'As we begin again
and take our first steps into the future, where nothing is safe and certain,
except you,
we ask for the courage of the wise [ones]
who simply went and followed a star.
We ask for their wisdom, in choosing to pursue the deepest truth,
not knowing where they would be led.
In the year to come, God of all time,
be our help and company.
Hold our hands as we journey onwards
and may your dream of shalom, where all will be at peace,
be our guiding star.'
Anon

Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - CEO MIA

Post your own Prayer or Reflection in our online Chapel

Image: Clare Augustine Moore’s illuminated version of the Rule and Constitutions of the Religious Sisters of Mercy. It comes from Chapter V ‘Of the Vow of Poverty’.
© 1992 MIA

Mercy International Centre was closed for the afternoon last Thursday, 18 January, so MIA staff could visit Coolock House. Home to Catherine for around 20 years when she lived with William and Catherine Callaghan, Coolock House continues to be a special pilgrimage place for those participating in programmes at Mercy International.

Kathleen Somers rsm coordinated a tour of the House and led a special prayer time for the staff in Catherine’s room. Naturally, a good cup of tea with the Sisters living in Community at Coolock followed. The visit provided an opportunity to reflect on the ministry of hospitality offered at Coolock and Mercy International to the many pilgrims who come to deepen their connection to Mercy each year.

Messages to: Anna Nicholls rsm - Team Leader Heritage & Spirituality

Image: L-r: Margaret Scroope rsm (MIA), Kathleen Somers rsm (Coolock), Elizabeth McAver rsm (Coolock), Mary Reynolds rsm (MIA), Betty Lacey (MIA), Liz O'Sullivan (MIA)

The first programme for 2018 at Mercy International Centre (MIC) saw 15 people gather for a week to explore the education tradition within Mercy.  For some participants,  this was a return visit to MIC and the focus on education provided a new perspective for exploring Mercy. For others, already familiar with the Mercy story, this was their first opportunity to participate in a programme at the Centre...

This programme will be offered again from the 9 – 13 July 2018. Some places are still available should you wish to participate in this experience.

Messages to: Anna Nicholls rsm - Team Leader heritage & Spirituality

A number of programmes are in place for 2018 including Wellspring, the month-long renewal programme for vowed Mercy women with presenters Srs Liz Dowling, Elizabeth Davis, Mary C. Sullivan and MIA Team, to be held from 20 May-15 June, and the Young Mercy Leaders Pilgrimage for school leavers, college and university students ages 18-25, to be held from 31 July-4 August.

Download the brochure to see the variety of opportunities on offer, or contact Anna Nicholls rsm to discuss your requirements for a programme tailored to the needs of your Mercy group.

2018 brochure: A4 Paper size, US Letter size (2pp col. PDF)

Messages to: Anna Nicholls rsm - Team Leader Heritage & Spirituality

Image: © 2016 MIA

On Monday 11 December 2017, the day after the annual UN Human Rights Day, the UNAA Qld (the citizens association to promote and advance the work of the United Nations) held its annual awards ceremony.  This year the committee decided to identify local "unsung heroes" who had contributed to the implementation of the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals, in four different categories.  Among the awardees was Sr Wendy Flannery, recognised for the way in which her work for human rights has contributed to the vision outlined in several of the Goals.  Each awardee was invited to say something about what led them along the path they took.  Wendy mentioned the significant early influence of her Sisters of Mercy teachers at All Hallows School in Brisbane.

Messages to: Wendy Flannery rsm

'Sister Cora Marie Billings has dedicated the past six decades of her life to rooting out racism, and she has no plans to slow down.

Billings was the first African-American nun in the nation to serve as a pastoral coordinator, leading the St. Elizabeth parish in North Richmond for 14 years. She headed the Diocese of Richmond’s Office of Black Catholics for more than 22 years and later worked as the deputy director of Virginia’s Human Rights Council during then-Gov. Tim Kaine’s administration. Now, she’s a full-time volunteer...'

