Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington (COMW)

Centering Prayer: Revisiting the Fundamentals

Half-day retreats to deepen awareness of God’s transforming presence in our lives.

"Invitation from God"

An interview with Thomas Keating—the third in this COMW retreat series



Join us on Saturday, April 17, 2021

9 a.m. ET to noon

Via Zoom

"Invitation from God" a three-part series

In this series of three Half-Day "Invitation to God" Retreats presented virtually by Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington, our intent is to deepen our awareness of God’s transforming presence in our lives, while "revisiting the fundamentals" of Centering Prayer.

SESSION ONE

Based on the video Invitation from God (2007) with Father Keating, our first Half-Day Retreat (February 20) presented Father Keating's overview of the benefits of centering prayer and its place in healing of not just the individual person but of the whole humanity. Click here to view the video.

SESSION TWO

Our second Half-Day Retreat (March 20) delved deeply into the process of Centering Prayer. In four separate talks, Keating explains both what happens when we’re regularly “in our Inner Room,” receiving the gift of “direct, experiential knowing,” and what that sets into motion.

"Five Levels of Conciousness" (8 min.)

"Prayer in Secret" (not available to the general public)

"Centering Prayer" (14 min.)

"Centering Prayer and Divine Therapy" (not available to the general public)

The "Invitation from God" content may be purchased in DVD and various digital formats from the Contemplative Outreach online store.

SESSION THREE

Join us on Saturday, April 17 (9 am - noon) on Zoom as we embark on our third Invitation from God Half-Day Retreat. It begins with Thomas Keating describing the journey of inner purification and transformation sustained through our relationship with the Divine in Centering Prayer. In the final video of our series, Thomas explains the Parable of the Great Banquet as a clear representation of God inviting every person, baptized or not, to the great banquet of salvation.Register here.

In our third half-day retreat in this series, we will hear Thomas Keating describe the spiritual journey as a process of transformation in which we move through the levels of our consciousness, releasing old traumas and spiraling towards the presence of the Divine in our inner selves. 

In Centering Prayer, we consent to and are sustained through the dark nights, the losses and the letting go of purification, through which we are gradually transformed. The gifts and fruits of the Spirit begin to rise up within us, manifesting in our way of being in the world. Through our consent to this pattern of dying and rising in the spiritual journey, we live out the pattern of Christ’s own death and Resurrection, i.e., the Paschal Mystery. As we are transformed, the Divine presence in us manifests as peace, joy, gratitude and freedom.

The invitation to embark on the spiritual journey is universal. In the final video of our series, Thomas explains the Parable of the Great Banquet as a representation of God’s gracious, open invitation to everyone in the human family to embark upon the spiritual journey of transformation in Christ.



Registration is Required

Suggested $15 goodwill offering per Half-Day Retreat

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email providing information

on how to make your goodwill offering and instructions

on how to join the Zoom retreat.

Click the button above to make a Goodwill Offering for the April 17th retreat via PayPal/credit card. Suggested Half-Day Retreat offering is $15 per retreat.

OR

Contribute by check made out to COMW and mailed to:

Kathleen Blank Riether, COMW Treasurer

5265 Winter View Dr., Alexandria, VA, 22312

NEXT COMW HALF-DAY RETREAT

Saturday, May 15, 1- 4 PM

Fr. Vincent Pizzuto

Author of Contemplating Christ, the Gospels

and the Interior Life

"In the Shadow of Your Wings"

“In the shadow of your wings I take refuge, until the times of destruction pass.”

PSALM 57:1

The world is moving into a liminal space, a time of great transition. As the global pandemic wanes under the assault of our vaccines there is renewed hope of a return to ‘normalcy,’ yet for many of us there are new questions emerging as well. What have we learned from a year of isolation: about ourselves, our society, and the counter-cultural nature of our contemplative practice? Undoubtedly in a post-COVID world, we will continue to face ongoing social and ecological upheaval. In light of these challenges, Fr. Pizzuto will discuss the importance of cultivating what he calls “a contemplative refuge of spiritually intimate communities that embody Christ in the world.” With the psalmist, we too are summoned to take refuge in the protective shadow of God’s wings, if we are to hold out the light of hope, healing, and ecological restoration. 

Father Vincent Pizzuto, Ph.D. is Professor of New Testament Studies and Christian Mysticism in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the (Jesuit) University of San Francisco. As an Episcopal priest Vincent also serves as Vicar of St. Columba’s Episcopal Church and Retreat House in Inverness, California. Working for the advancement of contemplative Christianity, he has reinvigorated the mission and ministry of St. Columba’s through the introduction of contemplative eucharistic liturgies, public lectures, online courses, directed retreats, thought provoking sermons, an online blog and a weekly online study of his book through the Peace Chapel. Entitled "Contemplating Christ: The Gospels and the Interior Life," his book seeks to bring his readers into a lived realization of the Christian doctrine of deification – that is, the affirmation that through the Incarnation, we have all be made partakers of the Divine Nature.

Registration is Required

Suggested $30 goodwill offering for this Half-Day Retreat

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email providing information

on how to make your goodwill offering and instructions

on how to join the Zoom retreat.

Click the button above to make a Goodwill Offering for the May 15th retreat via PayPal/credit card. Suggested Half-Day Retreat offering is $30 for this retreat.

OR

Contribute by check made out to COMW and mailed to:

Kathleen Blank Riether, COMW Treasurer

5265 Winter View Dr., Alexandria, VA, 22312

Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington (COMW)

Centering Prayer is a receptive method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself. 

This method of prayer is both a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship. Centering Prayer emphasizes prayer as a personal relationship with God and as a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with Christ.

$5 $10 $15 $20 -- No amount is too small!

Thank You!