April, 2023

As I write this the wind is howling outside. It is Spring in New Mexico. The desert winds speak of death and resurrection. It is Holy Week, the time that we journey with Christ through his suffering and death and finally resurrection. Passover and Holy Thursday have the same date this year. Jesus the Christ being a Galilean Jew shared the Passover meal with his friends the night before he died. 

The Priest who spoke on Palm Sunday in my home town shared that Jesus accepted his suffering in silence, the language of God as identified by St. John of the Cross. She suggested that we take time for silence, for stillness this Holy Week so that we may hear what God is saying to us. 

St. John wrote “It is best to learn to silence the faculties and cause them to be still, so that God may speak.” Sounds like Centering Prayer, yes?

It is the season of new life. The snows are melting, the birds are singing, the desert lizards are coming out of their Winter homes. The Cranes have left for the northern realms. The Cottonwood trees along the Rio Grande river are tinged with green. 

Many in our Contemplative Outreach community have attended Centering Prayer retreats at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, the home to Father Thomas Keating for a number of years. We have heard the sad news that the Monastery will be closing their retreat facilities in June of this year. The Monks there are in the process of discernment as to where to continue to live their Monastic lives. A time of sadness but also a time of transformation, a journey to new life. Let us pray for our brothers at St. Benedict’s.

So what is happening at Contemplative Outreach NM? As we search for new places to hold Centering Prayer retreats we continue to deepen our prayer through our weekly zoom gatherings and through Centering Prayer groups around the state. We will hold a morning of Centering Prayer over Zoom on April 29, 2023. Our next in person gathering will be May 20, 2023 at the Norbertine Abbey in Albuquerque. This will be a Day of Centering Prayer led by members of our CONM team. (See events page)

Donations to CONM are always welcome and assist us with operating expenses. Our website will soon be upgraded and will take on a new look. 

Donations by check or money order may be sent to:

CONM

606 Vista Este NE

Rio Rancho, NM, 87124

Many blessings to you and yours, 

Denise Tierney – Chapter Coordinator