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| Edition No. 764 | 28 March 2018 | |
| | | | “Many women were also there…”
(Matthew 27:55) 'It may seem as though women have been airbrushed out of the events of Holy Week, but it is only a perception. Jesus’ female companions were integral to the unfolding drama, as the Gospel writers testify. Constant, unafraid and true, they are often presented in a more favourable light than their male counterparts...' Download the complete article here: A4 Paper size (2pps, PDF), US Letter size (2pps, PDF) Messages to: Penny Roker rsm (Great Britain Institute) Image: Shutterstock. Used under licence | |
| | Mercy Pilgrimage 2018 - Education Tradition There are some places still available for participants to join in the 'Mercy Pilgrimage- Education' from 9-13 July 2018. This pilgrimage will focus on the education tradition within Mercy and will be of particular interest to those engaged in Mercy education, especially administrators, teachers, trustees and members of boards of management.
Input will include:
•Catherine’s Story, Life and Ministry
•Early Women of Mercy – co creators of the work of Mercy
•Catherine’s Approach to Leadership
•Living Mercy Today: Challenges, Values & Directions
•Mercy in a Global Context
•Mercy Leadership A report on the successful January pilgrimage for Education can be read here Messages to: Anna Nicholls rsm - Team leader Heritage & Spirituality | | MIA Prayer Intention: Holy Week 'Christ Jesus, your love is made visible through the mystery of your death and resurrection.
Make us one in you.
Transform us into people of mercy who reach out to embrace you in the suffering ones in our midst.
We ask this as people reconciled to God through the blood of your cross. Amen.' Source: Morning and Evening Prayer of the Sisters of Mercy Post your own Prayer or Reflection in our online Chapel Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - CEO MIA Image: iStock. used under licence | | | Journey Away from Plastic: Part 2 Part 2 of a 4-part series called 'The journey from plastic' in preparation for World Earth Day 2018 from The Future we Need group is on the topic of plastic bottles. Download Part 2 here (PDF) Messages to: Denise Boyle fmdm - Team Leader Mercy Global Action | | The Zero Draft of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was released on February 5th. At first glance, what do you need to know? The Global Compact on Migration consists in a six part framework: a Preamble, outlining the underlying principles treaties, conventions and frameworks; a Vision and Guiding Principles section discussing the collective purpose, understandings and responsibilities; a Cooperative Framework and Objectives section followed by 22 Actionable Commitments for Safe Orderly and Regular Migration; a section on Implementation; and lastly, commitments to track progress through Follow-Up and Review mechanisms... Messages to: Angela Reed rsm - MIA-MGA Coordinator at the UN Image: iStock. Used under licence | |
| | Back in January, 21 people gathered at Mercy Center in Burlingame, California, for a conversation designed to reach across their differences, understand each other, and honor the sacredness of everyone in the human family... The gathering was part of a Year of Outreach and Solidarity, designed for people of different backgrounds to learn from each other, launched in November and guided by the Burlingame Sisters of Mercy... Messages to: Sisters of Mercy West Midwest | | Mercy Strongly Represented in 'March for our Lives' (Americas) Editor: Many Mercy Students, Sisters, Teachers, Justice personnel were among the hundreds of thousands of people who 'March[ed] for our lives' for gun control and against gun violence in Washington D.C, and elsewhere in the United States and abroad on Saturday, 24 March, and among those quoted in the reports of the day that have begun to appear in the Catholic press. That's not surprising given the Institute's stance and leadership on non-violence, one of five critical concerns Senior Hannah Moffett from Mercyhurst Preparatory School in Erie, Pennsylvania is among the Washington D.C.rally participants quoted in the NCR article, 'Galvanized marchers take over Washington streets to demand gun law reform' as is Matthew Ochalek, a theology teacher at Mercyhurst Prep. Mercy High students in San Francisco, in conjunction with a declaration of “Enough is Enough”, observed 17 minutes of silence. Mercy Sister Rita Parks, was quoted in the 'Catholic Standard', the online newsletter of the Archdiocese of Washington as being there because, “This is one of the basic elements in the fight for life.” Messages to: Institute Justice Office Image: Flickr, Rodney Dunning, Used under CC 2.0 | | | Scripture with Kathleen Rushton rsm: 'Jesus Washed Feet' (Aotearoa New Zealand) Kathleen Rushton rsm interprets Jesus’s action in John 13:1-17 as introducing a new ordering of relationships. Sr Kathleen writes: 'Jesus’s example makes flesh/incarnates a whole new order of human relationships and self-giving. How is his foot washing calling me today as friend to participate in Jesus’s work of transforming relationships, whakawhanaungatanga/making right relationship with God, the Earth and people in Church and the world God so loves (Jn 3:16)? Download the article (2pps, PDF) Messages to: Kathleen Rushton rsm | | On Sunday, March 18, 2018, 20 highly-distinguished women were celebrated by The Canales Project for their exceptional achievements and contributions, among them Sister Marilyn Lacey. Sister Marilyn, the founder and executive director of Mercy Beyond Borders, was honored alongside former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who attended the event... The music from “Hear Her Song” is expected to be recorded. We will advise when that happens Messages to: Marilyn Lacey rsm Photo: L-r: Composer Anna Dagmar greets Sister Marilyn Lacey for whom she wrote the song "Mercy" | | | The Seven Last Words of Jesus—Week 7: 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!' (Americas) 'It is not until the Last Supper that we hear the prayer of the Son to the Father spoken aloud in the presence of others. And now on Calvary we hear again the prayer of the Son spoken aloud for the final time on Earth: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”' Download the reflection (2pps, PDF) Follow the series online Messages to:
Marian Clare Valenteen rsm - Reflection
Genemarie Beegan rsm - Artist | | Easter 2018 Reflection: Have You Been to the Garden? (Americas) 'For the past weeks of Lent we have reflected on the Seven Last Words of Jesus. Our hearts have been moved by the passion of Christ and his instructions to us as he was dying...' Download the reflection (2pps, PDF) Follow the series online Messages to: Wanda Smith rsm
Image: iStock. Used under licence | | | Two female researchers in Queensland have been awarded strategic grants as a step forward in closing the research and academic gender gap. The winners of Mater Research Strategic Grants for Outstanding Women were awarded on International Women’s Day to Associate Professor Katharina Ronacher and Professor Josephine Forbes, both Group Leaders at the Mater Research Institute – University of Queensland... Messages to: A/Prof Katharina Ronacher and ProfJosephine Forbes Image: L-r: Josephine Forbes, Katharina Ronacher | | On January 4th we celebrated the centenary of the foundation of St. Teresa's Convent in Fishguard by Mother Xavier Boulger. All the Sisters who had lived here were invited to join us in celebrating this event and happily most of them were able to come... The service began with a welcoming address and short history of St. Teresa’s by Sr Philomena Bowers. The chapel was filled to capacity, the singing was powerful and very moving. Messages to: Fishguard Mercy Community c/- Annette McCartan rsm - Website Coordinator | |
| | Complete Lenten Reflection Series (Americas) The series of reflections could be used during the remaining days of Holy Week or the Easter Triduum as a mini retreat.
