OLMC Adult Faith Formation Recommendations on FORMED
OLMC Adult Faith Formation team has been working on getting quality recommendations on a variety of content found on FORMED! Scroll down to see what they recommend. See below to learn how to to access FORMED!
FORMED.org: on-demand, Catholic media platform (website/phone app) also called the Catholic Netflix.
FORMED.ORG (Setup New User Account)
1. On formed.org, click “SIGN UP”
2. Sign up as a parishioner
3. Enter “92129”
4. Select: “Our Lady of Mount Carmel”, Stoney Creek Rd address, Click NEXT
5. Type your Name and Email
6. You’re registered and directed online to formed.org’s content watch.formed.org
FORMED app (Smartphone)
1. Go to Google app store
2. Search for “FORMED Catholic app”
3. Click “Install”
4. Click “Open”
5. Click “Log in”
6. Enter Email
Meditation & Catholics
Lectio Divina – Sr. Anne Maria McGuan, RSM [video 27min] available on FORMED.org at: https://watch.formed.org/given-forum-talks/season:2/videos/lectio-divina-sr-anne-marie-mcguan-rsm
Lectio Divina is a practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God through His word. In this talk, Sr. Anne Maria provides a step by step guide to praying the Sacred Scripture according to this Monastic tradition.
These daily meditations of Mother Teresa have been arranged to coincide with the seasons of the liturgical year and have also been simultaneously arranged according to various themes of the spiritual life.
"Love is a fruit in season at all times and within the reach of every hand. Anyone may gather it and no limit is set. Everyone can reach this love through meditation, prayer, sacrifice, and an intense inner life." - Mother Teresa
Who is St. Catherine of Siena? [video 29min] available on FORMED.org at: https://watch.formed.org/videos/formed-live-who-is-st-catherine-of-siena.
Join Dr. Tim Gray and Dr. Elizabeth Klein as they celebrate Catherine of Siena: a nurse and mystic with papal influence who became a saint and doctor of the Church.
Take a deeper dive in this six-part series by Dr. Tim Grey on Lectio Divina available on FORMED.org at: https://watch.formed.org/lectio-prayer-with-dr-tim-gray.
Engaging and accessible, Prayer: Finding Intimacy With God includes:
The Lectio Divina approach of Reading, Reflecting, Responding, and Contemplating
Penetrating questions and insights for the six video sessions
Additional resources for a fuller understanding and application
Daily reflections to deepen the meaning of prayer in your life
Lent & Easter 2021
LENTEN DAILY REFLECTIONS By Tim Gray
One program we recommend is the FORMED Lenten Daily Reflections by Dr. Tim Gray. The Lenten Daily Reflections are sent to you each morning (2am) in an email. You can sign up by registering at formed.org/daily. When ready to listen & watch, simply open the email and click play. The video shows Dr Gray who gives a commentary on the daily scripture readings (that are read at daily mass) for that day. His commentary lasts 3 or 4 minutes. It is a great way to start the day and takes very little time or effort. It is also a good introduction to exploring other content in FORMED.org.
Dr. Tim Gray is the founder and President of the Augustine Institute that produced and manages FORMED.org. Dr. Gray is an accomplished biblical scholar, author, and has a gift of explaining scriptures in a way that is enlightening and yet inspiring and relevant to today and one’s personal relationship with our Lord.
In particular, we also recommend: Walking with God, Lectio-Peter, Lectio-Mark. All three of these have provided many ah-ha! insights that helped deepen our faith and understanding of Scriptures.
How would you answer if someone asked you, “How do you know that God exists?”
Would you believe that just as the scriptures say that the firmament declares the glory of God, science actually supports that statement?
THE SEARCH: We invite you to view “Why A God?” – Episode 3 of THE SEARCH, Finding The Meaning of Life.
An original series produced by the Augustine Institute and hosted by Chris Stefanick, this 30-minute documentary ties the existence of God with science and historical documentation of the Vatican. Challenges you to find your sense of purpose through your faith in God.
To view, SIGN IN to your FORMED account
In the upper task bar, Search for The Search
Click on The Search (as shown above)
Click on Why A God? – Episode 3
HOLY WEEK
With Holy Week soon to be upon us, likely either of these approaches may actually kick-start your prioritization of your time toward assuring you place time in your calendar (maybe for the first time?) to attend the Paschal Triduum...so Holy Thursday Mass, the Good Friday Service and the totaling fulfilling Saturday evening Easter Vigil Mass. Given our 2020 experience without these Holy opportunities, 2021 offers you a real possibility to ‘resurrect’ your faith journey! Make a plan to reflect on the Gift of Our Lord in Formed.org, then as a capstone join with Him and the community of Saints & faithful to fully celebrate His Rising!
Along with incorporating prayer, fasting, and charity into your faith journey, Lent is a terrific opportunity to reflect on one’s faith, and who better to focus on then our Lord [not really a rhetorical question, but more a statement of fact for the faithful!
The OLMC Adult Faith Formation Team would like to recommend two possibilities on Formed.org if you are moved to explore more about Jesus:
1. Spend less than 30min watching the session in ‘The Search’, episode 5, “Who is Jesus’, hosted by the very engaging Christopher Stefanick. https://watch.formed.org/videos/thesearch-ep5
2. For those with a bit more intrigue and an open schedule (a tremendous alternative to a lot of unproductive streaming alternatives that are available), take a deeper dive via viewing a portion of ‘The Lectio’ series hosted by Brant Pitre entitled “A Case For Jesus”, which involves his 9 sessions ranging from ~35-45min in length each regarding Our Dear Lord.
https://watch.formed.org/lectio-the-case-for-jesus/videos/lectio-the-case-for-jesus-session-1
AFTER EASTER
Do you love books? Better yet, do you want to be part of a group that discusses these books? If you do, check out the FORMED Book Club. Be part of an online community that reads and discusses a different book each month. Weekly discussions are led by Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ (Founder of Ignatius Press), Vivian Dudro (Senior Editor at Ignatius Press), and Joseph Pearce (Director of Book Publishing at Augustine Institute).
DIVINE MERCY
What is the connection between Saints Maximilian Kolbe, Therese of Lisieux, Faustina, Pope John Paul II and Fatima?
“The Second Greatest Story Ever Told, by Fr. Michael Gaitley, MIC” (1-hour audio lecture to a live audience)
In this vastly popular talk, Fr. Michael Gaitley describes the "second greatest story ever told"—a story that encompasses Divine Mercy, the life of Pope St. John Paul II, and the crucial role that Marian Consecration can play in your life. Fr. Gaitley is a priest in the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception and the director of the Association of Marian Helpers, a fraternal community with more than one million members.
(Link) https://watch.formed.org/videos/the-second-greatest-story-ever-told-understanding-mary-s-role-in-your-life-by-fr-michael-gaitley
“Divine Mercy with Fr. Michael Gaitley” (Ten 30-min Video Episodes)
Renowned speaker and author Fr. Michael Gaitley tells the dramatic history of God's love and mercy as interwoven through the transformative message of St. Faustina, the miraculous appearance of Mary at Fatima, the witness of Maximilian Kolbe, and the world-changing papacy of Pope St. John Paul II. Featuring the brilliant cinematic artistry of the Augustine Institute's film studio, the vast panorama of God's work of mercy in the world unfolds as a story to be experienced.
(Link) https://watch.formed.org/divine-mercy-with-fr-michael-gaitley
*Recommendation for more in-depth literature:“Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul” Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska