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Complete Set of MGP Segment One Reflective Posters Available Now
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Today, Ash Wednesday, we publish the fourth and final reflective poster in Segment One: Global. In addition, we are publishing a set of the posters in each size in a single PDF, as well as a set in a Flip book - an interactive, online publication that has the look and feel of a real, page-turning book. It is our hope that the series will be a rich resource for reflection during Lent, as well as the intended ‘bridge’ to the next segment which commences in a month’s time.
Further details about Segment Two: Mercy can be found on the Mercy Global Presence (MGP) microsite.
Vision in Action
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Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: Ash Wednesday
O God, you ask of us repentance and conversion of life. At the beginning of this holy season may we embrace the fullness of our life in Christ Jesus:
~ Create in us new hearts, O God.
~ In a world of violence and denial of basic human dignity, may we be lights in the darkness:
~ In a world of abundance which allows children to go hungry, may we work to banish famine and malnutrition…
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Season
Updated: Lenten Resources
A Lenten calendar from the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, Lenten Moments - a series of reflections - from Mercy Partners Queensland and, for schools, Lessons in Lent from Global Sisters Report, have been added to the listing.
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Mary McAleese (far right) at MGA co-sponsored eventMGA
Mercy Global Action Calls for Inclusive Housing Policies
During 10-19 February, 2020, the 58th session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development (CSocD) met to discuss and respond to the theme "Affordable housing and social protection systems for all to address homelessness". Mercy International Association- Mercy Global Action contributed two oral statements to the Commission (read first and second here) and co-sponsored and participated in several key events and meetings. This marked the first time homelessness has ever been a priority theme at the United Nations…
Members' News
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Photo by Lindsay Lenard on UnsplashISMAPNG
'Turn Again': Elaine Wainwright rsm
Elaine Wainwright rsm offers an ecological reading of the Ash Wednesday readings: Joel 2: 12-18 and Matthew 6:1, 16-18. Sr Elaine writes ‘The Readings for this day are characterised by a call to conversion and this theme weaves through the six weeks of Lent'.’
Download the article here
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Newfoundland
Formal Mercy Ministry Ends on Bell Island
Last Saturday evening, 22 February, Diane Smyth rsm represented our Congregation as she spoke to the people of Bell Island at the Saturday evening Mass. After almost 103 years the Sisters of Mercy are withdrawing from our formal ministry on the island. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to say a formal and grateful “farewell” to the people and to the mission. While we grieve the ending and the loss, we will maintain association with Bell Island through our Associates, Kitty’s Partners Overseas, and our Sisters who are ‘Bell Islanders’ by birth and by association…
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Americas
Mount St. Mary Academy (Little Rock, Arkansas) HoneyBelles Club Raises Money for Hive Aid in Australia
We have a student club at Mount St. Mary Academy called the HoneyBelles that maintains a bee-friendly garden and educational hive on campus…
Most recently, the HoneyBelles became very concerned about the plight of bees and beekeepers in Australia because of the drought conditions and resulting bushfires…
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Americas
A Win for Earth
Although Mercy works constantly for justice, we do not always see positive results for our efforts, as heroic as they might be. But here is a testament to the win. It can actually happen!
In August 2015, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo invited a Chicago developer, Invenergy, to build a $1 billion fracked gas/diesel power plant in the woods of Burrillville, practically in the heart of a preserved state forest park. It was a clarion call to me, since I had just returned from my pilgrimage to the Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada…
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ISMAPNG
Mother Nature Wields Her power
Wind, water, fire: these are the elemental forces that have been shaping Planet Earth for the last five billion years. These are the elemental forces that we have seen unleash their fury in Australia and the Pacific in recent times. We watch their power unfold, mainly from the perspective of their devastating impact on human life. But the impact of the bushfires on our iconic native animals, domestic livestock and vegetation has also been inescapable this Summer…
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Americas
Even if You've not Been Fed, Be Bread
…Be the one: it's a choice. Live for others, not yourself. Allow the gifts you carry, whether abundant or scarce or seemingly absent, to flow from you to others who are in greater need. Even in times of personal emptiness, when you might not feel fulfilled or acknowledged or competent or fed, let goodness flow through you to nourish others.
