Monday, December 28, 2020

Facilitator Resources (2020)

Hello Contemplative Servant-Leaders. This page will serve as an added archive for Facilitator Resources and related documents. Click a link below to view a particular resource. Cheers!

 The Facilitator Handbook (newly updated in 2019)
●  Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. E-Bulletins:
●  The Voice: A Quarterly E-Newsletter (10/2020) -- CO, Ltd.
             ➔  Book Reflection Email Template 
             ➔  Lectio Template 1: "Mary Magdala came to the tomb..."

Monday, December 14, 2020

Lectio Divina Template 36

 "May it be done to me according to Your word."

We invite you to a few minutes of silence before we begin our prayer time together.

Take a deep breath and breathe in the breath of God, knowing by faith that God breathes into us the breath of life.

Monday, December 7, 2020

Lectio Divina Template 35

 "I am the voice of one crying out in the desert."

We invite you to a few minutes of silence before we begin our prayer time together.

Take a deep breath and breathe in the breath of God, knowing by faith that God breathes into us the breath of life.

Monday, November 30, 2020

Lectio Divina Template 34

  "One mightier than I is coming..."

We invite you to a few minutes of silence before we begin our prayer time together.

Take a deep breath and breathe in the breath of God, knowing by faith that God breathes into us the breath of life.

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Lectio Divina Template 33

 "I was hungry, and you gave me food..."

We invite you to a few minutes of silence before we begin our prayer time together.

Take a deep breath and breathe in the breath of God, knowing by faith that God breathes into us the breath of life.

Monday, November 9, 2020

Readings and Reflection Questions from "Surrender Into Love" Retreat

For those who would like to peruse the wonderful readings and reflection questions that facilitator Kathy Mendoza shared at the "Surrender Into Love" Zoom retreat on November 7, 2020:


*  *  *  *  *  *  *

         Some thoughts from Tilden Edwards

“We will be shown whatever we need to know at a given time (if anything), while grace (love) will work steadily below the surface of our consciousness where it does most of its healing, awakening, loving work. Our receptivity trusts and welcomes that hidden work. God creates in us a new heart that ‘knows’ Love at the heart of reality.  …we don’t need to understand what’s going on in order for God’s grace (love) to be effective in us.”  Embracing the Call to Spiritual Depth by Tilden Edwards.


“Living from a New Heart that realizes LOVE at the Heart of Reality”

 

“For Divine Grace Writes on the tables of the Heart”  

 

“Standing before God moment by moment with the Mind in the Heart”  

 

“We can open ourselves to this way of being present with the help of a variety of practices; however, the fullness of such awareness has always been seen as a divine gift, not as something that we can achieve on our own.  Our vulnerable openness between and behind our thoughts can show our willingness for such inspired communion.”  

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Questions we can ponder:

Do I wish to surrender into Divine Love?

Am I willing to surrender into Divine Love?

How do I perceive Divine Love?

How does Divine Love differ from Human Love in my experience?

Is there anything/one/self we find unlovable?  Explore

Am I afraid?  Exactly what scares me about Divine Love?

Can I be patient and allow God to do the work in me in His time?

Is trust growing in me as I continue to practice Centering Prayer?

 

Breathe, breathe, breathe …. In love, out love, in love, out love

 

“All shall be well

And

All shall be well

And all manner of things shall be well.”

           ~Julian of Norwich


*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Video: "Thomas Keating on Contemplative Life and Relationship with God" -- (click link or see below).



Sunday, November 8, 2020

Lectio Divina Template 32

 "To everyone who has, more will be given."

We invite you to a few minutes of silence before we begin our prayer time together.

Take a deep breath and breathe in the breath of God, knowing by faith that God breathes into us the breath of life.

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Fall 2020 Facilitator Bulletin: Seasonal Resources

Dear CONSD Facilitators,

Although it is the middle of October, I thought I would send out the Facilitator Bulletin now to give you some resources that may be helpful for you and your group to get through the coming season.

