Cana*

Some of you think that my stuff about the twelve steps of AA having nothing to do with you because you are not a drunk.  So let me tell you that if you are in a relationship, like marriage, the twelve steps can be a great help.  Say what?  Bill Wilson, the Co-founder of AA had a friend and advisor named Fr. Ed Dowling, a Jesuit.  Dowling's day job was his active ministry with Cana Conferences. These were conferences, gatherings, for married couples.  Dowling used the twelve steps to help married couples.  So if you are having issues in your relationship with your partner or want to better the relationship, don't sell short the twelve steps.  Maybe a recovering drunk could be of some help to you?  Now, if you like the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, and Jesuits do, since he was their founder, Fr. Dowling noted a surprising resemblance between the exercise of St Ignatius and the twelve steps.  The twelve steps are a perennial wisdom, put together in a fashion that is useful to many a modern person and our modern problems.