Mission Statement

Healing, forgiveness and a new beginning are essential to the philosophy of Cross Roads Community.
The wounded human person, suffering amidst the darkness and emotional injury of addiction, needs the healing power and love of God to strengthen it, hold it serene and steadfast in the hope of a new life.
True healing comes from God, our Creator. His supernatural grace working directly and through human resources, enables the addicted person to break away from bad habits, step out in faith to establish a new beginning and gain self-esteem and self-mastery.
God’s healing power, however, will only set free from addiction those who are sincere in acknowledging their weakness and who desire to grow as well as accept personal responsibility.
Cross Roads Community, therefore, aims to supply a comprehensive program that focuses on the body, mind and spiritual soul of each client, so as to enable the person to live in the true dignity of a human being created in the image and likeness of God.

Cross Roads Community is located in East Fremantle, where contacts can be made and where Church resources are gathered and administered. Our aim is also to establish a rehabilitation farm on the periphery of the city of Perth, Western Australia. The blueprint of the farm will be modelled on that of the world’s most successful addiction rehabilitation farm program: Sister Elvira’s "The Community Cenacle".

The Beginning

After being ordained in October 1998, Father Paul Baczynski was appointed as an assistant parish priest within the Archdiocese of Perth. During that time, Fr. Paul began working with people who were struggling with various addictions.

Fr Paul’s interest in helping these people grew rapidly and along with lifelong friend Brett Regan, decided to commence offering a monthly prayer night at the East Fremantle Catholic church for those people suffering from the effects of addiction. Attendance at the prayer nights increased significantly over time and another prayer night is now being held monthly at the Innaloo Catholic church as well.

In November 1999 Fr Paul approached the Most Reverend Barry Hickey, the Archbishop of Perth, with a proposal to begin full-time ministry in the area of addictions. In January 2000 The Archbishop granted Fr Paul permission to do so and in February 2000 the Cross Roads Community commenced operating.

Work & Mission - Current Facilities

A centre based in East Fremantle is now in operation, gathering Church and community resources, supplying the following:

- Weekly support groups for the addicted;

- Weekly support groups for family and friends;

- Individual counselling;

- A resource area with reading, audio and video material;

- A Chapel for administering the Sacraments, quiet meditation, regular Healing Masses and regular Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

- Prayer Nights with Healing Mass (both North and South of the Swan River)

- The Cross Roads Community International Prayer Network

The focus on Healing

Our healing and rehabilitation program for the client and family is based firmly upon the richness of Catholic spirituality. Our program is holistic and in keeping with contemporary Australian culture.

We aim to supply a comprehensive program that focuses on the body, mind and soul, thereby enabling clients to gain control over their lives.

At Cross Roads Community healing is provided via:

- A compassionate environment for clients and their loved ones;

- An emphasis on programs which cater for the three dimensions of a person, namely, the body, mind and spirit;

- Support programs by way of daily spiritual programs, growth groups and counselling;

- The participation of the family in the activities of Cross Roads Community, so as to heal the whole family organism.

The Role Of The Family

The family organism, the cradle of the client in all its complexity, is important to the Cross Roads Community rehabilitation program.

Therefore, family members are encouraged to participate in the rehabilitation of their loved one, so that:

Family issues can be discussed in a non-judgemental, confidential and safe environment.

Family members may play a role in the spiritual and emotional support of their loved one who is seeking rehabilitation.

The Educational Dimension

As a person breaks free from addiction, there is a natural desire and need for intellectual growth.

With this understanding, Cross Roads Community advocates that:

- All clients undertake some form of positive academic program (for example: A TAFE course or a self-directed course of study);

- All clients discover and use one or more of their God given natural talents and nurture them by means of a hobby or some volunteer work of their choice.

This process provides the person with the life skills needed to gain independence, self-esteem and a deeper understanding of human development.

The Physical Dimension

The human body is a wonderful gift from God. It is the temple of the Holy Spirit and needs proper care. The human body should receive regular exercise as well as good, nutritious food and adequate rest.

The human body is tremendously resilient. After the abuse of drugs or alcohol coupled with an unhealthy and irregular lifestyle, the body will heal quickly only if a wholesome exercise and diet program is begun. Cross Roads Community holds that exercise and diet are fundamental to rehabilitation while acknowledging that such programs are to be adapted to suit the individual’s needs.

The Spirtual Dimension

The most successful rehabilitation programs in the world are those which acknowledge God in the healing process (such as Sr. Elvira’s "Communita` Cenacolo", which has a 90% success rate and Fr Pierino’s "Communita` Incontro" and "San Patrignano", both of which have an 80% success rate).

