Adderton House and Heart of Mercy at All Hallows' Convent Opens to the Community
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At the official opening of Adderton: house & heart of mercy
Adderton: house & heart of mercy, an initiative of the Sisters of Mercy Brisbane Congregation, was officially opened at All Hallows’ Convent, Brisbane on Friday 23 August, 2019…
The purpose of Adderton is to engage the community with social issues such as isolation, mental illness, human trafficking and just wages through art, education, community and reflection spaces. Hopefully, the art installations, workshops, information panels and videos will inspire Adderton’s visitors to each take a small active step to change attitudes and address some of the causes of injustice…
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At the official opening of Adderton: house & heart of mercy
Vision in Action
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MIA Initiatives
Preparing for the Mercy Global Presence (MGP) Programme
Mercy Global Presence (MGP) commences on 29 September, Catherine’s birthday. Our Focus for the first four months will be on Global with the resources for the September theme ‘Cosmos/Cosmology’ available on the MGP microsite from 29 September.
In preparation for your engagement with the process, we invite you to familiarise yourself with the microsite which has had additional features and functionality added to it in preparation for launch day.
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Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: Impact of Hurricane Dorian, Typhoon Faxai & Australia's Bushfires
Let us keep firmly in our prayers and thoughts all those in the path of Hurricane Dorian, especially the people of the Bahamas where neighbourhoods have been devastated, thousands left homeless, at least 43 people are dead and hundreds missing.
‘The need remains enormous’ WFP (World Food Programme) spokesman
Let us pray also for the safety of the people of Tokyo battered by Typhoon Faxai and those endangered by multiple fires in New South Wales and Queenland.
‘It is an historic event [We’ve] never seen this before in recorded history - fire weather has never been as severe, this early in Spring’ Manager QFES (Queensland Fire & Emergency Services)
Post your prayer in our online chapel
Aotearoa New Zealand
Season of Creation Calendar
Archdiocese of Wellington Catholic Centre staff members Dorothy Jansen (l) and Joanne Gomez (r) are pictured here with WelCom, the official monthly newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington and the Diocese of Palmerston North. The September 2019 edition features the new MIA Season of Creation Calendar on the back page.
The Archdiocese of Wellington website features the calendar in the story ‘Te Wā o te Orokohanga – The Season of Creation’.
Where are you displaying the calendar?
Members' News
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Newfoundland
Season of Creation Booklet a Rich Reflective Resource for All
The Sisters of Mercy Newfoundland have produced a Resource booklet for the Season of Creation. Each week has its own focus - oceans, plants, animals, land and people - under the overall theme ‘Web of Life’.
The booklet is available here to the members of the Mercy Family for personal or group reflection during and beyond the Season.
Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Aotearoa New Zealand
'What Will I Do?' Scripture with Kathleen Rushton rsm
Kathleen Rushton rsm explores the parable of the unjust manager in Luke 16: 1-13. Sr Kathleen writes: ‘The parable of the unjust manager is as surprising and puzzling to us as it would have been to the disciples. But that it puzzles us is also what makes it so fascinating and worthwhile to read: we are forced to think about wealth-what it is, how we use it, how we participate in its distribution - and to think, too, about how we understand mercy.’
Download the article here
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Americas
A Prayer for the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy
As People of Mercy, we are called to reflect upon the life of Jesus the Christ. “How did he reveal Mercy in his humanity and what did he teach us about being human?” – Jean Vanier. The Mid-Atlantic Spiritual Life Committee welcomes all to share in the following Mercy prayer and resources that embrace our name—Mercy. Past prayer services and resources can be found on the Spiritual Life page of the Sisters of Mercy, Mid-Atlantic website.
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Americas
From Homelessness to Housing – and Hope
Beneath a busy highway overpass in downtown Pittsburgh, a memorial wall honors 165 individuals known to have died while homeless in Allegheny County between 1989 and 2018. Every December, on the Winter Solstice, Pittsburgh Mercy's Operation Safety Net holds a candlelight vigil there to commemorate the lives lost on the streets during that year…
The Congregation
Mercy Girl Effect and the Laudato Tree Project in Association with the Society of African Missions (SMAs)
The “Laudato Tree” project was inspired by “Laudato Si”, Pope Francis’ 2015 letter on the environment, and promotes its key message, that “everything is interconnected and interdependent”. (LS 91).
Mercy Girl Effect invites you to join our movement - in association with the Society of African Missions (SMAs) as we launch the Laudato Tree project.
