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Celebrating the Silver Jubilee of Mercy International Centre
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In 2019, we mark the Silver Jubilee of the opening of Mercy International Centre. Linah Mohohlo, a Botswanian business woman says that a Silver Jubilee has a special significance in the life of any institution as it signifies a coming of age and maturity. 2019 is a time to pause and reflect on the good work done and to acknowledge a celebrative milestone in the journey of our vision…
Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - CEO MIA
Vision in Action
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MIA Prayer Intention: World Youth Day, 22-27 January 2019
World Youth Day Panama is underway (22-27 January 2019). We are all invited to join with Pope Francis and his worldwide prayer network in praying this month's intention: For youth to follow Mary's example.
Let us keep in our prayers the young people from our Mercy schools and colleges who will be attending this event that the experience will strengthen their faith and their commitment to work for justice and peace.
Post a prayer in our online chapel.
Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - CEO MIA
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Final Reminder: MELF Applications Due 31 January
A reminder to all those applying for the MIA-MGA Emerging Leaders Fellowship that applications are due to be submitted on 31 January 2019.
Messages to: Colleen Cloonan Swain - Women's Leadership Development and Advocacy Associate, MIA-MGA at the UN
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Mercy Education Pilgrimage 2019 Report
Eight educators from the US and Australia came together from the 7th – 11th January for the first programme of the year. Immersing themselves in Catherine’s story, focussing on the educational dimension, why Catherine thought education was so important, the types of schools the early Sisters established, personal leadership, and using some of Catherine’s stories to identify a mercy response to the issue of bullying, were just some of the topics covered by the group during the week.
The programme will run again from 8-12 January 2020. Details and how to book can be found here. Download the flyer here.
Messages to: Anna Nicholls rsm - Team Leader Heritage & Spirituality
Image L-R: Michael O'Sullivan (Aus), Megan Goodhew (Aus), Annie Drewry (US), Catherine Elliot (Aus), Lisa Griffith rsm (US), Margaret Myhan (US), Melissa Bullock (US), Ann Burke (Aus)
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Global Action
Free Online Courses on the SDGs
Editor: MIA-MGA has recently produced leaflets on SDGs #11 and #14, making 12 in the series to date. Access the leaflets here.
17 universities from around the world have partnered with Coursera to offer free courses for the general public in the hopes of increasing SDG participation. In addition to learning about the SDG's goals and targets, you will learn how to identify the heart of the issues and understand ways in which individuals and organizations are working nationally and internationally to achieve the SDGs. Read more and explore the courses here
Messages to: Denise Boyle fmdm - Team Leader Mercy Global Action
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MIA
Reminder: MIA Ministry Position: Leader Administration & Finance
An opportunity will become available in the latter part of 2019 for appointment to the role of Leader of Administration and Finance.
The position will be based in Dublin with, initially, a 3 year contract.
The successful candidate will:
-be able to demonstrate an understanding of Mercy International Association
-have experience in personnel and financial management
-possess well developed interpersonal and organisational skills
-be proficient with Word and Excel, accounting and payroll software packages
The role is supported by a facility manager and a part-time accountancy resource person.
Indications of interest are now invited for this post. The recruitment process to fill the post will commence early in 2019.
Contact: Mary Reynolds rsm - CEO MIA
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Global Action
Supporting the EU Ban on Single-Use Plastic
Governments throughout the European Union (EU) are backing the critically important initiative of the EU to ban single-use plastic. The EU Parliament voted overwhelmingly on 28th October for an EU-wide ban on single-use plastics such as straws, cutlery, cotton buds and balloon sticks that account for 70% of the waste found in oceans and on beaches.
MIA Global Action was delighted to hear news of the EU legislation, as we have been deeply involved in the campaign to prohibit the sale of one-use plastic. In March 2018, we met with Eamonn Ryan, leader of the Green Party in Ireland, to offer support for their effective, anti-plastic campaign. He shared other initiatives the Green Party is taking and was impressed with the resource we prepared: “The journey Away from Plastic”, developed as a series for Lent, 2018…
Messages to: Denise Boyle fmdm - Team Leader Mercy Global Action
Members' News
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Americas
175th Anniversary Celebration Comes Full Circle in Pittsburgh
The months-long celebration of the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Sisters of Mercy in the United States culminated with solemn Vespers in the chapel of the Pittsburgh motherhouse on December 21.
Vespers began with the chanting of the names of the 868 Sisters of Mercy who have been members of the Pittsburgh Community (see picture above), followed by Sister Jean Murin reading the story of the arrival of the first seven sisters in December of 1843.
A full report is attached to this item.
Messages to: Sisters of Mercy of the Americas c/- Institute Communications Office
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The Congregation
Mercy Sisters Kenyan Province
Sr. Pauline King’ori was finally professed on 12th December 2018.
Present were Sr. Marie Louise White and Sr. Cait O’Dwyer, Congregation Leadership Team.
We wish Sr. Pauline every blessing for her years in Mercy.
