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Participate in Plastic Free July: Think Reusable
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Editor: In her reflection on this coming Sunday’s gospel, Veronica Lawson rsm writes: ‘The present ecological crisis calls us to new ways of being neighbour. We used to speak in terms of thinking globally and acting locally. If we are to be neighbour in our times, we need to think cosmically as well as globally and to act globally as well as locally…’
Plastic pollution is all pervasive, yet it has been identified as one of the critical environmental issues of our time, piling up on land, building up in oceans, with plastic taking 400 years to decompose. It is also a social justice issue with wealthy countries exporting plastic waste to poorer countries to dispose of it…
Vision in Action
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Srs Pat Flynn (vice president), Judith Frikker, Pat McDermott (president) Anne Marie Miller and Áine O'ConnorPrayer
MIA Special Prayer Intention: ILT of the Americas
On 1 July 2019, the Institute Leadership Team (ILT) became the only elected leadership team within the Institute, thus assuming canonical responsibility for the entire Institute, another important step on the Journey to Oneness.
We pray with all members of the Institute as they each undertake another step in the journey. We pray with the leadership team as they assume these additional responsibilities that they continue to be wise, listening, reflective, relational and courageous leaders.
Post your prayer in our online chapel.
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Prayer
MIA Prayer intention: That Migrants & Refugees Reach Safety
Alan Kurdi - drowned in the Mediterranean (2015), Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria - drowned in the Rio Grande (2019). These are three names we know of the many people in recent years who have drowned fleeing war, poverty and misery. These are heart- wrenching images we can’t—we shouldn’t— ever forget.
May the Mercy Family continue to pray and work for all people who seek safety and security in lands far from their own, to convince governments and their citizens to accept them, support them and enable them to begin new lives.
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MIA-MGA
Webinar Series Now Concluded - 3 Session Videos Available Here
The webinar series based on Mercy International Association’s publication Inherent Dignity, an anti-human trafficking advocacy guidebook, concluded last week.
Video recordings of all three sessions can now be watched online.
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Participate in an MIC Programme in 2020
Programme offerings for 2020 are now online.
Members' News
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Americas
It Should Not Take Horrific Images to Compel us to Action
Patricia McDermott rsm (ILT President) writes: ‘The image of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria has weighed heavily upon my heart since it began circulating yesterday…
We must amplify the story of Óscar and his young daughter and all those who have died in the custody of immigration officers. We cannot allow our leaders to turn a blind eye to this suffering. In solidarity, as people of faith, we must reject these dangerous, cruel and outdated immigration policies. We demand the realization of every immigrant’s legal right to seek asylum—no exceptions’…
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Americas
‘What does Earth ask of us?’
Robin Wall Kimmerer, award-winning author of the books Braiding Sweetgrass and Gathering Moss led a weekend retreat at Mercy by the Sea in Madison, Connecticut, May 17-19.
“Returning the Gift: What Does the Earth Ask of Us?” drew 70 retreatants—ages 20 to 80—from a dozen states. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and the founder and director of SUNY’s Center of Native Peoples and Environment, Robin facilitated a celebrative experience to help awaken participants to their role in the cycle of reciprocity, both receiving and returning the gifts of the generous Earth….
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ISMAPNG
Launch of a Book Based on the late Dr Jan Gray’s Doctoral Dissertation
During May, a book based on the doctoral dissertation of the late Dr Jan Gray rsm was launched at gatherings in both Melbourne and Adelaide.
The book, *‘M-D Chenu’s Christian Anthropology: Nature and Grace in Society and Church’ *was edited by Kathleen Williams rsm and published by Hilary Regan of ATF Press. It is based on what was Jan’s most significant work…
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Brisbane Congregation
Listen with Your Heart
To the beautiful sounds of ‘Quam Dilecta” a piece of our treasured sacred music, and on a stunning autumn morning, we began the Jubilee Celebration of the Sisters of Mercy, Brisbane Congregation, at All Hallows’ Chapel for our Jubilarians for 2019…
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ISMAPNG
'For the sake of generations to come': Faith Leaders Unite on Climate Change
Eveline Crotty rsm, Institute President, is among the 153 religious leaders who have issued an open letter to Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, urging him to show moral leadership on the issue of climate change.
