"Do I Need to Cut Off an Addict in My Family?" (Special Podcast Highlight)
The Patrick Madrid Show
Relevant Radio
4.8 • 588 Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2024
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
If you have a loved one who is struggling with addiction, you know the pain and the suffering it can cause the whole family. While you want to be there to support this person, you also don't want them to spiral out of control through any enabling on your part.
So, what do you do when the solution isn't always obvious?
In a clip of The Patrick Madrid Show, Gerri from Virginia shares the harrowing journey of her niece, Amanda, a 31-year-old battling the demons of drug and alcohol addiction. Following an intervention and subsequent rehab, Amanda found herself back in Las Vegas, slipping further into her destructive habits. Gerri, torn between desperation and faith, seeks guidance on the Catholic perspective for dealing with a loved one's addiction.
A Biblical Approach to Intervention
Patrick Madrid offers wisdom from Matthew 18. Jesus' teachings suggest a step-wise approach to conflict resolution, starting with a private discussion, escalating to the involvement of witnesses, and, if necessary, bringing the matter to the Church. This blueprint, while not advocating immediate severance of ties, recognizes the potential need for tough love in extreme cases.
The Dilemma of Love vs. Enabling
Patrick emphasizes the importance of discernment in these circumstances, acknowledging the heart-wrenching decision to step back when help turns into an enabler of addiction. The path to clarity is not always clear, so it's always so important to let God lead.
Patrick introduces the Cenacolo Community, a Christ-centered program dedicated to helping individuals overcome addiction through faith, communal living, and prayer. This community is a ray of light for those like Amanda, offering a path to recovery that intertwines spiritual healing with personal growth.
No one is beyond help! Through faith, support, and love, there is a pathway to healing. Let's keep Amanda and all those struggling with similar battles in our thoughts and prayers. 🙏
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm just trying to say, all right, let go, give it to God, and let our divine physician step in, and I'm doing all that. |
| 0:08.4 | I really, really am. |
| 0:12.4 | Jerry and Virginia, thank you and welcome. |
| 0:15.5 | Good morning, Patrick. I hope you're having a good day. |
| 0:18.2 | I have a niece that's an addict. |
| 0:20.6 | And her parents did an intervention last fall. |
| 0:25.0 | Okay. |
| 0:25.3 | And they basically said she had to go to treatment. |
| 0:29.7 | And so she did. |
| 0:30.9 | And soon as she was done enough treatment, she went back to Vegas. |
| 0:33.9 | What she addicted to, alcohol, drugs, or what? |
| 0:37.1 | A little bit of both, all of it, a little smorgasbord going on. And how she addicted to? Alcohol, drugs, or what? A little bit of both, all of it, little |
| 0:38.9 | smorgasbord going on. And how old is she? She's 31. And is she married? No. Okay. No. |
| 0:48.2 | But my sister got some phone calls last week and stated it's not going good. |
| 0:56.5 | And so in interventions in Al-Anon, AA programs, they tell you to cut the person off. |
| 1:04.8 | I want to know what is the Catholic view in this type of situation. |
| 1:10.9 | I don't know that I could give you a blanket, yes or no. |
| 1:17.0 | Sometimes, I mean, Jesus says, for example, in Matthew 18, to go back to that passage, |
| 1:24.3 | let's just kind of give Jesus the first say in this issue. Yeah, so he says, if you have something |
| 1:30.3 | against your brother, then go to him in private and talk to him about it and see if you can get it |
| 1:36.3 | resolved. And if you won't listen to you, if you can't do that, just the two of you together, |
| 1:41.3 | then bring two or three witnesses so that everything can be established in the mouths of two or three witnesses. And this, by the way, is a precept from the |
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