Though I'm not a Catholic, I'm always genuinely inspired by followers of Christ who try to live lives of true humility and true right-sizedness. I hope, for both the sake of his church and the church universal, that Pope Francis lives into the name he has chosen for himself.

U.S. Catholic bishops have been criticized for many things in recent years, among them an over emphasis on abortion issues to the exclusion of other issues. Is this a fair criticism? What other 'life' issues do the bishops address?

The need for reconciliation is at the heart of the Gospel message, and it is at the heart of Twelve Step recovery as well. Without reconciliation, a right relationship with God -- and peace of mind -- is not possible.

Outside the kitchen my life was spiraling downward. I told myself I was in control, that I wasn't really addicted at all. I used heroin to come down from coke, alcohol to moderate the pills. I had it all figured out.

By the time we get to the Seventh Step in the Twelve Step recovery process, our denial has been ripped away and we've done some very deep soul-searching. We come to the Seventh Step in a vulnerable state.

We can't and shouldn't demand perfection of ourselves, but we must always keep moving ahead, challenging ourselves to move past our personal zones of comfort.

In clearing away our own baggage, our ego, our obsession with self, we can open ourselves to God's power to work wonders in us.

There are three guiding concepts on the pathway to freedom from addiction: Awareness, Acceptance and Action. All are made possible through God's grace.

By opening ourselves to the possibility of God and then the possibility of God's help in the Third Step, we open the door to an incredible journey of personal growth and discovery.

When we make amends, we begin to see the freedom of non-attachment and to see ourselves in more generic terms: as humans, prone to error, but doing our best.

People in recovery joke that in sobriety they "get their brains back." God helps us not only to become sober and stay sober, but also restores us to sane and sensible thinking.

Investigation is the effort to see things clearly, to see them just as they are. In Vipassana meditation, this is what we are doing, investigating the present moment.

If we are to get and stay sober, we need to live less from the lower and more from the higher self. Turning our will and our lives over is the way we do this.

If we don't believe we can change -- if we think we are bound to stay addicts forever and that we can't heal -- then we don't believe in the Law of Karma.