August 10.  Addictions..  Life was hard for Petru as a single mom and she had never had a stable relationship since her teen years when she had become addicted to alcohol and her daughter had been born with foetal alcohol  syndrome.  Rayhab, the social worker, shared her concern about Petru and a number of such cases she had to deal with because they were rejected by their families and came to the social workers for help.

Reflect, share, scripture:    A man came to Jesus and said, “My son is an epileptic and suffers terribly. I brought him to your disciples but they could not heal him. Jesus rebuked the demon and the boy was cured instantly.  Jesus said to the disciples, “O you of little faith.”  From Mat 17:14-20.  Pope Francis: Drug use was mentioned as one of the scourges of our time, causing immense suffering and even breakup for many families.  The same is true of alcoholism, gambling and other addictions. Society and politics fail to see that families at risk “lose the ability to help their members.” AL51. ACTION AND PRAYER.   Consider your attitude towards addiction. Is it a sin or a disease?