Go to AA meetings instead of Dry January says Pioneer priest

The Dry January phenomenon that has emerged in recent years which sees people abstain from alcohol throughout the month of January would be better supplemented with more lasting initiatives, like attendance at local AA meetings, as fellowship with others in recovery shouldn’t just be limited to one month of the year.

Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Spiritual Director for the Pioneers Fr Robert McCabe said that “instead of just taking up Dry January, I have been recommending that people could try to attend an open AA meeting in their region. This would provide them with some of the lived experience of those in their own age group who depend on the AA fellowship and the Serenity prayer every day of their lives – not just in January.”

Those struggling to cope with temptation at this time of the year and looking for long-lasting solutions can take inspiration from the life and resilience of Venerable Matt Talbot, especially in the centenary year of his death, like the Pioneers do on a daily basis.

“Matt Talbot’s life speaks to Pioneers about the fruitful sacrifice of prayer, good example and the value of wearing the emblem of the Sacred Heart”, he said. “His life story invites Pioneers to wear their Pioneer pin as ‘pilgrims of hope’ during this Jubilee Year 2025.

“In doing so, we maintain our prayerful outreach to all who are living under a shadow of addiction and to those who are starting out again on a journey of sobriety. Matt – like many other holy men and women in the Pioneer Association – made place in his heart for God to write a new story in his life.

“Pioneers have primarily a prayerful and contemplative response to addiction. They ‘Pin their hearts on the love of God’ by wearing their emblem, praying twice daily and by abstaining from alcohol. Others are aware of the value of making reparation in their own lives and the lives and relationships of others – reparation, a term which Pope Francis has beautifully reframed in his recent encyclical ‘Dilexit nos’.

“Some who have taken the pledge in recent years include fathers who have wanted to live in total availability to their new baby and their spouse in the first year of the baby’s life.”