WELCOME
TO MY 12 STEP CATHOLIC SPIRITUALITY SERIES.
Introduction to Series.
Welcome to my 12
Step Catholic Spirituality Series. This series is based on the 12 Steps
of AA and could have easily been called 12 Step Christian Anon programme.
However, I prefer to think of it as a 12 Step guide to Catholic spirituality.
This series can be
used in whatever way it suits you. You may decided to initiate a group in your
parish or prefer a personal journey with the Lord. However, to be able to
complete Step 5 another human being needs to be involved. More about that
later, but you might like to think about who that special priest/spiritual
director might be.
This programme can
be completed over 12 weeks if you wish to complete each step every week. You
may prefer to journey along with the series, since I have chosen a monthly
process for each step with the new step being introduced on the 2nd Tuesday of
each month. I have used the word selfishness to cover a range of sins/
addictions/ behaviour patterns. You may wish to choose your own word suitable
to your own situation since we are all individuals with different issues.
12 STEPS
So what are the 12
steps? They are as follows:
1.
We admit that we
cannot realise our fullest human potential by living a life of
''selfishness''.
2.
We confess that
Jesus Christ can lead us to the fullness of life.
3.
We decide to term
our lives over to Jesus Christ.
4.
We make a searching
and fearless moral inventory.
5.
We admit to God, to
ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6.
We declare ourselves
ready to love God, remove all our defects of character.
7.
We humbly ask God to
remove all our shortcomings.
8.
We make a list of
all persons we have harmed, and determine to make amends to them.
9.
We make direct
amends to those we have harmed, except when to do so would injure them.
10.
We continue to take
personal inventory and promptly admit when we are wrong.
11.
We seek
through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with
God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry on.
12.
Spiritually awakened as
a result of these Steps, we are determined to carry this message to others and
to practice these principles in all areas of life.
These steps might
seem daunting at first, but day by day, step by step with God''s loving
assistance, these steps become a great tool towards deeper spiritual growth. We
cannot successfully embark on this journey without
·
asking God's
assistance as we start and progress through these 12 steps.
·
spending time with
Him asking Him to shed light on our darkness/selfishness.
·
setting our personal
goals on what we hope we might achieve before we embark on this journey.
·
reviewing our goals
as we progress through the 12 steps.
·
realising that these
12 steps are an ongoing journey- so in one sense we never quite complete the
programme. However, we can make every effort to complete it to the best
of our ability where we are at this present moment in our lives.
PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY.
To prepare for step
1, we may wish to
·
Get a journal where
we can record our journey. We may need to decide on a safe place so that it is
between God and myself only. Putting a journal where we know other family
members can find it is unwise and unhelpful.
·
Pray to God this week
for assistance as we prepare to start this journey.
·
Write down your
goals of what you hope to achieve through these 12 step journey. You may wish
to choose a particular issue/ difficulty/ sin/pattern of behaviour that you
specifically wish to work on during these 12 months and chart your progress.
·
Reflect on during
the week how Step 1 speaks to you.
Now there is a framework, we will journey along for
the next 4 weeks on step 1.
Happy
preparation for the journey.
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