Formation for Mission Podcasts Diocese of Nottingham

In this fifth episode we explore praying chaplets. Chaplets are a meditative form of prayer that uses a series of prayers that are repeated to aid in our reflection, the Rosary is an example of a chaplet. This month we are delighted to have Madeleine Heraghty joining us to reflect on the Divine Mercy Chaplet and how it has helped her grow closer to God and how to pray it.
Madeleine mentions in the Podcast how you can get more information on the Divine Mercy, please find that information below.
Email: info@divinemercy.org.uk; Website: www.divinemercyapostolate.co.uk/
Phone: +44 (0)20 8998 0925
Post:
Divine Mercy Apostolate,
Marian Fathers,
1 Courtfield Gardens,
London
W13 0EY

n this fourth episode we explore The Our Father. The Lord’s Prayer is the focus for this Year of Prayer but especially at the moment in Lent. We are delighted to have joining us to reflect on this prayer Rebecca Durham from Playing and Praying a new initiative aimed at helping families with young children discover prayer through play; and Rev Dr Jan Nowotnik the Mission Director of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, who is one of the national leaders for the Year of Prayer and the Jubilee Year in 2025. 

There are two resources referred to in the podcast, you can find more information about them here:

Our Father Flashcards - https://www.catholicmothers.co.uk/product/lords-prayer-flashcards-pre-order or https://www.rpbooks.co.uk/lords-prayer-flash-cards 
We Dare To Say - A resource exploring the Our Father for Parishes: https://www.cbcew.org.uk/we-dare-to-say/ or https://aec.rcaos.org.uk/prayer2024

In this third episode we explore a type of meditative prayer from Ignatian pirituality. We are led through this beautiful reflective and creative prayer by Sr Susan Richert PBVM. Sr Susan is a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Pastoral Assistant at Our Lady of the Angels Parish Mansfield, and the Vicar for Religious for the Diocese of Nottingham.

In this Episode we explore a type of Lectio Divina (prayerful reading of the bible) called Seven Steps Scripture Sharing. We are led through this wonderful and insightful type of prayer by Sophie Rimac and Sean Jinks who are members of the Seven Steps Scripture Sharing group in Leicester. Sean works as a translator and Sophie runs her families business.
If you would like to contact Sophie and Sean about joining their group or seek their help in starting your own please email: adult.formation@dioceseofnottingham.uk.
The Seven Steps are:
1. Invite. Remembering that the Risen Lord is present with the group, somebody present invites Jesus in a prayer and welcomes him.2. Read. Everybody opens their Bibles to the arranged place and somebody present, reads to the group.3. View with wonder. The group picks out words or short phrases, reads them aloud prayerfully and repeats them three times, silence being preserved after each repetition. The texts are then reread aloud by somebody present from a different version of the texts.4. Listen. Silence is maintained for five minutes, to allow God to speak to the group.5. Share. The group members now share, without discussion, which word has touched them personally. The group may decide together which word may be chosen as their Word of Life for the coming week.6. Plan for action. The group discusses what task they may be called to do in their neighbourhood, or parish.7. Pray. Anybody present who would like to, may pray spontaneously. The group ends with a prayer or a hymn known to all.

In this episode Bishop Patrick McKinney, Bishop of Nottingham, introduces the Year of Prayer, his hopes for it in our diocese, and speaks about his own personal prayer life.

In our Seventh and final episode of 'A Father's Heart - A Podcast for Catholic Dads' we focus on section 4 of Patris Corde - An Accepting Father. We reflect on not just being a biological Father but how like St Joseph we can be called to be father figures too. Our guests are Richard Dawson and Neil Fearn who are both involved with Christian Organisations that are focused on providing support to children or families in need.
Richard is married to Laura and they have two children. Richard has worked for and volunteered with Safe Families for 7 years with particular focus on Church engagement and Volunteer management. Safe Families support families in need aiming to prevent children going into care more information can be found here: https://safefamilies.uk/
Neil is a foster carer and stay at home dad in Nottingham with his wife Helen and four children. He is part of the 100 homes campaign which seeks to recruit and support Christian foster carers in Nottingham. For more information visit: https://www.nottinghamcityprayer.com/100-homes or email100homescampaign@gmail.com