Category: Event

40 Day Journey with Julian of Norwich: Lenten Book Group 2022

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First Session today, 2nd March at 3.30 – 5.00pm GMT. It is still not too late to join!

I will be recording a Lectio Divina guided prayer for each day of the 40 Journey and posting it here in the morning.

The guided prayer will also be available as a podcast on Spotify, Google podcast and other platforms. The channel is called : Sunflower Seed Spirituality.

The Friends of Julian of Norwich invite you to spend time during Lent in the company of one of the greatest Christian mystics of all time: Julian of Norwich. We will be using the book “40 Day Journey with Julian of Norwich” by Lisa Dahill and weekly meetings will be held on Zoom on Wednesdays during Lent from 3.30 – 5.00pm GMT, beginning on Ash Wednesday 2 March 2022. 

The author of the book, Lisa Dahill says: 

Your 40-Day journey gives you an opportunity to be mentored by a great spiritual writer.  The purpose of the journey, however, is not just to gain ‘head knowledge’ about Julian of Norwich.  Rather, it is to begin living what you learn, and to touch base with others once a week to share experiences and insights. – 

If you have been following my blogs for a while you will be aware that I made this journey myself over the period of a year and I have begun to share my experiences of my journey in subsequent posts. Earlier this year I joined the Trustees of the Friends of Julian of Norwich and I am excited about this being the book they had chosen for their lent book group this year. I will be leading the Zoom sessions on Wednesdays during Lent.

From the time of my own journey you will see that the book presents material for daily prayer: a section from Revelations of Divine Love, an extract from scripture and a psalm fragment. There are also points for reflection, questions to ponder and suggested prayers. The idea in the book group is to spend some time each day with the material and to join with others who are making a similar pilgrimage in the zoom meetings on Wednesdays. In these meetings there will be reflections on the week just journeyed, faith sharing in small groups and prayers, in order that we sustain each other for the week to come. 

Julian of Norwich cell.

Lent is a time when the Church encourages us to focus more on prayer and the 40 Day Journey with Julian of Norwich offers an opportunity, structure and support for us to do just that. If you are interested in deepening your relationship with God this Lent by making this journey, you can find more information or book here. 

40 Day Journey with Julian of Norwich: Lenten Book Group 2022

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So here is a series of events I am involved in with the Friends of Julian of Norwich:

The Friends of Julian of Norwich invite you to spend time during Lent in the company of one of the greatest Christian mystics of all time: Julian of Norwich. We will be using the book “40 Day Journey with Julian of Norwich” by Lisa Dahill and weekly meetings will be held on Zoom on Wednesdays during Lent from 3.30 – 5.00pm GMT, beginning on Ash Wednesday 2 March 2022. 

The author of the book, Lisa Dahill says: 

Your 40-Day journey gives you an opportunity to be mentored by a great spiritual writer.  The purpose of the journey, however, is not just to gain ‘head knowledge’ about Julian of Norwich.  Rather, it is to begin living what you learn, and to touch base with others once a week to share experiences and insights. – 

If you have been following my blogs for a while you will be aware that I made this journey myself over the period of a year and I have begun to share my experiences of my journey in subsequent posts. Earlier this year I joined the Trustees of the Friends of Julian of Norwich and I am excited about this being the book they had chosen for their lent book group this year. I will be leading the Zoom sessions on Wednesdays during Lent.

From the time of my own journey you will see that the book presents material for daily prayer: a section from Revelations of Divine Love, an extract from scripture and a psalm fragment. There are also points for reflection, questions to ponder and suggested prayers. The idea in the book group is to spend some time each day with the material and to join with others who are making a similar pilgrimage in the zoom meetings on Wednesdays. In these meetings there will be reflections on the week just journeyed, faith sharing in small groups and prayers, in order that we sustain each other for the week to come. 

Julian of Norwich cell.

Lent is a time when the Church encourages us to focus more on prayer and the 40 Day Journey with Julian of Norwich offers an opportunity, structure and support for us to do just that. If you are interested in deepening your relationship with God this Lent by making this journey, you can find more information or book here. 

Women Together: Radio Maria England Interview

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I’m on Women Together tomorrow (13 May) at 11.00am UK time ,talking about Resilience and prayer. Catch it then, or check out the schedule for repeats.

Positive Penance Retreat Day – Online

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Last year to prepare for Lent, I led a Retreat Day for my Diocese. I would like to offer this day again, as an Online Event (Times are GMT). What I said previously still stands:

During Lent, the Church encourages us to unite ourselves to the mystery of Jesus in the desert, to act against the desire of the flesh, of the eyes and the pride in riches by fasting, giving alms and prayer. The practice of such penance may feel judicial and be difficult to maintain for the whole season of lent, perhaps because of its general sense of understanding. In “The Spiritual Excercises”, St. Ignatius writes about the practice of penance in the Tenth Addition, and the discussion is often passed over uncomfortably and put into the context of his time. My discomfort with both approaches compels me to present this retreat day.

