Contemplative Outreach, Ltd.

Overnight Facilitating Workshop
2022-05-20 18:00 - 2022-05-21 17:00 UTC | Our Lady of Bethesda, 7007 Bradley Blvd, Bethesda, MD, 20817, United States
Hosted by Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington.
National Contemplative Outreach (CO Ltd.) presenters, along with COMW’s service team, offer this special event to encourage and enrich the experience of being a Centering Prayer group facilitator. It’s the first of its kind in our area.
Our mission aims to help attendees:
1) recognize their calling more clearly;
2) encourage more meaningful group Centering Prayer;
3) deepen faith in the contemplative path;
4) become savvy about CO Ltd.’s many resources.
Please register using the link below

Mystic Series: Gift of Tears
2022-05-19 18:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Internet – Online
In-person and via Zoom at the Center for Contemplative Living in Elm Grove, Wisconsin, USA
In ancient times contemplatives aspired to the Gift of Tears. Here and there it is treasured even today. Mingled perhaps with some ambivalence. We will touch on several perspectives of the nature of this delicate Gift: historical, contemporary, psychological, and spiritual. We’ll also look at the different types and purposes of tears, how the Gift manifests, and key figures who’ve had the Gift of Tears.
The evening will begin with a 20-minute Centering Prayer sit, followed by the presentation, and time for Q&A and reflective discussion. If you have not had previous exposure to Centering Prayer, please let us know beforehand and we will arrange to give you a brief explanation of the method a few minutes before the event begins.
PRESENTER: Debbie Harmon has practiced Centering Prayer for over 30 years. Since the 1990s, she has been involved with Contemplative Outreach in the Midwest, spoken on a variety of spiritual topics, facilitated groups and retreats, and been a commissioned presenter of the Introductory Centering Prayer Workshop. Debbie is a spiritual director and holds a Master of Divinity and Master’s in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola University Chicago.
Donations up to $20 are welcome. Please register by May 12th by clicking the link below.

Eight-Day Centering Prayer Intensive Retreat
2022-05-17 14:00 - 2022-05-24 14:00 (America/New_York) | Holy Cross Monastery – New York, 1615 Route 9W, West Park, NY, 12493, United States
The Eight-Day Centering Prayer Intensive Retreat offered from Tuesday, May 17 to Tuesday, May 24, 2022, provides an opportunity to deepen the practice of Centering Prayer in an atmosphere of silence and community support. This retreat follows the Contemplative Outreach guidelines for an Intensive Retreat including six 30-minute Centering Prayer periods daily. The prayer is supported with viewing and faith sharing on Thomas Keating’s Human Condition teachings from the updated Spiritual Journey series.
Retreat leaders: Leslee Anne Terpay and Br. Bernard Delcourt are available for soul-friending.
During the retreat, one will experience integrating contemplation and action through silence, solitude, community and the rhythm of this Episcopal Benedictine monastic community’s worship and prayer life including daily Holy Eucharist. An established practice of Centering Prayer for at least 6-months is highly recommended. Anyone who has participated in a Contemplative Outreach Intensive in the past may attend and make this a Post-Intensive by not viewing the videos and adding additional Centering Prayer periods.
Tuesday check-in is from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday. Vespers begins at 5:00. Dinner then follows. Orientation begins at 7:15. The retreat concludes with lunch on the following Tuesday. (Daily Holy Eucharist is available at 9:00 a.m.). Cost for the retreat is $850. The retreat fee includes a single room and all meals. Shared single occupancy bathrooms in the hallways. Register by e-mail or phone with our Guesthouse Manager, Ms. Donna Mallory at 845-384-6660 ext 1 or at guesthouse@hcmnet.org. A nonrefundable and non-transferable deposit is required. We accept deposits and payments via all major credit cards, PayPal or personal check. We offer hospitality assistance for some programs, if you’d like to visit but find the cost too burdensome. The Guest House requires all guests to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
If you have questions about the content of the retreat please contact retreat leader: Leslee Terpay at co-leslee@comcast.net.
To find out more about Holy Cross Monastery, visit their website at: www.holycrossmonastery.com

Notes of Rest - via Zoom
2022-05-14 10:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Internet – Online
Hosted by Contemplative Outreach of Chicago
Notes of Rest is a musical-textual retreat, which places meditations from a Bible passage and writings from Black contemplatives on a bed of music, cultivating stillness, introspection, and creativity in communities so that all may find rest. The approach may be thought of as a kind of “Musica Divina,” which uses the beauty and spiritual power of music to help workshop participants find their way to a quiet, reflective interior space where we can be fully receptive to grace, or what Thomas Keating described as “God’s presence and action within.” The event will start with 20 minutes of Centering Prayer prior to the 90-minute Notes of Rest workshop. Then there will be a half-hour break, followed by an optional lecture on music and Black contemplative life and their unique contributions to Christian mysticism.
Please see the link below to register.

