Updates to Events and Prayer Groups
Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop
Saturday, March 6th from 9 am - 12:30 pm via Zoom
Description of the Workshop:
Would you like to deepen your prayer life?
You are invited to come and learn about Centering Prayer, a contemplative prayer practice.
In this workshop, you will learn the methods and principles of Centering Prayer. We will cover the history, psychology, and theology of the practice.
Two prayer sessions and a question and answer session are included.
This workshop is informed by the teachings of Contemplative Outreach, founded and guided by Father Thomas Keating (OCSO), 1923 - 2018.
The purpose of Contemplative Outreach is to renew the contemplative dimension of the Gospel in everyday life.
To register, contact Denise Sleeper at sleeperz242@gmail.com
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July 5-10, 2021 Marie Joseph Retreat Center- Biddeford Poole, ME
Come Away with Me
6-day Silent Retreat
with
Bill Sheehan, OMI
An intensive Centering Prayer retreat intended for those who have incorporated this practice into their daily lives for at least six months. This retreat will include regular sits throughout each day, along with time for Lectio Divina, solitude, silence, and interior refreshment.
*Register early, space is limited.
Rev. Bill Sheehan, OMI, is an experienced retreat director who has led many Centering Prayer workshops and retreats, including 11th Step retreats. Since 1983, he has been involved with Contemplative Outreach, founded by Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO, practicing centering prayer and guiding others in this way of prayer for more than 25 years. He is a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate order and lives in an Oblate House of Prayer in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Arrival: 3:00 PM Monday Supper served at 5:30PM
Program begins at 7:00 PM Departure: Saturday after breakfast
Cost: $550.00
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The
Contemplative
Dimension of the
12 Steps
WEEKEND RETREAT
“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him…”
Dates/Fees; September 10, 2021 - September 12, 2021
Notre Dame Retreat Center Ipswich, MA
Private Rooms
Begins Friday @3:00PM (w/Dinner@ 5:00)
Ends Sunday @ 1:00PM after lunch
$275- all inclusive
FACILITATORS: Fr. Bill Sheehan, Rev. Rob Bacon, Nancy Nichols Kearns
About the Weekend Retreat
This conference is for people who participate in any 12-Step program, or those who support recovery, and have the intention to improve their meditation practice and enlarge their spiritual life.
For all participants the retreat will offer an environment of silence, special workshops, and periods of silent prayer throughout each day. There will be presentations on The Human Condition, The Psychology of Centering Prayer, and The Welcoming Prayer, which is a transformative practice of surrender and letting go in the heat of the moment.
The retreat will offer an Introductory Course for those who are new to Centering Prayer. The weekend format will provide the opportunity for participants to experience Centering Prayer with ample time for group prayer periods and Soulfriending (one-on-one direction) with the Presenters.
Meditation practices similar to Centering Prayer have been used over the centuries, but are different from what we may think of as prayer. It is not the type of prayer we are used to, like praying for something we want. It is simply moving deep within ourselves, in silence, saying nothing, asking for nothing, just being and allowing our Higher Power to be with us. For those who are working a recovery program, parallels can be found between the transformation that Centering Prayer brings and the process of growth facilitated as we work the 12 Steps.