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Handing Over, Handing On
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Editor: On Saturday, 29 February, Mary Reynolds rsm completed her term as CEO of MIA, handing over to Berneice Loch rsm.
Mary-Louise Petro rsm, President, on behalf of the Members, and Sheila Carney rsm, Vice Chair of the MIA Board, on behalf of the Directors, offer words of thanks to Sr Mary and of welcome to Sr Berneice in this issue of Mercy eNews.
Vision in Action
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MIA
MIA Named an International Partner in Vatican Initiative
Editor: In Vatican News today, Pope Francis in a video message has invited Catholic Communities to celebrate Laudato Si’ Week, 24-30 May 2020.
Mercy International Association is a named International Partner of this week, along with UISG and Caritas Internationalis. Our organisations are in cooperation with the GCCM for this work sponsored by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Significant resources have been developed by MIA since the launch of Laudato Si’ to promote and implement its message (MIRP & MGP).
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MGA
Hopes for Restoring Ocean Health
Mercy Global Action attended the Preparatory Meeting for the second UN Ocean Conference held on February 4th and 5th 2020. This two-day meeting was a time for United Nations Member States and stakeholders to gather and discuss the goals and concerns most in need of a global focus at the upcoming Ocean Conference, which will be held this June in Lisbon Portugal. Issues including plastics, economics, and ocean management emerged during the meeting, and will continue to be influential elements in upcoming deliberations…
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MIA Prayer Intention: International Women's Day
On this day, when the call is for gender equality, we pray for all women and girl children and, in particular,
The vulnerable and oppressed, especially the trafficked and victims of domestic violence and abuse
May they experience justice and know mercy
Women who are struggling to make ends meet
May they experience justice and know mercy…
Members' News
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ISMAPNG
Mercy Health Recognised for Gender Equality
For the 12th consecutive year, Mercy Health has been recognised for its commitment to gender equality, receiving the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation.
Mercy Health has been recognised each year of the citation’s inception, however, this year’s acknowledgement is particularly rewarding following the introduction of more stringent, revised requirements…
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The Congregation
Sister Elizabeth Brady rsm Celebrates Turning 100
‘We thank Elizabeth for all her great years among us and for all her years of very devoted service in all the places she has lived. We thank her family for sharing her with us and we continue to share with all the great and on-going memory-making events of her time and work and faithful service.
Go mbeire tú beo go breithlá 101, Elizabeth!’
Source: The Longford Leader
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Parramatta
Blessing and Commissioning of New School Principal at Opening School Mass
Ms Mary Refalo, the 11th Principal in the history of Catherine McAuley Westmead, has been commissioned and presented with a bible symbolising the importance of scripture within the community, a Catherine McAuley candle, symbol of taking the light of Christ into the world, Irish Crystal from the House of Catherine McAuley, symbolizing the passing on of the Catherine McAuley story and tradition, and a Mercy cross.
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Americas
Mercy Sisters Cook up Recipes for a Less-meat Lent (and not just on Fridays)
Editor: According to Earthday, our food system accounts for more than a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions, making animal agriculture one of the largest contributors to climate change.
Mercy Meatless Mondays, the guide by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas ‘for prayerfully eating less meat during Lent 2020, is featured in NCR’s EarthBeat.
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The Congregation
St Mary's College in Naas Wins EU Debating Competition on Climate Change
St Mary's College, Naas, founded by the Mercy Sisters and now under the trusteeship of CEIST, has won the Model Council of the EU Debate.
Announcing the winners EMI Executive Director, Noelle O’Connell stated (in part) ‘By facilitating students in Ireland to debate the Green Deal, the Model Council empowers these students to be engaged in an informed and engaged manner on environmental issues and the EU.’
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Americas
Walking with the Women on the Other Side of the Wall
A woman from Guatemala abused by her husband walked from Guatemala to Mexico with her two daughters seeking asylum.
Another woman, Daisy, a mother of three, has been living in a tent with her husband and children since August; she has nearly two months to go, since their asylum hearing is not until March.
These are some of the women we met at the border in Matamoros, Mexico..
Mercy Matters
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Digital life
Music of Lent
From the radio programme ‘For the God Who sings’, music by Byrd, Allegri, Holst, Mendelssohn, Miškinis, Tallis, Park, McMillan, Marcello, Lassus.
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Gospel
2nd Sunday of Lent Year A
Matthew 17: 1-9
'Last week’s gospel invited us into a confronting habitat, namely the wilderness. This week, we follow Jesus and three of his companions to a high mountain, eventually a cloud-covered mountain. Both wilderness and mountain link Matthew’s story of Jesus with the story of the Israelites of old. Wilderness and mountain also remind us that God’s creation is the locus of wonder and mystery...'
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Fact
On This Day
1897: Death of M de Sales Meagher, Foundress of Cooktown, Cairns, from Dungarvan, Co Waterford
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
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Resource
Inoi Whakarangatiratanga Prayers of Enrichment
Published by the Sisters of Mercy Aotearoa New Zealand, in December 2019, Inoi Whakarangatiratanga Prayers of Enrichment for Mercy People and Mercy Occasions Volume 2 is a companion book to the widely used Inoi Taketake Prayers for Stepping Forward launched in 2018. Profits from the sale of both books support Mercy outreach projects.
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Reflection
Video Reflections for the First Two Weeks of Lent 2020
from Catholic Health USA to which Mercy Health Systems in the United States belong.
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International Days
3 March: World Wildlife Day
World Wildlife Day is celebrated this year under the theme "Sustaining all life on Earth", encompassing all wild animal and plant species as key components of the world's biodiversity.
We are asked to do one thing today/this week to help conserve the world’s biodiversity. Consider: ‘What could you do?’
Further Resources
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Worth Watching
Shelter Me
Shelter Me is the title track taken from an album of spiritual chants of the same name, composed by Marie Dunne chf
Watch/Listen)
Worth Reading
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: prophet of cosmic hope
‘Each act of love, no matter how small or hidden, moves all of reality closer to unity and connection.’
Image:Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Flickr/thierry ehrmann. CC BY 2.0.
Read the article here)
Worth Reading
Psychic Numbing: Keeping Hope Alive in a World of Extinctions
‘…Unless we see the big picture and care about our role in maintaining or destroying the miracle of living existence, we will continue to do the latter. But the big picture is exactly what can be numbing…It would help all of us, and the cause of the world’s species, if we think more granularly; speak more specifically; focus on what can be meaningful; and stay observant of the many beauties remaining….’
Read the article here)
Worth Reading
Women Taking the Lead: Trocaire
Defending Human Rights and the Environment
‘Gender equality, climate justice and corporate accountability are inextricably linked – while climate change and corporate abuses impact women disproportionately and erode gender equality, the role of women as active participants in policy decisions and in implementing the practical solutions to climate change and corporate accountability is key to achievement of development goals, and climate and environmental breakdown…’
Read the Report here 5 key takeaways from launch of ‘Women Taking the Lead’ report)
Worth Watching
'Women and power' UN Chief Major Speech on Gender Equality
Speaking to faculty and students at The New School, a university in New York City, the UN chief declared himself a proud feminist and called for men everywhere to support women’s rights.
Watch the speech here Read the UN news reportSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2020 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘Centuries and millennia pass and we come and go; before the immensity of galaxies and space, we are nothing. We are dust in the universe. Yet we are dust loved by God. It pleased the Lord to gather that dust in his hands and to breathe into it the breath of life (cf. Gen 2:7). We are thus a dust that is precious, destined for eternal life. We are the dust of the earth, upon which God has poured out his heaven, the dust that contains his dreams.
We are God’s hope, his treasure and his glory.’ 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
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