Download the series here: English (19pps, PDF), Spanish (19pps, PDF) Read these online here: English, Spanish | | Easter Vigil Year B (Mark 16:1-8) 'At the foot of Mt Macedon, where I spent the first sixteen years of my life, stands the lovely Anglican Church of the Resurrection, built in the aftermath of the devastating 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires...' Read the Reflection on the Gospel by Veronica Lawson rsm (ISMAPNG) Listen to the Gospel read by Fr Eamonn O'Connor (Ireland) | | The Cambridge Analytica scandal has prompted a number of technology articles regarding Facebook privacy settings. Here's how to check yours. Source: NYTimes | | | 2000: Foundation to St Alphonsus, New Orleans from St Louis Contribute a fact about the Story of the Sisters of Mercy in your congregation or institute to our online archive | | Participate in Stations of the Cross online New for 2018: A Creation Way of the Cross, in text format inspired by Laudato Si', has been developed by Trócaire, the overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Download it here (16pps, PDF) Busted Halo has created a series of virtual stations in video format. Download the complete set here (30:49) or individually from this page here Each video station is approximately 2 minutes in length. 2017: Pray-as-you-go Stations. Audio reflections produced by Jesuit Media Initiatives, a work of the Jesuits in Britain, can be accessed here 2016: Stations of Mercy in multimedia format were created by each Congregation and Institute for the Year of Mercy 2016 can be accessed here | | 'Jesus' last week is intentionally strong of passion and of purpose' A contemporary presentation for Holy Week (03:13) | |
| |  Worth Playing: Taizé - Adoramus te, o Christe. Watch/listen here (03:47). Purchase on *iTunes, *GooglePlay Worth Considering: Climate Change Faith-based development organisations in London have come together to draft and invite signatures to a letter from the Commonwealth’s faith leaders to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), a forum for leaders of these 53 countries meeting in London, 16-20 April, urging them to take urgent action on climate change. The letter for signature can be signed here Worth Knowing: Religious Life A new report on recent religious vocations in Australia has uncovered some common characteristics of religious orders that are attracting new women and men, which could help strengthen religious life in Australia and overseas. Access the report here (150pps, PDF) 'What religious orders can do today to thrive'. Change is a sign of God at work in the world, says Sister Teresa Maya, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Read her interview here "Let the call be heard: Benedictine Oblates, monastics 'must raise our voices together'." This talk given by Joan Chittister OSB in January 2018 has led to this response -Degradation of Earth Earth Day, 22 April Catholic Climate Covenant USA has created a free resource, 'Beyond a Throwaway culture: Reduce waste-Grow Community' that can be downloaded here - Displacement of People Internal climate migrants Internal climate migrants are rapidly becoming the human face of climate change. According to the new World Bank report "Groundswell - Preparing for Internal Climate Migration", without urgent global and national climate action, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America could see more than 140 million people move within their countries’ borders by 2050. The Report, promotional video (04:13) and graphics can all be accessed here Refugees ‘To welcome and to protect refugees are common responsibilities of the international community.’- Vatican Observer to the UN on Global Compact for Migration. Read the Statement here The Bottom Line: 'Even the fleeting life of the least of beings is the object of [God's] love, and in its few seconds of existence, God enfolds it with...affection.' - Pope Francis, message to participants at the conference on 'Radical ecological conversion after Laudato Si' ', Rome, 7-8 March 2018 Send suggestions and contributions for the 'Worth...' section 2018 to: the Editor
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| Mercy World E-News is the Online Newsletter of the Mercy International Association. We hope you value this email. However, should you no longer wish to receive this eNewsletter, please unsubscribe. Mercy International Association LimitedRegistered in Ireland. Certificate Number 194263. Public Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered Office: Mercy International Association, 11 Adelaide Road, Dublin 2. Registered Charity no CHY 10078 Directors: Sister Denise Fox (ANZ), Sister Sheila Carney (US), Ron Ashworth (US), Susan Clarke (GB), Sister Colette Cronin (GB), Mary Moorhead (IRL), Kevin Hoy (IRL), Sister Margaret Casey (IRL), Sister Scholasticah Nganda (IRL) | |
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