The Most Common Criticism of Centering Prayer — and Why It’s a Fallacy

Sigh.

Last night I stumbled across yet another website from a well-meaning, but obviously misinformed, Catholic blogger who attacks Centering Prayer as “un-Catholic.” Not only has she spilled a lot of ink on her blog about this topic, but she has written an e-book filled with her denunciations of Centering Prayer that you can buy on Amazon for just a few books. Forgive me for not linking back to this person or her e-book, but frankly I can’t in good conscience promote her or her work. Unfortunately, if you google “criticism of Centering Prayer” you will find plenty of bloggers and others who take it upon themselves to tell you that a spiritual practice that they don’t like is therefore bad for everyone.

I suppose I should just pass over critics like this in silence. After all, everything has detractors, right? But what bothered me about this person I encountered last night, is that she writes about mysticism and about contemplation; she wants to promote a deeper spirituality for Catholics, which is a good thing; but then she undermines her message by her denunciation of one of the most widespread and beautiful contemplative practices available in our time.

Unfortunately, she’s not alone. That google search reveals how numerous websites, e-books, and tracts have been…