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'Laudato Si' Celebration': New Song by Waka Waka Band
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Editor: Participants in the MGP Region Three Gathering on the theme ‘Mercy and Degradation of Earth’ held on 13 August included a number of older boys (pictured at left) from Mary Immaculate Rehabilitation Centre in Nairobi, Kenya who offered to sing their Laudato Si’ song for us on another occasion.
We are delighted to feature their singing this week to launch the forthcoming Season of Creation (1 September - 4 October). ‘This recording was made in collaboration with Franciscan media’, explained Rose Macharia rsm, Programme Director, Mercy Education Office Kenya. ‘Thus it has both Franciscan affiliates and Mercy students appearing in it, including from Huruma Girls High School. In matters of Ecology and the environment, the Mercy Education Office in Kenya works closely with Franciscans, especially for programmes involving our schools and youth.’
Enjoy the energetic performance!
Find further resources for this Season below and each week in Mercy eNews.
Resources for the Season of Creation. Theme: 'Jubilee for Earth'
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Resource
Video Trailer: Jubilee for the Earth
“Jubilee for the Earth” is a podcast mini-series from the Columbans about biodiversity and our sacred story launching August 31.
Over the course of six episodes, explore the beauty of biodiversity and the threats it faces. Further details are here
The video trailer (2:10) could be used as a short reflection.
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Resource
Mercy Earth Challenge: 'Just Food'
During the Season of Creation, join Sisters of Mercy of the Americas to explore how industrial food production turns this necessity of life into a commodity; the impact of processed foods on the health and livelihoods of people around the world; how the palm oil found in many products is destroying the Earth’s rainforests; and ways to reduce food waste at home. Fill in the form linked to this item to receive the materials.
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Resource
For Our Common Home: A New Chant
Sheet music for this chant composed by Marty Haugen for the UK National Justice and Peace Network mini conference last month, is being made available copyright free. Download the sheet music here
Learn the tune with Marty here. Slide your cursor along the video toolbar through to 9:00 to hear him play and sing his new composition.
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Resource
MGP Themes for this Season
Two themes from our MGP process particularly appropriate for discovering or revisiting during the Season of Creation are ‘Earth and Integral Ecology’ (Segment One) and ‘Mercy and the Degradation of Earth’ (Segment Two)
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Resource
Official Season of Creation Guide
The Guide is available for download from the Season of Creation website in English; en Español
MIA is a Season of Creation international partner and our logo is displayed on the site here
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Share Your Resources for this Season
Prayers, activities, video clips, good news, articles… there are many resources that can be used during this Season.
We welcome your suggestions and/or contributions.
Vision in Action
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MIC
Mercy International Centre is Again Closed
Due to Government regulations in Ireland introduced a few days ago to halt the spread of the pandemic, Mercy International Centre is again closed. Staff will be working from home as much as possible and emails and phone calls will be monitored. We will do our best to respond promptly to any requests made of us.
—Berneice
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Source: FacebookPrayer
MIA Prayer Intention: For Those Seeking Refuge
This week many members of the Mercy family are coming together in Regional Gatherings to pray, reflect and share responses to the MGP theme ‘Mercy and Displacement of Persons’.
Let us, all of us, remember in our prayers those seeking refuge and, in particular, Abdulfatah Hamdallah (known as "Wadji"), a young man from Sudan who drowned last week while making his third attempt to cross the Channel from France to seek asylum in the UK. He drowned after the 3 foot dinghy he and a friend were in was punctured by the shovels they were using as oars. His friend survived, Wadji could not swim.
Post your prayer in our online chapel
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MGA
‘Hope in a Time of Pandemic’ Issue Spotlight: Physical and Mental Health
Last week, the MGA COVID-19 Response Task Force launched the report ‘Hope in a Time of Pandemic – Responding to COVID-19 through a Mercy Lens’. The report was born from a collection of stories and experiences of COVID-19 from around the Mercy World, tied together by a critical analysis of human rights and Catholic social teaching. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all of our lives, forcing us to question the shape of our futures post-pandemic, as we look forward with the hope of regeneration, sustainability and universal healthcare…
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Fourth MGP Poster & Regional Gathering Information
The fourth of the Segment Two posters —'New Foundations in Mercy'— and accompanying guide will be released through Mercy eNews next week (2 September).
Bookings for the final set of Regional Gatherings open online on Monday, 31 August.