I’ll begin by sharing my story of an experience I had a few days ago: a response of mine during this time of the pandemic.

I was driving to CVS, and the panorama of what I was seeing opened up to a 180-degree angle and I became an detached observer. For a short time, I experienced the trees, sky, ground, homes, people walking, and cars around me, with a sense of well being – there was less me! I wasn’t thinking of anything else – not the future or the past, or of any of my attachments, especially of my attachment to family (love and worry). I thought: This is the gift that my practice of Centering Prayer gives to me – rarely that is for sure - but given. I think that the reading that we have been doing in my Centering Prayer group led me to label my experience as peace.

In our Centering prayer group at St. Peter’s, we have been reading Father Keating’s Daily Word for July which is taken from his book Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit. We facilitators (Nichola and myself) chose this because we thought that it would be a good idea to focus on the positive changes that can occur within us through the practice of the prayer, especially at this time. We approached the readings as a “Thoughtful Reading” and the responses in Lectio Style. Each week our format was to take three days and read each day twice, in a slow manner. We then offered a few questions to bring awareness/attention to the readings; then people could respond or not. When we finished the readings and the responses to the individual days, we opened up the discussion. Over time as the group became more comfortable with this style of reading and response, the sharing became more personal and the discussion indeed more “fruitful”.

Here a reading from the July 8th entry of Father Keating’s Daily Reader for Contemplative Living:

“My peace I give you.” --John 14:27 NIV

The third Fruit of the Spirit is peace. Peace is the pervasive sense of contentment that comes from being rooted in God while being fully aware of one’s own nothing-ness. It is a state that endures beyond the ups and downs of life, beyond the emotions of joy and sorrow. At the deepest level one knows that all is well, that everything is just right despite all appearances to the contrary. At all times one can pray with Jesus, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”. (Luke 23:46) (Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit, pg. 19)

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  --Philippians 4:7, NIV.

*  *  *  *  *

The format of this Bulletin is different from most of the ones I’ve sent out. I know we are supposed to let go of our attachments, but this email has a number of them!

The topics of each are:

1 - Responses from CONSD members to Centering Prayer, the pandemic, and zoom meetings. These responses are in the form of stories, poems, photographs, and testimonials. Reading through what members sent in, I found expressions of faith conveyed through the heart. They are “From the Heart”.

2 - An essay for Advent written by Father Keating in 1988 titled “The End of Our Worlds”.

3 - Formation ideas from facilitators to use for Advent material. Mary Williams added a wonderful assortment of ideas. The others included are from 2019.

Please Note: We will have a facilitator meeting sometime in the beginning months of 2021. I would ask that if you have any topics that you would like covered, please let Mary Williams and me know what they are. This will help us a lot in designing the program for the day.

I wish you a peaceful time these next few months--times full of grace and love and a sense of connection.

In gratitude,

Kathy Agnew

kdagnew@sbcglobal.net

Facilitators' Advent Resources

 

 

 
From Mary Williams:

Here are some Advent materials gathered from YouTube: A couple of Taize chants with Advent themes, a chant with a bell choir, a beautiful instrumental version of “O Come Emmanuel”, a 23-minute video with a mix of songs, stories, and poems, a video with James Finley, and a video with Ilia Delio. Through screen sharing, these are easy to incorporate in a Zoom prayer group (at least on my laptop, it is).

 “Within Our Darkest Night (Taize)” --

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqQsZK57OX8

Wait for the Lord (Taize)” --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7GexIvX8HU&list=LL&index=14 

On Jordan’s Bank (chant and bell choir)” --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d9wrI8IY0Q

O Come O Come Emmanuel (instrumental)” --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7ySn-Swwc

Contemplative Evening Prayer for Advent” (23 min) --

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJCMVOBi8X0

An Advent Meditation with James Finley” --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POAu-09Hg2o&list=LL&index=2

An Advent Message from Ilia Delio” --

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLo80ycQhgE&list=LL&index=1 

                                

Father Thomas Keating   (2019)

The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience, a book by Father Thomas Keating. Includes a chapter on Advent.