Ignatius presents the idea of penance as a form of desire for more in our relationship with God and he makes it personal. He says:

Now since God our Lord knows our nature infinitely better, when we make changes of this kind, He often grants each one the grace to understand what is suitable for him.

The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, trans. Louis J. Puhl S.J.

My intention is to provide the time, space and stimulation for each one to notice the desires and motivations for their feelings and actions; to notice the direction of the movement in those desires, whether they are towards God (spiritual consolation) or away from God (spiritual desolation); the latter being identified as inordinate desire; and, with the grace and help of God, to choose the most pertinent of our own inordinate desires and resolve to amend it or them. The resolve to amend will form the basis of our chosen lenten practice, which will be personal in the context of our own relationship with God and drawn from the desire for more in that relationship. Fuelled by this desire, may we find sustenance to maintain our lenten observance for the duration, and allow it to impact a deeper change in our lives beyond lent.

The process will be facilitated with two short presentations, The Examen prayer, Guided Imaginative Contemplations, Personal reflection and paired and group sharing. To ensure safety, sharing should be only what you are comfortable with, and should remain confidential within the context of the person or group it is shared in.

If you want to have a sneaky preview of the material, you can find it in a previous post. And please share with anyone you think might want to do Lent positively this year, with a different approach than before perhaps. Here is the outline for the retreat:

There is no formal charge for this event and registration is not conditional on making a donation. If you would like to support me in my work however, that would be very much appreciated, and you can to that by clicking the “support me” button below.

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Exploring Personal Prayer: The Examen

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Due to illness, the sessions of Exploring Personal Prayer were delayed after the Lectio Divina. We will be doing the session on the Examen tomorrow at 6.30pm GMT and you are welcome to come along, even if you have not attended any of the other sessions. The period we will be looking at is our Advent this year, and Christmas so far. I hope you will be able to join us.

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Exploring Personal Prayer: Lectio Divina

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Here is the scripture we will be using for the Lectio Divina prayer this evening (6.30pm UK time) and the zoom link. You are most welcome to join, even if you haven’t registered.

Psalm 27:7-14 

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, 
    be gracious to me and answer me! 
8 ‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek his face!’ 
    Your face, Lord, do I seek. 
9     Do not hide your face from me. 

Do not turn your servant away in anger, 
    you who have been my help. 
Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, 
    O God of my salvation! 
10 If my father and mother forsake me, 
    the Lord will take me up. 

11 Teach me your way, O Lord, 
    and lead me on a level path 
    because of my enemies. 
12 Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, 
    for false witnesses have risen against me, 
    and they are breathing out violence. 

13 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord 
    in the land of the living. 
14 Wait for the Lord; 
    be strong, and let your heart take courage; 
    wait for the Lord! 

Description:

Margaret Mary McFadyen is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/79909257172?pwd=WE1LN0xaNk80Qi9SVXdrUElLaGdEQT09

Meeting ID: 799 0925 7172

Passcode: 0H6sYy

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Exploring Personal Prayer: Last minute joining up.

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If you find yourself wanting to join the talk for The Spiritual Exercises at 6.30pm British time today, but you haven’t registered, not to worry. Here is the link for you to join:

Description: Margaret Mary McFadyen is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us04web.zoom.us/j/79909257172?pwd=WE1LN0xaNk80Qi9SVXdrUElLaGdEQT09

Meeting ID: 799 0925 7172

Passcode: 0H6sYy

Hope to see you there.

Margaret Mary

Exploring Personal Prayer Advent Course: Registration

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I have now set up Registration for this online course. If you would like to register follow the link.

To registration
Donations

I will run the Exploring Personal Prayer Advent course live on Saturday evenings during advent, with a an Introductory talk on the Spiritual Exercises. The sessions will be as follows:

  • Sat 21 November: Presentation on The Spiritual Exercises
  • Sat 28 November: Lectio Divina
  • Sat 5 December: Imaginative Contemplation
  • Sat 12 December: Praying with Images
  • Sat 19 December: The Examen

I will use zoom for video conferencing. In terms of payment, I have set up a donations page if anyone wants to support me in this work, with some suggestions and an “other” option. Please don’t let it be prohibitive, it is the work that is important. Registration is so that I can prepare properly for those intending to be there. Below is an outline of the course with the dates:

I hope you will be able to join me.

Take care, God bless.

Margaret Mary

Radio Maria England: Songs in the Wilderness

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My apologies. I intended inform you when I would be the guest on Songs in the Wilderness. That was this morning at 9.00 am UK time, and I forgot to post it in time. However, it will be replayed on Sat 7.30pm, Tue 2.00am, Weds 11.00am and Thurs 9.00am. I will also post it on this blog when I receive a copy of the recording. Enjoy.

You can find it here.