Reflections of an Indian Catholic Alcoholic

October 15, 2017
https://indiancatholicmatters.org/reflections-indian-catholic-alcoholic/  


"My name is XXX. I am a Catholic and I am an Alcoholic. This is my story.

1000 days, so far, without touching a drop of alcohol. By the Grace of God. I have come to this milestone this month. Unthinkable for a typical businessman living in one of India’s fastest growing cities, who liked living the high life: Clubs, 5-star events, receptions, etc were a major part of most of my adult life till the past three years. The ostensible reason for my being at all these events, taking up memberships in all the possible Clubs in town and becoming one of the most networked people in the business circles in my City was business networking and the opportunities there-on. The actual reason why I was so regular at these events was alcohol: my poison of choice, whisky.

To cut a long story short, and it is probably, one that you have heard before till this point, is that I became more and more attracted to alcohol. After all, it had been my friend since college days at age of 18 years for almost 30 years. It transformed me from a shy introvert to the life of the party. Through all these years of my relationship with alcohol, I have never been pulled up for drunken driving nor ever had any accidents under the influence, or any problems at work. I was able to give up drinking for the normal Catholic seasons of Lent and Advent.

However, after these seasons were over, I would always make up overtime with alcohol to compensate for the period without! Slowly, a realisation that this unhealthy attraction (drinking alcohol per se is not bad, but only if done in moderation, and some of us just can’t drink in moderation!) was gaining precedence over my behavior, brought on by the pleadings of my better half, to give up this habit, prompted me to try and stop drinking alcohol not for a few days, but for life. Also, helping me make this hard decision was the first hand, experience of the problems that one of my closest college friends was having due to his own love for alcohol: DUI, Divorce, loss of custody of the kids and home – he had to face this all.

I can remember clearly my last drinking day. A Friday evening in October, three years ago. I was at a popular Club in the city and must have had quite a few pegs of India’s finest whisky. Next day, decided to stop. Joining Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) – which in fact has meetings in many churches, seemed not an option for me. In the Indian context, what would people say? There might be someone who might recognise you, etc, etc. So many of these thoughts might not occur to someone in the US or elsewhere.

So, in desperation, I turned to God and my Catholic Faith to bring me out of my love affair with Alcohol. I reasoned that other Catholics and many Saints could have overcome this battle too and I could learn from them and started researching this topic.

On going through the Net, I read the fascinating account of a Catholic Irishman who lived in the last century, and had a dramatic conversion from a life of alcoholism. His name was Matt Talbot, and he holds the status of Venerable in the Catholic Church today. Matt fought off his desire to drink by initially taking a three month sobriety pledge, then extending it to six months, then a year, and finally for life. Matt overcame his temptations by attending Daily Mass, turning to life of prayer and solitude, and avoiding going to bars by frequent prayers in churches. I read that Matt was a Third Order Secular Franciscan and this made me reach out to the Franciscans in my city.


I called the Franciscan Friary and was connected to a kindly Friar who gave me a lot of literature on Franciscan spirituality and in particular on a little man from Assisi, St Francis who renounced a life of decadence and pleasure for one of poverty and penance and living as per God’s Will. Incidentally, the St Francis prayer is an integral part of AA matters even today. You know, the one that goes” “Lord make me a channel of your peace etc..”

Internet search also led me to the Pioneer Temperance Association, where members pledge not to consume alcohol via the pledge (Heroic Offering) to the Sacred Heart for the sake of excessive drinkers. This pledge was modelled on Jesuit spirituality and the devotion to the Sacred Heart made known by St Margaret Mary Alacoque.

I reproduce the Heroic Offering here:

The Heroic Offering
“For thy greater Glory and consolation, O most Sacred Heart of Jesus, for Thy sake, to give good example, to practice self-denial, to make reparation to Thee for the sins of intemperance and for the conversion of excessive drinkers, I will abstain for life from all intoxicating drinks, Amen”.

I found great consolation in saying the Offering everyday during Daily Mass, especially at the time of the Eucharistic Offering, praying especially that this day I would not touch alcohol. I found that visiting the Blessed Sacrament before any party where I knew alcohol would be served, and saying the Pledge, would also help strengthen me get through the occasion.

Researching further, I found that Catholic spirituality had its roots intertwined with AA and has an indelible influence on the AA movement right from the early days. An Catholic Priest Jesuit Fr. Ed Dowling was one of the earliest friends and spiritual advisors of Bill W, the Founder of AA. Sr. Ignatia also started the concept of giving out sobriety medals. A recovering alcoholic catholic priest Fr. Martin was famous for the Chalk Talks series that could be found on the net and explain very simply the causes of alcoholism. Calix – an association of recovering catholic alcoholics is also a useful resource on the internet.

All these resources strengthened me and helped me come to this point of 1000 days. I have weathered parties, receptions, vacations, special events, relative get togethers, where there is free flow of alcohol, without any problems. I cannot deny that it is not easy, but have managed. I am closer to God and my family, as well as am very involved with Church and related faith activities these days, besides being a Secular Franciscan. I have much more free time to spend with my family and my prayer life and health has also improved as well as relationships with others.

Of course, life without alcohol has to be faced head on; there is no numbing anaesthetic to take away your problems temporarily. Realising the opportunities lost when one placed alcohol more important than other things also brings on regret of the past, but all this can be washed away by having a Good Confession , and resolving to make a new beginning.
.
Why am I writing all this down? It is just to document my search on how looking for help in my religion – the beautiful Catholic Faith has helped me overcome my love for alcohol. I hope you might find some of this information helpful, if you have a love affair with alcohol, like I did and you are a Catholic. With God, all things are possible. It does involve a change of lifestyle habits, and sometimes a change in friends too. But if Matt Talbot could do it, let us draw inspiration and follow his example.

In writing this article, I wanted to condense the past three years of my learning of using my Catholic faith to overcome my love for alcohol, with the hope that it might help someone struggling with a similar problem somewhere. By sharing this experience, I am strengthened to continue in this journey for lifetime sobriety.

God Bless and I ask you to keep me in your prayers, as I take it one day a time, With God and Without Alcohol. Because through Him, all things are possible!"


NOTE: Another recent article titled, Helping The Catholic Alcoholic, at http://thewandererpress.com/catholic/news/frontpage/helping-the-catholic-alcoholic/ offers a different author’s recovery reflections about alcoholism and the value of 12 step programs but is not specifically Catholic in content despite its title.He does, however, mention Matt Talbot.

Pioneer Association Launches New Appeal for Public Funding

The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart (PTAA) was founded by Fr. James Cullen S.J. in the Church of Saint Francis Xavier, Gardiner Street, Dublin, on 28 December 1898. Venerable Matt Talbot and now Blessed John Sullivan SJ were early members.

