Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop April 9

Also please note a great opportunity to experience Centering Prayer and start your practice. What follows is the text of the flyer which was forwarded to you via email as a member of Just Faith. The correct date however is April 9 not April 19. Again I'll be happy to answer any questions about the event.




Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop
St. Ignatius Martyr Catholic Church
One 4 hour and a half hour session Saturday, April 9, 2005 and
Six 1 hour sessions each Thursday, April 14 thru May 19

Centering Prayer is a practice which prepares us to receive the grace of God's presence and action. Traditionally, this grace is called contemplative prayer, or simply contemplation.
Decades of experience involving thousands of individuals suggest that we most effectively learn to practice Centering Prayer as part of a group and in multiple sessions over a period of several weeks. This learning format gives us support to integrate Centering Prayer practice into our daily lives because Centering Prayer is not a "technique" for achieving a result but rather a "letting go" into increasingly deeper relationship with the Indwelling Holy Trinity.
The practice of Center Prayer involves sitting comfortably in silence, with eyes closed, and silently introducing into our awareness a sacred symbol of our consent to God's presence and action within. Centering Prayer is most beneficially practiced for two periods, of not less than 20 minutes each, daily.

The Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop offered at St. Ingatius Martyr Catholic Church will be co-facilitated by Sr. Mary Agnes Zinni, former prioress of the Boerne Benedictine community and currently director of spiritual programming for that community's Omega Retreat Center, and by Mike Richardson, a member of the St. Ignatius Martyr faith community.

The Introductory Workshop's initial session will be offered Saturday, April 9, 2005, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and will include four conferences:
Prayer as Relationship
The Method of Centering Prayer
The Use of the Sacred Word
The Effects of Centering Prayer in Daily Life
and will also include two 20 minute periods of Centering Prayer. Coffee, tea and assorted snacks will be available beginning at 8:30 and continuing throughout the Workshop.

The Introductory Workshop's six formation sessions will be offered on Thursday evenings (April 14, 21 and 28 and May 5, 12 and 19) from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Each formation session will include one 20 minute period of Centering Prayer, a question and answer session, and a videotaped presentation by Fr. Thomas Keating O.C.S.O concerning building a Centering Prayer practice. (Fr. Keating is one of the principal developers and teachers of Centering Prayer.)

All sessions of the Introductory Workshop will be offered in Fr. John Payne House which is adjacent to the St. Ignatius Martyr Church parking lot (see map on the other side of this flyer). The Introductory Workshop is offered at no cost to members of the St. Ignatius Martyr faith community (a donation of $20 - or less as appropriate - is suggested for others; all donations will be divided equally between St. Ignatius Martyr and the Boerne Benedictine Community).

If you have questions or want additional information or wish to register for the Introductory Workshop, contact: Mike Richardson -- telephone: (512) 440-8840 / email: pmike@mail.utexas.edu
-- 1909 Collier St. Austin, TX 78704 USA (512) 440-8840 pmike@mail.utexas.edu