It's just over 3 weeks till Mercy Day! For many years, Sisters, Associates, Communities, Ministries, Congregations and Institutes, as well as members of the wider Mercy network, have sent in their Mercy Day Greetings for posting on our mercyworld.org website. These are widely read and greatly appreciated.

All members and friends of the Mercy family are invited to send in your greetings for posting on our mercyworld.org website for Mercy Day. Greetings will be posted online as they are received. We look forward to posting yours!

Greetings—text and logo/image if desired—should be sent in by Friday, 21 September to make sure they are published for Mercy Day.

Messages to: Anne Walsh - Mercy eNews Editor

Image: iStock. Used under licence

Last Monday, 20 August Pope Francis published a letter acknowledging 'once more the suffering endured by many minors due to sexual abuse, the abuse of power and the abuse of conscience perpetrated by a significant number of clerics and consecrated persons' and called for the commitment of the entire ecclesiastical community, to 'uproot the culture of abuse'.

Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) of which the four Australian Mercy congregations are members and The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) of which the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas is a member, each issued a Statement in response. These were posted (22 August) in an article on our website  which is linked to this item.

The Conference of Religious England & Wales (CoR) to which the Mercy leaders of England and Wales belong, has also issued a Statement which we have linked to our website.

Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - CEO MIA

This pilgrimage is for administrators, staff and board members of Mercy ministries. It is an opportunity for participants to strengthen their approach to Mercy leadership and mission in the context of today's challenges.

Cost: € 620 (Residential), €410 (Non-residential).

The programme is being offered three times over the next twelve months: 1-5 October 2018, 11-15 March 2019, 29 July - 2 August 2019.

Download the flyer here (PDF)

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

Since the release of Laudato Si', the Prayer for Our Earth, which accompanied us during MIRP, has become the prayer we pray during the Season of Creation. With the commencement of the Season this coming Saturday, we are invited once more to make this prayer our own, called as we are 'to take concrete steps to save the planet and the life it sustains, inspired by the Encyclical's assumption that "everything is connected".' (Pope Francis)

Download the prayer here:
English: Colour: (A4 PDF); (US Letter PDF); B& W: (A4 PDF); (US Letter PDF)

Spanish: Colour: (A4 PDF); (US Letter PDF); B&W: (A4 PDF); (US Letter PDF)

Post your own Prayer or Reflection in our online Chapel

Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - CEO MIA

There are a number of resources produced by MIA over the last two years —such as our perennial calendar and posters— that are suitable for use during this time of focus. A list of these downloads is linked to this item.

Messages to: MIRP Continuation Group

Newly created resources for use during the Season of Creation, including videos, prayer services, papers and presentations have been collated and are linked to this item.

Messages to: MIRP Continuation Group

Image: iStock. Used under licence

'For about a year and a half, Ann Grasso has been troubled by the idea that people, as a whole, are having a hard time talking with each other.

“So I started thinking about what could possibly set a tone that would allow for interaction and connection,” she says.

And that led her to tea.

“Tea is used in ritual and ceremony. And it’s often seen as a beverage of comfort and solace. And, whether you are drinking alone or with friends, that makes a difference in how you perceive tea,” she says...'

TEA, Connecting Cultures, is at Mercy by the Sea’s Mary C. Daly RSM Art Gallery, 167 Neck Road, Madison, through Sunday, Oct. 14. The gallery is open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Sunday, Oct. 14. The reader’s guide and video are available for download at anngrasso.com

Source: Zip.com

Messages to: Ann McGovern rsm

Editor: Materials to plan a Good cup of Tea celebration during the Season of Mercy (24 September - 12 December) can be found online here

Image; 'We shall overcome' by Claudia van Nes. Used with permission

Editor: An Opening Ceremony for World Meeting of Families 2018 took place simultaneously across all 26 Dioceses of Ireland on the evening of Tuesday, 21 August, typically in the local cathedral and with prayer services taking place in other parts of the diocese. Each celebration began by remembering that we walk in the footsteps of the saints and those who have handed on the faith to us. Elizabeth McNamee rsm describes what took place in the Diocese of Longford.

During the preparation for the inaugural liturgy of the WMOF in St Mel’s Cathedral in Longford,  it was decided to carry symbols of diocesan relevance to the altar during the ceremony.  Among the symbols to be carried were relics of saints associated with the diocese and of founders of congregations working in the diocese. Following a request to Mary Reynold’s rsm, CEO Mercy International, Anna Nicholls rsm, Team Leader Heritage & Spirituality, prepared a reliquary of Catherine McAuley consisting of three relics - pieces of Catherine’s visitation cloak, coif and bed jacket. The beautiful reliquary in the form of a framed picture was formally presented to Elizabeth McNamee rsm who received it with deep gratitude on 17/08/2018 in Catherine’s Room in Baggot Street. She also received a copy of a prayer for Catherine’s canonisation and a candle which had been previously decorated by Anna...

Messages to: Elizabeth McNamee rsm

Congregations and Institutes wishing to incorporate the reliquary into a ritual or prayer service are asked to contact Anna Nicholls rsm to make arrangements to borrow it.

'After a lengthy detour over the past six weeks into the gospel of John with its focus on Jesus Jesus as the Bread of Life and the Bread of Wisdom, we return to Mark’s gospel and a legal dispute about ritual purity. The parties to the dispute are Jesus, the Pharisees, and some of the scribes or teachers of the law.'

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

Listen to the Gospel read by Fr Eamonn O'Connor (Ireland)
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The official Season of Creation video was launched at World Youth Day in 2016 to raise awareness about the Pope’s invitation to pray for creation care on September 1st and take action throughout the month of September (till the end of the Season of Creation on October 4th, Feast of St. Francis of Assisi).

It is worth viewing again this Season.

In 2016 Nellie McLaughlin rsm was interviewed by Adele Howard rsm (ISMAPNG) for the VOICES project - videos with experts on Scripture, Theology, Spirituality, Ethics and the writings of Catherine McAuley, to assist with Stage Three of MIRP: Engaging with the Wisdom of the Tradition.

Sr Nellie's interview is linked to this item.

The VOICES series can be accessed at www.mirpvoices.org

Lavish Mercy is the name of Renee Yann's blog. Writes Sr Renee by way of introduction:'I am a Sister of Mercy. I love to chase God through the bright blessing of words. I love to discover words in the dark blessing of silence.'

Earth Link is a community which envisions a world where there is respect, reverence and care for the whole Earth community. We believe that the heart of this lies in deepening our bond with Earth. You can be part of this community...

1882: Convent opened in Boorowa, New South Wales from Goulburn

1893: Foundation to Kipkelion, Ireland from Kerry Union

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