All Parts of You Are Welcome Here
2022-05-14 09:00 - 16:30 UTC | Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road, West Hartford, CT, 6107, United States
Do you do and feel things you don’t want to? Do you long to connect with God exactly as you are and not as you “should” be? Join therapist Jenna Riemersma as she explains why all parts of you are welcome and guides you into a deeply transformational connection with the Divine. This day is based on principles taken from her bestselling book: Altogether You, synthesizing Christian faith with the groundbreaking insights of Internal Family Systems.
Periods of Centering Prayer will be offered in the morning and afternoon.

Introduction to Centering Prayer Workshop -- via Zoom and in-person
2022-05-14 09:00 - 12:30 (America/New_York) | Internet – Online
This event is both in-person and via Zoom.
“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” (Mt 28:11) Centering Prayer, a Christian form of meditation, is a way to become more receptive to the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life, supporting, inspiring and leading us. Centering prayer serves as a method of movement into contemplative prayer, a way to open ourselves to the Divine Presence, to rest in God, freeing us to better love, work with and serve others. If you feel the Spirit calling you, come explore Centering Prayer. Discover the possibility of resting in the healing presence of God, of being better able to help in Jesus’ work of lifting burdens.
The Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop familiarizes participants with the method of Centering Prayer and its conceptual background and offers two opportunities to experience the prayer. The program will be led by Contemplative Outreach trained presenters.
When/Where: Saturday, May 14, 2022, 9:00 am – 12:30 pm CDT (UTC -5) via Zoom and at The Center for Contemplative Living, 890 Elm Grove Road, The Village Court, Building 1, Elm Grove, WI
Cost: $25

Sister Kathleen Deignan, CND ​”Thomas Merton: Guide Through the Dark Night of Earth” – via zoom
2022-05-07 09:00 - 12:00 (America/Denver) | Internet – Online
Among the great luminaries of the Christian spiritual tradition, the modern master, Thomas Merton, shines a penetrating light upon our challenging lives and times. More than half a century after his death, Merton grows in stature and relevance as a pattern of integral ecological consciousness becomes evident throughout his written corpus as its complexity and unity become more transparent with time. As the contemporary ecological crisis deepens, we urgently require more than instrumental remedies to stem the life-loss of our ecosphere suffered at human hands. We need a penetrating understanding of the more troubling and mysterious pathology underlying it: why, indeed, have we plundered our planetary paradise?
This was the difficult “koan” Merton carried to fruition as he explored the congenital disorientation of spirit that exiles us from our common home in the community of creation. Having suffered such exile, he recovered from it, and taught a holistic therapy of contemplative living that can restore our ecological consciousness, conscience, and practice. This program will explore Merton’s wisdom for the Dark Night of Earth.
This event will include 20 minutes of Centering Prayer.
Time listed is Mountain Time.
Click the Link Below for Registration Information

Spring Silent Saturday – In Person
2022-05-07 08:00 - 12:00 UTC | Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Road, Encino, CA, 91436, United States
Spring is a time for renewal. Rejuvenate your spirit with a quiet morning of Centering Prayer and silence. The morning provides time for communal prayer, a contemplative walk, private journaling and reflection, and ends with a period of Lectio Divina. This event is open to beginners as well as those experienced in contemplative prayer or silent meditation. All are welcome.
For those new to Centering Prayer or wanting a review of the method,
a brief introduction will be given at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time.
We’re sorry, we are not accepting walk-ins at this time
Please be prepared to show current proof of Covid-19 vaccination or
Proof of Negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of May 7th
For more information, email pbcurreysd@gmail.com
REGISTER ONLINE AT www.hsrenter.com under 1-Day Retreats
All donations gratefully received

