September – December 2025
I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. (Ezekiel 36:26)
Course Description
"Contemplative life begins when we first step into the silence of our heart. It's a pilgrimage—a journey that takes us first to the inner reaches of who we really are, and from there, into the life we were meant to live."
Julie Saad, Contemplative Life: Discovering Our Path into the Heart of God
This four-month long online course is experiential, guiding participants to deepen their experience of the abiding presence of God by cultivating their contemplative capacities. Participants will learn and integrate contemplative spiritual practices into daily life within a community of seekers through monthly meetings, a weekly online prayer chapel, personal practices, and monthly Holy Listening Circles (group spiritual direction.)
Contemplative practices are the doorway into the gift of contemplative prayer, where the journey that begins in the silence of our hearts leads us into the heart of God. As we cultivate contemplative practices in ordinary daily life, we begin to experience oneness with God and all creation.
Course Objectives
- To establish a daily practice of Centering Prayer
- To integrate contemplative spiritual practices into daily life
- To cultivate contemplative attitudes and disposition
- To foster contemplative listening that comes from a listening heart, rather than from the ego or mind
Click here to read more about the design of Contemplative Living I: Contemplative Practices in Daily Life
Learning, cultivating, and integrating into daily life the contemplative practices of
- Centering Prayer - a silent Christian contemplative (meditation) practice
- Logging - a form of expressive writing designed to help you understand and deal with thoughts, memories, worries, commentaries, and afflictive emotions and the resulting behaviors
- Spiritual Reading - using a spiritual book, reading for formation rather than information, listening for how God is speaking to you in the passage
- The Active Prayer - a prayerful phrase or sentence that you create or take from Scripture or another meaningful reading and repeat throughout your day
- Lectio Divinia - praying with Scripture, allowing the meaning of the text and the experience of God to deepen
- The Welcoming Prayer - welcoming God into whatever you are experiencing in daily life—thoughts, emotions, body sensations, commentaries
- Restin in God and Sabbath-keeping - resting is the state of interior silence you experience in daily life through contemplative prayer. Sabbath-keeping awakens you to this inner state
- Holy Listening - cultivating receptivity to attune to your inner wisdom, to God, and to the movement of the Divine in others
Location
Online
Facilitator
Julie Saad
Julie Saad is a spiritual director, author, teacher and retreat leader. Since 1994 she has been a student of Thomas Keating (1923-2018), a Trappist monk who was a found member and spiritual guide for Contemplative Outreach. Julie has served Contemplative Outreach as coordinator of the Denver Chapter, facilitator of spiritual journey courses and retreats, member of the Governing Board, and coordinator of the Contemplative Living Experience Program. She has been practicing and teaching Centering Prayer and other contemplative practices for over 25 years. She recently published the book Contemplative Life: Discovering Our Path into the Heart of God, a guidebook to spiritual formation in the Christian contemplative tradition based on the teaching of Thomas Keating.
Schedule
Contemplative Living I consists of four monthly synchronous teachings and practices, with individual and group devotion between montly sessions.
- Monthly synchronous sessions lasting six hours each. Sessions will meet from 9:00 AM ET to 3:00 PM ET on the following Saturdays:
- September 20
- October 18
- November 15
- December 13
- Monthly Holy Listening Circles (Group Spiritual Direction): The first Monday after the monthly group sessions from 7:00-9:00 PM ET.
- Weekly Prayer Chapel: Monday evenings from 7:00-8:00 PM ET.
Program Fee
$725, which includes a nonrefundable $150 deposit. All balances are due September 5, 2025. Cancelations must be received before September 5, 2025, to receive a refund of the program fee minus the deposit.
Course Reading
Required Reading
- Contemplative Life: Discovering Our Path into the Heart of God by Julie Saad
- Into the Silent Land by Martin Laird
Recommended Reading
- Open Mind, Open Heart by Thomas Keating
- Invitation to Love by Thomas Keating
- Too Deep for Words by Thelma Hall
Additional Information
Prerequisite: Having completed Introduction to Contemplative Spirituality course offered by the Center for Lifelong Learning, the Spiritual Journey series, or having a regular pratice of Centering Prayer.
Requirement for Credit: Holy Listening and monthly sessions are required. One excused absence is permitted with a reflection paper. Weekly chapel is highly recommended. Monthly writing assignments and a final paper are also required for credit.
Participants must be comfortable using technology, as this course is hosted online though the course site (Moodle) and Zoom meetings.
Registration will close two weeks prior to September 20, 2025, or when registration has reached maximum capacity. Day-of registrations are not permitted.
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