Day 9

In recovery, Step 1 is to admit our powerlessness over our addiction and the unmanageability of our lives. This aligns with Paul’s warning that, without the Spirit of God, we remain enslaved to the works of the flesh. Spiritual sickness manifests in drinking bouts, anger, envy, and selfishness, pulling us further away from the Kingdom of God. The warning is clear: those who remain bound by these behaviors will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Even in the rooms of AA, I had to part ways with some fellows because, although they weren’t drinking, their actions were leading to a life of destruction through perverse conversations, lust, materialism, and worldly pursuits. I was tempted by such conversations and behaviors, and I realized that I needed to part with them to prevent being led back into enslavement. It was a reminder that sobriety is not just about what we stop doing but how we choose to live in every area of our lives.

Through the Twelve Steps and Catholic in Recovery, we invite Jesus into our recovery, finding true and lasting freedom not just from addictions, compulsions, and unhealthy attachments but all the works of the “flesh.” Paul contrasts the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control—with the destructive works of the flesh. In a similar manner, when we embrace the true heart of recovery, which goes beyond merely being sober or abstinent, we come to experience the fruits of the Spirit listed by Paul. By surrendering and allowing Christ to reign in our lives, we experience a new freedom, a new happiness, and a new life led by the Spirit of God.

Reflection Questions

• What works of the flesh are you still clinging to? How can you invite Jesus to break these bonds and replace them with the works of the Spirit?
• In what ways have you experienced the freedom of living in the Spirit as you’ve worked your 12-step program?

Daily Mass Readings

First Reading: Galatians 5:18-25
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6
Gospel: Luke 11:42-46

Reflection by Juan Carlos P.

(d.c.223) — The man who was to be elected the sixteenth pope spent time as a slave before being ransomed and freed in Rome through the initiative of Pope Saint Victor I. He became caretaker of a major cemetery and advisor to Pope Zephyrinus, whom Callistus succeeded after his death. The papacy of Callistus was marked by schism over his mercy with respect to readmitting repentant sinners to Communion and his insistence that differences in economic class were no barrier to marriage. He was martyred, possibly by an anti-Christian mob, during the reign of the Emperor Alexander Severus.

It may be a mere coincidence, but it is interesting that this pope of mercy is also the patron of cemetery workers. Our faith deals with the Resurrection. Our recovery works to bring the (spiritually) dead back to life. How do we treat those in our community who relapse? How do we learn to guard our own recovery from relapse?

“If offences abound, then, let mercy also abound; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption” (Pope Saint Callistus I).

Reflection by Brad Farmer