- This event has passed.
Centering Prayer Weekend Retreat
September 6, 2019 @ 8:00 am - September 9, 2019 @ 5:00 pm
A Weekend Centering Prayer Retreat for Women and Men
with Fr. Bill Sheehan, OMI
September 6 – 8, 2019
Friday, 5:00 p.m. – Sunday, 1:30 p.m.
Fr. Bill Sheehan, OMI has been deeply committed to Contemplative Outreach since it was founded in 1983 by Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO. For more than three decades he has led centering prayer workshops and retreats throughout the United States and abroad. He has a rich background as a pastor, director of ministry to priests, novice director, director of formation, provincial, and director of the Oblate House of Theology. Among teachers of the faith journey and presence of the divine indwelling, few deserve the title “master teacher” as does Fr. Bill. He offers a weekend of rest and renewal, through spiritual enrichment and the communal sharing of silence with the Divine. Father Bill lives in the St. Eugene House Oblate Residence in Lowell, Massachusetts.
The method of Centering Prayer is both a relationship with God and a practice to foster that relationship.
The Gospel of Matthew expresses God’s desire for our happiness with Jesus’ call for us to go into our inner room, close the door and pray to our Father in secret Yet, as Fr. Bill reminds us, the greatest obstacle to our spiritual journey is to pray as if we are separated from God. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is this intimacy and tenderness that God offers us, as St. Augustine declared, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
The human ego longs for a compassionate gaze. With the practice of silence, we can become gradually loosened from the exaggerated ego demands that distract us from the trust and faith in the Divine Indwelling. We are all one with God—it is our common ground, our interconnectedness with each other and all of creation. God is love and when we pray, we open ourselves to feel that love. Join us as we gather for a weekend free of distractions to enjoy the gift of silent presence with God who made you and loves you beyond imagination.
More details available from philstone@cox.net.