This is my daily prayer. Empty hands don't prevent meaningful sharing. In fact, they just might be a pre-requisite!
Mercy Matters
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Digital Life
5 Google Photos tricks to help you get the most out of your memories
Five handy Google Photos tips: backing up, sharing, identifying, searching, printing
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Gospel
First Sunday in Lent, Year A
Lent is a time of preparation for Easter. It is also a time to enter into the “wilderness” and grapple with the mysteries of life in Christ. It presents us with a challenge to take stock of our lives, to see more clearly what is in our hearts and to discover what might be calling us out of our comfort zones. Today’s liturgy invites us to reflect on Jesus’ forty-day experience in the wilderness.
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Reflection
Reflection for Ash Wednesday
from Catholic Health USA to which Mercy Health Systems in the United States belong.
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Resource
Mercy Moments
Mercy Moments, a fortnightly publication from Mercy Partners Queensland, is focussing this year on the Green Commandments.
Download these:
Introduction (previously published)
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Reflection
Pope Francis: Message for Lent
‘Putting the paschal mystery at the centre of our lives means feeling compassion towards the wounds of the crucified Christ present in the many innocent victims of wars, in attacks on life, from that of the unborn to that of the elderly, and various forms of violence. They are likewise present in environmental disasters, the unequal distribution of the earth's goods, human trafficking in all its forms, and the unbridled thirst for profit, which is a form of idolatry…’
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Fact
On This Day
Nothing is recorded in the Mercy through the Years calendar as occurring on this day.
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
Further Resources
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Worth Watching
Called to Compassion: Witnesses of God's Mercy in the World: Teresa Maya CCVI
Keynote address given 22 February at the 2020 LA RE Congress. Sr Teresa’s talk begins at 30:07
Watch it here)
Worth Knowing
A Photographer's Guide To 'Slow Seeing' The Beauty In Everyday Nature
‘At first glance, you might see a jumble of weeds, a thicket of twigs, a heap of dying leaves. You might be inclined to stop looking at this point. But nature photographer Janelle Lynch wants you to practice “slow seeing” by looking closer, and more slowly, at your surroundings. But, like meditation, this seemingly simple act is often more difficult than it appears.’
Image: By Janelle Lynch - Private correspondence, CC BY-SA 4.0
Read the article here)
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Worth Reading
Twenty-three Former Foreign Ministers Call on World Leaders to Protect Biodiversity
‘Having devoted our careers to fostering international cooperation and stability, we are as gravely concerned about this environmental destruction as we are about any other threat to international security.'..’
Read the Statement here)
Worth Knowing
Christian Aid and Chineke! collaborate on global orchestral work to highlight climate emergency
Christian Aid has commissioned composers and musicians from around the world to create a new orchestral theme inspired by the climate crisis.
It is inspired by Song of the Prophets: a global theology of climate change, a paper which was released by Christian Aid in 2014 and which will be re-published ahead of the event in May.
Song of the Prophets: A Requiem for the Climate will be split into four movements – Creation, Ruin, Recovery and Redemption – and will premiere at St Paul’s Cathedral, London, on Wednesday, 20 May.
Free tickets are available and can be booked here
Find out more)
Worth Reading
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Worth Watching
Psalm 51 | Commentary & Music: Be Merciful O Lord (Ash Wednesday)
Psalm 51 Commentary and Music. Commentary at 0:22. Music begins at 3:21. In this Psalm reflection, Johan van Parys brings us both a message of repentance and of hope, as we prepare to enter the Lenten season. Julia Elizabeth and Walter Tambor follow this with a haunting rendition of this psalm.
Watch/listen hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2020 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
Lent is time set aside ‘to look again at who we are, at where we're going in life, at how we're getting to where we say we want to go’.
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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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