Grounding the Prayer of the Cloud with the Prayer of the Heart
2022-05-03 - 2022-05-22 | On-Line, 320 Sena Drive, Metairie, LA, 70005, United States
An e-Introduction to Heart Intention for Centering Prayer Practitioners
with David Frenette
Tuesday May 3 – Sunday May 22, 2022
Free; suggested donation $45 USD
The world is rapidly changing. Heart Intention is a contemplative practice that, with Centering Prayer, helps us respond to the new challenges we are facing. In Centering Prayer and Heart Intention, two great streams of Christian contemplation – the Prayer of the Cloud and the Prayer of the Heart – meet, in service of an integrative approach to meditation.
Join us in learning Heart Intention, a contemplative practice that:
* lets intention and meaning flow into our lives;
* integrates the receptive simplicity of Centering Prayer with a nuanced practice that is embodied, engaged, and that embraces our humanity;
* helps us act in our challenging world from a heart more present to God.
This three-week online class includes three new recorded video teachings, three live Zoom practice sessions with time for Q/A with David, and access to written resources. This course is for anyone looking for ways to meaningfully integrate their Centering Prayer practice into daily activity and contemplative service.
One email will be sent each Tuesday with a link to the recorded video, and live practice sessions with be on Sunday. The practice sessions will be at noon Pacific Time, UTC -7 (3pm Eastern Time, 8pm London Time). These sessions will be recorded for those that cannot attend.

The Welcoming Prayer
2022-04-30 13:00 - 17:00 UTC | St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, High Point, NC, 108 W. Farriss Ave., High Point, NC, 27262, United States
The Welcoming Prayer is an incarnational method of consenting to God’s presence and action in our physical and emotional reactions to people and events in daily life. This “consent-on-the-go” embodied practice deepens our relationship with God as we move through the ordinary activities of our day, helping us to stay in the presence of God and the present moment. This workshop will cover the human condition and the basics of the practice. There will be guided practice sessions. To register, click on Organizer Website.

Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop
2022-04-30 08:30 - 12:30 UTC | Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road, West Hartford, CT, 6107, United States
In this introductory workshop, you will learn the ancient method and principles of Centering Prayer practice in a quiet, reflective atmosphere. We will cover the history, psychology, and theology of the practice. Two prayer sessions and a question and answer session are included.
Please see the link below for more information and registration.

The Lectio Divina Retreat
2022-04-22 17:00 - 2022-04-23 15:00 UTC | The Franciscan Center, 3010 N. Perry Ave., Tampa, FL, 33603, United States
The Franciscan Center and Contemplative Outreach of Tampa Bay presents
The Lectio Divina Retreat
With Julie Saad
Location: The Franciscan Center, 3010 N. Perry Ave. Tampa, FL 33603
Dates: April 22-23, 2022.
Times: Friday: check-in @4 p.m. EST.; Dinner, CP prayer & Orientation from 5:00-7:30 p.m. EST
Saturday: Breakfast @8 a.m.; Prayer and (3) Teaching Conferences from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., cafeteria lunch also included in price. This is an in-person event only, Maximum 30 participants.
Retreat Cost: $60.00/person (includes three meals)
Overnight lodging: $85/single occupancy; $150/double
All accommodations are on the Franciscan Center’s beautiful campus grounds on the Hillsborough River.
*For more information please contact Mike Davis at mertonmind@gmail.com