Awakenings by Father Keating.  A book of commentaries on Gospel texts by Father Keating in the spirit of Lectio Divina.  The first short chapter is about Advent.

 Sundays at the Magic Monastery:   Homilies from the Trappists of St. Benedict’s Monastery.  Three Chapters on Advent.

The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living: Excerpts from the Works of Father Thomas Keating  has scriptures for Advent.


 Richard Rohr:

Preparing for Christmas, by Fr. Richard Rohr.

Every year during the Christmas season, Fr. Rohr includes messages about the incarnation in his online daily meditations. These can be read and discussed in the group. The archives of Fr. Rohr's daily meditations can be accessed at: https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/.

Besides discussing a Richard Rohr Advent daily meditation, one facilitator added a poem by St. John of the Cross, a Lectio, and a Magnificat. The St. John of the Cross poem is found in Daniel Ladinsky's Love Poems from God




 
Other Ideas:

One facilitator:  “always gives members copies of the Magnificat Advent reader, and we pray Vespers in addition to centering on the week with the O Antiphons [for Vespers]”. 

"The O Antiphons are titles for Jesus and also found in the hymn 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.' The O Antiphons are part of vespers [evensong] the week before Christmas and can either be sung or read depending on the capacities of the pray-ers."

   

Another group:

 "Show and Tell"  “We have quite a large group, so some members did not have to present to the group.  I suggested 2 people for each of the 4 weeks presenting for 5-10 minutes.  I gave the group a sign-up sheet with the following:  Share traditions, activities, objects, music, art, writings that help you to draw closer to God at Christmas.  Lead us in a short experience that you value.  We not only benefited from the presentation material, but we learned more about each other.”

One year I bought the DVD: "A Thrill of Hope: The Christmas Story in Word and Art" from Emory University, the Candler School of Theology, also available through Barnes and Noble (about $12).  It is 50 minutes total and presents the Christmas story as told in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew.  Each passage of scripture is illustrated by the artwork of John August Swanson.  I used about 10 minutes each time, and we had lectio with the scripture presented.  I also made color copies of the paintings to share with the group.

During the year we close each meeting with a prayer we read from a card, but at Advent, I print this prayer by Henri Nouwen on cards and then give them the card to keep at the last meeting:


Advent Prayer


Lord Jesus, Master of both the light and the darkness

   Send your Holy Spirit upon our preparation for Christmas.

We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces

   to hear your voice each day.

          We who are anxious over many things

             look forward to your coming among us.

          We who are blessed in so many ways

             long for the complete joy of your Kingdom.

          We whose hearts are heavy

             seek the joy of your presence.

          We are your people, walking in darkness

             yet seeking the light.

          To You we say,

             “Come, Lord Jesus.”           

          Amen


A book by Nouwen:  Advent and Christmas Wisdom:  Daily 

Scriptures and Prayers

The End of Our Worlds

 Advent is the liturgical season that celebrates the theme of divine light.  This great light, incarnated in Jesus, confronts any kind of darkness, illusion, ignorance.  If you reflect for a moment on the natural cycles of life, our world is always coming to an end.  The world of the womb comes to an end at birth; the world of infants comes to an end at about three; childhood comes to an end at adolescence; adolescence at young adulthood; young adulthood at the mid-age crisis; then comes old age, senility and death.  Life is a process.  The experience of growing up and the decline of physical energy forces us to let go of each period of life as we pass through it.  Thus, physical life is always giving way to further development.  It should be no surprise therefore that Jesus invites us to let the privatized worlds of our emotional attachments, preconceived ideas and pre-packaged values come to an end.

