Giving Voice to the Anti-Slavery Commitment of Religious in England & Wales
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L-R: Srs Arpan Carvalho, Cecilia Espenilla, Lynda Dearlove
Editor: 25 November marks the start of the annual 16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence global campaign, initiated in 1991 by the first Women's Global Leadership Institute at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.
MIA is among the many organisations that support this campaign (see resources below). Fittingly, this week we highlight the release of the Report ‘Threads of Solidarity’ by the Arise Foundation for the Conference of Religious of England and Wales (CoREW) on the anti-slavery commitment of religious women and men. The authors of the Report acknowledge Lynda Dearlove rsm, MBE, Founder and CEO of Women@ thewell ‘whose Vision paved the way for this project’…
Messages to: Lynda Dearlove rsm (GB Institute)
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L-R: Srs Arpan Carvalho, Cecilia Espenilla, Lynda Dearlove
MIA Vision in Action
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Events
Foundation Day Celebrations at Baggot Street
Sisters, Associates and Friends of Mercy are invited to celebrate Eucharist at Mercy International Centre at midday, Wednesday, 12 December, followed by refreshments.
RSVP by Friday, 7 December by phone 01 661 8061, email or using our Eventbrite booking system.
Messages to: Madeleine O’Hanlon - Receptionist
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Prayer
MIA Prayer Intentions
Victims of California Wildfires
As three major blazes continue to devastate California, we pray with the grieving - for the injured, the missing, the displaced and the deceased. Read more.
Victims of Shooting at Mercy Hospital Chicago
Please also remember in your prayers the four people — including a Chicago police officer, ER doctor, hospital worker —killed Monday afternoon (Chicago time) in a shooting at Mercy Hospital Chicago. The shooting began as part of a domestic dispute. Read more
Post a prayer in our online chapel.
Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - CEO MIA
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Programmes
Young Mercy Leaders' Pilgrimage 2019
The fifth pilgrimage for secondary/second level school students will take place in 2019.
The Pilgrimage will commence at 10am on Tuesday, 16 July 2019 and conclude at 4.30pm on Friday, 19 July 2019.
Group leaders are reminded to pre-register their Pilgrimage group here before 30 November 2018 and estimate numbers for our planning purposes.
Messages to: Anna Nicholls rsm - Team Leader Heritage & Spirituality
Member News
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Americas
'Let Us Sing as We Go!' Finding Joy in Ministry
Pope Francis gives us the title of this reflection. Near the end of his encyclical on the environment, On Care for Our Common Home, after detailing all the scientific, political, moral and cultural problems that threaten our environment and the challenges before us in making a response, he says, "Let us sing as we go!"1 This to me epitomizes the spirit of this papacy. Our leader is a man who understands all the pain and suffering in our world — not only the ecological disaster, but also the refugee crisis, war and terrorism, violence, hunger and disease, and yet his words resonate with joy. The titles of two of his principal writings so far include the word: The Joy of the Gospel and The Joy of Love…
Messages to: Doris Gottemoeller rsm
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The Congregation
Pilgrim Pathways : Finding, Making, Walking
Walking the ancient Irish Pilgrim Pathways is becoming increasingly popular since 2013 when John G. O’Dwyer first published “Pilgrim Paths in Ireland – A Guide – From Slieve Mish to Skellig Michael” …
On my 69th birthday, while walking to Mass, I was wondering what I would do to celebrate my 70th year….I knew deep down that pilgrimage would feature and then the idea came to walk the five “passported” pilgrim paths in Ireland during the course of the year…
Messages to: Ann Lenihan rsm
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americas
Winter Shelter Opens for the 2018 Season
Pittsburgh Mercy’s Operation Safety Net ®, in partnership with Allegheny County Department of Human Services, operates a Winter Shelter for men and women who are experiencing homelessness. Last winter, over 120 nights, they assisted 904 individuals.
Find out more about the scale of the Winter Shelter services by reading this news release announcing the opening for this year on 15 November through 15 March 2019 (with additional nights to be added if conditions warrant).
Messages to: Linda K. Ross - Director of Communications Pittsburgh Mercy
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The Congregation
Presidential honour for Rosemount nun in Zambia
‘A Rosemount native who has spent 30 years working on the missions in Zambia was recently honoured by the country's president in recognition of the contribution she has made to education.
Sr Celestine Daly (born Rita Daly) was awarded an 'insignia of honour' by President Edgar Lungu during an independence day event in the capital city of Lusaka last month…’
Source: Westmeath Independent
Messages to: Celestine Daly rsm c/- Denise Brennan- Communications Co-ordinator
Americas
Cranaleith Spiritual Center Recognized as Zone of Peace
On November 11, Cranaleith Spiritual Center, Philadelphia, a sponsored ministry of the Sisters of Mercy, celebrated its designation as a Zone of Peace by the Religious Leaders Council of Greater Philadelphia, a coalition of faith leaders from Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and other religious groups. “We chose Cranaleith as a Zone of Peace because of its role in offering people from all backgrounds a place free from fear, filled with respect, and marked by deeds of kindness,” said Rev. B. Hougen, PhD, coordinator of the Zones of Peace Initiative…
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Brisbane
Brisbane Congregation Elects New Leadership Team
Following prayer and reflection, the Chapter delegates have elected:
Sr Catherine Reuter - Congregational Leader
Councillors (alphabetical order)
Sr Peta Goldburg
Sr Maree Hutchinson
Sr Patricia Kirchner
Sr Anne O’Farrell
The new Congregation Leadership Team will take office on Wednesday, 12 December 2018.
