As the story is told, Brigid went to the King of Leinster to tell him she needed land upon which to build a monastery. “You do, you do,” replied the […]
Living in a Religious Vacuum
Q: I have been raised as a Catholic and as a child participated in Eucharist and absorbed many cultural images of God and understandings of the faith. Later in my […]
Falling Asleep in Prayer
Q: I pray daily, at least once a day, using the Centering Prayer method. Sometimes I will fall asleep and then wake myself up abruptly from the dream state I […]
Difficulty in Doing a Second Sit
Q: I have had numerous people tell me that they have no difficulty carving space for the first sit of the day, usually in the morning. But once the day […]
Concern About Welcoming Prayer and Passivity
Q: I understand the Welcoming Prayer is about acceptance. But what about change and action? If your boss treats you bad, your doctor ignores your health, if someone threatens your […]
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Centering Prayer: A Closer Walk with Our God
Well, just what is Centering Prayer? Is it OK for a Catholic to engage in this practice? I often hear these, or similar questions asked. Now that I […]
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What are you doing here? A Centering Prayer Reflection
“The Lord said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord,for the Lord is about to pass by.’”– 1 Kings 19: 9,11 The […]
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Using a Vision in Centering Prayer Instead of a Sacred Word
Q: In the last couple of weeks I find that a certain vision of a person with her/his back to me and arms stretched out toward a representation of me […]
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The Difference Between Quietism & Centering Prayer
Q: How is Centering Prayer distinct from Quietism which was declared a heresy in the 18th Century? A: Webster defines quietism this way: “a system of religious mysticism teaching that […]
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Spiritual Bushwhack
During a recent Centering Prayer retreat at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, I ventured forth on an afternoon hike, scrambling up a steep cliff to check out some rock […]
Perspective
I sit on my porch,glimpse through the open doora painting, ‚ÄúMorning for Writing Letters‚Äù,a flask of coffee, the back of a chair,a blue and rust-colored afghanon the back of the […]
Multimedia in My Head
Q: When I tried to be open to God during Centering Prayer, I usually had a concordance of biblical accounts in multimedia or silent video format in my head, or […]
Contemplative Collaboration
At the initiative of Thomas Keating, the founder of Contemplative Outreach, the founders of three other major Christian contemplative organizations were invited to meet with him in early October at […]
The Power of Silent Prayer
“I became aware of how powerful Centering Prayer was because it was a container for my consenting to not only God’s presence in my life, but also God’s action in […]
Shutters
Through the shutters of my soulsunlight rarely shines.Her voice demanded obedience,blocked out the light of childhood.As I grew older I replaced it with worries. On this rainy dayin a retreat […]
Monkey Mind on Extended Retreat
Q: I have been on many extended 8 – 10 retreats. On them I always have trouble going to sleep. The monkey mind is relentless! On my recent 10 day […]
Dogs and Self-Reflective Consciousness
Q: In Gail Fitzpatrick-Hoper’s delightful essay “Contemplative Lessons from My Dog” (Contemplative Outreach News, Dec. 2015), she describes how her dog exemplifies the surrendered life. As a life-long pet-owner, I […]
Discerning Decisions in Retirement
Q: I am 79 years old widow and am still working part time ‚Ķ I enjoy my work. However, I know that sometime soon (?) I need to plan my […]
An Inward Gesture Instead of Sacred Word
Q: In Centering Prayer, when you have noticed that you are engaged in a thought, rather than return gently to a sacred word, is it okay to instead, just simply […]
The Format of a Centering Prayer Support Group
Q: I attended a Centering Prayer group at my parish for about a month. I stopped going because, after the final oral prayer and reading, the leader’s wife asked for […]
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Hokey Pokey Spirituality
‚ÄúYou put your right hand in, you put your right hand out. You put your right hand in and you shake it all about.You do the hokey pokey and you […]
Discerning the Journey
Q: I have practiced Centering Prayer for about three years. Because of some mental difficulties this is always a struggle for me, in some periods it‚Äôs almost impossible. Living in […]
Discerning the Dark Nights
Q: I have been a meditator and spiritual practitioner for 10 years. As of last year around February I went from having many ecstatic blissful experiences of God into a […]
Agnostic Adventures with Centering Prayer
“Who put the bop in the bopshubopshubop, who put the ram in the ramalamadingdong … ” Those were the typical contents of my brain during my sporadic attempts at meditation […]
Praying for those in Purgatory
Q: Given Fr. Keating‚Äôs views on Purgatory, that one continues to grow and become enlightened, how does a person with a Centering Prayer practice pray for her loved ones in […]