 One of the messages of Advent, especially the one about the end of the world, is not so much about “the” end of the world – nor even about physical death which is the end of the world for each of us – as about all the worlds that come to an end in the natural evolution of life.  Thus, every time we move to a new level of faith, the previous world that we lived in with all its relationships also comes to an end.  This is what John the Baptist and later Jesus meant when they began their ministry with the world “Repent.”  The message they meant to convey was “It’s the end of your world!”  Naturally, we do not like to hear such news.  We say, “You’re crazy; get rid of this guy; we don’t like change.  Go away.”

 The process of conversion begins with genuine openness to change – to be open to the possibility that just as natural life evolves, so our spiritual life is evolving.  Our psychological world is the result of natural growth, events over which we had no control in early childhood, and grade school. Grace, which is the presence and action of Christ in our lives, invites us to be ready to let go of where we are now and to be open to the new values that are born when we penetrate to a new understanding of the Gospel and how it applies concretely to our daily lives.  Moreover, Jesus calls us to repent not just once; it is a message that keeps recurring.  The grace of Christ relentlessly calls us beyond our limitations and fears into new worlds.  Like Abraham, the classical paradigm of faith, Jesus asks us to leave land, family, culture, peer group, religious education, everything that we might cling to in order to have an identity or to avoid feeling lonely.  All of this Christ gently but firmly calls us to leave saying, “Go forth from your father’s house and country and come into the land that I will show you.”  The call to contemplative prayer is a call into the unknown.  It is not a call to nowhere, but it is nowhere that we can imagine.  Hence, our resistance.

 It is a gilt-edged invitation.  Each time you consent to an enhancement of faith, your world changes and all your relationships have to be adjusted to the new perspective and the new light that has been given you.  Our relationship to ourselves, to Jesus Christ, to our neighbor, to the Church – to God – all change.  It is the end of the world we have previously known and lived in.  Sometimes the Spirit of God deliberately shatters one of these worlds.  If we have depended upon them to go to God, it may feel as if we have lost God.  We may have doubts about God’s very existence.  Such doubts may be the best thing that has ever happened to us.  It is not the true God of faith we have doubts about, but only the God of our limited concepts or dependencies; this God never existed anyway.

And so the second part of Jesus’ message is very important.  If you repent and are willing to change, or willing to let God change you, the kingdom of God is close; in fact, you have it; it is within you and you can begin to enjoy it.  The kingdom of God belongs to those who are poor in spirit, who have let go of their possessive attitude toward everything, including God.

~Fr. Thomas Keating, 1988

Responses From the Heart

 

Anonymous:

“I can’t imagine getting through the Covid pandemic without the practice of Centering Prayer and the opportunities to come together with others engaging in contemplative practices.  While I treasure being able to gather on Zoom with my weekly group, I found gathering with any CP group an experience of being in the Body of Christ, being among others regularly opening their hearts and minds to what the Holy Spirit had to impart. No matter what circumstances any of us were experiencing in our daily lives,we were together for the hour or so to recount what God was doing in our lives--the ways we were being lifted up, strengthened, exhorted, guided, and lovingly held. We were reminded that we have a spiritual as well as physical nature and it is in that spiritual consciousness that we are filled with the love, grace, mercy, compassion, and hope of the Holy and the Divine. Through our sharing in the power of the prayer we were experiencing the Presence of Christ and all that that signifies. We were being filled, both in the practice and in the coming together, with the assurance of God’s love and generosity toward us. 

I have to be reminded, each and every day, of the power and goodness awaiting me in the Oneness with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the Oneness with all creation. I have to be reminded, in Him, and through Him, to be a source of life and light in times of threat, whether it be a pandemic or a time of political unrest. I am being equipped to be an advocate of forgiveness and reconciliation because I am assured that He dwells within each of us.  He is at work in the world and in every other human with whom I share this life.  I have to be reminded moment by moment.

Our country is crying out for Spiritual healing.”   