With confidence in God’s proven healing power as demonstrated in the above existing programs, Cross Roads Community stands firmly by the following:

- Fundamental to healing is the supernatural grace of Almighty God.

- Once clients have located one or more root causes for their addiction they may, by participating in individual and group workshops, gain the opportunity to further understand those root causes. The spiritual element in this process is paramount, as it enables the client to learn and experience that great things can happen by the power of God.

- For example, if there is a major issue in a person’s life, it has been shown that prayer, meditation, a Sacramental life, working alongside human resources, can all contribute to great healing.

- The centre has a Chapel where regular spiritual exercises are administered for healing and support, as well as being available for quiet reflection.

- Prayer Nights with a Healing Mass are held both North and South of the Swan River offering support on a spiritual and practical level for the addicted, their families, friends and anyone else interested in spiritual growth.

- From the centre we operate a prayer network which has extensive coverage throughout the Perth Archdiocese and the world. We pray for all people affected by addiction. For this end, the names of all people affected by addiction are gathered and sent out via email, phone and fax. Only Christian names are sent out.

- We are always looking for new members to join the Cross Roads Community International Prayer Network.

Five Steps

Those who desire to regain control over their life are encouraged to put into place the following five steps. Likewise, to gain entry into the proposed Cross Roads Community Farm, all clients will be obliged to implement these same 5 steps. The clients must:

1. Admit that they are addicted and have an absolute willingness to gain the mechanisms necessary to be free from addiction.

2. Humbly turn to God through daily prayer and meditation asking for His help and grace, knowing that the problem of addiction requires supernatural assistance.

3. Be willing to separate oneself from the people, places and circumstances that have in the past assisted in the feeding of their addiction. They must also disassociate themselves from those who do not accept or support their efforts to overcome the problem.

4. Be willing to undertake a program that includes exercise, work and a healthy diet; as through the abuse of drugs, alcohol and their previous lifestyle, their physical bodies have become depleted and unhealthy.

5. Strive, after the initial stages of rejuvenation, to improve their intellect by learning new skills or undertaking some form of study. The emphasis will be on learning skills that will increase the possibility of them becoming productive members of society, whilst at the same time improving their self-esteem.

The Farm

The Community will establish a rehabilitation farm, modelled on Sr. Elvira’s "Communita` Cenacolo", which, as mentioned previously, has a 90% success rate. As yet none exist in Australia.

The average period of rehabilitation, based on a residential stay, will be three years. The atmosphere of the farm will be peaceful and focused on human growth. The major benefit of the farm community is that it provides a solid support base that is in place 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In addition, the very successful European mechanism of supplying an "angel guardian", who will act as a mentor, will be provided.

The Essential Elements Of The Farm

The rehabilitation farm will have five essential elements:

1. An Education Program;
The education program is intended to raise each person’s level of education to at least a Year 12 standard.

2. A Spiritual Program;
The spiritual program is essential for the emotional healing of a client. Likewise, it is an important aspect of the client’s psychological development and growth in self-esteem. This area will be covered comprehensively and sensitively.

3. A Life Skills and Crafts Program;
Life skills are fundamental to a healthy lifestyle, therefore, clients will be encouraged to keep their living environment clean and ordered. In addition, farm projects and maintenance will be a part of day to day life. A crafts program, which is therapeutic in nature, will also be provided.

4. A Physical Exercise and Diet Program;
All clients will be encouraged to undertake a balanced exercise program designed according to their individual abilities. It is important that clients pay attention to their physical body, which has been abused as a result of their previous lifestyle. A healthy diet will be implemented to assist in the physical healing process.

5. A Group Based Personal Growth Program;
Personal growth programs will be conducted regularly. The clients will be encouraged to share and discuss their progress according to their stage of rehabilitation. This will be carried out in the company of other clients and the community support members. Likewise, clients will be encouraged to rekindle family relationships by way of workshops with family members.

Polices On Medication

Cross Roads Community has a ‘no-tolerance’ policy towards chemical medication in the detoxification and rehabilitation of an addicted person. However, if at any stage a client should need the assistance of a doctor, the appropriate medication or treatment will be provided according to the doctor’s instructions.

Funding

The Cross Roads Community Farm will generate funding for its running costs by way of donations and fundraising activities. The initial purchase and development of the proposed farm will require very substantial funding. For this we are asking the public for financial support.

