Dear Friends,
Everyday we receive a gift when we take the time to deepen our relationship
with God through the practice of Centering Prayer. This treasure can’t be
taken for granted and must be celebrated. It offers us the inner confidence that
God is present moment to moment. There are countless ways we see the benefits of
Centering Prayer each day. It may be the moment when we are able to listen to
someone with openness and understanding or when we let a car pull in front of us
in rush hour traffic or when we have the inner strength to sit with a dying
loved one. Yes, indeed we have been given a precious gift and we must value,
honor and share it with others. I invite you to participate in the events below
as a way of sharing our contemplative spirit.
The Twentieth Anniversary of Contemplative Outreach celebrating Living
Ordinary Life with Extraordinary Love will be the highlight of our Annual
Conference, in Toronto, Canada, September 29th to October 3rd. Fr. Thomas and
Sr. Mary Margaret Funk, osb will be our keynote speakers for this special event.
As part of our conference celebration we will launch a year of practice with
our worldwide network community. A beautiful Praxis Packet with a series
of cards especially designed to commemorate each of the practices will be
presented in a simple, prayerful way. We would like to celebrate with as many of
you as possible so mark your calendars and plan to attend. (See the article on
page 3 or visit our website.)
The Back to Basics Materials featured at our 2003 conference are
completed and we are eager to visit our Chapters to offer workshops in
re-training commissioned presenters and facilitators using the new revised
Introductory Workshop Essentials and the revised, updated Method of Centering
Prayer brochure. Please contact the International Office if you are interested
in scheduling a program for your area.
In March, we held our 12th Annual United in Prayer Day and 145 persons hosted
the event, which includes our international members. The video was from an
interview with Fr. Thomas in which he spoke about The Divine DNA. Our
United in Prayer Day is always scheduled for the third Saturday in March. Plan
on participating next year.
Fr. Thomas is working on a new book which should be published later this
year. Please check our on-line bookstore at www.contemplativeoutreach.org
for ordering details.
Thank you for the abundant blessings that you have shared with us over the
years.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Gail Fitzpatrick-Hopler, President
