Day 39

When I chose to surrender and get sober 22 years ago, many people in my life stopped talking to me. Some in my family were resentful of me because I kept my distance from them due to their active addictions. The sober people in my early recovery (and still today) were like the loving hands and arms of Jesus and Mary who showed me unconditional love. They, like Paul to Timothy, took me under their sober wings and taught me the ways of sobriety and faith.

Jesus, together with his mother Mary, has “chosen” those of us in recovery for Himself because we have been rejected by the world and because He truly loves us as His own. He assures us in today’s Gospel reading not to fear when we are rejected and persecuted by others because He has “chosen [us] out of the world” to be His own (John 15:19). Jesus loves us more than anyone will ever love us. What more could Jesus do to show us how much He loves us more than dying on a cross?

Reflection Questions

• Who were or are the sober people in your life who, like Saint Paul to Timothy, have taught, or are teaching, you the ways of sobriety and faith? How has their unconditional love helped you to become aware of Jesus and Mary’s unconditional love?
• How have Jesus and Mary wowed and wooed you in your recovery and faith?

Daily Mass Readings

First Reading: Acts 16:1-10
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 5
Gospel: John 15:18-21

Reflection by Marty T.

(c.290-c.346) — Saint Pachomius is considered the founder of cenobitic (communal) monasticism. He went to the desert to seek God but was inspired to create a place for others to join in community, a monastery. He wrote a rule of life said to be dictated by an angel that Saint Benedict and Saint Basil would later build on to create their more well-known rules.

Recovery is done in a community, not self-help islands. “The therapeutic value of one addict helping another is without parallel” (Narcotics Anonymous). We need our sponsor and our fellows to help us see clearly and stay on course. As we can attest in active addiction, trying to do it alone didn’t work for us.

“It is patience that reveals every grace to you, and it is through patience that the saints received all that was promised to them” (Saint Pachomius).

Reflection by Brad Farmer