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch

Messages to: Cora Marie Billings rsm c/- Lauren Albright - Institute Communications Office

Editor: Sr Cora discusses the 2017 Chapter Recommitment and the differences between multicultural and intercultural in the current issue of ¡Viva! Mercy, a bi-monthly magazine of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Read the article online here (pps11-13)

Mercy Investment Services had a busy year in 2017, from engaging 146 companies on issues related to the Critical Concerns to investing in solar and wind projects and community organizations around the world. Its first accountability report, focused on care of Earth, explains how Mercy investments made a positive impact on people in our global community.

Read the accountability report in English or Spanish

Messages to: Pat Zerega- Senior Director of Shareholder Advocacy 

'Sister Mary Scholastica, the self-confessed ‘Powerhouse of Prayer,’ is one of the first people foreign seafarers come across when berthed at Port of Sunderland.

Amid the clanging of cranes and hustle and bustle of lorries and forklift trucks at the port, a small haven of calm can be found in the form of the Stella Maris Seafarers Centre, where Sr Scholastica dedicates herself to the welfare of the world’s mariners....'

Source: Sunderland Echo
Used with permission of Sunderland Echo and Creo Communications

Messages to: Sr Scholastica c/- Dolores Magee rsm - Federation president

'Today’s [8 January] announcement by the Trump Administration to end immigration protections for over 200,000 Salvadoran nationals, many of whom have been living in the United States for close to 20 years, represents a cruel injustice and further disregard for our nation’s professed humanitarian values and moral obligation to defend the vulnerable. The decision also affects the estimated 192,700 US-born children whose parents are losing protection—parents who now face the torturous decision whether to return with their children to El Salvador, a country consumed in violence and massive poverty, or leave them in the U.S...'

Messages to: Pat McDermott rsm - Institute President

The Center for Human Dignity in Bioethics, Medicine and Health at Misericordia University is holding its inaugural "Commitment to Preserve Human Dignity in Health Care" event on Monday, 29 January...

"Our program will serve as the start of a movement that aims to reach everyone throughout the world, both those within the health care profession and others," said Stacy Gallin, D.M.H., director of the Center ... "We are asking them to reflect upon what took place during the Holocaust, what has continued to take place, and vow to use those lessons to reaffirm a societal commitment to preserving human dignity in health care around the world...

Join the movement; sign the pledge here to preserve human dignity.

Messages to: Stacy Gallin - Director

'Today’s gospel reading recounts the first episode in a section of Mark’s gospel that focusses on a typical day in the ministry of Jesus as authoritative teacher and prophetic healer (1:21-38)...'

Read the Reflection on the Gospel by Veronica Lawson rsm (ISMAPNG)

Listen to the Gospel read by Fr Eamonn O'Connor (Ireland)

Who is My Neighbour?, a new pocket booklet written by Carol Rittner rsm and Deirdre Mullan rsm, addresses the issue of racism. Who Is My Neighbor? is intended as an examination of conscience – personal and collective – and as a call to action.

Download the flyer: A4 Paper size (PDF), US Letter size (PDF)

Copies cost $1, £1 or €1 each, plus postage
Discount negotiated for bulk orders

Order from Deirdre Mullan rsm

The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) jointly created a resource pack of liturgical and homiletic material for Christians to use in the service for HMD 2018, based on the theme The power of words.

Download the resource pack here (10pps, PDF)

1833: Professed at Baggot St - M.de Pazzi Delaney; M. Angela Dunne; M.Clare Moore; M.Frances Warde

1854: Foundation to Belfast from Baggot St

1884: Foundation to Grafton, New South Wales from Bermondsey

Contribute a fact about the Story of the Sisters of Mercy in your congregation or institute to our online archive

A Limerick City based voluntary group, founded in 1999 by the Franciscan and Mercy Orders committed to supporting families of prisoners in a creative, inclusive, and boundaried manner.

Listen to the interview on SoulWaves radio with Larry de Cleir the current director talking with Marie Stuart rsm about how it all began with a kettle in a hospitality centre outside Limerick prison. (11:02)

'Love this land, realize that it belongs to you.  Breathe it in, listen to it, marvel at it.  Fall in love with this land called Madre de Dios (Mother of God), commit yourself to it and care for it and defend it.  Do not use this land as a mere disposable object, but as a genuine treasure to be enjoyed, cultivated and entrusted to your children.'

Pope Francis' address to local citizens of the Amazon region of Peru, 19 January 2018