Fr. Cullen (1841-1921) was always concerned with social issues, and his motivation in setting up the Pioneers was to address the enormous damage that he saw excess alcohol was doing in the Ireland of his times. Many workers were heavy drinkers, and alcohol was the greatest drain on the weekly earnings of the family. The Pioneers continues to help to build a society where people live to their full potential and alcohol can be enjoyed in moderation avoiding the ills that arise in society from excess in its use.

The Jesuits have supported the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart (PTAA) and have kept it going throughout much of its 120-year history. From January 2018 onwards, the Jesuit involvement will cease and the PTAA will now operate as a Private Lay Association of the Faithful. The PTAA, as a registered charity,  will strive to carry on the good work of the Association throughout the world with the aid of donations from a generous public. 

For more information about the Pioneers and this appeal, see www.pioneerassociation.ie

 

A View of Matt Talbot’s Place in History

Antoin O'Callaghan, Cork historian and author, addressed the gathering for the Matt Talbot 2016 Novena at the Way of the Cross Church,Togher, on Friday,19th February 2016. 
 
His talk, titled “Matt Talbot: An Ordinary Warrior,” has now been  published and can be read in the October 2016 issue of Pioneer Magazine at
http://www.pioneerassociation.ie/index.php/media-centre/10-news/525-october2016article

2016 PTAA and Matt Talbot Pilgrimage to Knock Homily

Bishop Denis Nulty gave the homily at the Annual PTAA and Matt Talbot Pilgrimage to Knock 17th July 2016, which can be read in its entirety at http://www.kandle.ie/bishop-nultys-homily-the-annual-and-matt-talbot-pilgrimmage-to-knock-17th-july-2016/. Only a portion of this homily is posted here. 


“…Today on pilgrimage I’m going to offer you a pairing that I think gives substance and life to our two pilgrimages, traveling as one today. I speak of Fr. James Cullen and Venerable Matt Talbot. Both men I have a deep affection for – the former in more recent years, since my appointment to Kildare & Leighlin Diocese, living now in Carlow and the latter, for close to twenty-eight years when I organized the very first Matt Talbot Mission in Mullingar.

James Cullen was born in New Ross in 1841. A comfortable background, allowing the family to send young James off to boarding school at Clongowes Wood College. That was in 1856, the year when Fr. Theobald Matthew of the great Temperance Crusade died. The Father Matthew Medal is still a very much revered possession amongst Pioneers. Returning to James Cullen, he was determined not to become a Jesuit, so he signed on for his native Ferns Diocese and studied for the priesthood in Carlow College.

The story goes that two years before his ordination, while home on holidays he had a chance encounter with a priest who certainly wasn’t a teetotaler, an encounter which set his mind firmly in the direction of temperance and in the founding of the PTAA. He was ordained in the Cathedral in Carlow. His early years of parish work brought him up front with the harsh reality of poverty and homelessness and identifying alcohol as the root cause then of both. His yearning towards the Jesuits never left him and he succumbed in 1881. The rest is history.

The second part of the pairing on this double pilgrimage day is Venerable Matt Talbot. I’m not sure what sparked my initial interest in this man to begin organizing missions around promoting his cause in Mullingar. It might stem from the account of his death, found bundled in a heap on Granby Lane – June 7^th 1925. On that same date, thirty-eight years later I was born. The newspaper account of Matt’s death talked of the body being taken to Jervis Street hospital. Staff at the hospital would later discover three chains on his body – a heavier one around his waist; a lighter one around his arm and another below his knee. Matt, apparently was on his way to his third Mass that day and it was still early morning. An eight year-old attended that Mass accompanying a hard of hearing aunt, who liked to get up front, in case she missed what the priest was saying, remembered well the announcement at the end of Mass: ‘A poor old man has been found dead on Granby Lane, we’ll pray for him’. That eight year-old later became a priest Fr. Dominic Crilly. I spoke with him shortly before he died – he always believed too much was made of Matt’s excessive drinking; for forty years of his life he was a fervent Pioneer.

Some people, who know my interest in Venerable Matt Talbot wonder why he hasn’t been raised to the realm of the beatified or better still canonized. The miracle of a saint must be unexplainable; the miracle of overcoming addiction, like Matt Talbot once did, is even harder to prove or classify. You can be cured of a tumor; you can be cured of cancer but an addiction can linger.

And that’s why for me the Saints are those who attend AA meetings up and down the country and overcome addiction through the step programme of prayer and mutual support. They will never be canonized on this earth; but like Venerable Matt Talbot, their behavior will be richly rewarded in eternity..."

Venerable Matt Talbot Trusted in God's Grace and Mercy

The following is an edited version of this homily. The original
version is available at http://cloynediocese.ie/bishop-crean-homily-annual-pioneer-ptaa-mass-2016/

Homily delivered by Bishop William Crean at the Annual Pioneer (Pioneer Total Abstinence Association) Mass, St Colman’s Catherdal Cobh
1st July 2016

My friends,

We are a mystery to ourselves. The journey of self-discovery is lifelong. Our origins by way of our parents, family and community are an enormous influence on our lives. We can seek to mask these influences from others if they are a source of shame for us but we cannot hide them from ourselves. If we do we can pay a very high price because they can “pop up” at any time in life to surprise, shock or jolt us.

Tonight we gather in faith to celebrate the Cloyne Diocese Pioneer Total Abstinence Association’s Annual Mass. It affords us the opportunity to reflect on and pray about the abuse of alcohol or clinical dependency/addiction in our society. Given the widespread nature of this abuse virtually every family is touched and damaged by the ravages wrought by these addictions. These experiences are not new for us. For more than a century and a half the Pioneer Movement has served so many individuals and families with a spiritual programme to combat alcohol abuse. I commend you to-night for that work of service which stretches patience and requires great perseverance.

Since the establishment of A.A. (Alcoholics Anonymous) in the 1930’s in the U.S. many thousands have found a path to sobriety. It is worth noting that the A.A. programme has a strong spiritual foundation whereby the alcoholic needs to acknowledge, as a first step, their powerlessness over alcohol. They do not call it a demon for nothing. For those who embrace the 12 step programme it has been of immense grace and blessing for them and their families as they acknowledge their need for a “Higher Power”. A further sign of its effectiveness is that the 12 step programme has been adapted by many other groups as a way out of other addictions.

The tragedy of our time is the myriad of ways in which young people are drawn into these addictions leaving them with huge battles to regain control and balance in their lives.

So while the era has changed and we live in changed and changing times the fundamental issue of addiction has not changed since the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association was established in the late 19th century.

