COMPASSION IS –
Aug. 25, 2026 – There is a Catholic dimension to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Bill Wilson, co-founder of AA had a lifelong friend and spiritual advisor, Father Eddie Dowling. Father Dowling recognized AA’s principles of honesty, examination of conscience and surrender to a Higher Power as compatible with Ignatian principles of spirituality. He helped spread AA in its early days and invited thousands in need to join. After 35 years of counseling people with addiction, I discovered that the stories most likely to frighten us aren’t necessarily the stories most likely to change us.
Recovery accounts can give the addicted something fear cannot: a reason to believe their story is not finished.
The last time my client Angela West sat in my office, she was polite, respectful, and determined to stay sober. I had no idea how much danger surrounded her. Months later, she was murdered.
A narcotics detective assigned to the case visited me at my office. He told me that Angela had witnessed the killing of a police informant at a cocaine party. She fled in terror, but the dealers followed her and killed her.
I kept wondering how someone so promising had been pulled into such a violent world.