Spiritual Growth And Healing

St Thomas Aquinas states, ‘All men have a co-natural and inescapable desire for their own fulfilment. That is all men, necessarily crave happiness, complete and unending. Although all men do not have the right notion of what true happiness is, and how it is to be obtained, all men, without exception, crave it’.
The human spirit continually calls out ‘Abba Father’ in its craving for love, truth and complete fulfilment. It is the primordial cry for self-mastery and beyond, to the heavenly realm where grace turns into glory in the twinkling of an eye. In Heaven a soul is one with God in eternal beatitude; every tear is wiped away, and each broken piece of the self’s earthly ‘jigsaw’ is resurrected into the oneness of God’s love, where finally God’s masterpiece is seen.

Being created in God’s image, we should try as best we can to mirror His image. God’s image is seen manifest in the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Fortitude, Temperance, Love, Peace and Self-mastery, to name a few.

But all too often the addicted person does not show these liberating images of God. They instead, show the imprisonment of vice and the negative passions that oppose virtue. This is the spirit of the world and people need to remember the words of our Saviour: ‘They (my followers) do not belong to the world’.

The main problem with addiction is not the drug or the drink but the fact that the spirit of the world, by way of sin, has infested the human person and injured the person’s ability to choose true good. As St. Thomas Aquinas says, not all people have the right notion of true happiness and how it is to be obtained.

Sin injures the human spirit and eventually renders it feeling unloved, weak and despondent; thus the internal loving environment that is needed to nurture virtue and hence enable a person to live in peace and to grow in self-mastery, is altered. No longer is the spiritual heart a spiritual life-giving womb, but instead it is injured and hardened, incapable of choosing and nurturing true happiness.

As well as exercising the body and mind, a person gaining control of their life impacted on by addiction should learn to flex their ‘Spiritual Biceps’.

This is done by way of entrusting oneself to the Maker – He who knit the human being in his or her mother’s womb, firstly, by asking for forgiveness from all those one has hurt (if one is a Catholic, the healing Sacrament of Penance is of ultimate importance); as well as learning to forgive oneself and others. Furthermore, a person needs to empty oneself of all sin, sadness, emotional injury, broken and lost dreams and anything that is not of God or in need of resurrection: This is an ongoing process that can also be accomplished to some degree by being contrite, or by way of counselling or spiritual direction.

Secondly, in faith, one humbles oneself under the almighty Cross of Jesus Christ and asks that having been emptied, God will now fill the individual with His infinite healing love, which is Grace. (Once again the Catholic is the most blessed because of the Sacramental life). Grace enables a person to break away from bad habits and to create new and good habits. Grace is fundamental in the healing process of addiction. It is absolutely essential for a person to succeed in breaking away from bad and life threatening habits and in the building a new and good life without relapse.

Then, just as one would embark on a physical exercise program, the individual starts a spiritual program, which is the life of prayer. Prayer is simply a ‘dialogue with the Divine’, ‘a song from the soul’, ‘heart dialogue’, a sincere and childlike cry, ‘I am hurting, please help me!’

Then, with the caring assistance of a good spiritual director to gently but firmly lead the person back to God, the individual begins to learn to sacrifice one’s self will to the Divine will. This means to align the thoughts and actions of daily life in harmony with the perennial wisdom of the Ten Commandments. As a result, the person now begins to heal and rebuild their interior and exterior life and to find their rightful dignity.

The spiritual program insists that the individual is completely honest with God about his or her own feelings, emotions and attitudes. Just as Jesus changed the water into wine, so too He will change the "I don’t care attitude" into the "I do care attitude"; so too He will calm the interior emotional storms as He did with the storm on the sea of Galilee; just as He threw the false riches out of the temple (the money lenders) and false peace (the doves and pigeons), so too He will throw anything that is false out of the person. A person with a serious addiction must commence a serious spirituality, trusting to God in prayer their interior illness, asking that their anxiety be turned into serenity.

God will give the increase of right attitude and emotional balance and will not be outdone in generosity. He who made the human spirit that continually cries out ‘Abba Father’, will hear His child’s cry and respond as a truly loving Father. A childlike trust, accompanied with prayer and the newly acquired practical applications and skills necessary for everyday growth, will bring about the new attitude necessary for the person to view the exterior world as it really is, so as to be able to begin to live life in a healthy manner.

God will always give spiritual and emotional healing if the person tries earnestly to operate in harmony with the laws of Divine love. The doctor can give invaluable medical assistance, so too the psychiatrist and psychologist all have their rightful place and are gifts from God Almighty, however, God is the Divine Physician who heals the wounded spirit crying, bleeding and in need of healing; all people are in need of union with the Father of the universe.

For healing, self-esteem and new purpose to grow into freedom from addiction, the individual should continue working on all three fronts; body, mind and soul, in a balanced manner and in union with God. Self-mastery is obtainable for all rational people.

The earlier quote from St Thomas Aquinas is given further credence by St. Augustine’s adage that. "…the human heart will never rest until it rests in God".