In the meantime the P.T.A.A continues to fly the flag for abstinence which for some is the only solution to manage their alcohol addiction. Two insights from recent practice are worth keeping in mind. Firstly, the spiritual motivation that flows from knowing the continuous outpouring of love from the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the spiritual wellspring for personal conversion and fidelity. The other insight is the need for a support group to help find a new pattern of living free of addiction. This is where the local branch of the Pioneers can be of practical assistance on the journey of recovery.

So often in life we are surprised by providence when a prophetic figure emerges from the most unlikely place. In this case it is the Ven. Matt Talbot – a humble saintly man who by grace and his own self-sacrifice has become the symbol of the Cross of addiction and one’s victory over its deathly consequence as the living embodiment of the Paschal Mystery. Tonight we draw inspiration and hope from the wellspring of his cooperation with the graces given him to fight the demons that otherwise would have controlled his life.

Fear, anxiety and worry are very corrosive forces in life. To each Jesus offers a counter word of reassurance:

“Fear not, I have overcome the world.
The hairs on your head have been counted.
Can any of you, however much you worry add one single ambit to
your span of life.
I myself will pasture my sheep,
I myself will show them where to rest
I shall look for the lost one,
bring back the stray
bandage the wounded
and make the weak strong.” (Ezekiel 34:15)

Matt Talbot lived this trust in God’s grace and mercy. It is a model/example for all of us in living our life in Christ Jesus.

Tonight’s celebration of Mass is an expression of our on-going concern of the impact of chemical addiction in our families and in the wider community. The “craic” is glamorised as some harmless fun when in fact it is anything but. Overtime it can wreak havoc spiritually, psychologically and physically. So our prayer through the intercession of the Venerable Matt Talbot is heartfelt and urgent.

We pray tonight also that Matt Talbot will be raised to the ranks of the Blessed in the community of the Universal Church that his heroic sanctity and perseverance will serve as an inspiration to a new generation to use well the gifts the Creator God has given us.

A Saint in Waiting: Venerable Matt Talbot

by Fr Richard Ebejer  

Pioneer, April 2015, page 21

http://www.pioneerassociation.ie/images/stories/pioneercovers/magazine/april2015.pdf

“We are commemorating the ninetieth anniversary of the death of Venerable Matt Talbot this year. Coming from a poor and deprived background, Matt found himself sucked into the culture of addiction and embraced alcohol as a means of escape from the misery and poverty of daily life. Today, we live in an age of addictions more sophisticated than ever before; addiction to alcohol and a wide range of drugs. All these have the ability to destroy our lives and often end up eating away at our very souls as well.

Matt Talbot came to a realisation of how his life was being wasted, and from the time of his conversion as a young man of twenty-eight years of age, he spent the rest of his life living to a heroic extent the Christian virtues through prayer, spiritual reading, work and acts of charity.

We believe that Matt has a strong message for today, and can be a role model to the young people of our time. His life is a testimony of how people can, by God’s grace and their own self-acceptance, say 'no' to that which leads to addiction or addictive behaviour. Matt sets before us a radical example, which demonstrates how young people,in particular, can do

extraordinary things.

The message of Matt Talbot is a call to conversion, a call to change our lives, letting go of our particular attachments while giving God a place in our lives. In promoting his devotion, one is extending this message of conversion to all who come in touch with his life. We are encouraging you to keep his memory alive in your own parish and within the Pioneer Association by promoting his devotion.”

‘For Matt, the Pioneer Association was a source of support and encouragement, but just as important it gave him the opportunity to support others suffering from alcoholism through his daily Pioneer Offering of prayer on their behalf. Matt understood the human condition with all it's weakness and frailties. He once said to his sister Susan, "never think harshly of a person because of the drink. it's easier to get out of hell than to give up the drink. For me it was only possible with the help of God and our blessed Mother".’

Prayer for the Canonisation of Matt Talbot

Lord, in your servant, Matt Talbot you
have given us a wonderful example of
triumph over addiction, of devotion to
duty, and of lifelong reverence for the
Holy Sacrament. May his life of
prayer and penance give us courage
to take up our crosses and follow in the
footsteps of Our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ.

Father, if it be your will that your
beloved servant should be glorified by
your Church, make known by your
heavenly favours the power he enjoys in
your sight. We ask this through the
same Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

 

Note: Fr. Ebejer is the administrator at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Dublin, location of the Matt Talbot Shrine.

For addicts, alcoholics and those who love and care for them

The following article was published in recognition of National Recovery Month, a yearly program sponsored by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

By Barry Schoedel

September 13, 2013

Southeast Alaska Catholic Newspaper Online

http://akseac.com/2013/09/13/for-addicts-alcoholics-and-those-who-love-and-care-for-them/

Many people may not realize this, but the Church, primarily through the commitment of individual Catholics, has been involved in reaching out to those enslaved to substances or behaviors since the Incarnation of Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Indeed the Word became Flesh to reconcile an estranged humanity to the Father, and this reconciliation leaves no stone unturned. It embraces all that is good and true in medicine while completing it with the love of God. It is intrinsic to the vocation of the Church that she effects and guides the liberation of peoples from their various forms of bondage. This includes those who are harmfully enslaved to substances and behaviors. As Catholics we are grateful for the medical disciplines that support recovery and at the same time have a responsibility to proclaim the love of God in Jesus Christ to all peoples, especially the mentally ill and those suffering from substance abuse disorders.

Even before the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, through such organizations as the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – founded by Fr. James Cullen S.J. in Ireland in 1898 – there have been Catholics specifically committed to serving the good of those who are dependent on alcohol. Venerable Matt Talbot was freed from the compulsion to drink when he recognized that he was enslaved to it and only a new life in God could free him. After reaching out for help from others, he gave his life to God through devotion to Jesus, daily Mass, meditation and prayer, receiving spiritual direction, and mortification. Matt is an inspiration to many people in recovery because he was a simple man, a humble Irish laborer, whom God used as an instrument of grace to communicate that his grace could relieve people of the compulsion to drink. Matt’s life was a continual seeking of the reconciliation offered in Christ, allowing himself to be led by the Holy Spirit to a restored relationship with God the Father.

Bill W., one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, considered Fr. Ed Dowling, S.J., an important spiritual director. Bill W. grappled much with the Catholic faith and made a sincere effort to try to understand the faith, though he struggled with accepting the authority of the Church. An often unmentioned and behind the scenes founder of Alcoholics Anonymous was Sister Ignatia Gavin. In 1935 she admitted a patient that Dr. Bob (another founder of A.A.) brought to her hospital for the treatment of alcoholism. The hospital didn’t want to admit alcoholics. The disease aspect of chemical dependency was not well understood at this time and it was seen as strictly a moral problem and a problem of the will. Sr. Ignatia was able to admit this patient under a diagnosis of acute gastritis, thus revolutionizing the approach to the treatment of alcoholism. Sr. Ignatia worked to get alcoholism accepted as a medical condition serious enough to have its own criteria for admission so that alcoholics didn’t have to be admitted through the “back door.” Her efforts resulted in an entire ward of the hospital being devoted to the care of recovering alcoholics. This was a huge advance in the treatment of alcoholism and has influenced how we approach all chemical dependency issues.

