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Centering Prayer Intensive, Post-Intensive, and Advanced Study Retreats
at St. Benedict’s Monastery, Snowmass Colorado
Contemplative Outreach of Colorado sponsors and staffs 8, 10 and 12 day intensive retreats using the guidelines developed by Fr. Thomas Keating, OCSO, one of the founding luminaries in the reintroduction of contemplative prayer practices. Centering Prayer is a method designed to facilitate the development of Contemplative Prayer by preparing our faculties to receive this gift. It is an attempt to present the teaching of earlier times in an updated form. Centering Prayer is not meant to replace other kinds of prayer; rather it casts a new light and depth of meaning on them. It is at the same time a relationship with God and a discipline to foster that relationship. This method of prayer is a movement beyond conversation with Christ to communion with Him.
Paul Ilecki is a member of the staff that serves these retreats. He is normally on staff in January, March (Amarillo, TX) and June.
Meditation
And
Centering Prayer Retreats
Paul Ilecki is available to lead retreats in the contemplative tradition for many audiences. Among his most recent retreats developed for religious and non-religious audiences is:
Faces of Jesus
The human face (your face, my face) is, itself, an icon of the divine, just as the face of Jesus is
an icon of Infinite God. During this retreat, we explored the richness of the human visage as a
metaphor to meet the Immanent and Transcendent God by focusing on various aspects of the
face of Jesus. Using scripture and our life stories, we will pray within aspects of Jesus life and
ministry to open ourselves to visions of the Jesus within us and Jesus in others.
Peace and the Divine Indwelling
If one believes that true peace begins with individuals knowing peace, then this retreat explores how peace is experienced within the individual. We start by looking at how individuals experience non-separation from God through contemplative practice. It is within this deep inner knowing that peace opens up like an inner place, and from that place, peace is radiated into relationships, communities, and out into the world.
The Spiritual Journey and the Illusion of Progress
One of the great pitfalls for the spiritual pilgrim is to remain attached to the False Self (the I, the Ego, me, etc.) by innocently holding on to the notion that we progress in spiritual matters in ways that we can monitor and detect. Normally, all this monitoring does is give us a more “sanctified” version of that which we are trying to let go of, namely the False Self. Can we remain on the spiritual journey without making note of progress or success? Are we looking for mere change in our present condition or transformation into Christ?
Use the Contact US page to discuss how Paul can help you design and serve a retreat for your group.
Paul is also available for a limited number of individual retreat experiences in his home in rural Colorado.