Presence, Prayer and Writing from the Heart Retreat
2022-04-18 17:30 - 2022-04-20 12:00 UTC | Mercy by the Sea Retreat and Conference Center, 167 Neck Road, Madison, CT, 06443-0191, United States
“The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them.
If a story comes to you, care for them.
And learn to give them away where they are needed.
Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive.”
– Barry Lopez in Crow and Weasel
All of us have myriad stories to tell. Some involve your family history, spiritual journey, experiences in Nature or a life-changing situation. Stories can take many form — memoir, essay, poem, series of blog posts, or journal entries — but the most compelling are the ones written from the heart, those that touch and move us and sometimes even transform both the writer and reader. Writing from the heart demands attentiveness, honesty, courage and a commitment to engage with a creative process that pulls us into the unknown where we are often surprised at what surfaces. It’s a journey of discovery. And what can help are presence and prayer.
This writing retreat is structured for those currently working on a project, those who want to start one, or simply desire to spend time in beautiful surroundings playing with words. In addition to Centering Prayer sessions — silence can be a portal to the Source of creativity and truth-telling — there will be ample opportunities to write, walk, think and just be.
Anne A. Simpkinson is an award-winning journalist, editor and writing coach. She and her former husband Chuck founded Common Boundary, a nonprofit organization that explored the relationship among psychotherapy, spirituality and creativity. She co-authored Soul Work: A Field Guide for Spiritual Seekers and two anthologies, Sacred Stories and Nourishing the Soul. When living in New York City, she rode the media transformation from websites to digital communications in her positions with Beliefnet.com, Prevention magazine, WeightWatchers.com and Guideposts. She also served as Communications Director for Mercy by the Sea for several years. Anne has been practicing Centering Prayer (CP) since 1996. An Introductory CP Workshop facilitator, she leads retreats, workshops and Quiet Days in New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Along with Claire Rusowicz, she co-facilitates two weekly Centering Prayer Zoom groups as well as day and weekend retreats.

Good Friday Centering Prayer Vigil - via Zoom
2022-04-15 12:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Internet – Online
The theme of this Good Friday Centering Prayer Vigil will be The Seven Last Words of Christ with Reflections from Julian of Norwich’s “Revelations of Divine Love.” Each word will be observed with twenty minutes of Centering Prayer. Each participant is invited to bring a hand-held cross. After the last word we will hold up our crosses and depart in silence. To Participate email Rev Stephen Hoffman at stephen_palmetto@earthlink.net. You will be sent a full schedule and Zoom Link during Holy Week.

Contemplation and Caring for Creation
2022-04-09 09:00 - 16:30 UTC | Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road, West Hartford, CT, 6107, United States
This day-long immersion will explore the ways contemplation can support the healing of our planet. Participants will explore methods of prayer to awaken to God’s presence in the natural world to help us better care for creation in our daily lives. The day will include periods of silence, “forest bathing,” and mindful exploration. Participants will come away with a deeper understanding of the relationship between contemplation and action on behalf of our common home.
Periods of Centering Prayer will be offered in the morning and afternoon.

“The Welcoming Prayer” - via Zoom
2022-04-09 09:00 - 12:00 UTC | Internet – Online
The Welcoming Prayer is a method of consenting to God’s presence and action in the midst of the ordinary routines of our daily lives. To practice Welcoming allows us to make choices free of the domination of the false self system. We begin to respond rather than automatically react to life on life’s terms. As the originator of Welcoming, Mary Mrozowski, stated, “To welcome and to let go is one of the most radically loving, faith-filled gestures we can make in each moment of each day. It is an open-hearted embrace of all that is in ourselves and in the world.”
During this three-hour Zoom workshop we will learn the conceptual background, The Welcoming Prayer practice, and have time to practice in community.

The Welcoming Prayer - via Zoom
2022-04-09 09:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Internet – Online
Led by Mary Dwyer

The Welcoming Prayer is a method of consenting to God’s presence and action in the midst of the ordinary routines of our daily lives. To practice Welcoming allows us to make choices free of the domination of the false self system. We begin to respond rather than automatically react to life on life’s terms. As the originator of Welcoming, Mary Mrozowski, stated, “To welcome and to let go is one of the most radically loving, faith-filled gestures we can make in each moment of each day. It is an open-hearted embrace of all that is in ourselves and in the world.”
During this Zoom Workshop we will learn the conceptual background, The Welcoming Prayer practice, and have time to practice in community. Please register using the link below.
About Mary Dwyer

Mary Dwyer is a longtime student of Fr. Thomas Keating and has been practicing Centering Prayer since the 1980s. In the early 1990’s, she lived at Chrysalis House, a contemplative live-in community experiment blessed by Fr. Thomas. Her housemates included Mary Mrozowski, David Frenette and Cathy McCarthy. The community lived according to a rule of life, and became an incubator of practice and programs in the early years of Contemplative Outreach’s growth. It was her experience at Chyrsalis House – what she refers to as her “inpatient” or “residential treatment time” – that proved to her that a life of prayer, consent and practice is real, stable and deeply rewarding. Mary Mrozowski taught her that a devoted life of prayer was the real work of life; what we did the rest of the time was just how we made a living.
Mary is currently in private practice as an LCSW in the Erie, PA area. She also serves as a member of the Gift Committee and the Welcoming Prayer Service Team of Contemplative Outreach. Mary now devotes her time between private practice and giving retreats and workshops on behalf of Contemplative Outreach throughout the US and internationally.

