On the Five Year Anniversary of Laudato Si’
Editor: 24 May 2015 was the publication date on which Laudato Si’ was signed by Pope Francis; 18 June, 2015 was the release date of its presentation to the world. On this, the eve of the fifth anniversary the release of the document, we have invited Craig Condella from Salve University to help us all reflect anew on its significance for our lives and the future of our planet.
The year 2020 brought with it a significant anniversary for environmentalists around the world, as fifty years had passed since the celebration of the first Earth Day in 1970. This golden anniversary was accompanied by the five year anniversary of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home, an encyclical letter that meets issues of global warming and environmental catastrophe head-on and calls for an urgent and all-encompassing global response to issues that have long been in need of serious attention. As such, 2020 presented an opportunity to not only celebrate the environmental progress we have made in the last half century, but to reflect on and rededicate ourselves to the work that still needs to be done.
That, anyway, was how things looked back in January….
Salve Regina University
Vision in Action
MGP
MGP: June Resources will be Available on 24 June
Resources on ‘New Foundations in Mercy’, the final of our ‘Mercy’ themes, will be published on the MGP microsite next Wednesday, 24 June and linked from Mercy eNews.
Presenters for June are: Elizabeth Davis rsm (Newfoundland, Introduction), Dennis Horton (Aotearoa New Zealand, Theological Imaginings), Sophie Snowball (GB Federation, Artistic Inspiration), Anne Maria O’Carroll rsm rsm (The Congregation, Grassroots Ministry), Marianne Comfort (Americas, Mercy Global Action), Members of Mercy Focus on Haiti (Americas, Distinct Voice), Mary Ann Nolan rsm (Americas, Reflective Prayer).
Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: Special Prayer for the Anniversary Year of Laudato Si'
‘Loving God,
Creator of Heaven, Earth, and all therein contained.
Open our minds and touch our hearts,
so that we can be part of Creation, your gift.
Be present to those in need in these difficult times,
especially the poorest and most vulnerable…’
Post your prayer in our online chapel
MGA
18 June, Sustainable Gastronomy Day: Short Careful Steps for a Greener Future
Many activities contributing to the degradation of Earth seem like they are worlds away. Mining, deforestation, and trash islands in the ocean are frequently out of sight and therefore out of mind. Food, however, is right in our face. As consumers, advocates, and citizens we don’t see the environmental impact of our food choices. The food we eat creates pollution and degrades Earth and sea through agri- and aqua-cultural practices, shipping, and waste. For the sake of our common home, we must demand sustainable change through our governments and through our own purchasing power…
Members' News
The Congregation
World Hunger is its Own Pandemic: Aid Workers Brace for Second-wave Crisis
Editor: Deirdre Mullan rsm was among the members of religious congregations interviewed for this article which addresses the challenges that the COVID-19 epidemic poses for the global food supply chain. ‘Sr Deirdre noted that "we're moving into a very dark period, and that between the combination of climate change and the COVID pandemic, the gap between rich and poor is going to get wider."‘
Source: Global Sisters Report
Image source: Mercy HousingAmericas
Graf Believes that Everyone Deserves a Safe, Affordable Place to call Home
For more than 40 years, Jane Graf has championed efforts to provide safe, affordable housing for vulnerable Americans — the elderly, people with special needs, low-income families and those experiencing homelessness — because good health and a good home go hand in hand.
"You can't be healthy and not have a decent place to live," said Graf, president and chief executive of Mercy Housing, the nation's largest affordable housing nonprofit…
Image source: RTE video clipThe Congregation
With You in Spirit: CEIST
RTE (Ireland’s national broadcaster) has published ‘a series of short messages of hope and encouragement from people of many faiths and none’. Among these is a message from Clare Ryan, CEO of CEIST (Catholic Education Irish Schools Trust), the patron body for 108 post primary schools of which 70 were Mercy. In her message of hope and encouragement, Clare explains the background to CEIST, its 5 core values and how its emphasis on the ‘fullness of life’ (John 10:10) has come to the fore during the pandemic.
Aotearoa New Zealand
'To Be in relationship with Christ': Scripture with Kathleen Rushton rsm
Kathleen Rushton rsm interprets Matthew 10:26-42 in light of our call to relationship at this time. Sr Kathleen writes: ‘Society’s prevailing values focused on caring for one another rather than on self-interest. As life returns to “normal” we can be encouraged to continue to show kindness and compassion’.
