17 October: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Editor: This annual UN observance, now in its 21st year, is intended to raise awareness about the need to end poverty and build a world where no one is left behind.
Earth, Pope Francis has reminded us in his ground-breaking encyclical, Laudato Si’, is ‘among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor’ (LS #20) and ‘It cannot be emphasized enough how everything is interconnected.’ LS #138)…
MIA Vision in Action
Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: World Mission Sunday
Sunday, 21 October is World Mission Sunday. We are reminded by Pope Francis in his message for this day of our own call- that each one of us ‘is a mission; that is the reason for our life on this earth.’
We pray especially for missionaries, particularly our Mercy Sisters and partners-in-Mercy, far from home…
Events & Programmes
Enrol in a Programme
Details of all programmes on offer at Mercy International Centre in 2018 and 2019 are online in the ‘Our Centre’ section of our website.
Programmes at Baggot Street can be tailored to the needs of your group or ministry.
Messages to: Anna Nicholls rsm - Team Leader Heritage & Spirituality
Vision
Mercy International 2019 Calendar
There has been a wonderful response to the MIC 2019 calendar. Thank you for your interest and support. Copies are going quickly - don’t miss out!
Purchase the calendar in person by calling into Baggot Street or shop online.
Messages to: Angela and Sr Carita
MIA Members' News
Brisbane
Catherine McAuley Scholarship Awarded to Kristen Lunney, a Student from Australian Catholic University
On Thursday 27 September the 2018 ACU - Brisbane Scholarship and Award Luncheon took place at Portside, Hamilton. The Catherine McAuley Scholarship, established by the Sisters of Mercy Brisbane Congregation in 2006, was presented to Ms Kristen Lunney a past pupil of St Mary’s College Ipswich. Kristen is in the first year of her primary teaching course.
Brisbane
Sisters of Mercy Brisbane Congregation Chapter
The reading from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 2:4-10 is the reading of the day and has been chosen for the Opening Ritual of the Sisters of Mercy Brisbane Congregation Chapter 22-26 October and 12-16 November
‘God has loved us with so much love and is extravagant with mercy!
We are God’s work of art (God’s masterpiece),
created in Christ Jesus to live the good (Gospel) life
as from the beginning God has meant us to live it.’
We are grateful for your prayers and thoughts for the Chapter Community as we reflect together on what is at the heart of Mercy, and what is the call to us at this time.
In Mercy
Messages to: Catherine Reuter rsm
The Congregation
The Twentieth Anniversary Of The Founding Of Mercy Associates In The South Central Province
In the autumn of 1998 Sr. Helena O’Donoghue, the then Provincial of South Central Province, called a meeting of Sisters and lay people who were interested in setting up an association which would broaden the scope of the Mercy charism. The gathering met in Portlaoise, and to everybody’s amazement, there was a very large crowd…It was immediately decided to proceed with founding Mercy Associates in the South Central Province….
GB Union
A Day with Venerable Catherine
It was fitting that the day on which 96 Sisters gathered in The Friends’ House, London to revisit the story of our Foundress Catherine McAuley, was the anniversary of her birth – 29 September 2018…
Whether or not we support the call for Canonisation, we can rejoice in the gift to us, to the Church and the world that Catherine McAuley was and continues to be and commit ourselves to making her and God’s merciful love known wherever Providence places us…
Creation Sixth Day by Caroline Street. www.carolinestreetart.comISMAPNG
Created to Serve and Preserve Earth
Elaine Wainwright rsm reads the very familiar Genesis 2 text of the creation showing humanity’s responsibility to serve and preserve the Earth community. Sr Elaine writes: ‘This entire narrative of creation invites us into a material world, a created world, a world in which divine creativity is forever at work in the unfolding of the universe’.
Great Britain
8th Oct 2018 - Mercy Season Celebration
On Tuesday 2nd October, 65 Mercy Associates from Coolock and Norton groups met to celebrate the Mercy season at Holy Trinity church Newcastle for holy Mass. The Associates took part in serving the Mass reading and singing.
After Mass they all met at the parish centre for a celebration meal. The hall was decorated with Banners depicting the works of Mercy and a large picture of Our Lady of Mercy was also on display. This picture, a copy of the original hanging in the Church of St. Pudenziana in Rome, was given by Pope Leo X111 to the Sisters of Mercy and unveiled on the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, 1890.
Mercy Matters
Fact
On This Day
1849: Foundation to Derby, England from Kinsale - M Evangelist Benson
1854: Sr Clare Moore led Sisters from Bermondsey to the Crimea.
1871: Opening of the second purpose built convent in Perth – built by the Fenians.