*  *  *  *  *

Mary Williams: Some thoughts on the Zoom experience (St Thomas More prayer group):

“It felt awkward initially – that sense of everyone staring at you on the screen -- and it was a learning curve for everyone, navigating the technology. We are still learning. A couple of people have opted to wait until we can meet in person again because they do not like Zoomed gatherings, but we are in touch through email. One older woman who cannot hear well wishes she could join us, but her iPad is on the blink. The other five people in the group are grateful to be able to meet through Zoom. It has actually made it easier for one woman who would otherwise have to drive a long distance.

 I learned that the large singing bowl I typically use to open a period of centering prayer does not sound good on Zoom. For some people it was too loud and jarring; for others, the sound was patchy and uneven. I now use a very small singing bowl with a higher-pitched sound; this seems to work better.

 Another thing to be aware of on Zoom: Everyone’s perspective is different. I use a laptop PC that lets me see everyone on my screen. Some people use tablets or phones that allow you to see up to four people at once – they have to navigate to another page to see additional people. Thus, when people nod or use other gestures or facial expressions to communicate, it’s important to keep in mind that not everyone can see that. If you are answering “yes” to a question, for example, you’ll need to say the word ‘yes,’ and not just nod.

 What I like the most about using Zoom is that I can use the share-screen function to share visuals or to play YouTube clips of contemplative teachings or music. I learned that going to the “advanced settings” allows me share a portion of my screen and to optimize computer sound so that music comes through clearly. Thus, Zoom actually offers unique advantages in sharing formation material.

The group does miss meeting in person, though, and we look forward to the day when that can happen again.” 

*  *  *  *  *  *

John Wavrik (St. Peter’s Prayer Group):

“Something that has become clear is that Zoom is well suited for meeting of a Centering.Prayer group. The Zoom setting is more intimate than face-to-face meeting. You can see people more clearly when they are close up (as in Zoom) than when they are seated across a room from you. You don’t have to travel to get to a meeting.

Formation activities benefit from ‘screen sharing’. You can watch videos which fill up the computer monitor in front of you – rather than looking at a small TV on the other side of a room.

Participants can share readings that all can see and follow. In a small enough group one can discuss just as effectively as when meeting together in the same room. In fact, one does feel that everyone is in the same room – your own living room! Centering Prayer is an individual discipline. Group meetings serve to support the members’ practice – they are not a substitute for it. It is helpful to periodically get together with others practicing the prayer – but it serves primarily as a support and social supplement to a regular private practice. In formation, particularly book study, a group provides incentive for reading. Reading on your own and then sharing your reactions is a very helpful supplement to private reading. It allows you to benefit from the reaction of others to the things you are reading. Again, a joint book study is a supplement to reading a book on your own, not a substitute.

 I am not anxious for a return to in person meetings. Meetings via Zoom have a lot of benefits it will be hard to give up. I have come to really appreciate this way of doing a Centering Prayer group.”

*  *  *  *  *  *

Diane Langworthy and members of the Centering Prayer group at her church:

 

“Members of the Mary Magdalene Apostle Catholic Community Centering Prayer Group have undoubtedly experienced that the Spirit flows in and among us, though now, also by Zoom!  Since the shelter in place order, our group has gained an additional four members, some of whom are new to the prayer, and others who have returned to us, as physical limitations had made getting to the group out of their reach. How we look forward to sharing the silence together  (through zoom)  and companioning each other.  I have noted that we have a  deeper “tenderness” for each person, as the experience of the pandemic has taught us to treasure the presence of each other.  Through our zoom gatherings , we raise each other up, out of isolation, and into the gift of life in this present moment.   Several group members frequently share their poetry , art, and reflections among us. With gratitude and awe, What follows are some of the contemplative ponderings of our group:”

* * *

 Our CP group has been a substantial support to me during this period of our Zoom meeting.  My husband Ray and I had the COVID 19 virus ...I had a mild case, and he unfortunately had a severe case involving hospitalization and a ventilator. He died on April 24th after 3 weeks and 3 days of his diagnosis.  The prayers, texts, phone calls and cards from our CP group and our wonderful weekly Zoom meetings led by Diane have been a sustaining force in my life and grief recovery and ongoing healing.  Our study of Richard Rohr’s book The Universal Christ has also helped to keep me grounded in my deeper spiritual perspective, understanding the Love all around that is God With Me and with all of us as community—not only now, but always. I am ever grateful for this Centering Prayer group and look forward to it each week. 

