be with all of you. For those interested in Matt Talbot, his cause for sainthood is being advanced. He is considered "venerable". He lived in Dublin, Ireland, in the 19th century and was a problem drinker from the age of 12. Many members of his family had drinking problems also. He would do almost anything to get a drink--including selling his clothes and shoes. He worked as a laborer throughout his life. At the time it was the custom for laborers to get their paychecks cashed at bars on payday...needless to say, many of the laborers never made it home from the bar with any money in hand.

One day, Matt Talbot was waiting outside a bar for someone to buy him a drink as he had no money. No one offered. He walked home and announced to his mother that he was going to take a temperance pledge, meaning that, before a priest, he would abstain from alcohol for six months. He did so. It was very difficult for him. He avoided the temptation to drink by going to Mass every morning before work and spending many hours before the Blessed Sacrament. He turned his paycheck over to his mother so he would not be tempted to go to the bars.

He continued throughout his life to work as a laborer and taught himself to read. He became well acquainted with Scripture and found a spiritual director. He led a life of prayer and penance, often going to Mass twice a day. He became known in Dublin as a holy man, and after his death, people began to visit his grave with written prayers for the deliverance of themselves or others from alcoholism. Many have said that through Matt Talbot's intercession, they were able to recover. There were no 12 steps available in Matt's time, but his reliance on the Lord and on Our Lady helped him and others.

Please pray that his cause for sainthood may be advanced. God bless all of you.

HI everyone,

Thanks for sharing your experience, strength, and hope. deirdrajpa, all I can do is share my experience. I know I can't change anyone that's part of my powerlessness but I can pray for them. God will lead them when the time is right but I can plant seeds, mustard seeds by praying for them. I too was a practicing buddhist and very anti-Christian when I entered the program until a month after my sobriety, my dad gave me a book about Mary and the visionaries at Medjugorje. I was so overwhelmed and cried a lot that night and turned my life over to Him through the intercession of Mary. I have had my bad times and make mistakes but I now realize the fullness of the Holy Spirit through His Holy and Apostolic church and I still love my Buddhist brothers and sisters. I admire them for their peace and sense of compassion and I know that compassion will lead them to the source of all love one day, our Lord and Saviour. Keep praying. Mary needs soldiers who will pray for her and for all those who are still out there drinking. Thanks monicatholic for reminding I need to bring this gift of sobriety to others in the program.

Hello All Again,

sobriety coins? here's a cool bitta history:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3D20%26um%3D1

Hello All,

I'm Monica, a recovered alcoholic with 25 years of sobriety if I don't drink till October 14.

I think it was very important for me to really test the rightness of remaining in AA when there can be so much anti-catholicism, so much relativism, so much synthesism and subjectivity in the practice of 'god as we understood him' verbage.

but catholicity of AA is all over the original text.

in the big book, god is always God and it's always as we understood him. The prayers call him Father and Creator of all. The big book also says I should want to bring my 5th step to the appropriate priest, minister or rabbi if I have a religion.

i do have a religion. before i'm alcoholic (a result of my fallen nature) i'm a human person made in the image of God. and i'm a follower of Jesus Christ within His Church, the mystical body He revealed to the world. So, yes, my faith gets more attention than does my sobriety (though my Faith has direct effect on my sobriety.)

i have a responsibility to stay in AA because i've realized and live the promise "no matter how far down the scale we have gone we find our experiences can benefit others." i stay in AA, go to meetings and sponsor others. if i'm not going to help women get enogh sobriety to stretch their measly views of God, who will?

my sponsor told me a lotta years ago, "you need a better Higher Power. you keep running with that 'little god' thing." women who stay sober a while, can understand that. God's LOVE is BIGGER than everything.

God loves me just the way I am, but loves me too much to leave me just the way I am.

yeah. i stay around because I have something really important to give back.

deirdreajpa, Maybe, this is not the same thing that you are talking about, but maybe it will help you. Alot of times we go through things that don't make any sense. But later we can see clearly how these situation have strengthened us. For many years I was an athiest. I Hated christians, and that is not an exggeration. It is a really long story why I felt this way, but let's just say that I carried these feeling for over 20 years. Last year a number of things happened to me that made sense while they were happening. While they made no sense to ME, it started me down this road to returning to the Church. I would not have returned to the Church by any other means. You could have found the greatest thinker there was, and have had him explain Christ to me, and I would have never accepted his answer. But, God worked through some sources that had a profound effect on my thinking. It made no sense but at the same time was totally clear to me.
My point is just take your time, and trust in God. If you need anything at all, just let me know. I know my experiences are different from yours, but I think I know what it is to have my faith leave me. You will understand why you feel this way down the road. Just continue on in your faith. If you do not feel it 100%, just let him carry you. Trust in him and let him carry you through the rough times.

I'm really glad to have found this group. I feel I desperately need some anchoring in the faith while I try to strengthen my program. I'm in OA and have 7 years abstinence. I have very strong faith--I think anyway. I once considered becoming a nun. But lately my faith is waning. I have a sponsee who is a devout Buddhist, and I don't know how to work with her without affecting my faith. Part of me wants to scream "Jesus" at her and push her out of Buddhism. But the "program" part me knows I can't. And then just letting her sit there without Christ, while trying to believe everything will be fine with her, seems to undermine my own faith. Also, I think I'm really stuck in that "expecting from God what we got from our parents" thing and that is confusing me a lot. Anyway, I don't mean to dump. It's just great to have a group where someone may understand.

Thanks for listening, and for being here.

Blessings ~ Deirdre

Hi, again... great to read everyone's posts... I won't get to come by much, as my schedule is very intense (and I have lots of RCIA prep work, which must come first), but it's so wonderful to know this is here... I can't believe that in less than two months, I'll have three years of sobriety!!! Thanks for the kindness and support... There's a lot of sobriety here!