New initiative against addiction released in Derry Cathedral

The Matt Talbot Prayer Society in Derry Diocese has released a new spiritual initiative to support families affected by addiction during their monthly Mass in St Eugene’s Cathedral, Derry. They distributed 200 ‘Spiritual Protection Packs’, each containing an icon of Jesus, an icon of Mary, a prayer card, and holy water.

“There is a lot of addiction in society today for young people with social media,” said Fr Paul Farren, Adm. St Eugene’s Cathedral and the Matt Talbot Prayer Society. He explained that addiction, including internet, drugs and drink, “isolates people in a strange way and makes their lives, their world, so much smaller, even though the perception is that it makes the world bigger.”

Addiction “cuts us off from people, it breaks down community,” the priest told this paper. When people distance themselves from God, and are left to themselves, they “shrink the world and become addicted to what we feel we need to give us security and identity, but in fact they give us neither, because we get all our security and all our identity from our relationship with God.”

The Society is encouraging families to bless their houses and children’s rooms for protection against drugs, “so drugs won’t be allowed into their house or into the lives of the young people,” he explained.

“Drugs are a more subtle evil than drink,” Fr Farren said. “Young people are introduced to them often today through vaping at a very early age.” The priest continued, “‘Drugs’ is a business for many people who are making an awful lot of money out of causing so much chaos and havoc and fear in people’s lives, that any toleration of drugs at all opens the door for profound evil in our society.”

Fr Farren encourages families dealing with addiction to give up hope, “to always have faith and belief that freedom from addiction is possible through God, through Jesus.”

Spiritual Protection Packs are still available for free. Contact the Cathedral for more information.