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 Contemplative
Outreach, Ltd.
Contemplative Outreach, Ltd, was established
in 1984 by Fr. Thomas Keating, o.c.s.o., to bring this ancient
prayer practice out of the monastic milieu to those in contemporary
society. Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. is now a world-wide
spiritual network of individuals and small faith communities
committed to renewing the contemplative dimension of the Gospel
in everyday life. Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. serves the
needs of this spiritual network.
Contemplative Prayer
Contemplative Prayer is the opening of the mind
and heart, our whole being to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond
thoughts, words and emotions, whom we know by faith is within
us, closer than breathing, thinking, feeling, and choosing;
even closer than consciousness itself. The root of prayer
is interior silence. Though we may think of prayer as thoughts
or feelings expressed in words, this is only one expression.
Contemplative Prayer is a prayer of silence, an expression
of God’s presence as the ground in which our being is rooted,
the Source from whom our life emerges at every moment. For
the Church’s first sixteen centuries, Contemplative Prayer
was the goal of Christian spirituality. During the past four
centruies, this living tradition has been virtually lost.
Today with cross-cultural dialogue and historical research,
the recovery of the Christian contemplative tradition has
begun. The method of Centering Prayer, in the tradition of
Lectio Divina (praying the scriptures), is contributing to
this renewal.
Centering Prayer
Centering Prayer is a method of prayer which
prepares us to receive the gifts of contemplative prayer.
Centering Prayer consists of responding to the Spirit of Christ
by consenting to God’s presence and action within. It furthers
the development of contemplative prayer by preparing our faculties
to cooperate with this gift. Centering Prayer facilitates
a movement from more active modes of prayer - verbal, discursive
or affective prayer – to a receptive prayer of resting in
God.
Centering Prayer is meant to enrich and complement
other forms of prayer, not exclude or replace them. Centering
Prayer is, at the same time, a relationship with God and a
discipline to foster that relationship. It is Trinitarian
in its source, Christ-centered in its focus, and ecclesial
in its effects; that is, it builds communities of faith and
bonds the members together in charity. Centering Prayer is
drawn from ancient prayer practices of the Christian contemplative
heritage, notably those of the Desert Fathers and Mothers
and the monastic practice of Lectio Divina.
The Cloud of Unknowing (author unknown), St.
John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Fraces de Sales
and St. Thérèse of Lisieux are a few of the
classical resources in the contemplative heritage. Centering
Prayer was distilled into a simple method of prayer in the
1970's by three Trappist monks, Fr. William Meninger, Fr.
Basil Pennington, and Abbot Thomas Keating.
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