Virtual Silent Saturday with Fr Bill Sheehan "Finding the Place of the Heart"
2022-04-09 08:30 - 14:30 (America/New_York) | Internet – Online
Contemplative Outreach of Columbus is offering a Silent Saturday. A Silent Saturday provides a few hours that are set aside for Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, spiritual teaching and reflection. “Come rest awhile with the Lord” in preparation for Holy Week. Fr Bill Sheehan will discuss “Finding the Place of the Heart…Encouragement to go Deeper.”
Fr. Bill is a priest and member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He was present at the Lama retreat convened by Fr. Thomas Keating OCSO which gave birth to Contemplative Outreach. He has led countless Centering Prayer workshops and retreats. He also admits to being a follower of the Red Sox and Patriots, but he is first all a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Expect that the day will begin at 8:30am and last until 2:30pm.
Register by sending an email to Teri Leitwein at tmleitwein@gmail.com and a zoom link will be sent to you a few days in advance.
The event is free. Nondeductible donations to Contemplative Outreach of Columbus to cover costs are welcome. They can be sent to the care of Bill Sparks at 450 Shale Ridge Ct., Powell, Ohio 43065.

Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop - via Zoom
2022-04-06 18:00 - 2022-04-07 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Internet – Online
hosted by Contemplative Outreach of Chicago
This workshop will introduce you to the method of Centering Prayer and experience this prayer of silence. Centering Prayer is a form of Christian prayer rooted in the ancient contemplative tradition. Its purpose is to foster a deeper intimacy with Christ through silence and stillness. There will be opportunities for discussion as well as invitation into prayerful presence. This will be offered in two parts on consecutive evenings. To help promote and deepen your experience of the Centering Prayer practice we will offer a 6 week follow-up series as well.
To join us please email Sandra at sandyandkali@sbcglobal.net.

Centering Prayer Intensive Retreat
2022-04-04 - 2022-04-10 | Monestary of St. Gertrude, 465 Keuterville Road, Cottonwood, ID, 83522
With Donna Kreiensieck
April 4 – 10, 2022
Spirit Center at the Monastery of St. Gertrude
Enhance your contemplative prayer life and expand the fundamentals of your Centering Prayer practice through this intensive week-long retreat in a quiet, transformative setting.
Date & Time Details: Monday, April 4 – Sunday, April 10, 2022
Arrive between 1:30 – 5:00 pm.
Supper is served at 5:30 pm.
The first session begins at 7:00 pm.
The final session will conclude before 11:30 am.
Depart at 1:00 pm, following the midday meal.

11th-Step Springfest via Zoom
2022-04-02 10:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Internet – Online
Contemplative Outreach Northwest invites all practitioners of Centering Prayer as an 11th-Step Practice to its 2022 11th-Step Springfest. Come and learn about the Divine Therapy, practice Centering Prayer with others in 12-Step recovery, and enjoy a speaker meeting.
For more information and to register contact adinameyer@gmail.com.

Spring Centering Prayer Silent Retreat
2022-04-01 17:30 - 2022-04-03 13:30 (America/Chicago) | Saint Benedict Center, 1123 Road I, Schuyler, NE, 68661, United States
A retreat for your Soul
Saint Benedict Center
Schuyler Nebraska
This is what the LORD says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is,
and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
– Jeremiah 6:16 NIV
Have the past two years have been hard on you? Do you feel the need to be in a place that can easily draw you closer to God and bring you much needed rest? Our spring retreat is a great time to be present in the beauty of nature, prayer and solitude. This will be a restorative time in silence. Perhaps just what you need! Registration includes two nights in a private room, all meals, and programming.
Saint Benedict Center is a beautiful location (5 miles north of Schuyler Nebraska) that provides walking paths, Stations of the Cross, a labyrinth, hotel-like accommodations and delicious food service. Everything is provided so all you need to do is relax and enjoy time with God.