Fr. John Doe (Fr. Ralph Pfau), a priest who was trained at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana and served in Indianapolis, is believed to be the first Roman Catholic priest who sought the help of Alcoholics Anonymous to be free from the compulsion to drink. Fr. Ralph Pfau was a prolific author of materials to support both Catholics and non-Catholics in recovery from Alcoholism. Books such as Sobriety Without End, Sobriety and Beyond, and his Golden Book series were well used resources by both Catholics and non-Catholics in the early history of AA. They remain some of the best recovery resources available. Fr. Ralph also was instrumental in the founding of what is now the National Catholic Council on Addictions. Fr. Ralph especially worked during his life to reach out to priests and religious who were alcoholic, which led to the founding of what is now called Guest House, a substance abuse ministry to clergy and religious who are alcoholic and/or addicted. Their mission statement is, “to provide information, education, treatment and care needed to assure that clergy, men and women religious, and seminarians suffering from alcoholism and other related conditions have the best opportunity for quality recovery.” The success of Guest House led to the foundation of a similar program in India called Friendship House as well as the establishment of the National Catholic Council on Addictions.

The late Jesuit and moral theologian Fr. John C. Ford was also an early A.A. member and friend of Bill W. Fr. John Ford became an important resource for the Church’s developing understanding of the psychological and moral aspects of alcoholism. The late Fr. John C. Ford is to this day considered an eminent moral theologian, who helped the Church articulate such Catholic teachings as the moral evil of contraception. More recently, Cardinal Justin Rigali (the then) Archbishop of Philadelphia, held a one day conference on addictions, delivering a keynote address titled, “Let the Oppressed Go Free: Breaking the Bonds of Addiction,” which is now available in book format. Just this summer, Archbishop Tobin of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, delivered the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Guest House ministry, sharing honestly about his own confrontation with chemical dependency and his journey in recovery. Many other clergy and religious are also involved head on in addressing the problems of addiction and substance abuse, both in the Church and society at large.

Alaskans are no strangers to alcoholism and chemical dependency problems. Alaska is continually recorded as having among the highest “amount of alcohol consumption per person ratio” among all 50 states. Although certainly not limited to Native peoples, among Natives this rate is inordinately high. An article in the Juneau Empire last year mentioned that in 2010 alcohol and drug abuse cost Alaska’s economy 1.2 billion dollars. This is a staggering figure, yet it doesn’t completely communicate the spiritual and moral diminishment that alcoholism and chemical dependency causes in hearts and souls, and in homes, families, and communities.

Whether we are recovering addicts or alcoholics, those in need of recovery, or those who love them, we are called as Catholics to be evangelized by the love and goodness of Christ, to make disciples, and to proclaim the Kingdom of God. In Southeast Alaska we have a special obligation and opportunity it seems, to carry on this tradition of participating as a Church and as individual Catholics in the liberation of our neighbor, through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. As we approach the Synod and examine our commitment to the Mission of the Church we have to ask ourselves what we can do to better reach out as the Body of Christ, with love and truth, to those suffering from painful and debilitating addictions.

Thankfully, it is not a matter of reinventing the wheel, but instead receiving more fully in what has come before us in terms of the Catholic tradition of helping alcoholics and addicts. We must trust that the Christian faith is important to complete moral and spiritual recovery and that we have something immeasurably good to share with those suffering from addictions. We must be willing to meet people in the midst of their bondage and to accompany them with Christ to freedom.

Under the guidance of the Bishop and as an aspect of our call to be missionaries of the love of Jesus we have the opportunity and obligation to develop an intentional approach to ministry to persons and families affected by alcoholism and addiction. We have to believe that we can more fully give of ourselves to those trapped by the bondage of addiction in Southeast Alaska by introducing here Catholic movements such as the Calix Society, the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Catholic resources such as the writings of Fr. Ralph Pfau, the Guest House, the National Catholic Council on Addictions. Also, we must become aware of, and better understand, how to introduce people to the places of recovery that are already established in our communities, such as 12-step meetings, inpatient and outpatient programs, and Native resources.

Taking the November Pledge

As we near All Saints Day and All Souls Day, the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, of which Venerable Matt Talbot was a member, suggests that November is an ideal occasion to take a break from alcohol and take a Short-Term pledge and offer it as a prayerful act in honour of deceased loved ones as well as addicted friends and family members.

 

Details are available at http://www.pioneerassociation.ie/index.php/media-centre/10-news/482-novemberpledge2015

 

Venerable Matt Talbot, a “Missionary of Mercy”

Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, celebrated Mass today at the Annual Pioneer/Matt Talbot/ Apostleship of Prayer Pilgrimage to the National Marian Shrine in Knock. In his homily below he notes Venerable Matt Talbot as a “missionary of mercy.

 

 

“I would like to thank God today for the many missionaries of mercy around this country who unselfishly reach out to help those who are addicted by offering prayer, providing counselling and therapy, recovery programmes and pathways of mentoring and support for addicts and their families … few Irish families that have not been impacted in some way by the problems of addiction, whether it be to alcohol, tablets or other drugs, online gambling, pornography or some other dependent behaviour” – Archbishop Eamon Martin

Earlier this week I had the joy of making a pilgrimage to the birthplace of one of my spiritual heroes – Pope Saint John XXIII. Standing in the humble surroundings of his family home in Sotto Il Monte, I gave thanks to God for this good shepherd who was the pope when I was born.

Angelo Roncalli was seventy six years old when he was elected as successor to Saint Peter and he lived only a further five years. At the time they said he would simply be a ‘caretaker pope’, a ‘stopgap’ until the next man – but they were wrong! Within months Pope John called the Second Vatican Council which began its work in 1962 and ended in 1965, fifty years ago this year. Pope John had the courage to call for renewal in the Church; he spoke about the importance of reading ‘the signs of the times’ and interpreting them in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In my prayers at Sotto Il Monte this week I reflected on some of the signs of our times. I was conscious that I was coming to Knock today for the pilgrimage of the Pioneer and Total Abstinence Association, so naturally I reflected on the witness of your Association at this time in Ireland as excessive drinking and other addictions continue to cause so much hurt and destruction in many Irish homes and families.

I found myself asking God: “Why is that despite all our efforts to read ‘the signs of the times’ and spread the good news of Jesus Christ, we always seem to be fighting an uphill battle against the darkness of evil in our world? So many people are in need; so many people are searching for meaning and hope in their lives; so many seem lost or astray. What can we do to help them?”

