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Sponsor a Commemorative Plaque in the Sacred Garden at Baggot Street in this Jubilee Year
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The Commemorative Wall in the Sacred Garden at Baggot Street was instituted as part of the redevelopment of the House into MIC, providing an opportunity—then and since— for Sisters and partners- in Mercy to honour many people in a visible way. Not only has this become a lasting memento of a loved one or place, it has also been part of MIA’s fundraising programme.
As part of the 25th anniversary Sacred Garden redevelopments, all of the existing metal plaques on the bricks have been remade into ceramic tiles which will become part of a new feature wall - also to be decorated with the artwork of Sr Clare Augustine Moore.
There is space for more tiles to be added to the wall and all orders placed before the end of June 2019 will be handmade in time for the blessing of the Sacred Garden during the Jubilee Celebrations in September…
More About The New Commemorative Wall
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Heritage
Our Artist
Laura O’Hagan has worked in ceramics for over 35 years. Her studio is in the Glen of the Downs in County Wicklow. Laura’s work encompasses both architectural ceramics and sculptural forms and is incorporated into the fabric of existing buildings including Dublin Castle, the National Gallery of Ireland and St Mel’s Cathedral, Longford. Laura was delighted to be asked to help create the contemplative atmosphere in the Sacred Garden and we are thrilled to have an artist of her sensitivity and talent creating these enduring memories for the Mercy family.
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Each plaque is individually numbered on the reverse sideHeritage
Her Process
Explained Laura, ‘The commemorative plaques— ceramic tiles— are made using a very high fired stoneware clay to withstand the elements and each letter is pressed in by hand with specifically made lettering. They are turned for a couple of weeks while drying before being fired. Panels of flower tiles will border the plaques on the feature wall. These images have been adjusted in order to be able to fire them into porcelain tiles then glazed and made durable for weather conditions all year round.”
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The Inspiration
The panels of flower tiles are sections adapted from Sr Clare Augustine Moore’s ‘Book of Flowers’, one of Clare’s more celebrated works and a treasure of our Mercy inheritance.
A “flip book” of ‘The Book of Flowers’ can be read in our online library. More information about Clare can also be discovered there.
Vision in Action
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Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: 12 June World Day Against Child Labour
Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: 12 June World Day Against Child Labour
Today highlights the millions of children worldwide forced to work and who face exploitation in situations of slavery, trafficking, sexual exploitation and hazardous occupations. In the words of this year’s theme: ‘Children shouldn’t work in fields, but on dreams!’
Let us pray for these children and support organisations, including Mercy groups, working to focus attention on the plight of these children.
Post your prayer in our online chapel.
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MIA
Advance Notice: MIC Silver Jubilee Celebrations
MIA
Advance Notice: MIC Silver Jubilee Celebrations
Silver Jubilee Celebrations at Baggot Street will take place over three days (24-26 September 2019).
Details of the celebrations will be published in MercyeNews and on our website next week.
Members' News
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Parramatta Congregation
Courage and Mentorship key themes at OLMC Women in Leadership Forum
“Each year Our Lady of Mercy College is fortunate to have four generous, kind and confident women willing to share their career stories of successes and challenges, hopes and dreams, and diversions along the way. We know that girls learn from these narratives, particularly when the stories are told with humility and humour and the 2019 Forum speakers have been exceptional. Their consistent message of courage and service resonated with our Mercy community and inspired everyone present to consider ways they could effectively contribute to the wider community.”
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Image: Dawid Zawila on Unsplash
It's Time to Hear the Truth: Scripture with Kathleen Rushton rsm
Kathleen Rushton rsm explains how Jesus sends the Spirit to reannounce truths we may not have had the insight, knowledge or understanding to hear before now.
