Excerpts from an eco-spirituality retreat given in Assisi, Italy, by Richard Rohr, OFM In 2009, Fr. Richard led a retreat where deep reflection on Scripture was blended with walks in the countryside of St. Francis.

2 CDs  £10.00  

 In his teaching at the religious Congress in Anaheim, California, Father Richard Rohr shows us that the essential messages of both the Gospels and the letters of Paul lead us to see God's reality in a new way and to think with a " different mind ".

This gift of immense grace allows us to love God's creation and one another as a fruit of reconciliation.

Father Richard's teaching at Norwich Cathedral.  In January 2008 Father Richard taught in Norwich Cathedral.   Julian of Norwich is a great inspiration for Richard.   Julian was a woman of great spiritual maturity , her experience of divine union is an example of how the life of faith and prayer can  expand our experience and understanding of Reality, Humanity and Divinity.

 

 

Richard suggests that a beginner’s mind is crucial for correct understanding of religion.

Ignorance does not result from what we don’t know but from what we think we do know. Great spiritual teachers balance knowing with now knowing – and know that they don’t know.   Being willing not to know, because God knows, is a great gift.

The Biblical vision consistently teaches that the truth is more likley found at the edges and the bottom of society, while Institutional theology has larely been written by people at the top and the centre.

Father Richard explains how this change in perspective has distorted our hearing of the scriptures and our understanding of what Jesus is saying at every turn in Christian history.

Fr. Richard met with participants of a recent Center for Action and Contemplation 9-day internship program to respond to their questions and to give a succinct teaching on the meaning and importance of contemplation in our everyday lives. This session was sent worldwide on a special simultaneous webcast.

Some of the topics brought up in the question period include such themes as listed:

• Why is it so difficult to be fully present?

Teaching from Richards visit to Dublin in 2008.   Richard was talking to the directors of Reatreat Houses and Houses of Prayer .  This set would be a great help to anyone trying to help other find and develop a prayer practice. 

One cannot really look at life and society from an egoless position except throught the lens of prayer,   particularly the emptying form of prayer that we call contemplation. 

Father Richard gives an overview of both the theology and practice of what he calls " the contemplative stance toward life."

In this webcast, November 2008, Richard offers a wide view of what is being called the Emerging Church.  1. In recent years there is honest, broad, ecumenical Jesus scholarship that is finding a strong consensus emerging about what the Gospel is really about;

2. There is evidence of advancement in human consciousness, an emerging contemplative, non-dualistic mind, that allows the whole field of reality to teach us;

 In March 2009, a large group of followers of Jesus, people from a wide range of denominational traditions, met to share experiences and to learn from each other. The inspirational theme revolved around the strong feeling that something new was emerging. Even though no one knows exactly what this emergence is or where it is taking us, the wind of the Spirit is moving through many faith communities.