It strikes me that that is precisely how the disciples felt in today’s Gospel reading when they returned to Jesus. Remember, in last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus summoned the twelve and sent them out to all the towns and villages. This week they’re back and they’re exhausted! So many people are coming and looking for them that they don’t even have time to eat. Jesus invites them to come away with Him to a lonely place to rest for a while. When Jesus notices that the people have found them and keep coming, He takes pity on them, because they are “like sheep without a shepherd”.

It is a description which might apply to many Irish people today – indeed perhaps we all at times feel “like sheep without a shepherd”.

So what did Jesus do for His troubled people? The Gospel tells us He sat down and talked to them at some length, and then, as we will find out next Sunday, He fed them. He nourished them with His word; He fed their hunger; then, He sent them to seek out His others who were lost or astray, to reach out in love and mercy to those who were harassed and overwhelmed by the problems of life.

Thank God that here today in Knock, and at every celebration of the Eucharist, we are nourished at the table of His Word, and fed at the table of His Body and Blood. In sharing this ‘banquet’ we open our own lives up to His love and mercy. We come to know better that He, the Lord, is our Shepherd too; if we can only allow Him fully into our lives then there is nothing we shall want, and even if we sometimes find ourselves walking through life in the valley of darkness or the shadow of death, we need not fear because He is there with us with his staff, to bring us comfort and guide us again along the right path. At the end of Mass, we are sent out from here to touch the lives of others with the loving presence and tender mercy of Christ, particularly those who are weak and struggling.

Recently I met a man in his mid-forties who told me that a few months ago he took the Pioneer pledge on behalf of his son who is alcoholic. He said “I want my son to know I am with him in his struggle and he’s not on his own”. He went on to tell me that he used to enjoy a drink himself: “For me” he said, “this is just a little sacrifice for God; but for my son it’s a life or death issue.” I thought: What a wonderful way this man has chosen to put his faith into practice – to make a personal sacrifice which gives glory to God, which offers a powerful witness to others, and at the same time asks God’s grace and help for someone else in their struggle with addiction.

Today, my brothers and sisters in the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart, I want to affirm the heroic self-sacrifice and offering that you and thousands of others in the Association have been making for almost one hundred and twenty years. When Father James Cullen founded your Association back in 1898, he wanted you to be ‘pioneers’ in the sense of going out and leading the way from the slavery of addiction towards the freedom of sobriety.

Father Cullen wanted the Association to be rooted in devotion to the Sacred Heart, because he knew that it is only through the unconditional love and mercy of the Heart of Jesus that we can be truly set free from selfishness and anything that is imprisoning us.

Father Cullen had no illusions about the damage that excessive drinking was doing in his time. Sadly, that remains the case today. According to the charity Alcohol Action Ireland, research tells us that half of all adults who drink in Ireland are “harmful high risk drinkers” and 15% of our 18-24 year olds who drink are already dependent. Alcohol is a factor in half of the suicides in Ireland and more people die each day from alcohol-related problems than on our roads. Increasingly nowadays more women and young people are presenting for help with alcohol dependency. I imagine there are few Irish families that have not been impacted in some way by the problems of addiction, whether it be to alcohol, tablets or other drugs, online gambling, pornography or some other dependent behaviour.

How can we read these signs of our times and interpret them in the light of the Gospel? What is it in our culture that has left us so prone to addictive behaviours? Why are so many people today being caught up in dependency on alcohol, drugs or some other compulsion? Could it be that we are trying to live our lives without a true openness to God and his loving mercy and as a result we end up like sheep without a shepherd? Have our lives become so empty of meaning or true purpose, so lacking in true love or intimacy that we feel the need to escape into the false comfort of addictive behaviours? Perhaps all of us can identify behaviours in our personal lives which we know deep down are not good for us – like overuse of alcohol, drugs or the internet, an unhealthy relationship, obsession with work, the need to gamble or risk, compulsive consumerism, or a fixation with someone or something which dominates our lives to the exclusion of those who are most dear to us.

Being honest with ourselves like this, and recognising our weaknesses, can help open us up to the unconditional love and mercy of God. It also prevents us from becoming self-righteous or ‘holier than thou’, and looking down on those who are dependent as if it was their fault, rather than recognising that they are people who have lost power and control over their lives and who simply cannot stop without humbly and honestly admitting their need for help.

I think of the Venerable Matt Talbot who recognised his weakness and then quietly undertook daily sacrifice and penance while reaching out humbly in love and charity to others. In preparation for the Jubilee Year of Mercy Pope Francis has been speaking about the need for “missionaries of mercy” in the world. Last Advent he said “there is a need for people who are witnesses of the mercy and tenderness of the Lord, which shakes up those who are resigned, revives the discouraged, (and) ignites the fire of hope.” Matt Talbot was such a “missionary of mercy”, and so also should be every member of the Pioneer Association.

I would like to thank God today for the many missionaries of mercy around this country who unselfishly reach out to help those who are addicted by offering prayer, providing counselling and therapy, recovery programmes and pathways of mentoring and support for addicts and their families.

Father Cullen genuinely believed that lives can be changed by openness to the love and mercy of the Sacred Heart and by prayer, fasting and self-denial. His secret was to encourage even those people who did not have a problem with drink to make a generous self-offering on behalf of those who could not control their addiction. Today I encourage you to continue this positive witness in Ireland which speaks with such compassion to the signs of our times in the heart of the Church and the community. May God continue to bless the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. May our Lady of Knock, Queen of Ireland and Mother of Mercy, touch the lives of those who are struggling with addictions of any kind and point them to the tender love of her Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Pioneer Prayer
For thy greater Glory and consolation, O most Sacred Heart of Jesus, for Thy sake, to give good example, to practice self-denial, to make reparation to Thee for the sins of intemperance and for the conversion of excessive drinkers, I will abstain for life from all intoxicating drinks, Amen."


http://www.catholicbishops.ie/2015/07/19/homily-of-archbishop-eamon-martin-for-3-00pm-mass-celebrating-the-pilgrimage-of-the-pioneer-total-abstinence-association-to-the-national-marian-shrine-in-knock/

Jim Larkin, Matt Talbot and the 1913 Dublin Lockout

In the September 2013 issue of Pioneer Magazine, official publication of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart (PTAA), of which Matt Talbot was a member, one article may be of particular interest at 

http://www.pioneerassociation.ie/images/stories/pioneercovers/magazine/september2013.pdf, pages 16-17.

