Reflection Paper: Seminar Case 1 Tom Aratyn RGT 1905 HF October 3 2011 Prof.

Mary Rowell, CSJ

Reflection Paper: Seminar Case 1 The case I selected covers the life and relationships of an unnamed alcoholic in recovery (referred to as John) and his struggle to understand what is a good thing to do and build a better relationship with God. He recognizes that he needs Gods help but is struggling to find it. Guilt and the need to appease God play strong roles in his life but hes managed to reshape his life. Now hes approached the reader for help. I examine the case in the context of knowledge and freedom and how that can help John not be overwhelmed by his guilt. Also, I examine how he could use contemplative prayer can foster a nurturing relationship with God. John, a man in his late 20s, is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), though his attendance at meetings and how he is working the steps is not detailed. About eight years ago he started reshaping his life, pursuing normality. He has completed a degree in law, made a career for himself, gotten married, and has a daughter. Despite this, he realizes the powerful role addiction continues to play in his life. John has also tried to build a life of prayer to support his new life. Recently, Johns father passed away from the effects of alcohol abuse. The sole description of his relationship with his father was that, his father was occasionally abusive. His mother, also an alcoholic, claims to have experienced a religious conversion fifteen years ago but this ha s not lead to any concrete change in her life. However, her conversion has led her to emphasize questions of sexual guilt, notably in her children. John and his mother have conflicts. Specifically mentioned is his challenging his mothers behavior, his mother being unsupportive of Johns life changes, and his mothers claim that Johns marriage is invalid because his wife is a drunk.

-2-

Reflection Paper: Seminar Case 1 Johns five siblings are also unsupportive of his life changes. Furthermore they do not like Johns challenging of their mother, they feel he should be easy on her during her declining years. Johns wife is also an alcoholic in recovery. John is, now, aware that marrying a fellow alcoholic, and one only recently sobered at that, was probably not a great thing. The case does not provide much detail about her. However, we do know that there have been rocky times in their marriage but despite that he loves her and has been faithful to her. The case states that they have a good relationship. John and his wife also have a daughter to whom they are both dedicated. He is also making a conscious effort to go out of his way to spend time with his daughter, together with his wife, and to show affection on a consistent basis. Hes working to break the pattern of alcohol, physical, and emotional abuse in his own upbringing. The case describes that John has approached the reader asking for help with specific questions. Explicitly he asks: 1. Might he be receiving [communion] unworthily? Particularly with regard to sexual issues. 2. Is his desire to attend mass more often part of his old pattern of appeasing God? 3. Is attending Mass more often a good thing to do? 4. How should he pray? 5. Might it be helpful for him to go to confession more often? 6. How can he avoid slipping backwards? 7. What would be a good thing to do?

-3-

Reflection Paper: Seminar Case 1 Implicitly, there is the question of how to deal effectively with his relationship with his family [being] severed by his sobriety? Johns questions are not just for advice but about morality with two major themes in his questions: firstly, about the validity of his feelings of guilt (questions 1, 2, 6, 7) and secondly, how to foster a relationship with God (questions 2, 3, 4, 5). The latter, while obviously a pastoral question, does not necessarily seem like a valid moral question. However, cultivating a relationship with God is necessary to be able to discern what is the moral action to do in a finite world. John is concerned not just with what the moral correctness of his current and past actions but also how to live a moral life in the future (question 4). The first theme, the validity of guilt, is really a question of culpability. In helping John understand culpability in Catholic Moral Theology, I would focus on explaining the two primary components, freedom and knowledge. Knowledge and freedom make culpability more complex than simply blaming a person for performing the wrong act. I would hope that complexity would help John understand Gods merciful and charitable view of human moral struggles. Freedom is particularly pertinent for a child of abuse and alcoholics. Indeed, OConnell posits that the capacity [to live a moral life following the pattern of Jesus Christ] resides in the human persons precisely because, and to the extent that, these persons are genuinely free (p. 31). Johns case has two important aspects that affect his freedom to make moral choices: his alcoholism and his childhood abuse. As an alcoholic in recovery, John has acknowledged his own powerlessness over alcohol. That, literally, means that he admits that there are some situations, primarily related to alcohol, where he is not totally free to choose his own actions. While that does not exculpate him from

