I am a Catholic and I think I am an alcoholic

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pyro_alchemist

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I am a convert of 20 years… I am not a perfect Catholic, maybe not even a good one but I love Christ and his church and especially the Blessed Sacrament.

Problem is I get drunk nearly every night. It used to be a couple beers, now it is five ounces of vodka in juice every night. I was raised in a traditional evangelical protestant home as a teetotaler. I went to confession this afternoon sober. Now I am drunk again! Seems I only commit mortal sins when I am drunk. I need help! Please pray for me.
 
You certainly have my prayers. You also need professional help. Find your nearest AA meeting or equivalent.
 
*Praying for you pyro, with God, all things are possible–even giving up the deepest of addictions and habits. *
 
My friend, you need to seek help as soon as possible.

As silly it as it sounds, the first step is admitting you have a problem and that your addiction is out of control. You seem to have done that. Now, get yourself to an AA meeting and never, ever, ever forget to pray.

We’ll be doing that for you.
 
I am a catholic and an alcoholic as well. There are many of us here. I am a member of AA and I do highly recommend you going. If you know someone in AA give them a call and ask that person to take you to a meeting. If not look in the phonebook and give AA a call and they can tell you the times & places of meetings that you can go to. There is a better way of life. Go & listen. Identify with the feelings of the people speaking-not with what they did. Because there could be many things that they have done that you have not done-Yet and yet is the keyword. Alcoholism is a progressive disease, going to AA will give you the tools and teach you how to use the tools to help you recover and how to live one day at a time.
You can email me if you like and there is a group on catholic answers called Alcoholics Anonymous. check it out.

Your right about your connection with your drinking and falling into mortal sin and that will not change as long as you are drinking. Going to AA has also helped me tremendously with practicing my catholic faith
 
My prayers too. I had an alcholic brother. He died in a fiery car accident in 2002, thankfully no-one else involved, but it can happen.
I’m pleased that you have Lainey’s offered support.

You have faced it! God bless you for your courage and honesty. I ask You our God to help our brother to manage your illness and to work towards sobriety with the help of grace and others’ support.
 
You have my prayers.

PLEASE get help as soon as possible. Look up Alcoholics Anonymous in the phone book. The first step is the hardest, but think of the relief you’ll feel once you’ve taken it!
 
Praying for you, ditto the above, please seek out the help you need. Don’t go it alone.
 
You are in my prayers. God lifted this addiction for me. Prayer first and sincere repentence and follow up with AA to demonstrate physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually your desire to amend your life.

God bless.

Michael
 
You are most definitely in my prayers, alcoholism runs in my family so I’ve seen the damage it can do. Lord, please help heal Your child, help pyro_alchemist receive your love and support at this time of need help see him through!
 
Prayer of an Alcoholic
Saint Jude help me in this sickness which is spiritual, psychological and physical. Strengthen my weak faith, no matter what may befall me. Teach me to be patient and serene in the midst of troubles. Saint Jude, help me so that nothing will upset me or weaken my determination to stay sober and abstain from alcoholic drink.
 
Pyro- I am a Catholic alcoholic in recovery now for 6+ years. If you want to stop drinking, you will have to take some action. Going to AA is the right first step. Keep praying. I had left the Church for 20 years and found my way back because God’s grace led me to AA. Pray the Rosary. Numbing yourself with alcohol is probably not God’s will for you in this life. Maybe tomorrow night, if you haven’t reached out to AA yet, make the decision to spend your time in adoration in front of the Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. God Bless you.

If you’d like to talk, email me and I’ll give you my cell #.
 
By the way, Blessed Matt Talbot is the patron saint (ummmm, uncanonized :p) of alcoholics. I’m sure he will help you out! My prayers, too, are with you! 🙂
 
**pyro_alchemist,

What a great name for an alcoholic!

One night I awoke in a motel room in Denver with my face in a large pile of broken glass. There was vomit on the floor. I had no idea, nor do I know to this day, what happened or how I ended up in such a shambles.

I had reached the point of maintenance drinking - a quart of Absolut a day, and that was just the vodka. On top of that I was using lots and lots of drugs and burning bridges all day every day.

My boss said, “You’re a mess, I can’t have you on my bandstand. Get some help!” Through his generosity I went through a 4-week outpatient program for alcoholics and drug abusers (it took me 6 weeks because my father died in the middle of my treatment). I went back to work after 8 weeks and toured all over the U.S. as a vocalist, as a sober** vocalist. The fear was excruciating. The best I could do was say this prayer over and over, before/during/after each show: “God, please remove my fear and direct my attention to what You would have me be.” Fear subsided, color returned to my world, laughter became natural, and I was supported by friends and family through the incredible program of Alcoholics Anonymous.