 

In the article titled, “Jim Larkin, Matt Talbot, and the 1913 Dublin Lockout,” Sean Ua Cearnaigh provides a brief overview of the historical lockout and Matt Talbot’s role in it. As the author notes, Matt “was not a scab as some critics who did not know him tried to convey” but one in solidarity. 

 

More on this topic can be found at

http://venerablematttalbotresourcecenter.blogspot.com/2013/10/matt-talbot-and-1913-dublin-lockout_3.html)

A Lenten Challenge

Venerable Matt Talbot was a member of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. Neknomination (or neck nomination), referred to in this article, is an online drinking game.

 
"Lent is almost upon us - Ash Wednesday falls on 5th March. This year the Pioneer Association is asking people to take a short term pledge for the Lenten season. They hope that by signing up to their Lenten challenge the general public will take time to reflect on the negative role that alcohol often plays in our society and help transform society's often over-indulgent attitude towards it.

The new phenomenon of Neknomination, which has already led to several deaths, has added a fresh hazard to the abuse of alcohol. The Pioneers are asking Irish people to consider taking a break from alcohol, and taking time to reflect on their relationship with it: and this not just to avoid abuse, but to claim the bonus of improved physical and mental health; and to offer the challenge up as a prayer for someone they know who has a problem with alcohol or other drugs.

Those who are ready to sign up to the Lenten challenge, can do so by visiting our website and completing the process online. http://www.pioneerassociation.ie/index.php/media-centre/10-news/427-lent2014”

Source: http://jesuitcommunicationcentre.newsweaver.com/Newsletter/1ha3b7f93eb?a=1&p=45131645&t=20449685

An additional link to consider is http://irishbishopsdrugsinitiative.com/?page_id=983
and for a brief illustration about Ash Wednesday & Lent in two minutes, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3L3c23MfC0

A Short-Term Pledge for November

[Matt Talbot became one of the first members of The Total Abstinence League of the Sacred Heart in 1890,  which was renamed the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association in 1898.]

“The Pioneers have launched a campaign encouraging people to give up drink for the month of November.

“By a long-standing Irish custom, many people choose to abstain from alcohol for the month of November and offer this act as a sacrifice for the eternal salvation of their deceased loved ones, and for the Souls in Purgatory. You can do likewise,” a spokesperson for the group said.

In recent times the Pioneers have seen increased interest in short term pledges – sometimes for Lent but also for Advent and in November.

Padraig Brady, Pioneer Association CEO, said many who enjoy alcohol in moderation also like to periodically quit. “Some people take the pledge to detox from alcohol and also to create more space to think about their drinking habits, he explained.

Others who take the short term pledge offer up their own commitment to try and help somebody close to them who may be struggling with an alcohol or drug abuse problem...” (More at http://www.catholicireland.net/pioneers-urge-public-pledge-november/.)

Dublin Conference on “Overcoming Addiction"

This is a reminder that the general public is invited to the “The Spirit that Sets Us Free – Overcoming Addiction” conference taking place at Dublin’s All Hallows College over 28-29 September, 2013. Details are available at http://www.catholicireland.net/pioneer-association-addresses-problems-addiction-2/


Update:  A follow-up report on this conference is available at
http://jesuitcommunicationcentre.newsweaver.com/im4wsa2o9fd1msigvoj6ua?email=true&

Upcoming Addiction Conference in Dublin

Information about this public conference is provided by the links below.  The relics of two former  members of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart, Venerable Matt Talbot (1856-1925) and Fr. John Sullivan SJ (1861-1933), will be presented.

Conference Brochure

Conference Information 1

Conference Information 2

Conference Poster

The inspiration of two lives

Knock 2012 – Homily

Notes for a sermon preached by Fr Bernard J. McGuckian S.J. at Knock Shrine on the occasion of the joint Pioneer/Matt Talbot Pilgrimage on Sunday, July 15th, at http://www.pioneerassociation.ie/index.php/media-centre/370-knock2012homily

After God and the Blessed Virgin Mary the inspiration for our pilgrimage today comes from two men, one a priest, the other a layman. Both of them died in the early days of the new Irish State; Fr. James Aloysius Cullen and the Venerable Matt Talbot. Fr Cullen, the Founder of the Pioneer Association, died in Dublin on December 6th, 1921, just as the newspapers were reporting the fateful signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in London some hours earlier. Venerable Matt Talbot also died in Dublin, some four years later in Granby Lane, on Trinity Sunday, June 6th, 1925 just as the Angelus Bell was ringing out in the nearby Dominican Church where he was planning to attend the mid-day Mass.


The early lives of these two men could not have been more different. James Cullen was a pious, studious, country boy from childhood in Co Wexford. He was such a good student that he had completed his studies with distinction while still too young for priestly Ordination and required a dispensation. Matt Talbot’s early life was spent in the squalor of Dublin’s inner city where he had so little schooling that his name hardly made it to the roll book. The most that was said of him in the records was that he was a “mitcher”. As the whole world now knows, he was barely into his teens when he had developed a deplorable habit of excessive drinking.



Fr Cullen was well known throughout Ireland for his priestly zeal for over half a century before he died. Matt’s situation was different. His name was virtually unknown outside his family and beyond the circle of his workmates. It only came into prominence on the day he died. A notice in the Irish Independent on the day after his death read. “Unknown man dies in the street”. It was because each of these men took the Gospel of Christ so seriously that we still remember them.



Like the Apostles we heard about in the Gospel, Fr Cullen, from the day of his ordination in 1864 “set out to preach repentance, cast out devils and anoint many sick people with oil and cure them”. Matt did not set out to preach repentance or cast out devils. He had enough to do to change his own life and drive the demons from his own heart. But in the providence of God this is what he has been doing from his place in heaven since the day he died. The example of his conversion from excessive drinking has inspired a change of heart in thousands of others all over the world. Jesus once said that “some demons can only be cast out by prayer and fasting”. From what we can gather few people have spent so much of their lives in such fervent prayer and rigorous fasting as Matt Talbot. After a careful examination of the known facts of his life competent Church authorities concluded that this working man from the inner city of Dublin lived out the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity and the essential human virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance to a heroic degree. This is why he is called Venerable.



When we talk about the wasted early years of Matt’s life we should remember that there were positive aspects to it that should not be overlooked. He always attended Mass on Sundays. He was devoted to the Blessed Virgin. No matter how inebriated he was he said his prayers at night. His sisters noticed that he never indulged in salacious talk and never said anything disrespectful about women. There is no evidence of failures in chastity in his life. This is important in any discussion of the cardinal virtue of temperance. Temperance is the virtue that helps us deal wisely, not just with intoxicating drink, but with all the pleasurable areas of life. We need fortitude or courage to deal effectively with life’s inevitable painful areas.



