Contemplative Outreach - Fort Worth
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Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop |
Fr. Bob Wilson will give an Introductory Workshop on Centering Prayer at Peace Lutheran Church in Hurst on Saturday, March 17. The workshop will take place in the Fellowship Hall from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. All are welcome. The workshop will consist of three lectures by Fr. Wilson, followed by three sessions of practice of the prayer. Centering Prayer, a form of contemplative prayer, is an act of resting in the presence of God, sitting in quiet and letting God speak to us in the depths of our hearts. The practice draws its roots from the desert Fathers and Mothers of the 4th Century. Many men and women left the crowded cities and went into the desert for solitude and prayer. Some wrote of their experience, and such writings are still with us today. While this prayer of the heart or prayer of quiet was preserved in monasteries for centuries, it was only after the Second Vatican Council in the 20th century that the prayer form began to be widely taught to the laity. The Trappist monks of St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Mass., began to give retreats on contemplative prayer and eventually named the form of prayer they were teaching "Centering Prayer." The term was based on the writings of famed Trappist monk Thomas Merton, who wrote of “prayer at the center.” Fr. Wilson, former chancellor of the Fort Worth diocese, has been a Catholic priest for 50 years this year. He is a graduate of Assumption Seminary, San Antonio, and St. John’s University and New York University, both of New York City. He has served as a priest in pastoral work, in administrative work in the bishop’s office and on the university level. He began the practice of Centering Prayer 25 years ago while on sabbatical at Subiaco Monastery in Arkansas. Since then he has lectured extensively on Centering Prayer, and serves on the board of Contemplative Outreach of Fort Worth. The event at Peace Lutheran is free and refreshments will be provided. The church is located at 941 Bedford Euless Road in Hurst, TX 76053 (between Precinct Line Rd. and Northeast Mall). For help with directions, the church office phone is 817-284-1677. For information about Contemplative Outreach-Fort Worth, contact Tom Uhler at tomuhler@yahoo.com or Kathleen Kelley at kkelley_2@charter.net. To be added to the mailing list for the Fort Worth chapter's events and announcements, send a blank e-mail to cpfortworth-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, or go to the group's mailing list Web site: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cpfortworth. |
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