Tuesday, February 24th
To complete today's challenge, find time to prayerfully read through the reflections below, attend a recovery meeting, and share what's on your heart and mind on today's discussion board.
REFLECT
Tuesday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
A great turning point in the journey of recovery is when we can recognize the light of grace—no matter how brief or slight—that calls us to seek the help of God. When we realize that we are lost in addiction and in need of help, we will often reach out to God in prayer, asking Him to show us the path to freedom, hope, and true life.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells us about that path to true life, giving us also the most difficult passage in the Bible. Jesus tells us what we do not want to hear. In fact, very often even our good priests do not want to comment on this passage. Yet, Jesus gives us this deeply troubling insight because we need it. He wants us to know the truth.
“How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few” (Mathew 7:14).
These holy words can stir the soul. They can fill us with reverential fear. Some of us may ignore or rationalize them, but we do so at our own serious risk. For the person who has fallen into the slavery of addiction, Jesus’ words about the “narrow path” give us the holy fear with the power to change and save our lives. His words bring freedom and hope. When we asked God in prayer to show us the way, He answered us and pointed out “the road that leads to life.”
Yet, this is not the wide, broad, and easy road that the world invites us to travel. Lost to our addiction and unhealthy attachments, we were on that path but Jesus tells us where this leads: destruction. Our path is the narrow path of sobriety, faithfulness, and right living. To walk that path well, we can study the best the Church has to offer—the lives of the holy saints who traveled the narrow way to heaven. In recovery terms, we can “stick with the winners” of our holy Catholic saints.
As we embrace this hard truth with a spirit of trust in God, our childish fears will fade away and we will be grateful that we have been called to the narrow way of holiness and recovery. And as we make progress on that path, we can call others to join us so that we all may do as today’s Responsorial Psalm invites us to do—live forever “in the presence of the Lord.”
Reflection Questions
- What was life like when you followed the wide and broad path of addiction that leads to destruction?
- Do Jesus’ words that few find the path leading to life cause you to fear? How can you reconcile this with the loving mercy and generosity of God?
Daily Mass Readings
First Reading: 2 Kings 19:9B-11, 14-21, 31-35A, 36
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 48:2-3AB, 3CD-4, 10-11
Gospel: Matthew 7:6, 12-14
Reflection by Bill B.
Saint Joseph Cafasso
(1811-1860) — A friend of Saint John Bosco since they were both young, Saint Joseph was an Italian priest, professor of moral theology, pastor, and retreat house director. He was a sought-after confessor, promoted devotion to the Eucharist, and ministered to prisoners. Joseph was short and crippled his whole life and died from complications of congenital medical issues along with pneumonia. Saint John Bosco said his funeral Mass and wrote his biography.
“Iron is sharpened by iron; one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). Saints are often made through interactions and friendships with other saints. Changing people and places can be an important part of recovery, ensuring we place ourselves in company that pulls us upward. Who are the people in your life who challenge you to be better? Do you provide that for others?
“A single word from him – a look, a smile, his very presence – sufficed to dispel melancholy, drive away temptation and produce holy resolution in the soul” (Saint John Bosco, writing about Saint Joseph).
Reflection by Brad Farmer
Other Saints
Discuss
Share your thoughts and connect with others on this journey.
Log in to join the discussion.
I do not struggle to forgive because I know that in order for me to be forgiven I need to forgive. Its after forgiving someone that I struggle with. Resentment and grudges that I need to let go. MY LORD AND MY GOD heal me from resentment and the grudges I hold. AMEN
During my 45+ years of periodic binge drinking there are numerous (too many to count) times when I realized that if God wasn't protecting me, I would be dead or would be in jail. I had most of the time during this period a sort of close relation with God and my faith, so prayer, trust and hope were eventually what pulled me out of each binge period. Only under God's mercy and protection was this possible. I never forget what God has done for me and how He when I finally cooperated, He gave the gift of AA, Calix, and now CIR.