Recordings from Laudato Si' + Conference Now Online
The Laudato Si+ online conference, a collaboration between the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (ISMAPNG), Australian Catholic University and Catholic Religious Australia, was held over three days, March 15-17. It brought together a range of international speakers including theologian/biologist Dr Celia Deane Drummond of the Laudato Si’ Research Institute in Oxford, Professor Brian Swimme, mathematical cosmologist from the California Institute of Integral Studies, and Archbishop of Suva, Fiji, Peter Loy Chong. The conference process was designed by Margie Abbott rsm (ISMAPNG), the opening address was given by Adele Howard rsm (ISMAPNG) and Brenda Peddigrew rsm (Newfoundland) presented an introduction to contemplative dialogue.
Vision in Action
Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: For Fundamental Human Rights
Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: For Fundamental Human Rights
Let us join our prayers with those of Pope Francis and ‘pray for those who risk their lives while fighting for fundamental rights under dictatorships, authoritarian regimes and even in democracies in crisis, that they may see their sacrifice and their work bear abundant fruit’.
Post your prayer in our online chapel.
MGA
MGA Invites the Mercy World to Reflect on the World's Indigenous People
MGA
MGA Invites the Mercy World to Reflect on the World's Indigenous People
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues ( UNPFII) commences 19th April, 2021 and concludes 30th April. This Forum will largely take place virtually with some in- person meetings at UN headquarters in New York. The Forum was founded in 2000 with the express purpose of attending to Indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human Rights. The theme for this year’s forum is “Peace, justice and strong institutions: the role of indigenous peoples in implementing Sustainable Development Goal 16”…
Members' News
GB Institute
Cathy Edge rsm Interviewed on Like a Prayer
Rev Kate Bottley and Jason Mohammad, hosts of the BBC 2 programme Like a Prayer, exploring the different and surprising ways people pray, on 4 April met Islamic artist Ayesha Gamiet and Cathy Edge rsm, known on social media as ‘the Knitting Nun’ (@knittingnun). The conversation with Sr Cathy begins at 17:15.
Stain glass window design by Mary Kelly rsm RIPThe Congregation
Listen to the Picture - Art from Across the Congregation
On World Art Day 2021 (April 15th) we are very grateful to the Sisters who have shared their creative expressions with us. These inspiring pictures invite reflection time as we listen to the story in the painting and hear the wonder in the work of human hands.
Editor: Over 150 works of art created by Sisters from The Congregation, ISMAPNG and Aotearoa New Zealand are displayed in the online gallery. Well worth a visit.
M. Cecilia MaherAotearoa New Zealand
Mercy to Flourish from Mountains to the Sea
This month, we remember on April 9 the arrival of the first Sisters of Mercy to reach New Zealand, after an epic eight-month voyage from the other side of the world. It’s 171 years since Mother Cecilia Maher and her seven companions from Ireland responded to the call, initially from wāhine Māori but conveyed on their behalf by French Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier, to join the mission in this far-flung corner of the world – God’s ‘farthest outpost’ as historian Michael King would later describe it…
Mercy Matters
MIC Gift Shop
Opening Our Treasures: Some Images of Mary by Sister Clare Augustine Moore
This booklet presents a small sample of the extraordinary illumination work by Sister Clare Augustine Moore during the early decades of the Congregation of Mercy. The images are accompanied with reflections by Áine Barrins rsm (The Congregation) which invite contemplative seeing.
Purchase online from the MIC Gift shop for €5.00 plus postage
Velázquez. Public Domain. National Gallery of IrelandGospel
3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B
Luke 24:35-48
'Extraordinary things can happen if we open ourselves to the presence of a stranger on the road of life. That is one of the elements in today’s gospel that forms the conclusion to the Emmaus story. When I was a student at Trinity College in Dublin researching Luke’s depiction of women in the Acts of the Apostles, I would often take a detour on my way home to visit the National Gallery of Ireland. Velázquez’ remarkable oil painting, Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus captured and held my attention...'