-4-

Reflection Paper: Seminar Case 1 the consequences of all his actions according to Catholic morality it also means that he is not completely culpable for all his actions. Instead, John needs (and is seeking) to rely on Gods help in those situations of powerlessness. The second factor affecting Johns freedom is his childhood abuse. Our moral formation begins in our childhood and requires a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, are the rule (CCC 2223). A child raised without a place of safety where he doesnt know when the next bout of abuse will occur, possibly not understanding why the abuse is happening, gets a warped view of the world. That altered perception can take the form of negative habits, passions (that is, unstable emotions), or fears. These impediments can prevent the exercise of Johns freedom to choose moral alternatives (OConnell, p. 33). None of the features of Johns case completely exculpates him but it also means that he cannot be considered fully culpable. His precise culpability has to be actively discerned, a discernment that has to be complemented by examen of conscience but driven by an authentic relationship with God a topic we will return to later. Knowledge complements freedom in discerning moral choices by exercising our reason. Specifically for it requires the exercise of evaluative knowledge: a knowledge that is not just in our minds but that is felt in our bones as to what is right and what is wrong, a kind of knowledge that carries with it an imperative to act morally (OConnell, p. 29). Johns case demonstrates that he has evaluative knowledge about which parts of his life are leading him away from God. If moral actions can be summarized as doing good and avoiding evil then John has a clear understanding of the latter (alcoholism, pattern of abuse) but is struggling with discerning parts of the former (explicitly asking what would be a good thing to do?). An important point to emphasize to him is that he has been acting on what he has

-5-

Reflection Paper: Seminar Case 1 discerned (reshaping his life for the last eight years, going to Alcoholics Anonymous, remaining faithful to his wife despite the rocky times, etc.) without waiting for a perfect understanding of all the issues a powerful example of his active exercise of prudence. There can be many reasons for having trouble discerning what is a good thing to do but I want to focus on how that question relates to another of Johns questions (question 4) and the general theme of fear of being inadequate in Gods judgment and the need to appease God (questions 1, 2, 5, 6). The question how should I pray I assume indicates a limited familiarity with prayer, excepting the most basic form almost all children are taught: rote prayer. I think the question speaks of a yearning for a more intimate form of prayer to help with Johns efforts to reconstruct his vision of God. I would recommend John focus on contemplative prayer to help discern what is a good thing to do. The Catechism quotes St. Teresa in describing contemplative prayer as nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him [sic] who we know loves us (CCC 2709). Another important part of contemplative prayer is asking for grace. Asking for grace in contemplative prayer is different than praying for intercession. Intercessionary prayer is asking for God to change the world to our needs. Praying for grace is asking God to change us to meet His needs. Contemplative prayer moves our focus from the outward, what we need of the world, to the inner life, and what God needs of us. While contemplative prayer is much more intimate than rote recitation it can still have a formula. I would probably recommend prayers like scriptural reflection and lectio divina. These two forms of contemplative prayer have the virtues of having a clear structure, which is helpful

-6-

Reflection Paper: Seminar Case 1 for someone being introduced to a new form of prayer, and actively engages the imagination of the precant into nurturing an intimate relationship with God (visually and experientially in the case of the former, aurally in the case of the latter). Formulas can also focus the mind on specific actions and assuage doubts like am I doing this right and what am I doing. Returning to the role of Johns knowledge in his moral life and decision making, it is important to note not just that hes acting on his evaluative knowledge hes also overcoming the impediment of ignorance by actively seeking out more information and help on what is a good thing to do. In my discussions with him I would commend him and recommend for him to seek the assistance of either spiritual director or a pastoral counselor. Someone who could work him to help his prayer life complement his work on building a life recovered from alcohol and the emotional traumas of his past and family. Johns case is likely an optimistic archetype of the problems many alcoholics in recovery go through. In reflecting on this case I have ignored addressing Johns specific concerns but rather focused how the two main determinants of culpability in Catholic moral theology, freedom and knowledge, apply to Johns situation. Particularly I focused on how Johns freedom is limited by his alcoholism and childhood trauma but despite that hes acting on his evaluative knowledge that a life of alcoholism and distance from God is not the life he, nor God, wants for him. In response to Johns question of how should I pray I tie the response to both the topic of how contemplative prayer can help achieve greater communion with God but also how it can increase ones evaluative knowledge of what is morally right.

-7-

Reflection Paper: Seminar Case 1 Bibliography Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Edited by Joseph Ratzinger. Translated by United States Catholic Conference Inc. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994. O'Connell, Timothy E. Making Disciples. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1998.

-8-