Centering Prayer is neither Catholic (Christian) nor Contemplative.

Centering Prayer (CP), is practiced, I assume in good faith(!) by Catholic lay people. The damnable part is that CP is a counterfeit based on Eastern philosophy.
Thomas Merton made the mistake in 1968 when he saw value in employing Zen in meditation.  In the 1970's, Fathers Basil Pennington and Thomas Keating fused elements of Transcendental Meditation (TM) with what they thought was Catholic contemplative tradition.  They misinterpreted Cassian, the
author of "The Cloud of Unknowing", and Saint Teresa of Avila.  In a video, Fr. Keating offered people "the invitation to become God." 1

The foundation of CP is the repetition of a personally chosen mantra.  Practicing this word eventually leads to "peace" and an emptying of the mind that can lead to an altered state of consciousness (ACS).  Note that Cassian advised beginners in the life of prayer to repeat a single Psalm verse, e.g. "God, come to my assistance, O Lord, make haste to help me." Teresa  warns, ". . .God suspends it (the intellect). Taking it upon oneself to stop and suspend thought is what I mean should not be done; nor should we cease to work with the intellect, because otherwise we would be left like cold simpletons, and be doing neither one thing nor the other." The author of The Cloud of Unknowing directed his advice to those who had advanced to the first stages of INFUSED contemplation. He makes it clear that techniques and methods at the above stage are useless.2

Note that in the Catholic Tradition, prayer, (personal as well as liturgical), is always FOCUSED OUTWARD toward God. God is by his nature wholly other to our being, and therefore uncontainable and unencloseable within any spiritual experience.3

CP is a method that isolates consciousness within itself, leading to ACS and an opening to undesirable spirits. It is solely based a on non-Christian, Eastern philosophy/religion.  Why practice a counterfeit when Catholicism has a strong, two millenia-old tradition of  properly-focused prayer?

1. from "Yoga, Tai-Chi, Reiki: A Guide for Christians."  Max Sculley, DLS.  Published by Connor Court Publishing Pty Ltd,  2012.

2.Ibid

3.from "Contemplative Provocations,"  Fr. Donald Haggerty.  Ignatius Press, 2013.

excerpt from a papal encyclical

        The heavens revolving under His government, are subject to Him in peace.  Day and night run the course appointed by Him, without hindering each other.  The sun and the moon, with the companies of the stars, roll on in harmony according to His command, within their prescribed limits, and without any deviation.  The fruitful earth, according to His will, brings forth food in abundance, in the proper seasons, for man and beast and all the living beings upon it, never hesitating, nor changing any of the ordinances He has fixed. The unsearchable places of abysses, and the indescribable arrangements of the lower world, are restrained by the same laws.  The vast immeasurable sea, gathered together by His working into various basins, never passes beyond the bounds placed around it, but does as He has commanded.  "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed." (Job 38:11). The oceans. . .and the worlds beyond it, are regulated by the same enactments of the Lord.  The seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, peacefully give place to one another.  The winds, in their several quarters fulfill, at the proper time, their service without hindrance. . .The very smallest of living beings meet together in peace and concord.  All these the great Creator and Lord of all has appointed to exist in peace and harmony; while He does good to all, but most abundantly to us. . .

from Pope St. Clement I.   "Letter to the Corinthians."

              Pope Francis' "Laudatio Si" is not without precedent!

Ways to Misinterpret the Bible: Method 1.

Book Review.

Rapture: the End-Times Error That Leaves the  Bible Behind
by David B. Currie.  Sophia Institute Press, 2003.

      Mr. Currie was a Fundamentalist Christian who believed in, and taught the theology of the Rapture, until he converted to Catholicism.
      His book is a thorough exposition of the theology and history of the Rapture.  It also shows unequivocally that the Rapture is NOT biblical. It is, in fact, a religious fiction that pulls in Catholics
who do not know our faith well.
      Currie takes the reader painstakingly through all the relevant, biblical verses in Daniel, Matthew, and the Book of the Apocalypse.  He sets down "9 Ground Rules" for correctly interpreting apocalyptic literature.  With these as guides to the relevant, biblical passages, he explains their true meanings.  He often reminds the reader that every first and second century Jew and Christian understood the writings correctly.
      He makes it clear that 70 A.D. was a pivotal year in human history.
      Indeed, we are in the end times, the times before the Parousia, but that is ALL we know.
      I highly recommend Currie's book to anyone interested in what the Bible's apocalyptic
books genuinely teach.
     

quote scivias

And behold, He Who was enthroned upon that mountain, cried out in a strong, loud voice saying,
"O human, who are fragile dust of the earth and ashes of ashes!  Cry out and speak of the origin of pure salvation, until those people are instructed, who, though they see the inmost contents of the Scriptures, do not wish to tell them or preach them, because they are lukewarm and sluggish in serving God's justice.  Unlock for them the enclosure of mysteries that they, timid as they are, conceal in a hidden and fruitless field.  Burst forth into a fountain of abundance and overflow with mystical knowledge, until they who think you contemptible because of Eve's transgression are stirred up by the flood of your irrigation.

                               O current of power permeating all
                                in the heights upon the earth and   
                                in all the deeps;
                                you bind together and gather   
                                all people together.