1897: Foundation to Cape Town, South Africa from Strabane - M Teresa Cowley
1903: Foundation to Coburg from North Melbourne - M Bernard Lyons
Gospel
Gospel
21 October 2018
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time -
Year B
‘‘In the kindom of God movement established by Jesus, there is no place for domination or for any exercise of power over others. In today’s gospel story, this is a lesson that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, clearly need to learn…’’
Stock photoOrganisations
The Congregation - South African Province
In 1897, the community of the Sisters of Mercy of Strabane, Ireland, acceding to the request of Bishop Anthony Gaughren OMI, Vicar Apostolic in Kimberley, South Africa, undertook to make a foundation in Mafeking, Bechuanaland.
Accordingly, on 24th September, under the patronage of Our Lady of Mercy, five sisters, accompanied by four postulants, left Ireland and reached Cape Town on 17th October 1897.
Quote
Words of Mercy
‘Of the Sisters in the Crimea it was recorded that “they did more than medicine”. To do “more than medicine” is still a challenge.’
- Jan Geason rsm
Tech Tip
Four Tips to Find Lost or Misplaced Files on your Computer
Here are four tips to recover files you’ve lost or misplaced on your computer.
Resource
Change Agents
To be change agents, light of the world, salt of the earth … and so much more!
In his book, Deeply Woven Roots: Improving the Quality of Life in your Community, Gary Gunderson highlights the power of the congregation and pinpoints the multi-faceted way in which a congregation ‘who gets it’ can accompany, convene and connect, give context and sanctuary, plus abundantly bless, pray and persist.
Our New Website
To harbour the harbourlessAbout
Works of Mercy - Then & Now
In the ‘About’ section of our website we have included Clare Agnew’s line drawings of the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy.
We invited Sisters and partners-in-Mercy from a number of our congregations and institutes to share an account of how the ministry is conducted today, then paired their accounts with the drawings. For example, Felicity Reynolds (North Sydney) shares the work of the Mercy Foundation in addressing homelessness.
From time to time we will seek fresh contributions for this section.
Booking Events & Programmes
Events & Programmes
Booking into an event or programme at MIC has been made simpler with the use of a new software on the website - Eventbrite.
Eventbrite is an online event management and ticketing platform that allows users to find and book events and programmes. Eventbrite gives us the the ability to promote our gatherings through social media, to send out invitations, and to have our events & programmes be findable through most search engines - advertising our experiences to a global audience.
Don’t miss out!
Shop
Shop at the MIC Gift Shop
The Shop primarily carries items of interest to the Mercy world, handmade items by Sisters of Mercy and Associates, and a selection of varied merchandise made in Ireland.
Shop in person or online for cards, gifts and souvenirs of your visit to the first House of Mercy.
Further Resources
Worth Reading
Reducing Inequality: What is Your Country Doing to Tackle the Gap Between Rich and Poor?
The Oxfam’s Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index assesses 157 countries on their commitment and measures their efforts in social spending on essential services, taxation and labour policies.
Read the articleWorth Reading
More Trees, Happier People
When cities grow, green space dies. Replanting it has been shown to lift the human spirit.
Plant or nurture a tree.
Read the articleWorth Knowing
Pope's Request for Intensified Prayer During October
Pope Francis has asked all the faithful to pray the Rosary every day with the intention that the Virgin Mary help the Church in these times of crisis, and to pray each day to St. Michael the Archangel that he defend us against the attacks of the bad spirit.
Watch the videoWorth Reading
Migration: new map of Europe reveals real frontiers for refugees
A new refugee mapping project has revealed an alternative image of Europe as a space that is being shaped by migrants and their struggle.
Read article, view the mapWorth Watching
Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, Ph.D. - Is God's Charity Broad Enough for Bears?
Nineteenth-century naturalist John Muir raised the question, "Is God's charity broad enough for bears?" Starting with Muir's question, Johnson explores our relationship to the natural world within the context of the dangerous ecological crisis our planet faces.
Presentation given on 25 September 2018
Watch the presentationWorth Watching
Evening Prayer
From Northern Lights: Choral Works by Norwegian composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo (Chandos 2012)
EnjoyWorth Reading
Promoting the Right to Water: Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions
The Conference members met in Barcelona from 28-30 September, dedicating their meeting to the topic of water, each bringing with them ‘the cry of sister water’. Drawing on the inputs and discussions and inspired by Laudato Si’, the General Assembly adopted a number of conclusions, recommendations and commitments.
Read the DeclarationSend suggestions and contributions for the Worth Section 2018 to The Editor
The Bottom Line
The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created - created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination.
John Schaar, scholar and political theorist
Mercy eNews
The online newsletter of Mercy International Association is published weekly, 48 weeks each year and distributed to subscribers via email.
For more information on the directors click here
