The Hook and I
A Catholic 12-Step Program
by
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Step 2: AN ACT OF HOPE:
OK, my friend. Let me congratulate you on making what should be the first of a long series of Acts of Humility, which you did with Step 1. It is a good beginning but you must realize that, symbolically, you are face down in the mud. If you feel even a shred of confidence in your own ability to lift yourself up, you need to repeat the first paragraph of the Nothingness Itself prayer until you actually begin to believe the words that you are saying. However, let’s assume that the sentiments of the prayer are exactly how you are feeling towards yourself at this point. Now, it is time to offer you some hope, not in yourself, but in God and the grace that He will give you to succeed against your hook. Therefore, it is time for Step 2, which is:
2. I will admit that only with God’s grace can I succeed.
A very long time ago lived a man named Pelagius. He thought that he didn't need God's grace in order to be holy. He thought that he just had to have a strong-enough will and he would be capable of doing good. The Church didn’t agree with him; his belief was labeled the heresy of Pelagianism and condemned in the Council of Mileum II in 416. He never could have been more wrong and so am I if I do not believe that I need God’s help. This is true for the simple reason that as soon as I think that I am strong enough to do anything virtuous, the vice of my pride creeps in without my even knowing it and takes over, ruining whatever good I’m trying to accomplish. I can't avoid it because the effects of Original Sin are so strong in me, in fact, in all of us, friend. Our Lord warned us about this, “Without me you can do nothing.” (John xv. 5) so it’s a forlorn hope to even make the attempt on my own. Actually, such attempts serve to strengthen the pride which is the very opposite of what God wants because, “God resisteth the proud…” (1 Peter v. 5 and James iv. 6), meaning that God will actually oppose my efforts since I will be moving away from him by growing in vice and not virtue! You’ll see me quote this scripture passage frequently throughout the book since it’s so important to fully understand the concept of NEVER relying upon oneself in the war against the hook. In order to do anything of merit I have to rely solely on God’s grace for the strength to do it but by the same token I should have confidence that the Good God will be generous with that grace. This is what we will discuss here in this chapter on Step 2: placing our reliance solely on grace to succeed and having the hope that God will grant us the graces we need, when we need them, in the measure we need them in order to defeat our hooks. At the end of the chapter I will give you the second paragraph of the Nothingness Itself Prayer, which expresses our dependence on grace and the hope that that grace will be forthcoming. Both paragraphs of the Nothingness Itself Prayer should be said daily.
When you are finished with Step 2, you don’t want to be like
HOPE
Let’s start our discussion by first explaining what “Hope” is. In order to define it, I want to use the Act of Hope that you should have learned when you were making your Confirmation. You remember it, don’t you? I hope so.
“O my God, relying on Thine infinite goodness and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.”
Actually, this prayer is just one long sentence. Let’s break it down to help us understand this important theological virtue. The opening term, “O my God” is a direct address to Our Lord as the One to Whom we are speaking. The next word “relying” expresses a measure of confidence or dependence upon God. These two sentiments, confidence and dependence, are the two key thoughts that we want to take with us from Step 2. Now we all know that God is infinitely good – otherwise He wouldn’t be God. In His infinite goodness He has made certain guarantees to Man – to us. This reliance or confidence is expressed in three of those promises: His forgiving of our sins, giving us the necessary graces, and in achieving our salvation. I want us to focus on the “necessary graces” part so I underlined the phrase, “help of Thy grace” in the prayer text. Next, this confidence is possible because of the meritorious life that Jesus lived here on earth but principally through His Passion and Death. In a manner of speaking, Jesus “worked” for the Father (it was a labor of love, right?) Who “paid” Him in the “coin” of grace.
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About the Book
The Hook and I describes a 12-Step Recovery Program using traditional Catholic spirituality in an integrated approach that restores the entire 12-step recovery concept to its original Catholic roots in order to attack addictions by addressing the weaknesses of the soul, especially against "The Hook". More than a method to simply conquer an addiction, this technique of struggling against a "Hook" is used, first of all, to overcome the addiction, second, to grow in sanctity by striving for perfection and holiness, and thirdly, to give God glory for the graces He lovingly bestows on souls struggling against addictions.
"The Hook", which can be any sinful addiction, is that primary means by which Satan uses to pull souls from the waters of sanctifying grace. The Hook is as much a permanent part of the soul as the temperament so that it can never really be removed; we can only cut the “fishing line of temptation” and to trim it as close to the hook as possible so that we are rarely, if ever, "reeled in" to the state of sin again.
Written in conversational style yet true to Catholic teaching, "The Hook and I" covers the fight against a hook every step of the way, from "running aground" through each of the steps necessary to strengthen the soul to gain mastery over the Hook to the subsequent stages of using the success against the Hook as the springboard to holiness and the pursuit of perfection.
"The Hook and I" was written as an apostolate of the Blessed Margaret Family Help Center, Inc, a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation to help families, both in and out of crisis, using traditional Catholic teachings. All royalties from the sale of The Hook and I go to finance the Center's activities.
About the Author
A lifelong Catholic and student of Catholic spirituality, David M. Cannane is a husband, father, grandfather, army officer, engineer, and teacher - but he is also an addict. After 17+ years of experience working with souls in the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Legion of Mary, he observed the destruction caused by addictions of every variety to both individuals and families. Wanting to personally fight the problem as well as to share the same principles with others that had helped him to overcome his own addiction, he was shocked about the lack of existing programs that tapped into the rich principles of Catholic Spirituality to overcome what the author sees as essentially a spiritual problem. Taking the conventional 12-Steps format, he returned those 12-Steps back to their Catholic roots. Publishing his initial thoughts on-line, he formed a pilot men’s support group entitled, “La Misma Nada”, to further perfect these Catholic 12-Steps.
Mr. Cannane is the President and founder of the Blessed Margaret Family Help Center, Inc, a 501c3 tax-exempt non-profit corporation he started in Cincinnati in 2003 to help families, both in and out of crisis, using traditional Catholic principles. Besides The Hook and I, the Center has provided in-home tutoring assistance to home schooling families, assisted an area crisis pregnancy center with peer counseling, and supported families desiring to reverse sterilization operations.
He has been married to Benita for more than 31 years, has 3 adult children, and (at last count) 6 grandchildren. They live in Amelia, Ohio, just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Nathan Jent is a budding graphic designer. His delightful cartoon illustrations sprinkled throughout The Hook and I are his first published works. He lives in Wilmington, Ohio with his wife and soon to be joined by their first (of many, God willing) children.