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ISMAPNG
Kathy Kettle rsm and the MInistry of Mukuru Promotion Centre (MPC), Kenya
Last month, Elizabeth Moloney rsm (Institute Councillor) and Rose Glennen rsm travelled to Nairobi Kenya to visit Kathy Kettle rsm, an Australian Sister who has been living and working there for almost five years at the Mukuru Promotion Centre (MPC), which was established by The Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy (Ireland) in 1985. Sr Kathy follows in the footsteps of other Australian mercies who have lived and work there…
Mercy Matters
Season of Creation resource
Ecosia
Ecosia.org is an internet search engine. After, on average, every 40 searches, a tree is planted, and to date, they have planted 66 million trees in areas of the world that need them most.
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Fact
On This day
1866: Mary Anne Doyle (Foundress Tullamore/Derry) died, Derry
1952: Death of M Catherine McAuley, Willie's daughter, Kyneton, Victoria
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
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Technical Tip
Top 10 YouTube tips and tricks
‘According to Alexa, YouTube is the third most visited page on the Internet which means you have probably visited the page in the past. These tips and tricks help make your experience more enjoyable and if possible, productive.’
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Resource
'And You Sister, What Do You say?': Voices of Faith Conference
‘Many times in the history of Christianity, religious sisters stood at the frontiers of change. As prophets and pioneers, attuned to the movements of the Holy Spirit, they have discovered new horizons of our faith in changing times…’
The Rome Conference on 3 October will be livestreamed. Your Time Here. Speakers list and Agenda are linked to this item.
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Gospel
15 September 2019. 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C
Luke 15: 1-32
'Diverse creatures of the earth as well as earth elements feature in the gospel for this third Sunday of the Season of Creation. These evoke, once more, the eighth work of mercy with its call to contemplate God’s creation with gratitude and to engage in simple daily gestures that have the power to transform our world. There is joy in living this way...'
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International Days
16 September, International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
The ozone layer, a fragile shield of gas, protects the Earth from the harmful portion of the rays of the sun, thus helping preserve life on the planet.
The theme for this year celebrates over three decades of remarkable international cooperation to protect the ozone layer and the climate under the Montreal Protocol. It reminds us that we must keep up the momentum to ensure healthy people and a healthy planet.
Further Resources
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Worth Reading
Where in Earth is God
Neil Darragh discusses why our images of God need to change as we grow in awareness of our relationships and responsibilities in Earth.
Read the article here)
Worth Playing
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Worth Reading
It's traditions, not religious life
‘Religious life now is vowed, yes. It is canonical. It is communal living among unrelated adults, often with shared finances. But that is only one way. Can we expand our vision and see how else it can be lived, is already being lived? Expanding our vision will require not only expanding experience but also expanding the language we use to describe what is becoming…’
Read the article here)
Worth Knowing
Our Planet - Powered by the Sun
If in Dublin on 13 September, there is a free screening of the first episode of David Attenborough’s ‘Our Planet’. This event at Merrion Square, 5 minutes walk from MIC, will be solar and battery powered and a Leave-No-Trace event.
Full details here)
Worth Knowing
To boost ambition and accelerate actions to implement the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, will host the 2019 Climate Action Summit on 23 September 2019 to meet the climate challenge.
Everything you need to know about the most important climate summit since Paris 2015.)
Worth Knowing
Resources for September 20 Global Climate Day of Action
The Sisters of Mercy Institute Justice Team has shared the following resources. The two prayer services may be used in lieu of or prior to a walkout, assembly or other action.
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Worth Watching
The Great Green Wall - Trailer
The budding 8,000km “belt of green” stretching from Senegal to Djibouti – providing food, jobs, and a future for millions of people. Once complete, the Great Green Wall will be the largest living structure on earth, three times the size of the Great Barrier Reef, and a new wonder of the world. This is the resilience story of our time, a massive social action project, and a symbol of hope in the resounding African Dream.
Send suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2019 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘Caring for creation protects the inheritance the Creator has given us, an inheritance that is essential to our well-being. As Pope Francis said in Laudato Si’, “ Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it” (LS #139). Protecting this inheritance is a way of fulfilling our role as the stewards of creation; as Pope Benedict XV1 said in a meeting with the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, “the task of ‘subduing’ it was never intended as an order to enslave it but rather as the task of being quardians of creation and developing its gifts.” Read more
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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