    ~With a Thankful Heart,

     Linda Hill-Phoenix

 

* * *

 “The Day the Snake Came to Centering Prayer” ~Karla Seyb-Stockton

 “We were having centering prayer via zoom, as so many are. I was sitting in the shade in my back yard facing my house so my camera would pick up the valley behind me. We have our sit at the beginning of our time together and then do our learning. By the time our sit was done the shade had moved enough I had to move my chair. I rotated it, to make the most of the shade and so I could enjoy the view for a while. At the time, we were reading Fr Richard Rohr’s The Universal Christ, sharing the reading among us by each paragraph. My turn to read was a few paragraphs away, but I glanced up from my book and what did I see? A very large brown snake with a diamond pattern had come around the corner of my house toward me and was about 6’ from my outstretched feet! It was stopped, stone-still. I think I had surprised it as much as it surprised me! Was it a rattler? Was it a gopher snake? I couldn’t tell, but I can tell you, I wasn’t taking my eyes off it until I knew! I am not afraid of snakes, but I certainly respect them. And this one had been around a while. It was BIG!

I continued to listen while I watched the snake, and when my turn to read came around, I passed and explained why. (It created a little bit of a disruption… ) After a stare-down of what seemed like an hour but must have been just a few minutes, the snake started to flick its tongue. It was trying to figure out what to make of me! Eventually, the snake decided taking a different path would be the best course of action and it made its way into a bush on the far side of my yard. Ahhh, no rattles. Thank goodness!

I was just glad I had rotated my chair, otherwise it would have been behind me and I would have totally missed it! It is just a reminder wild things are never far away, even though we don’t see them very often.”

 

 

Poems that were inspired within the context of recent CP’s…… by Paul Russo

 

Mirror Reflection

 

Learning to be an observer

No judgement or analysis

 

Seeing Love in the Other

And knowing love within

 

Eternal vibrations

Resonate between

Creator and created

 

Everything belongs

Reality unfolds

In the mutual 

Gaze.

 

* * *

 

Gratitude In Transit

 

I am impelled 

To give thanks 

for the energies 

Of life,

That I so nonchalantly 

Give voice to— 

 

Graces

That seem to reverberate 

Through every cell 

Of this body.

 

Vibrations 

oscillating 

In rhythmic fashion,

At times,

Like dancing butterflies

Pirouetting above

A carpet of flowers.

 

Energies of love,

That I sense, 

Flow 

Throughout an ever 

Expanding universe,

To create, 

Invigorate

And 

Transform. 



Bouquets—

Centerpieces 

At tables of

Gathering friendships.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

 

“God is alive!!!

I watch him in zoom in my daily share. More and more I grow in confidence with intimacy that we could create a United Church that glorifies His presence among us.

I discovered God's words, images, poems, songs, art beauty via website. 

A variety of daily prayer, multicultural masses, adorations, conferences, retreats, all kind of expressions , People with faces full of joys, conversion, communions, United Communities supports, friends, growth daily to extend love, help, company using technology to minimize the effect of unexpected  COVID 19's quarantine.

Centering prayer has become the center of my life, a clear way to become UNO with God including all of with the same Faith. As Richard Rohr teaches: Christ is more than a religion. Christ is Universal and present in all of Human life.

From the silence and the stillness, we connect with the Universal Heart that awakens the ego and human conscience to recreate the Life beyond the Earth.... Amen.”

   ~Maria Lanz (English is a second language for her)

     

    *  *  *


"AUGUST 2020"

each dawn I am remolded,
similar yet different,
as if I were the sky.

--Poem and photo by Carl Emerich