Contemplative Outreach, Ltd.

Contemplative Living I: Contemplative Practices in Daily Life - via Zoom
2024-09-01 08:00 - 2024-12-01 17:00 UTC | Internet – Online
I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.
– Ezekiel 36:26
“Contemplative life begins when we take the first step into the silence of our heart. It’s a pilgrimage—a journey that takes us first to the inner reaches of who we really are, and from there, into the life we were meant to live.”
– Julie Saad, Contemplative Life: Discovering Our Path Into the Heart of God
This four-month long online course is experiential, guiding participants to deepen their experience of the abiding presence of God by cultivating their contemplative capacities. Participants will learn and integrate contemplative spiritual practices into daily life within a community of seekers through monthly meetings, a weekly online prayer chapel, personal practices, and monthly Holy Listening Circles (group spiritual direction). Contemplative practices are the doorway into the gift of contemplative prayer where the journey that begins in the silence of our hearts leads us into the heart of God. As we cultivate contemplative practices in ordinary daily life, we begin to experience oneness with God and all creation.
The design of Contemplative Living I: Contemplative Practices in Daily Life:
Learning, cultivating and integrating into daily life the contemplative practices of

Centering Prayer – a silent Christian contemplative (meditation) practice.
Logging – a form of expressive writing designed to help you understand and deal with thoughts, memories, worries, commentaries, and afflictive emotions and the resulting behaviors.
Spiritual Reading – using a spiritual book, reading for formation rather than information, listening for how God is speaking to you in the passage.
The Active Prayer – a prayer phrase or sentence that you create or take from Scripture or another meaningful reading and repeat throughout your day.
Lectio Divina – praying with Scripture, allowing the meaning of the text and the experience of God to grow deeper.
The Welcoming Prayer – welcoming God into whatever you are experiencing in daily life—thoughts, emotions, body sensation, or commentaries.
Resting in God and Sabbath-keeping – resting is the state of interior silence that you experience in daily life through contemplative prayer. Sabbath-keeping awakens you to this inner state.
Holy Listening – Cultivating receptivity to attune to your inner wisdom, to God, and to the movement of the Divine in others.

Please see the link below to register.

Core Values of Sts. Francis and Clare: An 8-Day Dual-Track Silent Retreat
2024-10-11 17:00 - 2024-10-19 13:00 | Shalom Spirituality Center, 1001 Davis Street, Dubuque, IA, IA, 52001, United States
Friday, October 11, 5:00 pm – Friday, October 18, 1:00 pm
Shalom Spirituality Center
Facilitators: Jeannine Kosman, Kathy Reardon, Kathleen Schiltz, and Mary Jo Pfeifer Wulf
This silent Centering Prayer (Intensive/Post Intensive) retreat provides an opportunity to deepen your established Centering Prayer practice in an atmosphere of silence and community, away from the busyness of daily life, with a focus on Franciscan values. It will allow your mind, body, and spirit to surrender to God’s presence and action. Before attending the retreat, you should have an established daily practice of Centering Prayer for at least six months. For those new to an 8-day retreat, there will be videos from the Thomas Keating “Spiritual Journey” video series. Except for opening and closing times, silence will be observed throughout the retreat, including at meals. All the readings used during the retreat will be from St. Francis, St. Clare, and other Franciscan sources.
No commuters.
Overnight Cost: $900; register on or before July 1, 2024, and receive a 5% discount on the full price.** A $75 non-refundable deposit is required.
DATE AND TIME DETAILS:
Friday, October 11-Friday, October 18
Arrive between 3:00-4:30 pm.
Supper is served at 5:00 pm.
The final session will conclude with a communal lunch at noon on Friday, October 18. Depart at 1:00 pm, following the meal.
Please register online using the link below, or at shalomretreats.org or by calling +1-563.582.3592 by Friday, September 20.
Jeannine Kosman has been a practitioner of Centering Prayer for over twenty years and a Dubuque Franciscan Associate since 2018. Before retirement, she served as a training professional and executive coach. She completed the PrairieFire Spiritual Director training program in 2015. Jeannine now serves as a spiritual director and retreat facilitator. She resides in Bondurant, IA.
Kathy Reardon retired in 2020 from the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center, where she worked as a spiritual director, holistic nurse, and Healing Touch Practitioner for twenty years. Kathy participated in creating and implementing PrairieFire, a two-year spiritual formation program with an optional practicum year for training as a spiritual director. She received a certificate in spiritual direction in 1999 and has been commissioned to teach the Christian practice of silence, known as Centering Prayer, since 2004. Kathy continues to provide spiritual direction and supervise persons training to become spiritual directors. She became a Dubuque Franciscan Associate in 2023. She resides in Des Moines, IA.
Kathleen Schiltz has been a practitioner of Centering Prayer since 2009 and a Dubuque Franciscan Associate since 1991. She was a teacher, director of religious education, and a school counselor. After she retired, she completed the PrairieFire spiritual direction training program in 2017. Besides hosting day-long or weekend retreats, she also loves participating in them. She resides in Des Moines, IA.
Mary Jo Pfeifer Wulf retired from her career in Mental Health Counseling with Catholic Charities in 2018. Mary Jo has been practicing Centering Prayer since 2007. She is a spiritual director and retreat facilitator. She has been a Franciscan Associate with the Dubuque Franciscans since 2014. She completed the PrairieFire spiritual director training program in 2015. Mary Jo loves to host Center Prayer Silent Saturdays, Silent Weekends, and now an 8-day retreat through Contemplative Outreach of Central Iowa. She resides in Ames, IA.

