Frequently Asked Questions

The internal conflict a person experiences by feeling compelled to use a substance or behavior despite also feeling that it is morally wrong to use it in that manner and/or to use it at all.

When the struggle is a habitual way of coping with life, it is viewed as a vice.  However, it is identified as an addiction when the struggle includes tolerance of and dependence on a substance or behavior in response to one or more triggers, which then leads to a cyclical pattern of craving it, preparing for it, using it, and self-guilting/shaming for it.

Yes! Meeting and talking with others who struggle regardless of severity, frequency, or vice/addiction label helps by learning from others about what works and doesn't work to resist temptation to indulge the vice or addiction and by providing and receiving encouragement for each other to grow in virtue.

Yes!  Just as the 12-step method of addiction recovery originally developed by Alcoholics Anonymous has been adopted successfully by other addiction recovery groups, so also ARMOR works for all forms of vice and addiction.

The 12-step groups recognize an undefined “higher power” or “God as we [understand] him”, which is a spiritual position that many people of non-Christian faiths or no faith at all find more inviting. In contrast, ARMOR recognizes the triune God of all Christian faiths: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As a Catholic ministry, ARMOR also incorporates Catholic teachings with its traditional prayers.

Also, participation in a 12-step group includes reliance on a sponsor – who is another member of the group but not a trained advisor – to guide one through working the 12 steps of recovery. With ARMOR, members do not sponsor each other but are encouraged to seek the help of a trained spiritual director to guide them along their spiritual journey.

Everyone who struggles with vice or addiction is welcome! Whether or not you’re Catholic does not matter. However, any non-Catholic person who wishes to join ARMOR is asked to address questions regarding Catholic teachings outside the meeting.

Men's and women's groups meet separately, and each meeting is led by someone who also struggles with vice or addiction. The groups meet separately on a weekly basis to pray the Rosary, read literature of a Catholic nature and share thoughts on that reading, and talk about their struggles and fruits in their efforts to grow in virtue during the previous week.

In addition to active participation in ARMOR, someone who struggles with vice or addiction is encouraged to meet with a professional counselor (ideally one who specializes in addiction therapy) as well as a spiritual director on a regular basis.

It is critical to remember that recovery from addiction is about progress, not perfection, and that progress happens one day at a time. When broadening the focus of what one needs to do beyond today to recover from addiction, anxiety and a feeling of being overwhelmed begins to take hold of the addict and often results in the addict indulging their addiction to cope.
 
Jesus himself said, “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” (Matthew 6:34) So it is imperative for an addict and, indeed, for everyone to focus only on what can be done today to cooperate with the grace of God to resist temptation and to grow in virtue.

God intended for us to work together in community and not in isolation. Here are examples from Sacred Scripture that emphasize this truth:

• Exodus 17: 10-13 – “Joshua did as Moses told him: he engaged Amalek in battle while Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of the hill. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. Moses’ hands, however, grew tired; so they took a rock and put it under him and he sat on it. Meanwhile Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained steady until sunset. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.”
• Exodus 18:18-23 – "The task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone...Lighten your burden by letting them bear it with you...If you do this, and God so commands you, you will be able to stand the strain."
• 2 Corinthians 1:4 – “[God] encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.”
• Galatians 6:2 – “Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
• 1 Thessalonians 5:14 – “We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all.”
• Hebrews 10:24-25 – “We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
• James 5:16 – “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.”