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Ireland
Fitbit for Your Footprint
VITA is delighted to announce that its website now has a carbon calculator, the first totally not-for-profit carbon calculator in the world.
Use the calculator to measure your footprint and offset it if you wish, using carbon credits from programmes supported by Sisters Mercy and other partner organisations.
Mercy Matters
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Fact
On This Day
1836: Catherine's niece, M Anne Agnes professed, Baggot St
1842: M Catherine Gogarty professed Baggot St, died Perth 1846
1942: 7 Sisters evacuated from Alderney, Channel Islands join the Gravesend Sisters in Hartley, Kent.
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
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Digital Life
This Gmail Pro Tip will Change How You Think About Your Inbox
‘It’s easy to think of Gmail’s labels system as a glorified filing cabinet for your inbox—but if you’re treating labels strictly as folders, you’re missing out on some of their most powerful possibilities…’
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International Days
Happy Days!
Wishing our Sisters and partners-in-Mercy of the Americas a happy Fourth of July for tomorrow and that our Sisters and partners-in-Mercy in Newfoundland Congregation enjoyed a happy Canada Day on Monday, 1 July.
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Resource
A Plastic Wave - A documentary film on plastic pollution
A surf photographer, business owner and father of two is seeing more and more plastic wash ashore his beloved home beach. In a bid to discover the route of this problem, he embarks on a journey of discovery to educate himself and understand more about the problem. Along the way, he discovers some alarming issues...’ (24:35)
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quotes
Words of Mercy
‘As love begets love, politeness begets politeness'.’
- Catherine McAuley
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Gospel
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
Luke 10:25-37
'The present ecological crisis calls us to new ways of being neighbour. We used to speak in terms of thinking globally and acting locally. If we are to be neighbour in our times, we need to think cosmically as well as globally and to act globally as well as locally...'
Further Resources
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Worth Reading
The real cost of cheap, fast fashion – to workers and to the planet
Article includes 7 ways to take the environmental heat out of your fashion habit, including this one: ‘Wash clothes less often. The average laundry cycle releases hundreds of thousands of tiny fragments of plastic from synthetic fibres into waterways.’
Read the article here)
Worth Playing
Canticle of Creation
by Dan Schutte
‘Be praised, my Lord in all things
Signore, Laudato Si'...’
Lyrics
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Worth Reading
News from LCWR
The Latest issue (July 2019) of ‘Update’, LCWR’s monthly newsletter, is now online.
Read it here)
Worth Knowing
'See What You Made Me Do: Power, Control and Domestic Abuse'
‘Domestic abuse is a national emergency: one in four Australian women has experienced violence from a man she was intimate with. But too often we ask the wrong question: why didn’t she leave? We should be asking: why did he do it?…’
*Violence/Domestic violence was one of the issues surfaced during the MIR process.*
Read a review of the book here Order the book here)
Worth Knowing
An Astonishing Secret
The Love Story of Creation and the Wonder of You.
‘This online course by Fr Daniel O’Leary, over a series of ten videos, offers precious and life-changing insights about Creation, Incarnation and our own divine hearts.’
Find out more here)
Worth Reading
Stop Trafficking!
The July 2019 issue (vol. 17, no. 7) is now online. This issue highlights excerpts from the current Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report.
Read the issue here)
Worth Reading
UN expert condemns failure to address impact of climate change on poverty
GENEVA (25 June 2019) - Climate change will have the greatest impact on those living in poverty, but also threatens democracy and human rights, according to a UN expert.
“Even if current targets are met, tens of millions will be impoverished, leading to widespread displacement and hunger,” said the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, in a report released today…’
Professor Philip Alston is the current Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
Read the article hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2019 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.’
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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
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