Consenting to Divine Love: 25 Years of Contemplative Outreach

Hi: I am Carl Arico a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ a founding member of Contemplative Outreach, practicing centering prayer since 1975 and active these 25 years in this special ministry. Looking forward to sharing with you - I am new at the BLOG stuff - it will be a miracle of God's grace if I get thru it. I am presenting - Contemplative Service and Divine Compassion. Thanks for being with us.

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Buenos dias to you all. Just getting back from Mexico and checking in after Ron's tutorial. Sending now... Blessings, Maru

Serving with you CO and Extension Contemplativa

Buenos dias a todos. Apenas estoy de regreso de Mexico y añadiendo un mensaje despues del tutorial de Ron. Aqui lo envio como prueba... Bendiciones, Maru

Sirviendo con ustedes en Contemplative Outreach y Extension Contemplativa

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Have you ever attended a Contemplative Outreach annual conference and wondered who planned it? Well, here is the Planning Committee for the 2009 Conference. Kudos to them and to the many local Chicago and WI volunteers and others who will be supporting the conference later this month.

Susan Komis & Kay Powers, Chapter Resource & Communications Services

Bonnie Shimizu, Faculty Chair

John Kelsey, Regional Representative, Information Tables

Roseanne Havird, Regional Representative, Information Tables

Mercedes Hinojosa, Extension Contemplativa Internacionale

Fr. Carl Arico, Audio & Video Coordination

Pamela Begeman, Program Booklet

Ron Barnett, Weblog, Online Evaluations

Claire Eng, Books & Media Sales

Olsiana Habazzai, Registration, Master Lists, Nametags

Donna Cole, NJ Office Support

Rev. Bob Gordon, Local Chicago Host

Margie Tomlinson, Centering Prayer Periods, Local Expertise

Penny Jaworski, Local Volunteers Coordinator

Judee Weber, Representative from WI

Gail Fitzpartick-Hopler, President

Marie Howard, Conference Coordinator

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Fr. Carl Arico, Fr. Thomas Keating and Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler share Contemplative Outreach memories and mirth at a Circle of Friends meeting last month (July) at the St. Benedict's Monastery Retreat Center near Snowmass, Colorado, USA.

     

Click here to download:

Fr._Carl_Fr._Thomas_and_Gail_S.zip (226 KB)

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An Invitation. Contemplative Outreach has been described as a network, an organism, an organization and most recently as a community. What is clear is that the Spirit has for 25 years acted to bond people in a common union in order to share and practice centering prayer.

If you have a memorable anecdote, event or story about the growth of Contemplative Outreach or some way in which you were blessed by Contemplative Outreach, you are invited to share it with others below (in "Comments"). All comments are very much welcome, as are requests and suggestions.

Finally, if you have a photo that you would like to share please send it to RLB@me.com and we will try to post it here on the weblog. We hope to hear from you.

Peace -

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A more detailed introduction to centering prayer is avaliable at http://bit.ly/8JA75.

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Available at the conference.

   

Click here to download:

Untitled.zip (394 KB)

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L-R: Mary Mrosowski, Bob Draper, David Fore, Barbara Hennesy, Bob Bartel, Claire Durand Racamato, David Frenette, Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler, Donna, Thomas Keating, Bill Sheehan, Carl Arico, Carl Shelton

The year was 1983 and the place was the high country near Taos, New Mexico at The Lama Foundation. It was there during periods of fertile silence and centering prayer that Contemplative Outreach had its seminal beginnings at "Lama I" - the first intensive centering prayer retreat that had ever been held.

The photo above is of the retreatants who attended Lama I and Fr. Thomas Keating who led the retreat. Also present as a retreatant and Lama community liason was Pat Johnson, who since 1987 has staffed enumberable Contemplative Outreach intensive retreats at the St. Benedict's Monastery retreat house near Snowmass, Colorado, USA.

READINGS

• June 2009 Contemplative Outreach E-News "25 Years of Practice in Community" (large PDF file, patience please)

• Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. - History

• Manifesting God by Fr. Thomas Keating, "Origin and Development of Centering Prayer and Contemplative Outreach"

• The Divine Indwelling: Centering Prayer and Its Development by Thomas Keating et al., "The Spiritual Network of Contemplative Outreach Limited"

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