Sr Kathleen writes: ‘It is time for us to “bear” to hear the truth and, enabled by the Spirit, transform our faith into action…’
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Parramatta Congregation
Reconciliation Week Commemoration and Commitment
At their gathering during National Reconciliation Week, Sisters of Mercy Parramatta Congregation made a public declaration of their support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, stating (in part): ‘We have heard the First people’s heartfelt entreaty and so commit ourselves to take up the journey with them and to work for the inclusion of a Voice in our Constitution and a Makarrata commission for Treaty and Truth-telling…’
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Americas
Gwynedd-Mercy Academy Elementary Celebrates Greenhouse Opening
On May 21, the Gwynedd-Mercy Academy Elementary school community celebrated the opening of its new greenhouse classroom with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Principal Anne Knapke remarked that the new greenhouse classroom responds to the call for stewardship from both the Sisters of Mercy and Pope Francis. "With our new greenhouse initiative, we will be helping to answer [the pope's] call," Anne said. "We look forward to providing an enhanced education that increases our students’ level of environmental consciousness in a time when youth today are becoming less exposed to natural work."
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Americas
“Sewing” Feminine Hygiene through the Haiti Initiative Project
In the United States, we take “disposable” for granted: coffee cups, diapers, razors, etc. But in impoverished Haiti, where sanitation is a daily challenge, disposable items are unheard-of luxuries. That includes feminine-hygiene products, which must be washed and reused.
“Young girls and women use rags and even leaves every month, and their embarrassment leads to a high dropout rate in schools,” said Sister Jill Weber, who ministers in Haiti.
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The Congregation
Mercy Involvement in 'Sick of Plastic' Campaign
Sligo, in the North West of Ireland, is a county of stunning beauty, scenic mountains, cascading waterfalls and over 190 km of coastline with some of the most beautiful beaches in Ireland. But Sligo has a hidden problem -plastic. Our beaches are polluted with plastic; our larger marine fish are dying of undigested plastic tubs, bags, and bottles; the stomachs of smaller marine fish are lined with micro-plastic…
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St Saviour's College Toowoomba, Australia: Empowering Young Women in a Changing World
Mercy Matters
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Digital Life
The Best Free Apps And Software You're Not Already Using
‘There’s a wealth of free software and apps available to help you get the most out of your computer or smartphone (or both) — so much, in fact, that it’s hard to get around to trying most of them. That’s where this list comes in…’
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Gospel
Trinity Sunday
John 16:12-15
'The opening sentence of today’s gospel touches something very deep in human experience. Jesus tells his disciples: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” In John’s gospel, Jesus is depicted as sensitive to the anguish of his friends and to their limited capacity to absorb the enormity of what was happening to him and to them...'
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Fact
On This Day
1886: Foundation to Ballyporeen from Cahir, Co Tipperary
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
Further Resources
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Worth Knowing
Theologians as Novelists
Susan Thistlewaite, Professor of Theology at Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS), is the author of two works of fiction: ‘Where Drowned Things Live’ and ‘Every Wickedness’, mystery stories each starring Kristin Ginelli, an untenured professor at a Chicago university. Tina Beattie is Director of the Digby Stuart Research Centre for Religion, Society and Human Flourishing and of Catherine of Siena College at University of Roehampton. Her novel ‘The Good Priest’ was published earlier this year.
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Worth Reading
Partnership doesn't require replacement
‘I have no doubt that the many forms of membership in our congregations will (and do) play a monumental part in the lives of religious congregations into the future. Yet, for all the hope these forms present, the cultivation and preservation of vowed membership must not be lost…’
Read the article here)
Worth Watching
The Priests’ Way of Life: Pope Francis' Prayer Intention for June 2019
‘Let us pray that priests, through the modesty and humility of their lives, commit themselves actively, above all, to solidarity with those who are most poor.
Watch the video here)
Worth Reading
People eat at least 50,000 plastic particles a year, study finds
‘Health effects of ingestion of microplastics via food, water and breathing still unknown’
Read the article here)
Worth Reading
The world needs an ecological “conversion” in order to manifest the Church’s vision of an integral human ecology, Pope Francis said in an address on 8 June to a conference on the social teaching of the Church.
Read the Pope's Address here)
Worth Watching
May it Be
Dutch harpist Lavinia Meijer, with music from Philip Glass: Metamorphosis II
Watch/listen hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2019 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘If the mystery of the Trinity is the template of all reality, what we have in the Trinitarian God is the perfect balance between union and differentiation, autonomy and mutuality, identity and community.
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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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