Fr. Carl J. Arico a priest of the archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, and a founding member and former vice president of Contemplative Outreach. He is now retired and serves on the review committee that is preparing the works of the Trappist priest and teacher of Centering Prayer, Fr. Thomas Keating, to be made available on YouTube and in the archives at Emory University. Fr. Carl is a popular retreat leader and the author of a book, A Taste of Silence. He is a priest for 66 years and has been active with Contemplative Outreach and the Centering Prayer movement since 1974.
Our conversation with Fr. Carl takes us through his early years and burgeoning interest in contemplative life and Centering Prayer, including his retreats at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky and Spencer Abbey in Massachusetts. He introduces us to the four elements of Centering Prayer and explains why a key to the practice is to “stop thinking that you have to stop thinking.” In addition to sharing memories of Fr. Keating, Fr. Carl offers ways for us to deepen our own prayer lives by returning to what he calls “the basics”: that “God is already there if you’re existing, and that prayer is a relationship.”
