MIA Prayer Intention: Common Prayer for the 5th Anniversary of Laudato Si'
Editor: At 12 noon your local time on Sunday, 24 May, all people across the globe who are inspired by Laudato Si’ are invited by the organisers of Laudato Si’ Week to come together in spirit to pray this common prayer (downloadable prayer card), (video) to mark the fifth anniversary of the release of this inspiring encyclical. ‘Now more than ever may we feel that we are all interconnected and interdependent’ (Common Prayer).
Post your prayer, thought or reflection in our online chapel.
Vision in Action
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MGP
MGP: May Resources Will Be Available on 27 May
MGP
MGP: May Resources Will Be Available on 27 May
Resources on ‘Mercy and the Displacement of Peoples’, the third of our ‘Mercy’ themes, will be published on the MGP microsite next Wednesday, 27 May and linked from Mercy eNews.
Presenters for April are: Elizabeth Davis rsm (Newfoundland, Introduction), Margaret Hinchey rsm, (Parramatta Theological Imaginings), Margaret Smith rsm (ISMAPNG, Artistic Inspiration), Malia Fetuli rsm (Aotearoa, Grassroots Ministry), Carmen Rosa Callomamani rsm (Americas, Mercy Global Action), Margie Taylor rsm (Newfoundland, Distinct Voice), Sheila Curran rsm (The Congregation, Reflective Prayer).
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Events & Programmes
The MIA COVID-19 Archive Collection: Find out More & Contribute
Events & Programmes
The MIA COVID-19 Archive Collection: Find out More & Contribute
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for archivists to be proactive in recording the stories of this pandemic before they are removed from websites or deleted. Now is the time to take photographs and record the memories of our experiences in living through this pandemic.
As indicated in Mercy eNews two weeks ago, Mercy International Association is collating a digital collection of how Mercy has been impacted by and has responded, to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We want to safeguard your experiences for the inspiration of future generations…
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MGA
MGA & Laudato Si' Week
MGA
MGA & Laudato Si' Week
Laudato Si Week, 16-24th May, honors the fifth anniversary of the signing of Pope Francis’ encyclical, Laudato Si’. The Mercy World has integrated the Pope’s call to care for our common home and as we look forward to taking part in the prayer, reflection, and educational opportunities offered during Laudato Si’ Week, Mercy Global Action will keep its eye out for key issues…
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Events & Programmes
Two More Opportunities to Join a Virtual Tour in May
Events & Programmes
Two More Opportunities to Join a Virtual Tour in May
Tour dates for the rest of May are arranged for 21 and 27 May. We invite you to book in for yourself, your community or ministry.
Contact Sr Anna if you are interested in organising a special tour for your school, university, staff or community group.
Members' News
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The Congregation
'Out pouring of Love' for Cork nun on her 88th birthday as locals organise a special surprise
‘Innovative residents in Passage West devised a clever way of celebrating a local nun's birthday while adhering to the government guidelines by holding a car parade in her honour.
It was a great show of community spirit in the town yesterday as residents, local Gardaí and members of the Red Cross showed up in their cars en masse to celebrate Sister Rosarii Darby's 88th birthday…’
Source: EchoLive.ie
The Congregation
MECPATHS Webinar On Human Trafficking
MECPATHS were very pleased to co-host a Webinar on Human Trafficking in partnership with Cork Against Human Trafficking and The Cork Sexual Violence Centre on May 7th 2020. 350 participants from 26 countries heard a diverse range of speakers.
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Aotearoa New Zealand
Women in the Bible: Online Series Offered by Mercy Spirituality Centre
Mercy Spirituality Centre is offering an 8-week programme, already undewrway, on The Women in the Bible with Br Kieran Fenn fms. Radio interviews are available online once recorded, and/ or you can join an interactive Zoom gathering (paid).
Further details and the list of topics can be downloaded here.
Recordings of the first three topics: The Women of Genesis, Ruth and Esther are available online here.
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The Congregation
COVID-19 In South Sudan
COVID-19 has made its way to South Sudan. Because of the chaotic state of the country, we are not sure how many cases there are. We are not sure if anyone has died of it. We have no idea how the health system will cope, as there are about nine ventilators in the whole country!! We figure that the best way forward is to focus on prevention. So we are staying inside the compound for the most part and being careful about social distancing and hand hygiene…
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Americas
Parade Helps Rochester Sister Celebrate 80th Birthday
The wail of sirens from three fire trucks and four police cars and tooting of horns led a parade, by one estimate, of
140 vehicles, to help Sister Katherine Ann Rappl celebrate her 80th May 11th birthday.
