News From New Mexico

A monthly newsletter from the Center for Action and Contemplation

Join James Finley for a Virtual Retreat Dec. 8–11, 2022 

In an age of instant responses, how do we consciously integrate depth and dimension into our lives?

Join us for the Turning to the Mystics Virtual Retreat, a new interactive journey into contemplative wisdom with James Finley, Ph.D., CAC faculty member and host of Turning to the Mystics podcast. Over the course of four days, learn to integrate mystical wisdom and contemplative practices into your daily life from the sacred space of your own home.  

Turning to the Mystics Virtual Retreat 

Thursday, Dec. 8 – Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022  
Featuring James Finley  
Presented by the Center for Action and Contemplation 

Live sessions will be recorded so event participants can access replay videos. Space is limited to provide an intimate online experience. Register today for the Turning to the Mystics Virtual Retreat! 

Explore the Power of Nonviolence in the Fall Issue of ONEING   

Peacemaking is being able to recognize in the face of the oppressed our own face, and in the hands of the oppressors our own hands. —Shane Claiborne, ONEING: Nonviolence 

How do we recover from our addiction to violence? The fall issue of CAC’s biannual journal, ONEING: Nonviolence features essays, poems, and reflections from peacemakers, poets, and spiritual leaders who offer their thoughts on nonviolence—not only as a strategy for resolving conflict but as a way of life. Journey deeper into what it means to embody loving action in every aspect of our lives in this powerful new issue of ONEING.  

Renowned for its diverse and deep exploration of mysticism and culture, ONEING is grounded in Richard Rohr’s teachings and wisdom lineage. Each issue of ONEING features a themed collection of thoughtfully curated essays and critical perspectives from spiritual teachers, activists, modern mystics, and prophets of all religions.  

Order your copy of ONEING: Nonviolence in print or digital download. 

Find Joy in Making Ready with Richard Rohr’s Preparing for Christmas  

Have you started preparing your heart and home for Christmas? Embrace the spiritual grounding of this sacred season with Richard Rohr’s Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent. Designed to accompany you through each day of the Advent season, this beloved classic offers Scriptural references with reflections by Fr. Richard. Brimming with joyful awareness and insight, this book invites readers to "make your entire life, and the life of the church, one huge advent."  

Order your copy of Preparing for Christmas today. 

Enrollment Begins Nov. 30 for Breathing Under Water 

As humans, we are all addicted to our way of thinking. A regular practice of contemplative prayer is the oil that greases the wheels of transformation. —Richard Rohr  

Which attachments are you ready to let go? In our online course Breathing Under Water, Fr. Richard Rohr teaches letting go of egoic attachments and stepping into freedom and wholeness. If you yearn to surrender more deeply to a Higher Power, join us in this powerful 15-week online course studying The Twelve Steps through the themes and wisdom of Richard Rohr’s book of the same name. Mark your calendars; registration opens on Nov. 30, 2022!
 

Learning Objectives 

• Integrate The Twelve Steps into daily life through reading, reflection, and engagement with Fr. Richard's book, Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps.  
• Deepen personal awareness of “stinking thinking” as a universal addiction and explore its consequences (e.g., codependency and dualistic thinking).  
• Develop a contemplative practice to grow alternative consciousness, which provides the only freedom from the dominant ego self and from cultural falsities.  
• Connect and learn with other spiritual seekers.  

Learn more about Breathing Under Water.
Time commitment: 2–4 hours per week 
Registration: November 30, 2022 – January 11, 2023 
Course begins: January 18, 2023 

Registration Opens Dec. 14 for Interior Castle

Teresa [of Ávila] models the balance between action and contemplation—serving others and developing an interior life, engaging in relationships and surrendering to mystery. —Mirabai Starr  

What makes you fall in love with God? Mystical scholars James Finley and Mirabai Starr teach that contemplative practice can help turn spiritual insights into embodied wisdom. In their 8-week online course, Interior Castle, they unpack wisdom from Christian mystic Teresa of Ávila, who invites us to see God in all things, to find hope and love even amidst suffering. Mark your calendars; registration opens on Dec. 14, 2022!
 

Learning Objectives  

• Experience Teresa of Ávila’s Interior Castle as an embodied pathway of union with God.  
• Deepen awareness of the “inner witness” through life experiences and contemplative practice.  
• Be inspired to see God in all things, to find hope and love even amidst suffering.  
• Connect and learn with other spiritual seekers.  

Learn more about Interior Castle.  
Time commitment: 2–4 hours a week 
Registration: December 14, 2022 – January 24, 2023 
Course begins: January 25, 2023 

Glimpsing our Shared Humanity and Divinity in The Cosmic We Season 3

Let’s talk about what it really means to be a cosmic being — Season 3 of The Cosmic We podcast is streaming now!  

Join hosts Dr. Barbara Holmes and Dr. Donald Bryant for Season 3 of The Cosmic We to explore diverse interpretations of mystical wisdom with some of today’s most profound contemplative teachers like Fr. Richard Rohr, Dr. Rachel Harding, Brian McLaren, Dr. Frank Thomas, and more.   

The Cosmic We podcast goes beyond race and racism to consider relatedness as the organizing principle of the universe, exploring our shared cosmic origins though a cultural lens that fuses science, mysticism, spirituality, and the creative arts.  

Subscribe to The Cosmic We through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or listen on our website. 

Carrying Richard Rohr’s Work Forward: CAC Founder Richard Rohr is stepping back from active duties and will transition to the role of Core Faculty Emeritus 

This decades-old photo of Fr. Richard Rohr praying comes from the CAC archives.

On October 20, 2022, the Center for Action and Contemplation’s Executive Director, Michael Poffenberger made the announcement that CAC’s founder, Fr. Richard Rohr, will be formally transitioning from his role as a CAC faculty member to faculty emeritus, writing: 

At this stage in his life, Richard’s desire is to create space for the rest of us to step in and carry his work forward into the future. For several years, he has been engaged with CAC leadership in a gradual process of stepping back from public life. He has significantly reduced his speaking, travel, and day-to-day involvement in programming, and inviting other members of our staff and faculty to assume new responsibilities. 

We look forward to sharing more with our community in the coming months about how our programs and faculty will continue to grow and evolve. In the meantime, we offer Fr. Richard a hands-on-heart bow of gratitude for inspiring all of us with this vision and giving us the tools and courage to keep working toward it, as one. 

Read Michael Poffenberger’s full statement—including a message of gratitude from Fr. Richard Rohr.