UPDATED on November 28, 2020
Practice Groups for Centering Prayer September, 2020
Monday (Irondequoit) the former Mercy Center Group has moved to Peace of Christ Roman Catholic Church (St Ambrose) in the chapel, 25 Empire Blvd, Rochester, NY 14609.
This group meets weekly on Mondays from 1:30 to 3:00 pm. The facilitator is Mary Jo Bender: Please call ahead (585) 732-1250 for directions inside the Mercy Center. Alternately, call Terry Mirante H (585) 377-5274 or Cell (585) 200-8007 or email
terrym12@frontier.com for information.
Zoom Link (this is a perpetual meeting link)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82715683293?pwd=M21SVDNubktQYU9YNkg2RDNRNHRpdz09
Meeting ID: 827 1568 3293 Passcode: 417901
(Rochester) St. Monica’s Group in the Chapel at St. Monica’s, 831 Genesee St., Rochester, NY 14611. This group meets Mondays weekly from 5:30 to 6:30 pm. The facilitator is Marilyn Catherine: Please call (585) 328-9369 or email at mcatherine@rochester.rr.com Alternately, call Dorothy Siegel (585) 880-5519 for information or for directions for parking and access to the chapel. Call or email Dorothy kenanddor@yahoo.com for weekly zoom link.
(Fairport) Church of the Assumption, 20 East Avenue, Fairport, NY 14450. This meets Mondays weekly in room #2 of the lower level from 10:00-11:00 am. The facilitator is Terry Mirante, please call H (585) 377-5274 and Cell (585) 200-8007 or email terrym12@frontier.com for information.
Zoom link ___________________________
ID# 470 825 0226 Passcode __________
Tuesday (Spencerport) St John’s Evangelist Church, 55 Martha Street, Spencerport NY 14559 at Martha House across from the church. This group meets Tuesdays 11:00 am-12:30 pm. The facilitator is Tom Agness , please email tomagness22@yahoo.com for general information or how to join the Zoom meeting.
Zoom link ______________________________
ID# _________ Passcode __________
(Rochester) Mercy Spirituality Center, 65 Highland Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620. This group meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesday in the Chapel from 5:30-6:30 pm. The facilitator is Mary Coughtry. Please call (585) 507-6219 or email mcoughtry@frontiernet.net for information. Suggested free will offering per session is $5.00.
Zoom link (this is a perpetual meeting link)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82715683293?pwd=M21SVDNubktQYU9YNkg2RDNRNHRpdz09
Meeting ID: 827 1568 3293 Passcode: 417901
(Auburn) St Mary’s Church basement, 115 Clark St, Auburn , NY 3021. This group meets weekly on Friday at 10:30-11:30. The facilitator is David Lansford. Please call H 315-252-3640 or cell 315-406-8379 or email at cdavid.Lansford@icloud.com for information.
Technical Tips for Joining a Zoom Meeting
1.To join a zoom meeting from an internet capable device just cut and paste the link from this document into the browser address bar and press enter. You may be asked for the zoom meeting ID # and Passcode #
2.Or if you have an email from a group facilitator, simply click on the zoom link highlighted in blue.
3.You may also join zoom meetings by the telephone without internet. In this case you will need to enter a the ID # and Passcode #. You will be able to hear the meeting but not see it. And they will be able to hear you. To mute and unmute your audio press #6 on your phone keypad.
Are you interested in joining a Zoom Group?
1. You can call the group’s facilitator ahead of time that’s wonderful. They can tell you about their group’s format and customs.
2. Please arrive 10 minutes early to the zoom meeting, introduce yourself and be welcomed before the Centering Prayer begins.
3, You may like to give a little background about you experience with Centering Prayer. If you are new to the method you may ask about the 4 guidelines before prayer begins. If you have been doing Centering Prayer all you may need is a review of this group’s format.
Would you like to get our COR_NY Google Groups Email Announcements?
If you are new to our COR_NY groups and would like to be included our Google Email Group to learn about events, new groups, and updates please contact Cheryl McElhatten at silvrfox@rochester.rr.com with your email address. Thank you.
Monday, November 23, 2020Contemplative Outreach of Rochester, NY is a local Chapter of Contemplative Outreach
Father Thomas Keating On Balance
In general, the direction of contemplatives requires some special sensitivities. One of these is a particular alertness to maintaining a balance of inner and outer activities. A purely apophatic prayer may stagnate without some conceptual input through spiritual reading, liturgy, or listening to sermons or lectures that speak to the contemplative person’s state of prayer. There needs to be a balance of intellectual, affective and intuitive elements in prayer. Contemplative prayer frees us from attachment to the use of our faculties in going to God, not from their use. The right use of them disposes us for the gifts of wisdom, understanding and knowledge, which lead to contemplative prayer in the full sense of the term.
From Intimacy With God, p.82
Eight Ideas to Deepen Your Prayer by Dorothy Lindsay
Here are some suggestions for deepening your Centering Prayer:
1. The first step is to firmly establish two twenty -minute sessions everyday. Father Thomas tells us that it takes at least twenty minutes to “settle into the prayer. The first session is for maintenance and the second for deepening your prayer.”
2. Join a Centering Prayer group.
3.When you are ready, slowly increase the amount of time you pray by a few minutes in each session.
4. After you have established your practice, read or reread Open Mind, Open Heart.
5. Later, read or reread Invitation to Love.
6. When you are ready, read Intimacy with God. All three books are by Thomas Keating.
7. Consider attending a “Day for Centering Pray-ers.” You will get an idea of what a Centering Prayer retreat is like, share with others, and have a chance to learn or relearn some basic and ask questions. Check out the Mercy Spirituality Newsletter.
8. Go on a retreat. Retreats are designed to deepen your intimacy with God and to strengthen your practice.
Happy Praying!
contemplativeoutreachrny.com 