Contemplative Outreach of Central Pennsylvania Newsletter
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Upcoming Retreats & Workshops
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Welcome to the June 2011 issue of the Contemplative Outreach of Central Pennsylvania newsletter. We are a chapter of Contemplative Outreach. Please consider sending us a few words on this month's question for the next issue. We'd love to hear from you, whether it's for the first time or you've contributed in the past. There is still time to register for summer retreats. And, as you can see on the left, Centering Prayer Weekends are now scheduled for 2011-12. Is there any place like Bethany Retreat Center? This world is full of beautiful places, but the inner and outer beauty of Bethany is very very special. As always, if you have suggestions or comments on the newsletter, please send them! Gwen Stimely and Jet Schneider, Newsletter Co-Editors |
New Chapter Retreats Announced
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We are very excited as a chapter to be sponsoring two great retreats again this summer to be held at Bethany Retreat Center! Both are staffed by leaders who have received Formation Training from Contemplative Outreach.  The Welcoming Prayer Retreat will be held August 19-21. The Welcoming Prayer is a companion practice to Centering Prayer so a daily practice of Centering Prayer is recommended as a prerequisite. Thomas Keating says:"The Welcoming Prayer practice is a way of 'letting go' into the present moment in the ordinary routines of daily life. It is used when your needs for security, affection and control are frustrated or gratified and cause emotional reactions. It is a way of turning everything over to God..." The Welcoming Prayer allows us to 'Feel, Welcome, and let Go of' the various forms of unloading as they are activated in daily life. Over time, it allows us to respond in love - instead of react - and to continually turn and return to the indwelling Spirit of God in faith and trust.
Roberta Oster will be returning to lead this retreat. She is wonderful!
This retreat will offer an environment of solitude and silence in community with time for reflection, fellowship and a 12-Step meeting. For those new to Centering Prayer, the retreat is an Introductory Workshop on Centering Prayer in the context of 12-Step recovery (Centering Prayer as an 11th Step practice). For those with an established Centering Prayer practice, there will be the option of reviewing any of the four sessions of the Introductory Workshop. We will also offer a presentation of the Welcoming Prayer as a transformative companion practice to Centering Prayer.
For more information on either retreat, click the links above, or contact Nancy Cord-Baran via e-mail, or phone at 814-237-1002. Back to Top |
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Food for Thought
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The Contemplative Life, by Thomas Keating, from The Transformation of Suffering
Everybody who does Centering Prayer always asks, "How can I be a contemplative in everyday life, with its noise, turmoil, and constant interruptions? How can I be interiorly quiet when the world is getting noisier and the pace of life faster?"
The answer is to slow down and pray more. Prayer has the great advantage of giving us a perspective on what we have to do. If we practice contemplative prayer every day, we find that we have more time for everything else. This is because we were doing a lot of things that we don't really have to do. Contemplative prayer cultivates the gift of discernment. Spiritual discernment is not something we have to try to do; it arises spontaneously as one of the fruits of the Spirit communicated to us during contemplative prayer.
The greatest source of security, independence, and true love is the firm conviction that the Divine Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--dwells within us all the time, twenty-four hours a day, under all circumstances, and is totally available to us.
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 Reader Submissions |
| In our last issue we asked the question: Please share your thoughts on the following quote from Thomas Keating: "The desire or demand for certitude is an obstacle to launching full sail on the ocean of trust." Here are the responses...
from H.S.
 Reading the words"desire or demand for certitude" in this quote reminds me of the "desire for security" and also of the "desire for control" as mentioned in Fr. Keating's book "Invitation to Love" (chapter 1). These desires are two of the three systems (the third one being the desire for affection/esteem) Fr. Keating mentions as being influential at certain stages of our lives when growing up as a child. To become aware of these systems (the exaggerated desires for either control, security or esteem) , and how they often influence our lives without us knowing about it is truly "growing up." Practicing centering prayer can help with this process, as can practicing the welcoming prayer (as it addresses the three desire systems directly). Practicing centering prayer is consenting to the healing work of the Holy Spirit, the Divine Therapist (Fr. Keating's words) within - and this involves learning to truly trust. Gently the stumbling blocks to "growing up" will be removed- the desire for control, esteem and security will become less, and the Trust in the Healer will increase.
from G.S.
 Someone very dear to me is quite ill. How do I pray for him? What do I ask for? Do I ask for him to be free of pain? Maybe ... but maybe pain is a necessary part of his healing process. Do I ask for the doctors to be able to operate on him right away? Maybe ... but maybe there are important things for him to do and experience before surgery should happen. Maybe surgery shouldn't even happen. Never in my life have I been more certain that I don't know what should or shouldn't happen. So what I pray for, every day, is for us both to have peace and grace so that we can do our best, and be most open to what is in each day. That, to me, is the "ocean of trust."
from Philly J
 In my life I found I have neither desire nor demand for certitude in trusting, it is definitely an obstacle to my faith. You grow more and more relying on trusting Jesus with the experiences and choices you make. You come to understand life is a learning and teaching process: right and wrong choices. I feel that a seed of faith had been planted in me very, very young. Just learning and knowing the song "Jesus Loves Me" has been such a comfort and consolation my whole life. I think faith has been instilled in me so deeply that it empowers and enables me to remember to pray "Jesus I trust in You." If I wouldn't have had this little, but most powerful prayer, I would not be here today. Through the afflictions and complexities of daily living; the living, the dying and rising, doubts or questions, Jesus has been there to lift me up into that vast ocean of trust. Just knowing I am loved so dearly and so deeply cause the trust in Him to be the most resourceful attribute of my faith. He emptied himself and gives himself to us in the Eucharist. We are brought into a new dimension of creation. He gives us hope and the courage to be, each time we fall, with the certainty of always being able to trust Him. He forgives us and takes us to himself. Finding peace through the Spirit, a gift of silent surrender, leads you deeper and deeper, further and further on life's journey. You come to learn that with each doubt and question, the only thing to do is cling to our Lord in trust.
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| New CD Available! | |  We have a new CD that we are selling to raise funds for the chapter. Contemplative Music and Silence for Centering Prayer is a collaborative effort with beautiful classical guitar music by Zachary Maser and original cover art donated by Will Espey. It has two tracks, one with twenty minutes of silence and one with thirty. Special thanks to Nancy, Caitlin and Nick Baran, and Tim and Patty Reddington. Contact Nancy or Tim if you are interested in buying a copy for $10.00. They are also available at the Bethany Bookstore. Back to Top |
Please Share!
| |  If you have attended a silent Centering Prayer retreat, please share your thoughts about the silence. For example, was it difficult to be silent? Easy? What benefits did you see from the silence?
Please write a few words (or lots of words!) and send them to us. Selected submissions will appear in the next newsletter. Please include your town and note how you would like your name to appear - Anonymous, Initials, or Full Name. Back to Top |
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The next weekend, August 26-28, Roberta Oster and Nancy Cord-Baran will be leading the