As I unenthusiastically mingled among the other attendees the first evening of the retreat, someone approached me and made a kind-hearted attempt to welcome me. Then, rather suddenly, they uttered the most unexpected and penetrating words that to this day still resonate like a trumpet blast within my soul. That person (an angel perhaps?) declared, “It is good that you are here, for you have been summoned to be here.” I was dumbstruck! Astounded! What on earth could they have possibly meant by that? I didn’t know a soul at that retreat, and nobody had summoned me to be there! Or so I thought. As I was going to discover in very short order, Jesus was about to blow up my whole world and correct my self-centered myopia. Those words were a mere foreshadowing of what He was going to reveal to me that weekend, that He had known me and had been calling me all my life, that my life was a gift and not my own, and that the sooner I came to accept that Jesus was the Lord of my life and I was not, the sooner the killing chokehold of addiction would begin to release and I could breathe in the Spirit of freedom and joy.
Today’s first reading reminds me of that day and those stunning words. Saint Peter teaches, “[God’s] divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power [emphasis added]. Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire” (2 Peter 1:3-4). What I take from these words is that everything about conversion and recovery from addiction begins with God’s call and initiative and only comes to fulfillment in Him. We must never forget this! The moment we do, the moment we think we’ve got this without God, that is the moment we are doomed to regression, relapse, and sin.
Saint Justin Martyr, who we celebrate today, wrote, “To yield and give way to our passions is the lowest slavery, even as to rule over them is the only liberty” (Fragments). Ruling over our passions, our appetites, our habitual addictive sins is first and foremost a work of God. It is a matter of surrender to God’s will and docility to the Holy Spirit in doing the next right thing. Saint Peter gives us a program for this: “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love” (2 Peter 1:5-7). Sounds like a powerful summation of recovery to me—faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, devotion, mutual affection, love—all of which are impossible without God’s grace “who called us by his own glory and power” and who has summoned us right here and right now in recovery to give glory to His name. May you answer the call.
Saint Justin Martyr, pray for us!
Reflection Questions
- How do you understand God “summoning” you to a life of recovery? How is this revealed to you in the words and actions of others?
- Describe times when you forgot God and thought you were just fine on your own. What happened? How did God call you back to conversion?
Daily Mass Readings
First Reading: 2 Peter 1:2-7
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 91:1-2, 14-15b, 15c-16
Gospel: Mark 12:1-12
Reflection by Pete S.