Download the article here
Americas
A Samaritan Celebration of Laudato Si': Mary C. Sullivan rsm
‘On May 24th we celebrate[d] the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. As we re-read this urgent call to conversion of our minds, hearts and behavior on behalf of Earth and all her created life, we can easily feel like the paralyzed man brought to Jesus: overwhelmed by all that this crucial encyclical asks of us now, not later…’
Source: iVivaI Mercy, May- June 2020.
Australia & PNG
Accessing Education during the Pandemic: Peter’s story
For students from poor families in the remote regions of Papua New Guinea, accessing education is never easy. Add in a global pandemic and it becomes that much harder.
One such student is Peter from East New Britain. Without an Access to Education Scholarship awarded by Mercy Works, he would not have been able to overcome that barrier to education. As a result, he has been able to continue studying at teachers’ college and is hoping to graduate in 2021…
Mercy Matters
Gospel
12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Matthew 10:26-33
Many of those who once looked through the barbed-wire fences of Australia’s detention centres carry personal stories of fear of persecution. One such story, the story of Najaf Mazari, is beautifully narrated by Najaf [pictured above] and Robert Hillman in their joint work, The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif. Najaf is an Afghani Hazara who suffered persecution and torture at the hands of the Taliban. He escaped to Australia via Indonesia in 2002…
Resource
Songs from My Soul: Wisdom & Spirituality in the Great Sandy Desert
These poems have their origin in the seven years the author spent among the Walmajarri people of Western Australia. Unexpectedly, Marie Leonie Williams rsm discovered a deep association there with her own Celtic people and traditions; and a sense of connection with land, people and ancestry that provided joy, love, acceptance, celebration and the desire to reflect this new experience in poetry. She readily confesses that the poems ‘sing from my soul!’.
Songs from My Soul was launched via Zoom on Tuesday 26 May. To view the recording, please click here. To order the book, click here
International Days
20 June is World Refugee Day
Every minute, 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror (UN). UNHCR’s latest figures (2018) of the number of refugees can be read here or watched here. Refugee stories can be found here. An education resource can be downloaded here. Prayers can be found here (text) and here (video). Participate in the Paper Boat trail Refugee Week Activity here
Resource
Mercy Partners: Reflections on 10 Green Commandments
Ten Green Commandments #3: Rediscover a Theological Vision of the Natural World
Previously published: No 1 and No 2 and Introduction
Fact
On This day
1847: Death of M Joseph Nugent, professed Newfoundland 1843
1881: Sisters began ministry in workhouse, Birr
1896: Death of Jessie McAuley, wife of Willie, Catherine's nephew, Colac, Victoria
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
Further Resources
Worth Reading
'To approach or to avoid: it's the new choice': Maureen Gaffney
‘We’re entering a fresh stage of the ‘now normal’ and that means adapting to increased uncertainty,
Read the article here
Worth Knowing
Commit yourself to Fight Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
ACAMS has teamed up with the Liechtenstein Initiative for Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking (FAST Initiative) to develop the first of its kind human trafficking certificate.
The Course is Free
Find Out More
Worth Watching
'See, I am making all things new’ (Rev. 2:5). Our Christian response to the COVID-19 crisis
28th, 29th June, 1st and 4th July
Liverpool Justice and Peace
Annual Assembly to be held on Zoom.
Events are free of charge.
Worth Watching
Post Pandemic Church: Paralysed or Energised? Recovered or Re-imagined?
Preparing for a New World Order. How do we, as Church, move to an alternative model of being?
18 & 19 July. Mini conference by Zoom of the National Justice & Peace Network UK (NJPN)
Events are free of charge
Book on Eventbrite
Worth Watching
Worth Knowing
Living Earth Community: Multiple Ways of Being and Knowing
This free open source book (288pps) is the fruit of a conference held October 26-29, 2018. Videos highlighting different chapters are being released weekly. These can be viewed here
Find out more
Worth Watching
Fr. Bryan Massingale: How the church can combat racism and white privilege | Behind the Story
An interview (25:00) with Fr Bryan Massingale, Ethics Professor at Fordham University, by Michael O’Loughlin, National Correspoondent for America magazine.
Image source: Fordham University Theology Faculty
Watch the interview Article: The assumptions of white privilege and what we can do about it
Worth Reading
Voices from the Ground
How the global mining industry is profiting from the COVID-19 pandemic
Read the report hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2020 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘A church that does not provoke any crisis, preach a gospel that does not unsettle, proclaim a word of God that does not get under anyone's skin or a word of God that does not touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed: what kind of gospel is that?’ Read more
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
