I am listing below resources that can be used in groups. These resources are especially helpful for relatively new groups but can also be revisited by groups that have been meeting for a long time. To keep this list from being overwhelming, this is a selection of some of the resources that people sent to me.
The purpose of Centering Prayer groups is to support the commitment of its members to the daily practice of contemplation. Formation material used for discussion in our groups is to help us in understanding the process of the prayer within us and its relation to Christian theology. Material is most helpful when it is relevant to Centering Prayer and spiritual transformation and supports the experience of our contemplative journey.
Online Material
If you are not comfortable with doing things on the computer, there may be someone in your group who could help you.
CONSD:
There are a number of places you and your prayer group can look for material to stimulate the discussion part of your meeting. One place is the listings in the “Recommended Reading” section of the Facilitator Handbook. The Facilitator Handbook can be accessed on the CONSD blog. [Note: Some of the links in the Facilitator Handbook may no longer work because the Contemplative Outreach website has been upgraded. But the information in the Handbook is still current]. Here is information about the blog:
“Be Still and Know,” our blog and resource storehouse for CONSD servant-leaders, is updated regularly and includes The Facilitator’s Handbook (updated in 2019), Guidelines for Faith Sharing in Centering Prayer Groups, minutes from our quarterly servant-leader team meetings, an archive of readings and teachings for Lectio Divina, a calendar of events, a Facilitator Resources tab, and more.
The blog contains a Lectio divina script for each week based on the Gospel for the upcoming Sunday; this weekly script ends with a teaching from Father Keating which relates to the gospel reading providing much to think about and discuss in group. I think this written script is easy to follow. You can send the script ahead to group members, or it can be screen shared on Zoom during meeting time, or just read aloud to the group without a visual prompt. The Lectio Archive on the blog includes links to dozens of scripts from the past year with a brief line of the Scripture passage to help you with selecting your Lectio.
Contemplative Outreach Ltd:
Another online site that has a great deal of information
and material is the Contemplative Outreach national website. It includes information on the history of
Contemplative Outreach and the vision of Father Keating, courses and programs
available, the meditation chapel and much more. I strongly encourage you and
members of your group to explore this site.
Here is the link:
https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/
I want to highlight one part of this website which is “Resources”. Included under Resources are past newsletters, articles and “Voices from the Community” which are essays written by members of Contemplative Outreach. Link: https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/resources/
If you click on “Subscribe” under “Resources”, you and members of your group can subscribe to Contemplative Outreach’s monthly e-news bulletin, The Voice (a Newsletter for Volunteers), and the “Word of the Week”. Word of the Week is a “weekly contemplative view into liturgy, biblical passages, with reflections” and can be used as formation material for discussions in centering prayer groups.
Material on YouTube
Contemplative Outreach has its own YouTube channel, which
is free. There are talks by Father
Keating, Cynthia Bourgeault, Mary Dwyer, Father Arico, James Finley and
others. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbpOIenUbFwDkMhTFGG3NOg.
How to use it: The above link takes you to a series of Playlists which contain longer videos on various topics. If you don't see what you are looking for, type in the topic in the YouTube search box and most likely the videos you are interested in will show up.
There is an Introductory Program (2 hours and 15 minutes total) on YouTube. Here is how you access it:
Resting in God: An Introductory Workshop on Centering Prayer, Part 1 with LJ Milone and Fr. Carl Arico, https://youtu.be/Dk2xH0XAK3c
Resting in God: An Introductory Workshop on Centering Prayer, Part 2 with Fr. Carl Arico, https://youtu.be/iFEW2AvKla8
There is also a "playlist" that lists both parts together at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBE6fmRmYU8hkxzWd_jOq69IECsajl95-
Here is another online Introductory program which is longer but more complete:
A Centering Prayer Introductory Program in five parts was recorded this summer and is available on the Contemplative Outreach YouTube channel here. The first part is the Centering Prayer Workshop with presentations on Prayer as Relationship, The Method of Centering Prayer, Thoughts and the Use of the Sacred Word, and Deepening Our Relationship with God. Parts 2 – 5 are four continuing sessions including Q&A, a time to pause the video for 20 minutes of Centering Prayer, and a video by Fr. Thomas Keating. This Zoom-enabled program was sponsored by Contemplative Outreach and the Centering Prayer Introductory Program Service Team.
Center for Action and Contemplation – Father Richard Rohr
Another useful source of material is the website for Father
Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations Archive, which you can reach by click
on the following link:
Daily Meditations Archive - Center for Action and Contemplation.
Once you are there, you can type the topic you are interested in into the search box, and past years’ reflections about the topic will come up. These daily reflections can be shared and discussed in group. Facilitators can simply read them aloud in group or they can screen share or send to group members ahead of time to read.
Some Books:
Thomas Keating’s book the Daily Reader for Contemplative Living. Daily reflections which can be read in group and used for discussion.
I am listing all of Father Thomas Keating’s five early books which I consider to be foundational to the practice. The two I think are best to start out with would be Open Mind Open Heart and The Human Condition.
Open Mind, Open Heart
The Mystery of Christ
Invitation To Love
Intimacy With God
The Human Condition
Reverend Cynthia Bourgeault’s book Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening is an excellent foundational book especially for those who moved into Centering Prayer from Eastern meditation practices.
If you have used a book that your group liked, the bibliography of that book may lead you to other readings.
DVD:
Centering Prayer: A Training Course for Opening to the
Presence of God, with Father Keating, Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler, and Father
Arico. Some talks are basic and some are
more advanced (all in a DVD box.) I
think these are wonderful and informative videos. More information is available
at this link:
Some Other Resources
A helpful video during this time of COVID: James Finley on “The Peace that Surpasses Understanding”. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q31dpWE7Nw4
Videos you can watch from home on Amazon:
From the Mind to the Heart, with Fr Thomas Keating. A documentary with Fr Thomas and his friend John Osbourne videoed at St Benedict’s in Snowmass. ~30 min video.
A Rising Tide of Silence, a reflective biography of Fr Thomas by his nephew Peter C Jones
Into Great Silence, A wonderful documentary about the daily life of French Carthusian monks.
The movie Of Gods and Men is based on a true story of Trappist monks living in Algeria. Father Keating, in his book Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit, discusses their story in relation to the gift of fortitude.
And last but not at all least:
There are two new groups on Meditation Chapel especially for people new to Centering Prayer with special support for establishing a practice, i.e., learning more about Centering Prayer, Q&A, etc. They are ongoing and open to all. They are especially helpful for those who have recently attended an Introduction to Centering Prayer and are looking to join a group with others new to this prayer practice. You can find those groups in the Peace Chapel:
Tuesdays at 7pm Central Time, hosted by Irene Chang and
Dennis Davis
Thursdays at 9am Central Time, hosted by Pattye Spezia and
Michele Jankanish
Go to https://meditationchapel.org/getting-started/ and follow the steps to register on the site. You will receive an email with a link to the meditation chapel the group meets in. Once you receive a link to a chapel (i.e., to the Peace Chapel), it will always be the same link. Save it for future use. If you have any questions about these groups please contact Stephen Garratt stephenrgarratt@gmail.com or Charlotte Thompson, charliethom1965@gmail.com.
One more thing: CONSD’s media librarian,
Diane Oldfield, has many DVDs and books on Centering Prayer available for
individual and prayer groups to borrow. Contact her at 760-317-6193 or bamma.diane@gmail.com.
~Kathy Agnew
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