Welcome, Welcome, Welcome

Photo Credit: Ryan Roth Klinck

By Kathryn Hunter

Kathryn Hunter is a member of the MWF Dispersed Community and a student in the Anam Cara Spiritual Direction Program.

For the past several months, I have been spending time with the spiritual practice of  The Welcoming Prayer. This prayer was created by Mary Mrozowski and taught and popularized by Father Thomas Keating and the Contemplative Outreach Community.
 

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome
I welcome everything that comes to me today 
because I know it's for my healing.
I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, persons, situations, and conditions.
I let go of my desire for power and control.
I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.
I let go of my desire for survival and security.
I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person, or myself.
I open to the love and presence of God and God's action within.  Amen.
 

This prayer is a prayer of consent and a way of praying, "not my will, but thine be done."
There are three movements to the prayer practice.

1. Feel and Sink In 
   Feel what is happening in your body by scanning and observing your body. Sink into the sensations without resisting and without analyzing or thinking too much about them

2. Welcome
   This is consenting to the Indwelling Spirit in the midst of whatever you are experiencing.

3. Letting Go
   We let go of our instinctual modes of behavior, the False Self which we have built up. We let go of our modes of finding love, keeping control and surviving. 

It is out of this welcoming, consenting and letting go that we move into embracing God's presence and transforming work in our lives. 

As you can tell, what on the surface seems to be a simple prayer, has many layers and nuances. If you are Enneagram folks, you can most likely see your type in the "letting go" statements. If you are seeking freedom from your False Self, there is help for you here.  And of course, the key is that "WE" do nothing, in our openness and consenting, God's grace is at work.

There is also a shorter version of the prayer that is used for "consent on the go." In those moments that arise in life when we don't have time to sit in contemplation but that require our embrace. Perhaps your anger is sparked, or a sadness overwhelms, you need God's healing presence in the moment.
 

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome
I let go of my desire for security, affection, control
And embrace this moment as it is.
 

I invite you to experience The Welcoming Prayer. The secret of the prayer is to do it!

The late Mary Mrozowski said this about the prayer:

"The way to understand this practice, this prayer, is to do it. We will only understand it when we do it, because it is absolutely illogical and irrational."

And so are the ways of our Mysterious God! 

More information on The Welcoming Prayer can easily be found on the internet.

Contemplativeoutreach.com
Spiritualityandpractice.com