An Invitation to Love: The Contemplative Life in a Busy World
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Silence & Prayer (page 1: Open
Heart, Open Mind)
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Welcome and Introductions
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Thomas Keating:
An Invitation to Love
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Confidentiality/Holding each in prayer/Asking for
one’s own healing.
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Discuss monthly questions/website.
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Time of class (
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Any questions?
1. Goal:
The process of interior purification (i.e. transformation) leading to
divine union (if we consent).
2. Contemplative Prayer: The opening of the mind and heart- our whole
being-to God, the Ultimate Mystery, beyond thoughts, words, and emotions. It is an awareness of God’s being or
presence. We open our awareness to God
(whom we know by faith is within us).
God is closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than
choosing, closer than consciousness itself.
The contemplative life is a commitment to God as revealed in
Christ. This commitment addresses the
whole of our being and all our activity, whatever our states of life may
be. A total surrender of ourselves to the spiritual journey is required, not just a
patchwork of exercises that are part of daily life but do not affect the whole
of it or penetrate the various aspects of our lives. We are spiritual beings embraced by a
physical body as compared to a physical body that is simply infused with a
soul.
3.
Methods
of Contemplation: “Resting in God”:
a) Centering
Prayer (see handout #1): A type of
contemplative prayer in which we consent to God’s presence and action within
while sitting in silence for a designated period of time. (Usually 2030 minutes).
b) c) d)
Walking meditation, silence, solitude,
4.
Healing the False Self (see handout #1): The wounded self seeks out programs for
happiness that can never deliver happiness, ultimate truth, and union with God.
We can become our true self, the one who is made in the image of God and who is
capable of immense love, both of God and our neighbor by: a) understanding the
development and actions of the false self, b) practicing contemplative prayer
(esp. centering prayer), and c) letting go of our hurts through the process of
forgiveness, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength,
and love your neighbor as yourself.”
This is unconditional love. What
stops us from loving? Review Appendix I, page 139 (The False Self
in Action and the afflicted emotions)!
5.
Questions
for
a) [pg.
3] Keating claims that one of the biggest
impediments to spiritual growth is that we do not perceive our own hidden
motivations. Discuss. What are the biggest impediments to spiritual
growth in your own life?
b) [pg.
8] Keating says that the human heart is
designed for “unlimited happiness, for limitless truth, and for limitless love-
and nothing less can satisfy.” Do you
agree? How do you deal with your
unfulfilled hunger for happiness and love?
c) [pg.
9] Keating defines the word “repent” in
the following way: “To change the
direction in which you are looking for happiness.” Think about yourself and family. What are the key ways that you and your
family seek happiness? Are they
sustainable in the long run? Which of
the emotional programs for happiness (e.g. survival/security, affection/esteem,
power/control) may be operating?
d) [pg.
22] In Romans 7:16-25,
6. Contemplation:
Exercise for
7. Try this
exercise each day for the next month. If
you do not have a place of silence in your home, simply get to work or to the
supermarket 10-15 minutes early. Then
sit quietly in your car with absolutely no agenda. Consent to God’s presence
and action within. Know that God’s primary
language is silence. Allow the silence
to nourish you.