Messages to: Catherine Reuter rsm
Mercy Matters
Resource
16 Days 16 Stories
Stories of trafficked women and girls in their own words from the book ‘I Have A Voice’ by Angela Reed rsm and Marietta Latonio were presented online in 2016 as part of the UN sponsored 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence.
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Global Action
16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
Last year, the Future We Need group (Ireland), of which MIA-MGA is a member, produced a series of leaflets, one for each day of the campaign. These have been re-edited by members of the group for this year and re-uploaded on our site in time for the start of this year’s campaign, the theme of which is:
Orange the World#HearMeToo
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Gospel
25 November 2018. Feast of Christ the King Year B
John 18:33-37
'The liturgical year always ends with the celebration of the Feast of Christ the King. The gospel reading for Year B is from John's gospel where the notion of God's kin-dom or reign or empire features only twice in contrast with its frequent appearance in the other gospels, especially Matthew....'
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Technical Tip
How to Lock Down What Websites Can Access on Your Computer
‘In fact, websites now ask for almost as many permissions as the apps on your phone do, though you might not be as familiar with how to manage them. We'll show you how…’
Source: Wired
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Fact
On This Day
‘Hurra for foundations, makes the old young and the young merry.’
-Letter to Cecilia Marmion, 4 January 1841
1853: Foundation to New Ross from Wexford - M Teresa Kelly, M Aloysius Sinnott
1854: Foundation to Dungarvan from Cappoquin - M Vincent Fanning
1863: Foundation to Templemore from Cork - M Joseph Walsh
1865: Foundation to Macroom from Cobh, Co Cork
1870: Foundation to Janesville, Wisconsin - M Francis Jackson
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
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International Days
Happy Thanksgiving
Wishing all Sisters, Associates and partners-in-Mercy celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, 22 November, a wonderful celebration with community, friends and family.
Our New Website
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Technical Tip
Disqus
Disqus is a worldwide blog comment hosting service. We have integrated Disqus into our new website to enable our website visitors to post comments on particular articles.
We invite you to familiarise yourself with how this technology works, by watching the video.
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Technical Tip
Disqus in the Spirituality section
There are three ‘Conversation Circles’ in the Spirituality section, any or all three of which you are welcome to join.
Having read and considered the material on Kindness - a Word of Mercy, The Family and Catherine McAuley and Creating a Spirit of Hospitality, you are invited to join the conversation by posting a comment.
The most recently posted comments will display below the text of the topic (see article on Kindness) and on the Spirituality page itself.
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Newsroom
Feature article and a Secondary Link
When there is further information about the Feature item in MercyeNews, a yellow ‘Read More’ link appears.
When there is an additional related article on the topic that we wish to draw your attention to, the title of that article appears in the eNews item in pink. That is the case this week.
Further Resources
Worth Watching
'Her'
Music and lyrics by Gracie and Rachel. Highlights women who have taken a stance when it wasn’t necessarily easy to do so. A list of the women in order of their appearance is on the page. Proceeds from the sale of the song will go to RAINN, the largest anti-sexual violence organisation in the United States.
Watch her go forwardWorth Knowing
Communities in Crisis: Interior Removals and Their Human Consequences
Research examines the human face of deportation and makes recommendations for Policy Makers and Faith Communities. An article about the research can be read here.
Download the ReportWorth Reading
The Planet's Hidden Climate Change
Reuters journalists spent over 12 months sifting through data, collecting stories and visualising the results to create this report on the effects of rising water temperatures on the oceans. ‘Those rising temperatures are creating an epic underwater refugee crisis among marine life.’
Check out the data visualisationsWorth Knowing
Why the World Bank is taking a wide-angle view of poverty
‘The World Bank has used an international poverty line, originally the “dollar a day” line, since at least 1990 to monitor global poverty. In recent years, the line has come under criticism for being too low in value. And indeed, it is significantly lower in value than how most of the world defines poverty. There is a reason for this…’
Find out whySend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2018 to The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘Whatever one's role, to minister to others out of a deep interior joy is to radiate the spirit of the Gospel. Let us sing as we go!’
Doris Gottemoeller rsm 'Let Us Sing as We Go!' Finding Joy in Ministry’, 2018
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Mercy eNews
The online newsletter of Mercy International Association is published fortnightly, 24 weeks each year and distributed to subscribers via email.
For more information on the directors click here