Resource
Foundations of Centering Prayer
‘Centering Prayer prepares us to more fully enter the interior silence and receive the gift of God’s presence, beyond thoughts, words and emotions. ‘
Live online from Mercy Center Burlingame on Saturday, 17 April
Time: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM USA Pacific
Click here for the date & time in your local area
Cost: Donation
Resource
Webinar: The Cry of the Earth and the Cry of the Poor: Seeking God’s Justice in a (not yet) Post-pandemic World
Who are those most in need in our broken world? How can Christians today learn to hear and to respond to the need for justice for all God’s people?
Sheila Curran rsm (The Congregation) will be a panellist at this Tablet/ Pastoral Review event.
Date & time: 21 April from 6:00-7:00pm. London time. Cost: £12.50 inclusive of VAT. Currency converter
Fact
On This Day
1871: Foundation to Grass Valley, California - M Evangelista Kidgell
1878: Foundation to Moyderwell from St John's, Balloonagh, Tralee
1930: Death of Mother Evangelist Costello of Guernsey, Channel Islands in Alnwick, Northumberland
1938: Death of M Joseph Callen, Foundress of Broken Hill, New South Wales
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
Resource
Rebuilding the Church for a Change of Era: Pope Francis' Vision in Fratelli Tutti
Speaker: Dr Anna Rowlands, the deputy director of the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham. The online lecture ‘promises to be a fascinating talk and discussion on how we can implement the vision of Pope Francis in rebuilding the Church during this turbulent time that has been described as a “change of era”.’
Date and time: 23 April at 7:00pm London time. Click here for the time and date in your local area Cost: donation
More New Resources for Earth Month (April) and Earth Day (22 April) 2021
Resource
Earth Day Website
From April 20-22, join the world’s leaders for Earth Day 2021. Earth Day Live: Restore Our Earth will be streamed live at 12PM ET on April 22 via earthday.org, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and GEM-TV. Click here for the date and time in your local area
Resource
Creation Care Webinars
A list of upcoming webinars on Creation themes and how to register for these can be found on this site. Links to access recently archived online webinars on creation themes are also provided.
Resource
Resources from Catholic Health USA
Earth Day 2021 resources from Catholic Health include this reflective video (1:26)
Further Resources
Worth Watching
'My Soul Finds Rest'
A reflective chant by Marie Dunne chf, sung by Katie O’Flaherty. From the album ‘Shelter Me’.
Album available from faithstarmusic@gmail.com
Watch/listen here
Worth Knowing
Vatican Observatory Goes Online
‘The Vatican Observatory is an institution established by the Holy See for astronomical research and public outreach to advance the scientific understanding of our universe.’
'Visit' the Observatory here
Worth Reading
Defending the ‘blue soul of life’
‘Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, from Spain, is the United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. In this interview with WCC News, he talks about the significance of these human rights, his plans and priorities for his mandate, and to that end, the role of faith, spirituality and ethics…’
Read the article here
Worth Reading
Pope Urges World Bank and IMF to Seek More inclusive, Sustainable Policies
‘In this past year, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, our world has been forced to confront a series of grave and interrelated socio-economic, ecological, and political crises. It is my hope that your discussions will contribute to a model of “recovery” capable of generating new, more inclusive and sustainable solutions to support the real economy, assisting individuals and communities to achieve their deepest aspirations and the universal common good. ..’
Read the letter hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2021 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘Let us be renewed by the peace, forgiveness, and wounds of the merciful Jesus. Let us ask for the grace to become witnesses of mercy. Only in this way will our faith be alive and our lives unified. Only in this way will we proclaim the Gospel of God, which is the Gospel of mercy.’
‘For if love is only about us, faith becomes arid, barren and sentimental. Without others, faith becomes disembodied. Without works of mercy, it dies.’
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