A Taste of the Spirituality of Hildegard of Bingen - A Kaleidoscope of Wisdom - via zoom
2022-03-31 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Internet – Online
As a Benedictine Abbess, preacher, author, healer, composer, counselor to kings, popes, and now Saint and Doctor of the Church, Hildegard offers us a deep spirituality that has stood the test of the ages. From her 11th century abbey in Bingen, Germany, flowed a kaleidoscope of wisdom. We will explore some of its themes in this presentation.
A period of Centering Prayer will be included.

Contemplative Group Spiritual Direction via Zoom
2022-03-26 14:00 - 15:30 (America/New_York) | Internet – Online
Contemplative Group Spiritual Direction via Zoom
A conversation with spiritual directors Carol Fryer and Lindsay Boyer
Saturday, March 26th, 2pm to 3:30pm Eastern Time
Group spiritual direction can be a wonderful experience for contemplative practitioners who would like to go deeper into their practice. It can be easily adapted to the Zoom format. Spiritual director Carol Fryer will describe her experience of leading group spiritual direction on Zoom with participants from Zoom Centering Prayer groups. She will present her format and group guidelines and answer questions about how to get started and how spiritual directors can collaborate with Centering Prayer facilitators to set up spiritual direction groups. Our hope is to provide a template that might be helpful for people who are considering doing group spiritual direction online, encourage those who are experienced at group spiritual direction but are hesitant about using Zoom, and provide a forum for others who may already be doing group spiritual direction online and have wisdom to offer the Contemplative community. A representative of the Shalem group spiritual direction program will be on hand to answer questions about their program. We will begin with 10 minutes of Centering Prayer.
Register here: https://form.jotform.com/220324228490146
About Rev. Carol E. A. Fryer
Carol Fryer is a Lutheran pastor ordained in 1985, currently serving Immanuel Lutheran Church on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York, USA. In 2001 she received a Master of Sacred Theology (STM) in Spiritual Direction from the Center for Christian Spirituality at The General Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City. She has over 20 years of experience working with people from various faith traditions in both individual and group spiritual direction. She can be reached at ceafryer@gmail.com
About Lindsay Boyer
Lindsay Boyer is the author of Centering Prayer for Everyone. She has been a spiritual director for more than 20 years, specializing in working with people who are uncomfortable with institutional religion. She teaches on spirituality and digital practice at General Theological Seminary, where she has taught students online group spiritual direction for more than eight years. She can be reached through her website Spirituality for Questioning Minds.

Cynthia Bourgeault on “Thomas Keating: The Last Thirty Years” - Hybrid Event
2022-03-26 09:00 - 15:00 (America/Denver) | Internet – Online
Hosted by The Center for Contemplative Living in Denver Colorado.
This is a hybrid presentation being conducted both in person at The Center and online via Zoom videoconference.
The Contemplative Outreach of Colorado annual conference is March 26, 2022, featuring Cynthia Bourgeault. Cynthia’s talk will be on “Thomas Keating: The Last Thirty Years,” in which she will explore his life as he passed through two significant stages of the journey – The Dark Night of the Spirit and the gradual awakening to the Unitive.
Time listed are Mountain Time
Click the link below for more information and to register.

Discernment: Deep Listening and the Presence of God - via Zoom
2022-03-26 09:00 - 12:15 (America/Chicago) | Internet – Online
Discernment is more than exploring what I want or what others want of me, rather what does God want of me? Contemplative discernment sorts, questions, senses, intuits movements of grace with a disposition of complete confidence and surrender to God – a dialogue of deep wills, borne of love and choice — so that we are animated in fullness of being and action by the Holy Spirit. We learn to step forth in courage, to take risks in our choices that may lift us from our routines and open to us the door of a new being, a new reality.
Since the day you were born
I have carried you along.
I will still be the same
when you are old and gray
and I will take care of you.
I created you. I will carry you
and always keep you safe.
– Isaiah 46:3-4
Includes:
Introduction and opening time of prayerful centering
Two sessions with sharing and Q&A
A break
A time of Centering Prayer
Please register using the link below.
Presenter:
Mary Anne Best is a member and trustee of The Church of Conscious harmony, a contemplative Christian community in Austin, Texas, where she also serves as Abbess of The Journey School, a school of transformative spiritual psychology and practice. Previously, for many years, she served as development director for Contemplative Outreach, Ltd and worked with Thomas Keating in the last 10 years of his life to edit and produce new books and videos on the spiritual life. She is a mother and grandmother to two beloved grandchildren.

