Friday, February 22, 2013

New Venerable Matt Talbot Icon

This new Matt Talbot icon was posted 03 February 2013 at http://www.togherparish.ie/parish/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=251%3A130203mt&catid=25%3Athe-project&Itemid=2. It was created by Sr. Irene Gibson of Raheeny in Dublin and commissioned by the Cork Regional Pioneers.











The broken bottle is a symbol of his break from the slavery of addiction. Chain round waist, which he wore as a penance after his conversion, is symbol of his enslavement to the Blessed Virgin Mary. (http://peaceofzionicons.blogspot.com/2013/01/venerable-matt-talbot-icon.html)



Saturday, February 9, 2013

Faith & Spirituality Resources Related to Addiction


[The very informative “Irish Bishops Drugs Initiative” website at http://irishbishopsdrugsinitiative.com/ has recently been updated and is well worth your time to systemically review its content.
As only one example of additional information, the current “Faith & Spiritually” section at http://irishbishopsdrugsinitiative.com/?page_id=231
has been reproduced below.]

Church: drugs and drug addiction

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.” —Galatians 6:2 Spirituality & Substance Misuse Each of us is a gift of God. When we give a gift to a meaningful person in our lives, we hope they will like and appreciate the gift we give them. God is like this, …
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Matt Talbot

Venerable Matt Talbot He was born on 2nd May 1856 in humble circumstance in Dublin’s inner city, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Talbot. In post-famine years Dublin and the rest of Ireland was in distressed state: an era of grinding poverty and appalling living conditions. Yet it was also a time when the Faith …
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12 Step Spirituality

Intercom Oct-2005 12 STEP SPIRITUALITY A programme of living for everyone As it’s main focus12-step Spirituality is based on the principle of living not in the yesterday, not in the tomorrow, but living in the day – today, one day at a time and allowing God to be God in my life. This spirituality is …
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Spirituality Perspective

Spirituality: Perspectives from Theory and Experience Irrespective of the language used, the process in all cases is one of fundamental discovery by the individual that they have an inner life that can help them become free persons – Christian spirituality seeks to free people and increase their freedom to choose to be people who …
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Homily notes

4. Homily Notes Temperance Sunday 10 Feb 2013 A good resource is Bishop Eamonn Walshe in February Intercom when he writes about balance and the forthcoming publication of prayers for those affected by addiction. Of interest is how Tara relates to her primary school teacher how she is “ashamed to bring my friends home …
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Order our new Prayer book.

Our new prayer book written for those affected by addiction. Forty beautifully illustrated pages with prayers. Please fill in the order form below. All donations kindly received will go towards the financial costs of supporting our nationwide Initiatives. Thank you.
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Temperance Resource Pack

TEMPERANCE SUNDAY REFLECTION – Bishop Eamonn Walsh Andy was six weeks out of treatment when he phoned, Friday afternoon at 4.30p.m., ‘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 …
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Lenten Period

LENT: Alcohol – Our Culture – Our Challenge With alcohol costing our country billions a year, along with the trail of destruction it leaves in its wake to individuals, families and communities. It is a positive sign to finally see movement towards the Government addressing the issues and standing up the powerful drinks industry. …
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Prayers of the Faithful

Prayers of the Faithful For the poor, the persecuted, the sick, and the unemployed; for all those suffering from depression or addiction, and for all those in any kind of danger. For all those struggling with any form of addiction in our parish, especially alcohol, drugs, …
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New Pocket Prayer Book for Those Affected by Addiction

[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

Temperance Sunday 2013


[Tomorrow, 10 February 2013, is Temperance Sunday. Temperance Sunday precedes Ash Wednesday on 13 February, the beginning of Lent.]
 
 
"Temperance Sunday - from Logos Missalette
I have yet to meet anyone who regrets that their parents were sober, temperate in their use of alcohol, or Pioneers. I have met hundreds whose lives were almost ruined by the misuse of alcohol by themselves or someone close to them, and suffered the poverty, or violence or abuse that went with it. All of us could probably agree with this.I have yet to meet parents who regret that their teenage children do not drink. I’m sure, you, dear reader, would agree. 
 
Drink Sensibly – Drink Less
In Ireland alcohol is more often abused than sensibly used. The squalor of late-night streets, the drunkenness associated with junior and leaving cert result ‘celebrations; are only some of its side effects. ‘Drink sensibly’ of the ads of alcohol for many would be ‘drink less’, though no ad for alcohol will recommend that! Most important events in Ireland involve an easy availability of alcohol. Many of our young people are drinking too much too young for the good of their physical health, not alone their spiritual well-being, at a time when the peer pressure and advertising impact are high.
Reflect, Thanks and a Call
Temperance Sunday is a day of reflection, of thanks and a call. To reflect as families, communities and as a society on our use of alcohol, to thank God for it as a gift to be moderately used and to be truly grateful for the example of people who use alcohol sensibly; and it is a call to educate by word and example a younger generation in the use of alcohol. Temperance Sunday is a day that we say, as a church, that we are concerned for the problems in our society caused through abuse of alcohol and want to be committed to doing something positive about them. So it is a day when we pray for and try to help people who are in any way effected by alcoholism - their own or that of others.
Lord, make us truly grateful for the gifts of your creation, and may we use them wisely for our own good and the good of others."
Donal Neary SJ
 
A previously posted homily for Temperance Sunday, “Matt Talbot – Triumph over Alcohol Addiction,” by Fr. Tommy Lane can be found at http://www.frtommylane.com/homilies/other_homilies/matt_talbot.htm