Messages to: Brigid Marnane rsm
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Dale Jarvis rsm (centre) with friends on Immersion Trip in Gros Morne HaitiAmericas
A Mission of Mercy and Hope in Haiti
‘In the past 20 years, Sister Dale Jarvis, rsm, has visited Haiti 10 times, traveling there from Portland on three occasions just within the past year. Although her ministry through the Sisters of Mercy has taken her to countries around the world, she says it is the Haitian people whom she has found impossible to leave behind…’
Source: Portland Diocesan Magazine
Messages to: Dale Jarvis rsm
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L-R: Srs Concepcion, Marian, Angela, Cecille Marie and Ma. VictoriaPhilippines
New Team Elected
On 30 December 2018, the new leadership team of the Religious Sisters of Mercy (Philippines) was elected:
Superior General: Sr Mary Angela Vergara
First Councillor: Sr Marian Ladrera
Second Councillor: Sr Mary Concepcion Perejan
Third Councillor: Sr Cecille Marie Lim
Fourth Councillor: Sr Ma. Victoria Paderanga
Messages to: Mary Angela Vergara rsm - Superior General
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Australia & PNG
CRA Endorses Global Compacts
Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) - of which the Sisters of Mercy Brisbane, North Sydney, Parramatta Congregations and ISMAPNG are members -has wholeheartedly endorsed the two Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees adopted by the United Nations in the past month. As a concerted response to the unprecedented global movements of people across the world, these Compacts have developed new possibilities for international co-operation…
Messages to: CRA Justice Committee
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Image: Catherine McAuley by Gael O'Leary commissioned by ISMAPNGAustralia & PNG
Your invitation to the 5th Australian Catherine McAuley Symposium
The theme of the 2019 Symposium, an initiative of the office of the Vice -postulator, is ‘Catherine McAuley - Social Mystic’. The Presenter will be Mary Pat Garvin rsm (Americas)
The Symposium will be held in Parramatta, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide during March.
Details of dates, locations, when and how to RSVP can be found on the flyer.
Messages to: symposium2019@mercy.org.au
Mercy Matters
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Resource
A Well-lit Path
This prayer resource on Catholic Social Teaching has been prepared by Mercy Partners for 2019. Mercy Partners is a not-for-profit organisation in Queensland, Australia set up in 2008 to sponsor the Catholic ministries entrusted to its care by their founding religious congregations.
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Technical Tip
How to Share and Store Your photos in the Cloud
Dropbox, Amazon photos, iCloud, Airdrop but ‘Google Photos outpaces them all’.
Source: Wired
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Image source: YouTubeReflection
'The Summer Day' by Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver, the Pulitzer Prize (1984) winning poet whose poems ‘zinged with affection for nature and the outdoors’ (BBC), died last week, aged 83. Among the Tributes: this article in the New York Times and the re-airing of the 2015 interview with Krista Tippett.
The often quoted lines ‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life? conclude the poem ‘The Summer Day’, read here by the poet.
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Fact
On This Day
1832: First Reception Ceremony, Baggot Street
1873: Foundation to Rochester, Auburn, USA
1876: Foundation to Bendigo (Aust) from Swinford Co.Mayo -M Aloysius Martyn
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
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Website
Sisters Academy of Baltimore
Sisters Academy of Baltimore, a Catholic, community-centered middle school, educates girls of different races, ethnic groups, and religions, from families of limited economic means, particularly those in southwest Baltimore.
The school is sponsored by four religious congregations: the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Sisters of Bon Secours, Sisters of Mercy, and Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
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Digital Life
How to Stay in Shape and Step up Support for Refugees
At a time of year when many resolve to get fit, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the huge distances many are forced to cover to escape persecution, in search of a better life far from home.
The 1 Billion Miles to Safety campaign calls on people around the world to collectively cover the approximate distance travelled by refugees every year, using fitness apps or the campaign website – www.stepwithrefugees.org – to log their contribution towards the global total.
Further Resources
Worth Watching
Be Kind to Yourself
Andrew Peterson was prompted to write this song by his daughter:
‘I love you just the way that you are
I love the way He made your precious heart
Be kind to yourself’
Worth Knowing
Humanitarian InSight: Bringing you all the data on humanitarian needs, response and gaps
OCHA recently launched Humanitarian InSight, a web-based portal providing real-time information on humanitarian needs, response, funding and gaps in a visual, easy-to-read and regularly updated interface.
Check out the portal hereWorth Reading
Displaced in South Sudan: A journey of 1,000 kilometres
What happens when people are forced to abandon their land, homes, jobs and schools due to a civil war? This data story, developed by OCHA’s Centre for Humanitarian Data, follows one family’s journey as they travel the length of South Sudan in search of safety. Their journey of 1,000 kilometres (more than 600 miles) took more than 200 days and involved boat rides up the White Nile River and nearly half a million steps walked.
Read the story hereWorth Reading
The 10 best countries to be a woman
New Zealand (7), Philippines (8) and Ireland (9) make the list
Read the Global Gender Gap reportWorth Knowing
Counting the Cost: A Year of Climate Breakdown
Extreme weather, driven by climate change, hit every populated continent in 2018, killing, injuring and displacing millions and causing major economic damage costing billions of dollars, according to this report by Christian Aid.
Read the Report hereWorth Reading
Key Dates on Human Trafficking
January in the United States is Human Trafficking Awareness month. 11 January is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Each Year, the Srs of St Joseph of Orange in the United States create a monthly prayer and reflection calendar which commences on 11 January and concludes on 8 February, Feast of St Bakhita and the International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking, designated by Pope Francis in 2014.
Check out the resources on our siteWorth Playing
The Prophetic Imagination
Last week Krista Tippett, host of On Being, interviewed Walter Brueggemann.
Play the episode or read the transcriptWorth Knowing
Greenland's ice melting faster than scientists previously thought – study
The pace of ice loss has increased four-fold since 2003 as enormous glaciers are depositing ever larger chunks of ice into the Atlantic ocean, where it melts, causing sea levels to rise
Read the article hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2019 to The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘…this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible’
W.S Merwin, To the New Year
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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
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