“I just couldn’t believe it. I am still shocked!” said Katherine Ann – principal at St. Rita School in Webster, N.Y., from 1983-2013 – in a telephone interview a few days after the organized parade by former school parents, teachers and secretaries…
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Americas
From Face-to-Face to Screen-to-Screen
Editor: The COVID-19 pandemic has moved classroom teaching to online. Here Jean Evans rsm shares the challenge she experienced to “adapt and evolve”.
‘When I applied to be a substitute English teacher at Mercy High School in Burlingame, California, for the last 10 weeks of the school year, I had no idea that I'd be the one getting educated. I had taught English at Mercy, and now saw an opportunity to reconnect with girls and be a "sister presence" in the school while a freshman English teacher went on maternity leave…’
Source: Global Sisters Report
Mercy Matters
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Digital Life
30 incredibly useful things you didn’t know Google Calendar could do
‘Upgrade your agenda with this cornucopia of advanced options, shortcuts, and features for Google Calendar.’
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Resource
The Poor and the Earth are crying out!
Ten Green Commandments #2
– Listen to the cry of the poor
Previously published
Ten Green Commandments #1
– Take Care of Our Common Home in Peril
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Gospel
Feast of the Ascension Year A
Acts 1:1-11; Matthew 28:16-20
‘Loss is part of the human experience and death is generally the most painful experience of loss. As the death toll from Covid-19 approaches 300,000, we become more and more conscious of loss as a global reality. This loss of human life takes place against the backdrop of a catastrophic loss of species and of eco-systems, exacerbated in Australia by the recent bushfires….’
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Resource
Praying with Nature
Two offerings from the Jesuits (Pray-as-you-go):
‘Walking with God’ is a guided prayer resource that can be listened to here or on your phone if you download the free app: App Store; Google Play
Praying with a ‘Piece of Nature’ (PDF) is a prayer of noticing and imagination
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Fact
On This Day
1875: Foundation to Stradbally from Cappoquin
-M Joseph Mahoney
1878: Foundation to Kilmacthomas from Cappoquin - M Gertrude Athelan
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
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Resource
UISG Webinars: Re-imagining the Future: Religious Life in the United States and Europe
Recordings of these webinars are now available to watch online.
Watch:
Religious Life in the USA
La vida religiosa en los Estados Unidos
Further Resources
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Worth Watching
'If This Time' By Kevin McCormack
Prose written and voiced by Kevin McCormack, Meditation & Mindfulness Teacher, Writer and Actor.
'If This Time' carries a message of Gratitude and Hope, and was composed in May of 2020 during Covid-19 lockdown.
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Worth Playing
'Dorothy Day: The World Will Be Saved By Beauty'
Kate Hennessy, Doronthy’s granddaughter wrote this intimate portrait of her grandmother.
This is a recording of the talk given by Kate on International Women’s Day, now available online.
Image: Public domain
Listen to the Recording here)
Worth Knowing
Our Journey to the Borders and Beyond
The Summer 2020 issue of Occasional Papers, ‘Our Journey to the Borders and Beyond’, will be an important edition that looks at the call to religious in these chaotic and rapidly changing times. Writers in this issue explore the kind of presence religious are invited to embody for the sake of the world. How do we live with authenticity, integrity, and depth this spiritual journey that takes us to the borders of what we have known and compels us to move beyond? What does the world -- in all its changing dimensions -- most need for us to be?
Order from LCWR by Friday, June 5, 2020.)
Worth Reading
Special ATII Contributor Report: COVID-19 and Human Trafficking – Exacerbating Modern Slavery with a Global Health Pandemic
‘The relentless march of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected human trafficking and human smuggling groups in different ways – causing one arena to dry up and another to surge.'..’
Read the article hereWorth Watching
Liam Lawton Online Concert
Concert by Liam Lawton held 17 May at GraigueKilleshin Parish
Soloists: Karen & Cathríona Kelly | Piano: Maria Quinn | Violin: Mary Gaskin
Send suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2020 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘Look well to the growing edge! All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new leaves, fresh blossoms, green fruit. Such is the growing edge! It is the extra breath from the exhausted lung, the one more thing to try when all else has failed, the upward reach of life when weariness closes in upon all endeavor. This is the basis of hope in moments of despair, the incentive to carry on when times are out of joint and people have lost their reason, the source of confidence when worlds crash and dreams whiten into ash.
Look well to the growing edge!’
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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