Members' News
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Americas
Susan Frazer rsm Talks Alpha Boys School Radio
Classic Rock Italy [music magazine] interviewed Sister Susan Frazer, Area Administrator for the Sisters of Mercy in Jamaica and Executive Director of the Alpha Institute, for the music magazine’s “Rock & Roll Radio” section. Sister Susan talks about the importance of music to the Sisters of Mercy and how Alpha Boys School Radio (ABSR) celebrates alumni contributions while creating opportunities for current students to lead, find a career path and to celebrate their culture. Not only is the interview in English and Italian but you can also listen to the Classic Rock Italy playlist Sister Susan made just for the magazine.
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Brisbane
Telling Her Story
Sr Angela Mary Doyle rsm AO tells her story and reveals how God has been present throughout her life to guide and encourage her significant works. She is accompanied by Dr Sr Maeve Heaney VDMF who has performed two musical works, musical items that complement Sr Angela’s story.
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The Congregation
Transitional Shelter For Women In Distress, Pretoria, South Africa
Catherine McAuley generated in her Sisters a deep concern for the sick and dying poor, for those at risk in society and for the spiritual needs of people around her. Inspired by her reverence for people and her insight into the role of women, the South African Province decided to open a shelter for women victims of domestic violence and their young children…
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Aotearoa New Zealand
Building the Church: Scripture with Kathleen Rushton rsm
Kathleen Rushton rsm sets out the implications of Jesus’ desire to build the church in Matthew 16:13-20. Sr Kathleen writes: ‘What a difference the Christian church, which is arguably the largest and most extensively located organisation on the planet, could make by members working together’.
Download the article here
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Americas
Two College Students from Rochester Work Together to Donate 5,000 Books to Kids in Need
‘ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Two Our Lady of Mercy High Schools graduates used their spare time to give back to the community.
While their colleges were shut down, they decided to resurrect an old high school project, by helping to get books to Rochester kids in need…’
Source: RochesterFirst.com
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Australia & Papua New Guinea
Refugee Emergency in Papua New Guinea
Surrounded by escalating violence and civil unrest, many West Papuans fearing for their lives in November last year were forced to flee Indonesia and cross the Fly River into Papua New Guinea.
A makeshift refugee camp was built on Monfort Catholic Mission ground when these refugees began arriving. Some were resettled into the village of Iowara before the State of Emergency was declared in response to the coronavirus pandemic…
Mercy Matters
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Fact
On This Day
1878: Foundation to Valley Falls, Rhode Island from Providence
1958: Foundation to Biloxi from Birr
1959: Foundation to Lemoore, California from Ennis (withdrew 1991)
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
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Gospel
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A
Matthew 18:15-20
‘As we celebrate this first Sunday of the Season of Creation, we are conscious of the need for the human community to be reconciled with Earth and with all that inhabits our common home. The theme for the 2020 Season of Creation is “Jubilee for the Earth”. The Earth needs a rest from the effects of so much industrial activity, from the proliferation of single use plastic, from reliance on fossil fuels, from mindless consumption. The planet needs a “Rest” of biblical proportions, a Jubilee. Ironically, Covid-19 has given the planet a rest in some respects…’
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Digital Life
Space Out and Explore the Universe Without Leaving Home
‘If NASA’s new 2020 missions have inspired an interest in science and celestial objects, these apps and sites can open a whole new batch of worlds.’
Further Resources
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Worth Watching
'You Do Not Walk Alone'
‘You Do Not Walk Alone’ - traditional Irish blessing.
Original music by Elaine Hagenberg
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Worth Reading
Healthcare Bishop argues for more loving attitude to people with dementia in care homes
‘In an article published in The Tablet online, the Lead Bishop for Health and Social Care, Bishop Paul Mason stresses that we must look at those living with dementia in care homes through the lens of love.’
Read the article here)
Worth Reading
Treasures carried forward: What I learned in leadership
‘Last week, I finished three years in the presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). The experience of serving in the LCWR presidency has been the gift of a lifetime…’
Image: Sharlet Wagner csc at LCWR 2019 Assembly Source: YouTube
Read the article here)
Worth Reading
In 'Life After the Pandemic,' Pope Francis hopes COVID-19 will change us
‘A collection of his messages on the pandemic put together by Cardinal Michael Czerny, a Canadian Jesuit who works closely with the pope in Rome, has been published as "Life After the Pandemic." It contains eight papal addresses given in March and April that show how the pope thinks about living in this time.’
Download a PDF copy hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2020 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘Covid-19 has provided a kairos moment, a unique opportunity where God intervenes, issuing both an invitation and a challenge. The invitation in the moment is always to live into a new future…I think after Covid-19 we desperately need new visions of something more than just the old order improved a little. We need new visions of community, of society, and… of a post-racial world. This can only emerge out of a deep practice of lament, of turning to God, of turning to one another in solidarity. Then, your young men and women will see visions and the old men and women will dream dreams of a new future.’ 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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