Wednesday, March 4th
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
After reading today's reflections, make sure to listen to Brother John's personal reflection.
Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
A great temptation for us addicts as we get better is to start judging and criticizing others for not having the recovery we think they should have. This is a manifestation of one of our greater character defects: pride. In the Gospel today, Jesus nods to the tendency for us to look at others and make judgments about their sinfulness or spiritual states. He says, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means! But I tell you, if you do not repent, you will all perish as they did!” (Luke 13:2-3)
In our disease, it’s easy to be prideful and focus on the faults and sins of others while minimizing or justifying our own. We might compare ourselves to others and convince ourselves that we aren’t so bad. This mindset can be dangerous; it often prevents genuine self-work, which can lead to relapse and even spiritual death. In the Al-Anon program, there’s a wise saying: “Stay in your Hula Hoop.” In other words, when we focus on ourselves and take accountability for our own actions, we can truly embrace a life of repentance and recovery.
Before I found sobriety, I believed God was done with me. I felt I was too far gone. I repeatedly tried to escape my pain through drinking and using drugs, hoping to die. But recovery offered me a new opportunity to live. In AA, some of the foundations of recovery are acknowledging our struggles, recognizing the harm we’ve caused ourselves and others, and seeking a renewed spirit and mind. Just as the fig tree in Jesus’ parable is given another chance to bear fruit and live, through recovery, we too are granted a new opportunity to live joyously and freely. Through the fruits of our recovery, we can show others how God has transformed our lives and offer hope to those still struggling with addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments.
By working a program of action through the Twelve Steps, attending meetings, having a sponsor, and helping others, we receive the graced “fertilizer” that gives us new life where we thought there was only death. Only God knows our hearts, and only God is the just judge of ourselves and others. Yet He is a loving Father, and He will use all for good in our lives if we truly repent and nurture the new life He has given us through recovery.
Reflection Questions
- Have you found yourself criticizing and comparing yourself to others? What can you do today to focus on yourself and your relationship with God instead?
- How have you been taking care of the new life God has given to you through recovery?
Daily Mass Readings
First Reading: Ephesians 4:7-16
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4AB, 4CD-5
Gospel: Luke 13:1-9
Reflection by Juan Carlos P.
Saint Anthony Claret, Bishop
(1807-1870) — Born in Spain and trained in his father’s trade as a weaver, Anthony became a priest and eventually a missionary to the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa. On his return to Spain, he established the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (The Claretians). Anthony was appointed the Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba in the Caribbean for eight years before Queen Isabella II recalled him to Spain to be her confessor. In addition to his exceptional preaching, Anthony exhibited several extraordinary charisms and miracles in his ministry, which were attested by many, including regular levitation and a supernatural light that radiated from his body when he celebrated Mass. He spread devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Saint Anthony relied on God completely. It is often through the saints’ radical surrender to God that the extraordinary, the miraculous, is made manifest. What miracles have you witnessed in recovery through your surrender to God (Step 3)?
“Lord, by the words of consecration the substance of the bread and wine is converted into the substance of your Body and Blood. All powerful Lord, say over me the word which will change me into You” (Saint Anthony Claret).
Reflection by Brad Farmer
Other Saints
Discuss
Share your thoughts and connect with others on this journey.
Brother John shares about the fruitlessness of sacrifice and suffering, despite not always being willing to accept them when he was younger. How has accepting suffering and sacrifice in your own life been fruitful in your faith and recovery?
Log in to join the discussion.
I do not recall a time when God did not give me what I asked for. It seems to me that God has always been very good to me giving me exactly what I have needed (mostly in meditation/prayers/homilies) when I needed it for positive inspiration and reflection. Sobriety was a longer process, but after years of binge drinking when it became daily to the point of desperation he again put in line exactly the people I needed to come into recovery.