While some might find it strange that we need a virtue to help us deal wisely with the pleasurable areas of life we should remember that many people have more difficulty dealing wisely with pleasure than with pain. I have rarely heard of a family that broke up because a member was suffering from a painful illness. In fact, if anything, the very illness can help a family to come together in support of the suffering member. It is different if a family member is not sufficiently temperate to resist the pleasurable attraction of an illicit relationship. Deficiencies like this can have devastating consequences.



In the Christian tradition there are four main parts of temperance; modesty and becoming behaviour in our dealings with others; abstinence and restraint in the use of food; thirdly, sobriety and care in the use of drink but most important of all and often overlooked as a dimension of temperance, chastity in the area of sexuality. Modest behaviour, abstinence and sobriety have an importance role to play in protecting chastity. It is a mistake to think that “sins of intemperance “are simply those committed while under the influence of drink. Serious sins against the virtue of temperance can be committed when cold sober. Infidelity can have more drastic consequences than excessive drinking.



Matt Talbot provides us with an example of the fullness of temperance. After his dramatic conversion Matt handed his whole life over to God and allowed himself to be guided by the Holy Spirit and wise spiritual directors. For the rest of his life he was modest in his demands from others and in his overall live style (he gave whatever money he saved away). He ate very little, abstained totally from drink and opted for a celibate life. He dealt very respectfully with a young woman who suggested that they might get married. He told her that he would discuss the matter with Our Lady and then give her his answer. In this way he learned that marriage was not his calling. Mary Purcell, Matt’s biographer, noted that it was to this girl’s credit that she recognised the best man in Ireland when she saw him do his work as a builder’s labourer.



Because of the situation in Ireland at the turn of the 20th century the aspect of temperance that most needed urgent attention was insobriety. Dealing with this is still the primary concern of the Pioneer Association. In founding the Association, Fr Cullen was launching a campaign of “prayer and fasting” on behalf of those who were suffering the effects of addiction to alcohol. Matt Talbot joined Fr Cullen’s movement in 1890 when it was known as the Temperance League of the Sacred Heart. Some years later, Fr. Cullen who was always trying to improve his methods of working, gave the movement the title “Pioneer” which it has now enjoyed for the last 114 years and which is set to continue long into the future. At the Eucharistic Congress last month in Dublin the positive reaction of the many visitors from all over the world to both the Pioneer and the Matt Talbot Stands in the Royal Dublin Society was a source of great encouragement to all involved in this work.



In the Pioneer Association we can be justly proud that the sanctity of the life of more than one of our members has been recognised by the highest authority in the Church. Matt Talbot and Edel Quinn are both Venerable. Fr John Sullivan and Frank Duff are Servants of God. We pray that one day all four will be raised to the honours of the altar. The miracle which will bring this about in the case of each of them will be the occasion not the cause of their beatification. The real cause will be the indubitable holiness of their lives and the continuous prayers of those of us who are convinced of their holiness. In the case of Matt Talbot, the on-going miracle of so many transformed lives will sooner or later lead to his beatification. The beatification will come when the medical profession agrees that something spectacular and outside their experience has taken place. However, in my estimation, this will be something minor compared with the miracles that Matt continues to work and has been quietly working for years.


I leave you with one down to earth reflection found among his notes after his death. “When in company, watch your words; when in the family, watch your temper; when alone, watch your thoughts.”



Note: Fr. Fr Bernard J. McGuckian serves as Central Spiritual Director of the Pioneer Association and as a member of the DUBLIN DIOCESAN MATT TALBOT COMMITTEE.
Some of his articles about Matt Talbot are posted on our site. The homily title, The inspiration of two lives, is ours for posting purposes.

Matt Talbot and the Gardiner Street Parish

The following article appeared at  http://www.jesuit.ie/where-we-work/pioneer-total-abstinence-association

"The Church of St Francis Xavier in Gardiner Street was one of the first churches to be built in Dublin after Catholic Emancipation (Catholic Relief Act) in 1829. The church in Hardwicke St opened in 1821. By 1829, however, it had become too small for the congregations. In that year, then, the first stone was laid, and the first Mass was said in the new parish church on May 3, 1832. The Jesuits had been in the Hardwicke St area since the 1730s, on the site now occupied by the Sacred Heart statue. They opened a school there, and in 1841 this became Belvedere College. Many well-known people of faith have been associated with the church. Among them is [Venerable] Matt Talbot, a recovered alcoholic whose cause for beatification is in process. He prayed in the church each day at the 5.30 a.m. Mass, and in fact died on his way to a later Mass in Dominic St Church in Granby Lane, on June 7, 1925. John Henry Cardinal Newman celebrated Mass here when he lived in Dorset St in 1854; his cause for beatification is in process too. [John Henry Newman was declared "Blessed" in September, 2010.] Also, it can be surmised that Blessed Dom Columba Marmion visited the church when he was Professor at Clonliffe College. Gardiner Street Church is also the resting place of Fr John Sullivan SJ whose cause for canonisation is in process in Rome. His tomb draws a daily stream of devotees, as does the monthly Mass in his memory. Fr John worked for a short time in the church in 1907..." This is also the church where "The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart" was founded on 28th December, 1898, by Fr. James A. Cullen; Matt Talbot was a member of the PTAA.

Pioneer and Matt Talbot Group Annual Pilgrimage to Knock

July 19th 2009

Homily by Bishop Eamonn Walsh

No one could accuse Our Lady of being anti-alcohol. She launched Jesus’ Public life at the marriage feast of Cana. The deeper message of that gospel lies in the truth; every person or thing Jesus touches he changes for the better.

Fr. James Cullen S.J., founder of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association in 1898, had that realisation of getting God to touch the hearts of people and change the way people address alcohol and the way they see those who damage themselves and others through it.

He was a creative thinker. He started by targeting those who were not struggling with alcohol rather than those in its grip. He tapped into the tried and tested spirituality of prayer, fasting and almsgiving; he realised that the heart opens through self-giving; it opens in a new and wider way when the self-giving is rooted and modelled on the total and loving self-giving as symbolised in the heart of Jesus.

The Sacred Heart represents the unconditional love of God for each and everyone. This is at the centre of the pioneer spirituality. It enables us to first of all see ourselves as loved by God and then see each other as sisters and brothers loved by God. It also enables us to see the man or woman knocked down by alcohol or strung out on drugs as our sister and brother. We can’t turn our backs or look away; we are prompted to reach out. The reaching out with our time, prayers and love is the almsgiving.

At the root of every exploitation, fraud, scandal, is the attitude of selfishness; everyone for themselves; failure to treat people as sisters and brothers equally loved by God. The core spirituality of the Pioneer Movement could serve as a value foundation stone for today’s challenges.

