Anniversary

Dear Brothers & Sisters,

Today is the anniversary of one of the worst events in my working with men and their families in addiction recovery.  I send a prayer for the repose of John M.

I have been working with St Joseph’s Freedom Group now for six years. In that time there have been three men I could not help which have affected me very much.

John was in his late thirties. He had a wife and two lovely children. John was addicted to pornography. One night after having spent the evening indulging in his addiction and stopping for just a “couple of beers” he had a single car accident. He did not lose his life in the accident but he did lose his sight.

When I met John he had been physically blind for about six months. He and I would speak on the telephone and discuss recovery from Pornography Addiction.  The problem John had is that the last thing he saw was pornography. It continuously looped in his mind’s eye and nothing he did could stop it.  The pornography had permanently burned into his consciousness. In an attempt to deal with this on his own, he decided to self-medicate with alcohol. His was consuming at least a ½ gallon bottle of vodka every two days.

One evening after consuming a generous amount of alcohol he told his wife he was going to take a shower and clear his head. After about 30 minutes of the water running his wife stepped into check on him. Unfortunately what she found was him sitting on the floor of the shower with wounds to his wrists. He was already gone by the time the EMT’s arrived.

This heinous war waged on men and their families by the devil is not one we can sit idly by and allow to continue. We cannot continue sit quietly by and allow him to influence us. We need to go on the offensive.  We cannot allow anyone else to be lost.

I think I will go and have some quiet time – hug my wife and kids – say a prayer or two and thank God for all that I have.

Your Brother In Christ’s Passion.