God willing, in 24 days I will celebrate 25 years of continuous sobriety. I was given a reprieve from the craving, the obsession, the covering up, the charade; and the gift of sobriety was mine through working my program one day at a time.

Nothing worth having or doing is easy. There are people on this forum, myself included, who are willing and able to help guide you toward the wellness and fullness of life that you are seeking. You can also find meetings online if you just search for “Alcoholic Anonymous Online” or “AA Online”. These do not take the place of face-to-face meetings, which are essential to recovery; but they help some folks “get their feet wet”.

I think because you sound like you have a real relationship with God it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to find more similarities than differences between yourself and others recovering in AA. I hope you will pursue it and that you will let us know how it’s going for you. The newcomers are the lifeblood of the program - you help keep us all sober. Blessings, and remember: courage is fear that has prayed.

Limerick
 
Congratulations, Pyro. You just took the First Step of Alcoholics Anonymous! “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol; our lives had become unmanageable.” 👍

They usually do First Step meetings for those who are attending AA for the first time. When I went to my first First Step meeting I remember talking about how I couldn’t just stop drinking with one can of beer; I’d end up drinking another one and end up tipsy and sometimes giggly. If I were a true social drinker, I’d be able to stop with one-or even less-if I chose to.

I didn’t drink daily like you do, but the lack of control was already there-so I consider myself an alcoholic.

Also I’ve been told “It’s not how much you drink that makes you an alcoholic-it’s what happens when you drink.” You said the only time you commit mortal sins is when you’re drunk. It seems like the alcohol just takes over and keeps you from behaving in the way that you want to. I’ve heard of people engaging in sinful behaviour because of the alcohol. In fact when I was in college, some students were talking about the parties they had been to. One of the students said she told one of her friends (who must have been drunk) “You f’d my boyfriend!”

I just want to let you know that we alcoholics are not bad people trying to get good but sick people trying to get well.🙂

Sparkie L
 
I’m a Catholic and an alcoholic too. Many here have offered their prayers and support. You will find the same once you step through the doors of AA. There will be no judgement from anyone. You will not shock anyone with your drinking problem. There will be no shame except that you choose to put upon yourself.

We alcoholics are a wonderful group of people! As the big book of AA says, “If you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it…” It sounds like you are willing.

The next right step to take is going to a meeting. There are a lot of groups who will give you a ride if you just give them a call. It doesn’t matter if you know them or not. In order to stay sober themselves, they will reach out to you.

You are in my prayers.

in Christ
Steph
 
I’m not an alcoholic, but my father was. There was a time when I used to drink too much, although it was mainly when I went out. I was a Protestant for a while and didn’t drink at all. These days I might have a couple of light beers once a week, and that’s about it.

I will say one thing though. The decision to go to AA is up to you. My old Protestant pastor had an ex-alcoholic friend who helped other alcoholics if he could. But his policy was clear cut. If he thought the alcoholic was sincere, he’d walk over cut glass to help him. But if he thought the alcoholic was only making excuses, he said he wouldn’t even roll over in bed. So the decision to go to AA or get help is yours.

On a lighter note, the same pastor had a friend in Sydney with the same problem. He lived in a very small flat not far from Kings Cross, which is Sydney’s red light district. Occasionally the alcohol bug used to bite him, as it probably does all ex-alcoholics. He had a novel way of dealing with it. He used to put on a sandwich board with a couple of Bible verses on it eg. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son etc.” and maybe “the wages of sin is death” or something like that.

Then he’d go for a walk down Kings Cross. He’d only be there five minutes when he’d be so busy defending his faith against the hecklers that he had no time to worry about the bug any more!
 
Bob_Crowley said:
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Then he’d go for a walk down Kings Cross. He’d only be there five minutes when he’d be so busy defending his faith against the hecklers that he had no time to worry about the bug any more!
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THAT is awesome!! Can I share that with my AA buddies Bob? That is absolutely “willing to go to any length”. I love it!!

in Christ
Steph
 
pyro_alchemist said:
I am a Catholic and I think I am an alcoholic.
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If you think you are, you know you are.

What a blessing that you have realized what others who care for you already know.

Now what are you going to do about it? May God be with you . . .
 
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