Anyone practice Centering Prayer?

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GospelOfMatthew

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Does anyone practice Centering Prayer? A parish I frequent does and I have considered incorporating it into my spiritual life. I have heard good things about it but have also heard bad things. Anyone have experience?

I do Lectio Divina once a week during the year.
 
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Our diocesan cathedral hosted a lecture about Centering Prayer and Lecto Divina back around 2003? 2004? I don’t remember much about the actual content-- but during the Q&A, I did like one thing they addressed, which I’d always had problems with.

Anyhow, when you pray, you’ve got part of your mind focused on words/reading, and focused on the thoughts behind the words, and a part of your mind thinking about the intentions you might be praying for, and another part of your mind over on God… but there’s still somehow enough of your mind left over to be thinking about your shopping list, or what to make for dinner, or whatever. 🙂

Since Centering Prayer is more akin to meditation and has a much narrower(?) focus, it’s easier to get distracted. So the advice they gave was to imagine that you’re lying on the bottom of a river, and watching the boats pass over your head. The boats are your distracting thoughts. You see them pass by, but you let them go, with the current… you don’t actually get on the boat or hold onto it.

So, that was kind of cool and useful.
 
GospelOfMatthew said:
Does anyone practice Centering Prayer?
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I do, and find it very useful to help me concentrate. I have a job that is very hectic and requires thinking feverishly about many things at the same time, and Centering Prayer helps me focus without getting distracted. I highly recommend it if you are having problems concentrating and focusing.
 
GospelOfMatthew said:
Is this best done in a Church or in one’s home?
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I think you should speak with your spiritual director or paster before starting centering prayer. There are many who believe that it is not a proper Catholic form a prayer, as it has nothingness as the focus rather than God. I don’t know/understand the details, but there are other forms of contemplation that are not as controversial.
 
It seems like it would pair very nicely with Adoration. But if you’re not in a place where you can do that, a lot depends on where you can find your peace and quiet. A mom-of-five is going to have a different ability to find the ability to focus than a single guy with no dependents. 🙂
 
GospelOfMatthew said:
Is this best done in a Church or in one’s home?
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You could do it anywhere, although when you are learning it, it is best to find a quiet, neutral place. Practicing it a dim room with a single candle helped me a lot, but now I can do it even in noisy places with lots of activity going on. It’s a matter of practice, and experience with what works best for you.
 
GospelOfMatthew said:
Does anyone practice Centering Prayer? A parish I frequent does and I have considered incorporating it into my spiritual life. I have heard good things about it but have also heard bad things. Anyone have experience?
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I just heard Patrick Madrid take a call on this very topic and he does not recommend it. It was from his Patrick Madrid radio show

Very interesting, give it a listen. I believe it starts about 36:15 and runs til 39:30.
 
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That’s true, but I don’t see how that would make it any less reliable. Maybe the article means centering prayer in a different sense.
GospelOfMatthew said:
Could the Jesus Prayer be considered Centering Prayer?
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This was covered in the article:
In short, true prayer goes to God from the center of one’s being, not in the center of one’s being. In authentic contemplation, our faculties are brought to God, not disengaged as they are in TM. Christianity seeks to redeem and restore man and the world in Christ. To seek escape from rather than to redeem the world is to set oneself against the mission of Christ. That is why even the Jesus Prayer and the rosary (often cited as Christian “mantras”) are deeply charged with basic Christian theological content; they are used to relate in an interactive and personal way to the Lord and to the Virgin Mary. For a similar reason, Catholic spiritual writers consistently insist a person must have a moral life and spiritual maturity before entering upon a life dedicated to contemplation. A person who seeks contemplation must first steep his mind in the word of God, conform his behavior to the moral law, submit his body to the spirit by asceticism, subjugate his will in humility to the will of God, and take on a heart given over to the love of God and neighbor. These means are incarnational and redemptive .
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I wasn’t a CAF member at the time (I’m fairly new). But I can see why that was the case.
 
As an alternative, I highly suggest Fr Phillipe’s book “Time For God”. It is about contemplative prayer.
 
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