4-DAY CONTEMPLATIVE RETREAT at Camp Galilee, Lake Tahoe, Nevada
2022-03-20 16:30 - 2022-03-24 13:00 UTC | Galilee Episcopal Camp and Retreat Center, 1776 Hwy 50, GlenBrook (Lake Tahoe), NV, 89413, United States
Contemplative Outreach of Northern Nevada will hold a four-day, self-directed retreat with God in a praying community, joining with the Alpine beauty of the grounds of Camp Galilee on Lake Tahoe. You are invited to deepen your consent and discover the healing God wants to give us. Our retreat will include silence, several periods of Centering Prayer and walking meditation each day, evening prayer liturgies, contemplative free time for being in nature, reflection with journaling, rest, and creative endeavors in art and nature. Currently, COVID-19 protocols are in place. There are 12 spots available with each spot having your own bathroom and bedroom; meals are individually served. As always, delicious meals are prepared on-site three times a day. The kitchen staff uses mostly local and organic produce. We will be the only group on site at the time.
Average temperatures for this time of the year at Camp Galilee are in the 28 – 50 degree range. Please bring appropriate clothing.
For more information, please contact Dennis and Patty Schreiner, brooksp17@gmail.com
​

Raimon Panikkar’s Christophany: A Day of Engagement, Reflection, and Contemplation
2022-03-19 09:00 - 16:30 UTC | Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center, 303 Tunxis Road, West Hartford, CT, 6107, United States
Raimon Panikkar was simultaneously philosopher, theologian, mystic, poet, and Catholic priest. A notable influence on Cynthia Bourgeault and Fr. Thomas Keating, he was a major contributor to the modern study of comparative religion and interreligious dialogue. In this program, we’ll engage Christophany, Panikkar’s seminal work, and its call for the relationship with God for which Jesus prayed for us in John 17:21: “…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us….”
Periods of Centering Prayer will be offered in the morning and afternoon.

“God is Love, the Heart of All Creation” Part 2 - via zoom
2022-03-19 09:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Internet – Online
Thomas Keating with Carl J. Arico
Video and Discussion hosted by Kathleen Blank Riether
The video series God is Love, The Heart of All Creation was filmed in Snowmass, CO, in 2013. Carl Arico interviewed Thomas Keating about a variety of topics from cosmology, divine/human evolution, and unity consciousness, to silence and centering prayer. Thomas Keating considered this video series as Part 8 in his foundational Spiritual Journey series.
In Part 2 of our two part series based on God Is Love, The Heart of All Creation, we will begin with Thomas Keating reflecting on the silence in Centering Prayer as the first step in what Christian theology understands as the path of contemplation taking us into divine union. Centering Prayer reduces the obstacles to our awareness of God’s presence and communications to us. Through the regular practice of Centering Prayer, an attentiveness emerges to the presence of God in all reality and in all the experiences of our daily lives. It releases the positive energies of grace within us that are inaccessible to our conscious minds. As we become increasingly aware of God’s inspirations, we consciously experience and consent to our creaturehood – our nothingness. In time, we even embrace our own nothingness, as we turn our lives over completely to God, confident in God’s total presence and support.
Please register using the link below.

Centered in Silence, Rooted in Love: A Contemplative Lenten Retreat
2022-03-18 18:00 - 2022-03-20 18:00 UTC | Eastern Point Retreat House, 37 Niles Pond Road, Gloucester, MA, 1930, United States
This weekend, anchored in silence and the practice of Centering Prayer, provides an opportunity to reflect on the Lenten invitation to return, to “be still and know” God within the secret room of your heart and among spring’s emerging life on the Gloucester shore.
There will be scheduled periods for communal Centering Prayer, lectio divina, contemplative walks and evening prayer. The remaining time is unstructured for private reflection, prayer and rest. A Catholic liturgy will be offered on Saturday afternoon. No previous experience with Centering Prayer is necessary; an overview of the practice will be provided. The fee of $425 includes overnight accommodations, program and all meals, from dinner at 6:00 p.m. Friday night through lunch on Sunday. (All meals on Saturday through Sunday breakfast will be silent.) Guests may arrive anytime from 3 p.m. on Friday. The retreat program ends at noon on Sunday; lunch will follow.
To register, visit easternpoint.org and go to “Retreats,” and then to “2022 Weekend Retreats.”
