Q: Do you have any suggestions for the season of Lent that can be an encouragement for my practice of Centering Prayer?
A: We are soon entering the season of Lent which begins with Jesus going out into the desert for 40 days and nights. This is also a time when we can live our periods of Centering Prayer as a desert experience, a place of silence, solitude and detachment where, through intentional sitting and consenting, we confront the instinctual needs that still have a hold on us.
Like Jesus this is where we deal with our “home-made self” with its instinctual tugs and pulls that come from our desire for security and survival (turn these stones into bread), for affection and esteem (throw yourself off the pinnacle of the temple; God loves you enough that nothing will happen to you), for power and control (follow me and I will give you unbelievable power).
I would also suggest the following readings as vestibules to your Centering Prayer periods: Luke 4:1-13, pages 61 and 63 of The Daily Reader, pages 37 and 40 of The Mystery of Christ.
Join the Lord in his desert experience.
Blessings,
Fr. Carl
