Men and women living with addictions. Those in recovery. Families who are struggling. Friends who are impacted.
All are invited to a faith-based Zoom retreat Aug. 2 presented by the Calix Society, an organization of Catholics in recovery who are maintaining their sobriety through participation in their faith and a 12-step program.
“Addictions are really a physical illness but more than that, they’re a spiritual battle,” said Jo Anne B. Farrell, Addictions Healing and Prison Ministry Services coordinator for Catholic Charities of South Jersey.
The retreat, titled “Great Is Our God,” is being sponsored by Catholic Charities of South Jersey’s Addictions Healing Services and hosted by the Church of the Incarnation, Mantua. It is being livestreamed via Zoom to the church.
Though people can watch the Zoom from home, in-person attendance is being encouraged for fellowship, the building up of community and prayer. For those who attend in person, the morning will start with continental breakfast; lunch will be provided at noon by the parish’s Angel Ministry. At 4 p.m., attendees may participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation; they are invited to the parish’s vigil Mass at 5 p.m.
“We want people to get together, to know someone cares,” Farrell said about the retreat. “We are with them in the struggle.”
All of the speakers are involved in the Calix Society. Calix, Latin for “cup” or “chalice,” is an international organization created in the 1940s as a faith-filled next step to Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous programs; its goal is not to replace AA, NA or groups that focus on other addictions, but instead help those in recovery to grow spiritually. Its credo is, “We substitute the cup that sanctifies for the Cup that stupefies.”
Addictions can be alcohol, drugs, food, media, sex, pornography and more, “all of which corrupt one’s lifestyle and affect relationships,” said Jen Drees, who serves as Calix facilitator in the Church of the Incarnation. “There are so many things we as humans accumulate throughout our journey in life. … Are these things we have clung to because we are trying to fill that God-shaped hole? Have we used those things to put up a fence as a catch-net that we then push away God?”
The Calix Zoom retreat will include a variety of speakers and subjects. Beth Sheridan, a school psychologist who lives in New Hampshire and member of the Calix Board of Directors, will speak on the topic “God so loved the world that He sent his only son to love us into life”; Marist Father Roland Lajoie, a senior priest from Saint Paul, Minn., and Calix national chaplain, will share his views on “Jubilee 2025 – Pilgrims of Hope”; Susan H. will lead attendees in praying a scriptural Rosary; and Ken Johnston, “In His Sign” Catholic radio host and frequent presenter at Malvern Retreat House in Malvern, Pa., will speak on the Venerable Matt Talbot, an Irish Secular Franciscan who lived at the turn of the 20th century who many dub as the patron of those struggling with addition.
Those living with addiction, their families and loved ones, and members of other faith communities all are welcome at the Calix retreat, Farrell said. “They will know someone cares and that we will be with them in the struggle.”
She added, “Our call to action is to be a welcoming people, and we know what our higher power is. This could be a way of evangelizing as well as to open the door.”
Johnston, who has been sober for 33 years, says religion has an important role in the continuing search for sobriety.
“In 2025, we don’t talk about religion,” Johnston continued. “Usually, Catholics who attend AA are frustrated [that] it is turning secular, but with Calix they say, ‘This is exactly what I was looking for.’”
Calix meetings usually begin with a Catholic Mass or Communion service, and recitation of the Rosary or Divine Mercy Chaplet, “but there is no set formula,” he said. “The 12-step meetings introduce topics, and members really focus on their Catholic faith.”
Drees, a Secular Franciscan, church musician and music therapist, explained that the Mantua parish began offering the Calix ministry five years ago “as a way to grow in the Catholic faith. It is open to all those in recovery and people supporting them.”
The ministry’s weekly Monday night Zoom meetings – from 8-9 p.m. – further enrich the participants’ faith and inner strength, and serve to cast a wide net for possible members, since the site is the only such group in the state of New Jersey.
Drees stressed that Calix is designed for those who desire to maintain sobriety, and “have moved past the [addictive] substance. This is a Catholic way to continue,” she asserted. “The meetings are a great opportunity to keep us close to God. There is always an open door.”
The Calix Zoom retreat, “Great Is Our God,” will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 2. In-person attendance will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a continental breakfast. To register for either in-person or online, call the parish office at 856-468-1314. There is no cost for the retreat, but a free will offering will be taken for those who watch the livestream at the church. Church of the Incarnation is located at 240 Main St., Mantua. For more information on the Calix International Society, see calixsociety.org.
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