[The following is reproduced from http://www.catholicireland.net/prayers-reflections-affected-addiction-ibdi/]
"Bishop Éamonn Walsh launched a pocket booklet of prayers and
reflections for those affected by addiction produced by the Irish Bishops Drugs
Initiative (IBDI) at the Dundalk Institute of Technology on 6th February
2013.
This prayer book and reflections is intended as a pastoral and
spiritual resource that is available through contacting The IBDI, Columba
Centre, Maynooth, Co Kildare, or can be ordered through the website
www.irishbishopsdrugsinitiative.com.
The IBDI is a cross community support working in over 250 parishes
involving over 1000 volunteers, to assist parishes and communities to address
the challenges of alcohol/drugs misuse which affects every quarter of the
country.
In his address at the launch, Bishop Walsh welcomed the statement
on 4 February by Minister of State for Primary Care at the Department of Health,
Alex White, regarding the practice of marketing of alcohol: “The biggest concern
is marketing that is visible to children and young people.”
Bishop Walsh stated, “Society needs to find imaginative ways of protecting children from being
used as drinks advertisements on sports jerseys. Only a strong public
determination will enable legislators to tackle the many vested interests which
gain from this and similar practices. We all need to put our shoulder to the
wheel and add real weight to the Minister’s pledge to address minimum pricing
for alcohol products and to curb gradually their corporate sponsorship in
sport.”
Full Text of address by Bishop
Walsh
‘Andy’ was six weeks out of treatment when he telephoned on Friday
afternoon at 4.30pm: “Can we meet Eamonn, I am desperate and on the drink.” I
suggested that we talk when he was sober, to which he replied: “I can only talk
when I am drinking.” He insists that we meet in a city centre pub. As Andy looks
at his pint he says: “It is poison, it’s killing me, I asked my friends to shoot
me but they refused. Can you help me? I hate myself. I am no good.” A week later
he phones again to tell me that his GP has a new drug that has worked with
‘heavy drinkers’ allowing them have two or three a few times a week and not want
for more. Andy
has a long journey ahead. Every reader knows the story,
it’s a familiar one, only the names change.
‘Tara’ tells her primary school teacher: “I am ashamed to bring my friends
home as I don’t know what state my mother will be in drink or what mess the
house will be in.” What a weight on such young shoulders.
The Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative new pocket book of prayers and
reflections is a reflective resource to give hope, support and the will to carry
on, to all who are struggling with misuse of drugs/alcohol, their families,
those in treatment, recovery and denial.
Temperance, balance in life, change of heart begins within. This booklet is
an aid to inner reflection. It invites us to go into our inner room and “ponder
God’s Word in our heart.” Gradually through reflecting on God’s love for each
one of us, a person can regain their self-respect and begin “to let go, let
God.” Day by day “The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want” comes alive.
The Psalms speak to every mood and life’s happenings. They are the distilled
faith-filled prayers that have stood the test of time. This one speaks to the
person that feels that they are in the gutter and have reached “rock
bottom”:
‘Save me, God, for the waters have reached my neck,
I have sunk into the mire of the deep, where there is no
foothold’(Ps:69).
I asked Paschal
to write a reflection to help people affected by
alcohol/ drugs. The following was among his prayers and reflections:
My faith waned when life strained
My faith left when I lost hope
My
faith in you was all but gone
Until I realized it was you who helped me carry
on
This booklet may serve some to open wide the “door of faith” (Acts 14:27). In
a world of noise, reflection on God’s Word and meditation, allows us to hear the
gentle promptings of God in the depths of our heart. It means more of “Speak
Lord, your servant is listening”, rather than listen Lord your servant is
speaking.
Through listening prayer, the temperate mind and heart gradually emerges. It
was through this reflective prayer that Isaiah took courage and faced his fear
and sense of inadequacy.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
Whom shall I send? Who will be my messenger?
I answered, ‘Here I am, send me. (Isaiah 6:8)
In his Apostolic Letter to launch this current Year of Faith, Pope Benedict
XVI, in urging the opening of the “door of faith”, said: “It is possible to
cross the threshold when the Word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows
itself to be shaped by transforming grace.” (
Porta Fidei, par 1)
The listening prayer releases the “transforming grace” for those struggling
with the misuse of alcohol/drugs and other addictive behaviours, those affected
and people who see such needs as not their concern.
But what can any of us do? We can join forces and say enough is enough! The
time has come for society to no longer stand idly by allowing conditions and
practices continue which will expose our young people to a life of unnecessary
misuse of drugs or alcohol.
I welcome the statement on 4 February by Minister of State for Primary Care
at the Department of Health, Alex White, regarding the practice of marketing of
alcohol: “The biggest concern is marketing that is visible to children and young
people.”
Society needs to find imaginative ways of protecting children from being used
as drinks advertisements on sports jerseys. Only a strong public determination
will enable legislators to tackle the many vested interests which gain from this
and similar practices.
We all need to put our shoulder to the wheel and add real weight to the
Minister’s pledge to address minimum pricing for alcohol products and to curb
gradually their corporate sponsorship in sport.
The Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative is a cross community support working in
over 250 parishes involving over 1000 volunteers, to assist parishes and
communities to address the challenges of alcohol/drugs misuse which affects
every quarter of the country.
This prayer book and reflections is intended as a pastoral and spiritual
resource that is available through contacting The IBDI, Columba Centre,
Maynooth, Co Kildare, viewed or downloaded at
http://irishbishopsdrugsinitiative.com/?page_id=839 , or can be ordered through the website
www.irishbishopsdrugsinitiative.coIt mI