9-Day Intensive and Post Intensive Retreat
2024-10-16 15:00 - 2024-10-24 15:00 | Mercy Center Auburn, 535 Sacramento Street, Auburn, CA, 95603, United States
This retreat offers two tracks simultaneously: Intensive I and Post Intensive. For everyone, there will be 3 sets of two 30-minute periods of Centering Prayer daily. The Intensive I retreat will watch video talks from Fr. Thomas Keating’s Spiritual Journey, focusing on “The Human Condition and the Spiritual Journey”. The Post Intensive retreat has no videos and an additional hour of Centering Prayer each day. You choose the track that works best for you. Any of the tracks may be repeated multiple times. If this is your first Centering Prayer retreat of this length, we suggest you choose Intensive I. We recommend Intensive I before Intensive II.
Lectio Divina and a contemplative Eucharist will be offered daily, as well as optional soul-friending with the staff. Throughout the retreat, we will be in silence.
Pre-requisite: A daily practice of Centering Prayer for 6 months or longer.
The retreat will be facilitated by Susan Turpin, Fr. Bill Sheehan, OMI, and Contemplative Outreach staff. Susan and Fr. Bill have served within the Contemplative Outreach network for many years and led numerous Centering Prayer retreats and workshops.
The retreat begins Wednesday, October 16 with registration from 3:00 to 5:00, an opening session at 5:00pm, and dinner at 6:00pm. We end on Thursday, October 24 at 11:00am (bag lunch optional).
For more information, contact Susan Turpin at 541-324-1207 or email her at slturpin@me.com.
If you are traveling by air, the Contemplative Outreach staff can arrange transportation from the Sacramento airport to the Mercy Center. Please book your arrival on the beginning day for 1:30pm or earlier and your departure on the ending day for 1:30pm or later. Let us know your flight information. A $25/one way, $50 round trip cash or Venmo contribution is appreciated.
Limited scholarship money is available to assist those who would otherwise be unable to attend. All of the scholarship money has been donated by former retreatants.
Single rooms with a sink in the room, shared bathrooms.

Welcoming Forgiveness and Centering Prayer
2024-10-17 17:00 - 2024-10-22 17:00 | Bethany Retreat Center, 1031 Germania Rd, Frenchville, PA, 16836, United States
Welcoming Forgiveness. This retreat will be in silence with extended periods of Centering Prayer. We will explore the dance between the Welcoming Prayer practice and Forgiveness. Soul Friending will be available. Prior Centering Prayer experience required.
Facilitated by Mary Dwyer.
Please see the link below to register.