Reparation is a central part of the Pioneer prayer and fasting/self-sacrifice/abstinence. We know that the power to heal comes from God’s touch. Whatever he touches he enriches. The pioneer participates and co-operates in God’s healing touch through their self-sacrifice and self-denial. We offer the spiritual richness of self-sacrifice to be used in God’s own mysterious way. We offer it for those struggling with addiction, their families and all those whose lives are adversely affected. We offer them for those on their treatment journey and those who are slipping and struggling.

In praying for sensible use of alcohol, making sacrifices for those being damaged by alcohol and other drugs can only make us more understanding and willing to help make a difference. When we meet them on the street our attitude is changed. A smile or a word can re-awaken in people their long lost self-worth and respect.

Our reparation, penance for our own or the wrong-doings of others is not an appeasement of God; no, it is God’s chosen way of releasing his gratuitous love. In spoken and unspoken ways, we petition that our sacrifices may be the instruments of guiding his healing touch of those most in need.

At a human level our prayer and abstinence changes our mindset and spirit for the better.

Matt Talbot is our inspiration that no one must ever be written off as a hopeless case. Humiliation may have brought him to his senses but his prayer and fasting gave him the self-belief that together with God’s help no hill was too high to climb.

I congratulate the Pioneer Movement on their initiative in recent times and particularly for Temperance Sunday this year of inviting people to participate in a short term pledge. It, I believe, enhances the movement and makes its spirituality available to many more people.

The Bishops’ Drugs and Alcohol Initiative continues to set up parish drug/alcohol awareness groups in the four provinces. I want to thank the various local pioneer groups who have worked alongside them. Together we can raise awareness and provide alternatives to the destructive use of drugs and alcohol.

We can campaign together, the stronger we are on the ground the greater part we can play in changing attitudes and promoting treatment and care for all affected directly and indirectly by misuse of drugs and alcohol.

You are 111 years on the go, we are only 11. But like a penny-farthing bicycle, you the big wheel, we the tiny one, we can journey and progress together as long as we are anchored in prayer and self-giving that reaches out to the most in need.

Alcohol has been a problem in post-Famine times, in Celtic Tiger times and post. It does not time out, it clings on like a barnacle.

In today’s Gospel when Jesus saw the crowd he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them at length. We live in a drink culture that needs leadership. That leadership from government is hampered by its heavy dependence on revenue from its tax and excise duty on alcohol. That leadership from the Drinks industry is hampered by its financial vested interests. That leadership from sporting organisations is hampered by dependence on sponsorship. That leadership from media is hampered by its dependence on advertising. Financial neutrals like us may be the ones to provide leadership in a drinks culture in need of a good shepherd. Together we can play our part.

Source: http://www.pioneerassociation.ie/media-centre/10-news/74-knock-homily

An interview about the P.T.A.A.

One of the organizations that Matt Talbot belonged to in recovery was the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart based in Ireland.

In this 57 minute audio program of EWTN Live recorded on 06/24/09, the host, Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., interviews Fr. Bernard McGuckian, S.J., who is the Spiritual Director of the PTAA. At 17:10 minutes into the program about PTAA history and current activities, Fr. McGuckian specifically mentions Matt Talbot and later mentions Sister Ignatia, who worked closely with Dr. Bob, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and is called the "Angel of Alcoholics Anonymous" by her biographer, Mary Darrah.

The link to download this program is el_06242009.mp3 Then left click on the link.

The Pioneer Challenge for Lent 2009

Feature 2 March 2009 | The Pioneer Challenge for Lent

Bishop Éamonn Walsh introduces a special Lenten edition of The Pioneer magazine and reminds us that "there is always someone for whom this is the year that will make the difference in their relationship with alcohol". Bishop Éamonn Walsh Vice Chair, Irish Bishops’ Drugs Initiative (IBDI) This special edition of the Pioneer magazine to mark Temperance Sunday encourages us all to address our relationship with alcohol. Ireland will forever be indebted to Fr. Theobald Mathew, founder of the Temperance Movement. We are also indebted to Fr. James Cullen, founder of the Pioneer Association 111 years ago. Fr Cullen, in expressing appreciation of Fr. Mathew, described him as the ‘giant at his shoulder’. Matt Talbot is an inspiration, a sign of hope to those who can only safely relate to alcohol through abstinence. The abstinence of the Pioneer Association is positive in the way it converts the sacrifice involved into reparation for the suffering caused through the misuse of alcohol. I welcome the Pioneer Association’s extended outreach to those who wish to enjoy the use of alcohol. A temporary pledge for Lent or a significant reduction in the consumption of alcohol is proposed. Temperance Sunday provides an opportunity to discuss honestly with family and friends the way we use alcohol. Minimising, denial and mistakes can be addressed in a friendly environment. Goals can be set and agreement made, to help one another in setting targets of abstinence or reduction with built-in friendly support structures to encourage and evaluate. There is always someone for whom this is the year that will make the difference in their relationship with alcohol. The Pioneer Association may occasion that difference. The Pioneer magazine special edition for Lent 2009 includes: Welcome - Fr Joe Dargan SJ, Chairman of the PTAA - Mary Wallace TD, Minister for Health Promotion and Food Safety - Bishop Éamonn Walsh, Vice-Chair, IBDI Calling ‘time’ on alcohol related harm - Fiona Ryan, CEO, Alcohol Action Ireland Grappling with the demons of addiction: Invitation to give up or moderate alcohol consumption for Lent - Bernard McGuckian SJ Interview - Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh Download full publication in pdf format Thinking of abstaining from or reducing your intake of alcohol for Lent? Practical suggestions from the IBDI Refrain from alcohol for the weeks of Lent Consider drinking non-alcoholic drinks when out with friends at the weekend Reduce the intake of alcohol from what is your normal use Encourage your friends to reduce alcohol intake Donate some of the money saved from alcohol to a charity of your choice Encourage discussion with your friends about the dangers of excessive drinking Initiate a discussion in the home about the family’s attitude to and use of alcohol Nationally, we might encourage people to reduce their alcohol use, say by one-third or a half, during the weeks of Lent. The Irish Bishops' Drugs Initiative is supporting the Pioneer Challenge, which invites everyone to abstain from alcohol or reduce their intake of alcohol this Lent. At any time of year, parishes seeking further information on alcohol or drugs can contact the Irish Bishops' Drugs Initiative.

Reference to Matt Talbot by Irish Senators

The Upper House of the Oireachtas (Parliament) of Ireland recognized the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association Centenary in 1999. In the statements made about the history of the PTAA and alcohol usage in Irish society in this linked document, Matt Talbot is mentioned by Mr. Cassidy and Mr. Farrell.

Sources: Seanad Éireann (Senate of Ireland)-Volume 159 - 26, May, 1999

http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0159/S.0159.199905260006.html