Fr. Carl Arico Recordings

Fr. Carl Arico Recordings

Fr. Carl J. Arico is a founding member of Contemplative Outreach, and honored to have known Fr. Keating since 1969.  He was present for the first intensive Centering Prayer retreat that Fr. Keating offered in 1983.  Fr. Arico has been an integral part of the evolution of Contemplative Outreach from a wish to the organism it is today. “The growth that has taken place in Contemplative Outreach,” he observes, “is a miracle of God’s grace and the power of prayer.”  He has traveled extensively in the United States and internationally to present workshops and lead retreats.  He is the author of A Taste Of Silence on the fundamentals of Centering Prayer, and is well known within the Contemplative Outreach community for the Q&A with Fr. Carl Arico that is featured the monthly Contemplative Outreach e-bulletins.  A number of his talks are freely available here as audio and video recordings.  Other talks on video can be found on YouTube by searching for him by name.

In Part 1, LJ Milone, an author and director of faith formation, leads the conferences “Prayer as Relationship” and “The Method of Centering Prayer – The Prayer of Consent.” There is also a Q&A with Fr. Carl and a pause for a Centering Prayer session. In Part 2, Fr. Carl leads the conferences “Thoughts and the Use of the Sacred Word” and “Deepening Our Relationship with God,” along with more Q&A and another pause for Centering Prayer. This Zoom workshop was sponsored by Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington (COMW) on July 18, 2020.

Fr. Arico, with great joy and humor, reflects on his 50-year relationship with his friend and spiritual father, Abbot Thomas Keating. Thanks to Contemplative Outreach Philippines for providing this recording on the third anniversary of Fr. Keating’s death October 25, 2021.

Fr. Arico offers reflections on service as an activity of a person’s spiritual life.  They can best be summarized in this prayer of Mother Teresa:  “The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.”  Also, Fr. Carl discusses questions from Ruth Hofmann that may be of special interest to those serving in local Contemplative Outreach chapters.

  • Peace in Our Times – A Contemplative Means of Finding Security in an Uncertain World

Presented 10/18/02, one year after 9/11 at St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City, this talk is an attempt to gather the pieces of what we experienced in an attempt to see the larger picture.

Two presentations explore the power of forgiveness in all its dimensions leading to our own self-preservation and the freedom of those around us.  Recorded Jan. 19-20, 2009 in Austin, TX.

Divine compassion is the lifestyle of a person of forgiveness.  To help us become that compassionate person, these talks explore the wisdom of Henri Nouwen and The Return of the Prodigal Son as painted by Rembrandt.  Recorded Feb. 21, 2009 in Greensburg, PA.

These talks are the fruit of a 10-day intensive retreat in Oviedo, FL.  After the retreat, Fr. Arico became aware that the Holy Spirit, through the Scriptures, had revealed marvelous pieces of a mosaic that showed what ‘Putting on the mind of Christ’ was all about in a contemporary setting.

In July of 2019 Fr. Arico was interviewed in Seattle, Washington by Challenge 2.0’, hosted by Jeff Renner, who also serves as coordinator for the Contemplative Outreach Puget Sound North chapter.   In Part One, Fr. Arico explains how the common declaration “I’m spiritual but not religious” can be an opportunity for dialogue and growth for both individuals and religious institutions.  Faith is a search on all levels of awareness, a challenge to become open to the gift of contemplation.

In Part Two, levels of relationship with God are discussed which involve the dance between reason and mystery.  Centering Prayer opens us up to the rest of the story of prayer.   We are more than our role in life, and need to make friends with the process of dying.  Through such awareness we can make a difference by our presence and actions.

We spend much time looking at what needs to be healed and forgiven, and rightly so, but in Part 1 of this video series Fr. Carl leads us in a time of celebrating our lives.  Through silence and praying the scripture (Lectio Divina), we explore a significant event in our life that moves us to exclaim “Wow, thank you, God!”  In Part 2, he discusses four essential elements on our spiritual journey:  the human condition, prayer, graces, and the manifestation of God.  Fr. Arico gave this presentation in Portland, Oregon on July 24, 2019.

In these videos from a presentation Fr. Arico gave at a retreat in Portland, Oregon on July 25, 2019, he discusses levels of awareness, including the Divine Presence; what it means to consent to God’s presence and action; the levels of prayer; the gift of Centering Prayer and trust; consenting to one’s death and the death of loved ones; and four elements involved with the power of living our lives with fidelity; among other things such as, with good humor at the age of 84, what it really means to go downhill.

Fr. Arico reflects on Fr. Thomas Keating’s statement, “God’s first language is silence.  Everything else is a poor translation.”  He discusses the meaning of “let us pray,” four levels of fidelity, the quality of our consent, and the four guidelines of Centering Prayer as a way of Life.  In a Q & A session, he discusses ten areas of interest.  From a retreat conference November 2, 2019 in Charlotte, NC sponsored by Contemplative Outreach of Piedmont NC.

These two audio recordings are a primer on Lectio Divina. They gently introduce a seeker to the wisdom of this ancient tradition of praying the scriptures. Listeners will hear the history of Lectio Divina, the 4 steps and moments, the spiritual implication of each of these steps and moments, the how to, and the ultimate stage of becoming the Word. The relationship between Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer is discussed. Recorded June 2007 in Austin, Texas.

  • Centering Prayer: A Way of Life

For over 25 years, Fr. Carl has pondered the wisdom contained in each of the four guidelines for the Centering Prayer practice. In this five-part video series, he discusses each of them in terms of the power of words, the power of consent, the teachings of John of the Cross, and the power of Scripture through Lectio Divina. Fr. Carl gave these talks during a retreat at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado July 25 & 26, 2014.