The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments: A Catholic Journey through Recovery

by Scott Weeman, Most Rev. Robert W. McElroy (Foreword by)

Overview

Winner of a 2018 Catholic Press Association Award: Sacraments. (Second Place).


In the first book to directly integrate the Twelve Steps with the practice of Catholicism, Scott Weeman, founder and director of Catholic in Recovery, pairs his personal story with compassionate straight talk to show Catholics how to bridge the commonly felt gap between the Higher Power of twelve-step programs and the merciful God that he rediscovered in the heart of the sacraments.

Weeman entered sobriety from alcohol and drugs on October 10, 2011, and he's made it his full-time ministry to help others who struggle with various types of addiction to find spiritual wholeness through Catholic in Recovery, an organization he founded and directs.

In The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments, Weeman candidly tackles the struggle he and other addicts have with getting to know intimately the unnamed Higher Power of recovery. He shares stories of his compulsion to find a personal relationship with God and how his tentative steps back to the Catholic Church opened new doors of healing and brought him surprising joy as he came to know Christ in the sacraments.

Catholics in recovery and those moving toward it, as well as the people who love them will recognize Weeman's story and his spiritual struggle to personally encounter God. He tells us how:

• Baptism helps you admit powerlessness over an unmanageable problem, face your desperate need for God, and choose to believe in and submit to God’s mercy.
• Reconciliation affirms and strengthens the hard work of examining your life, admitting wrongs, and making amends.
• The Eucharist provides ongoing sustenance and draws you to the healing power of Christ.
• The graces of Confirmation strengthen each person to keep moving forward and to share the good news of recovery and new life in Christ.

Weeman's words are boldly challenging and brimming with compassion and through them you will discover inspiration, hope, sage advice, and refreshingly practical help.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594717253
Publisher:	Ave Maria Press
Publication date:	11/10/2017
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	207,219
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Scott Weeman is a marriage and family therapist and the founder and executive director of Catholic in Recovery, a nonprofit organization that serves individuals and families impacted by addiction. He is the author of The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments.

Weeman’s Catholic in Recovery organization won the top prize in the OSV Institute for Catholic Innovation Challenge Showcase in 2021.

He received a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Point Loma Nazarene University, where he also earned his master’s degree in clinical counseling. He has appeared on EWTN’s The Journey Home, as well as Christopher Closeup and Catholic Answers. His work has been featured on Aleteia and Patheos.

He lives in San Diego, California, with his family.

Table of Contents

Foreword Most Rev. Robert W. McElroy ix

Introduction xi

Baptism

1 Powerless and Unmanageable 3

2 Come to Believe 17

3 Turning Our Will Over to God 33

Reconciliation

4 Fearless Inventory 47

5 Admitting Our Wrongs 59

6 Removing Detects 69

7 A Humble Request 83

8 Willing to Make Amends 95

9 Direct Amends to Those We Have Harmed 107

Eucharist

10 Continued Personal Inventory 117

11 Conscious Contact with God 135

Confirmation

12 Awakening and Call 153

Notes 171

Editorial Reviews

"The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments outlines in a penetrating way the essential relationship between the beauty of each step and the specific sacramental reality that can link that step to a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ." —From the foreword by Most Rev. Robert W. McElroy, Bishop of San Diego

"In the eight decades since their initial formulation by a handful of alcoholics with the help of a few clergymen, the Twelve Steps have aided countless numbers of women and men with various addictions overcome their unhealthy attachments and go on to lead happy, healthy, and productive lives in their homes, in society and in their places of worship. In The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments, Scott Weeman shares his own personal story of recovery and the stories of other recovering addicts to help us get a clear picture of the Twelve Steps and how they relate to the sacraments Christ established and left to his people for our sanctification. Whether you or someone you know is in recovery (or ought to be), whether you are a Catholic or not, this book will help you understand the sacraments in light of the Twelve Steps. More importantly, Weeman will help you see the Twelve Steps more clearly in the Light of Christ." —Marcus Grodi, Founder and president of The Coming Home Network International

"At last, a book that orients the wisdom of Twelve-Step recovery toward the grace of the sacraments and vice versa. Part memoir, part manual, Scott Weeman's The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments shows that the principles of the Twelve-Step movement harmonize perfectly with Catholic anthropology. It's all here: the slavery to a harmful pleasure, the realization that God alone can break the chains, the need for honest self-disclosure, and the call to help sufferers break free and stay that way. Weeman’s own escape from the dark vortex of drug and alcohol addiction is proof positive that the sacraments can transform earthly sobriety into heavenly sanctity." —Patrick Coffin, Author and host of The Patrick Coffin Show

From the Publisher