From Pamela Begeman's presentation at the 2019 MN Contemplative Outreach Fall Retreat
"Since [Centering Prayer] is not only pleasant, but also purifying, do not be surprised by the ups and downs of our subjective experience and just accept what happens. This is when you truly consent in practice. You are giving away any control whatsoever over the results of what you are doing. It is allowing that consent to be purified by the Spirit, who will send into your life inwardly and outwardly the people, teaching, or trials that you need. The bottom line … is to place all our trust in God and in [God's] determination to bring this about because of [God's] immense, gratuitous love for us."
~ Thomas Keating, God is Love: The Heart of All Creation
"Since [Centering Prayer] is not only pleasant, but also purifying, do not be surprised by the ups and downs of our subjective experience and just accept what happens. This is when you truly consent in practice. You are giving away any control whatsoever over the results of what you are doing. It is allowing that consent to be purified by the Spirit, who will send into your life inwardly and outwardly the people, teaching, or trials that you need. The bottom line … is to place all our trust in God and in [God's] determination to bring this about because of [God's] immense, gratuitous love for us."
~ Thomas Keating, God is Love: The Heart of All Creation
"Amid our marketplaces and crowded streets, our subways and skyscrapers, it is the vocation of the contemplative to embody a 'single great prayer' in order that they might season every hour with the salt of faith and shine on every person the light of love: that in every situation they may knead the leaven of hope, and in every place sow the seeds of joy. For the contemplative in the world, spiritual maturity is not measured by ever-extending periods of meditation but by an ever-expanding heart of compassion. There is no need or desire for attention-grabbing spiritual feats, mystical fanfare, or grandiose epiphanies. There is only the sacrament of the present moment – the hidden, imperceptible, but endless ways in which they are present to God and God to them. The demands of daily life become a school of holiness where the contemplative is led to the patient realization that they are extensions of the very Christ who walked the ancient streets of Jerusalem and who even now walks in our midst as neighbor, friend, stranger, and enemy."
~ Vincent Pizzuto, Contemplating Christ: The Gospels and the Interior Life
Questions for reflection:
~ Vincent Pizzuto, Contemplating Christ: The Gospels and the Interior Life
Questions for reflection:
- Vincent Pizzuto suggests that we have a vocation as contemplatives, and that spiritual maturity is measured by an ever-expanding heart of compassion. Ponder and visualize how in the coming months you will live out your vocation as a contemplative.
- How can the fourth consent become a daily practice in your life?
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