Please note: The Living Flame program is continuing online during this period of social distancing. If you are enrolled and need information or assistance, please contact Phil Jackson – jaxon900@aol.com.
O living flame of love that tenderly wounds my soul in its deepest center!
– John of the Cross
This Extraordinary National Program Starts October 12
The Living Flame Program was last offered here in Chicago more than ten years ago. The program has been updated and re-designed by Father Thomas Keating and the national circle of service in recent years. It includes seven full-day offerings of in-depth spiritual study presented over a seven month period by commissioned presenters from the various Contemplative Outreach Service Teams.
Designed to teach the vital conceptual background needed to support a faithful practice of Centering Prayer, the program also offers encouragement and support in a small community setting, heightens the awareness of the purification process, helps discern when psychological skills can be helpful tools, and provides the opportunity to give and receive spiritual companionship.
All Living Flame workshops will take place on Saturdays at Mary Seat of Wisdom Church in Park Ridge. Specific dates are:
In 2019
October 12 Deepening Our Centering Prayer Practice
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- Exploring the sacred symbols (word, breath, glance)
- Active/Breath Prayer
- Minute Book
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November 9 Lectio Divina
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- Scholastic method
- Christian prayer rooted in Scripture
- Relationship
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December 7 The Human Condition
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- True self/false self
- Emotional programs for happiness
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In 2020
February 1 Divine Therapy
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- Understanding the spiral staircase
- The healing process initiated by Centering Prayer
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March 7 The Dark Night of Sense
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- Signs/Temptations
- Mourning
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March 28 The Welcoming Prayer Practice
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- Consent on the go
- Mary and Martha
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April 18 The Discernment Practice
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- Advantages/disadvantages
- Refining our question
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Living Flame Workshop Facilitators
Kathy Di Fede (Deepening Our Centering Prayer Practice)
Kathy has been practicing Centering Prayer for 28 years. She was trained in 1997 as a Prayer Group Facilitator and Facilitator of the six continuing sessions for the Introductory Workshop. In 2000 she attended the Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. Formation for Contemplative Outreach Service and became a Commissioned Presenter for the Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop. Kathy was also part of the COSD leadership team from 2000 – 2002.
From 2002 to 2008 she lived in Pennsylvania and became involved there with Contemplative Outreach as a contact person for the Southeastern Pennsylvania area and continued giving Introductory Workshops. While on the East Coast she also attended Coordinator/Servant Leadership Training with Contemplative Outreach. Kathy returned to San Diego in 2008. From 2009 to 2018 she was the Coordinator of Contemplative Outreach of San Diego. Kathy is also a spiritual director with a Certificate in the Art of Spiritual Direction from Loyola Marymount University and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange in California.
Kathy is married, has five children and four grandchildren and is active in the music ministry at her church.
Fr. John Mark Ettensohn, OMI (Lectio Divina)
Fr. John Mark Ettensohn, OMI has been a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate for thirty-three years. Ordained in 1989, he has served in ministry as a pastor, retreat/renewal preaching team member and director, spiritual director, writer/producer/director in television for Oblate Media Productions, and Director of Christ the King Retreat Center in Buffalo, Minnesota. Fr. John Mark has preached parish missions or given retreats in twenty-two states and Canada. In addition, he is a commissioned presenter for Contemplative Outreach and has given retreats to both Indiana and St. Louis Contemplative Outreach groups. He has been praying contemplatively since 1982.
Fr. John Mark’s education has included a Bachelor of Science degree in English and World History, a Masters in Telecommunications, and a Master of Divinity Degree with emphasis in Word and Worship from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. After finishing his work as a member of the Mission with Secularity ministry, (an effort to better determine how to be effective missionaries in a secular culture that the Oblates inaugurated in Indianapolis) he has been preaching parish missions and giving retreats full time around the United States and Canada.
Jenny Adamson (The Human Condition & The Welcoming Prayer Practice)
Jenny Adamson has practiced Centering Prayer since 2000 and served as a prayer group facilitator and a chapter coordinator in Iowa. She has been part of the 12-Step Outreach Leadership team since 2005 and she has served on the Presenter Formation Service team for the last four years. She has served retreats in the Midwest, at Snowmass, in Ireland and in Iceland. She and her husband John live in Carbondale, Colorado near Snowmass where she is now the contact person for the Roaring Fork Valley. She also serves on the Board of Contemplative Outreach.
Susan Komis (Divine Therapy)
Susan Komis has served Contemplative Outreach since 1990. She began as a volunteer for the St. Louis, Missouri Chapter. Appointed as Coordinator for the St. Louis, Missouri region in 1994, she served in that capacity through 1999 and is still involved with Contemplative Outreach of St. Louis as a commissioned presenter.
Susan was Director of Chapter Programs & Services (CPS) to support Coordinators and Contact Persons within Contemplative Outreach until her retirement in 2017. She continues to present for Living Flame and offers programs for leadership enrichment and chapter development throughout the Contemplative Outreach community.
Susan is a certified Pastoral Minister in the Archdiocese of St. Louis and has worked in Adult Faith Development and various other ministries including spiritual direction and interspiritual dialogue. Susan is married, mother of four daughters, and grandmother of eleven! She currently resides in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri.
Therese Saulnier (Dark Night of the Sense)
Therese M. Saulnier has been praying Centering Prayer for over 25 years. She has been teaching Centering Prayer and other contemplative prayer practices for over 20 years. Therese presents workshops in Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, the Welcoming Prayer Practice, the Forgiveness Prayer and other contemplative practices. Therese has been coordinator of Contemplative Outreach activities forNew Jersey for over 20 years. Therese holds a Master of Arts degree in Theology, with a concentration in spirituality, from Fordham University. She is a web developer for a major corporation. As a contemplative in everyday life, Therese offers a practical perspective and practical advice in living a contemplative life in 21st century Americaa. Therese lives in Bayonne, NJ which is half way between the Statue of Liberty and Newark Airport.
Maureen Hanley (The Discernment Practice)
Maureen has been practicing centering prayer since 2000. She has attended the nine month course on the Contemplative Practices taught by Cathy McCarthy of Contemplative Outreach of Orange County, New York. She has been a commissioned Centering Prayer presenter for a number of years in New Jersey and last year presented in Denmark. Since 2004 she has facilitated a weekly Centering prayer group which includes Lectio Divina.
Maureen has also attended Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault’s Wisdom School 1 and 2 sponsored by Cathy McCarthy and has participated in 10-day centering prayer retreats yearly, again sponsored by Cathy McCarthy.
Maureen is the mother of four children and grandmother of six and a Eucharist minister at her church. After retiring in 2006 from UPS after 26 years in their IT department, Maureen began volunteering at East Jersey State Prison, where she and a friend are teaching two, 13 week classes a year, in a program called Houses of Healing, designed specifically for prisoners.
How to Register
NOTE: It is recommended that all participants have an active Centering Prayer practice for at least six months prior to taking these workshops.
Please note: The Living Flame program is fully booked and registration is closed. The program is continuing online during this period of social distancing. If you are enrolled and need information or assistance, please contact Phil Jackson – jaxon900@aol.com.
QUESTIONS? Please email get.info@centeringprayerchicago.org