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MGP 'Compassionate Heart' Resources are Now Online
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We invite you to visit the MGP Microsite to access the resources for the second ‘Integrated’ theme: ‘Compassionate Heart’.
Presenters for April are: Elizabeth Davis rsm (Newfoundland, Introduction), Carmel McDonough rsm (North Sydney, Theological Imaginings), Larretta Rivera-Williams rsm (Americas, Artistic Inspiration), Stephanie Langley, Jemima Walsh & Rebecca Goodyear (Brisbane, Grassroots Ministry), Julia Morisi (Americas, Mercy Global Action), Richard Kerr-Bell (Aotearoa New Zealand, Distinct Voice), Sandra Lupi rsm (Brisbane, Reflective Prayer)
Bookings have opened for the May 25-27 MGP Gatherings.
All are welcome to attend the gathering or gatherings that suit you best.
Click here for details and to book your place.
Vision in Action
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MIA Prayer Intention: Vocation
MIA Prayer Intention: Vocation
Sunday marked World Day of Prayer for Vocations. In his message for this day Pope Francis, citing the example of St Joseph, highlighted 3 words - ‘dream’, ‘service’ and ‘fidelity’. While we pray with thanks and in support of all who witness to the mercy and tenderness of our God as Religious, Associates and partners-in-Ministry, let us remember the relatives and friends of the 53 Indonesian submariners who died in waters north of Bali while carrying out their duties in service of their country.
Post your prayer in our online chapel
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MGA
MGA Uplifting the Mercy World’s Efforts toTackle Homelessness
MGA
MGA Uplifting the Mercy World’s Efforts toTackle Homelessness
Siobhán Golden, MGA intern, has undertaken a series of videos interviewing Mercy Sisters and colleagues around the issue of homelessness. On 11 March, Siobhán met with Carol Vale, Head of Strategic Planning at McAuley Community Services for Women in Melbourne, Australia, via Zoom, to raise awareness on issues of homelessness… On 13 April, Siobhán was joined by Sr Libby Fernandez, Founder and Executive Director of Mercy Pedalers in Sacramento, California, to discuss the work her ministry carries out to support those living on the streets…
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Save the Dates: MGP October Gatherings
We are pleased to announce that as well as the May MGP Gatherings, there wil be final MGP Gatherings held in October: Region One - 5 October, Region Three - 6 October, Region Two - 7 October.
Details and booking arrangements will be published in Mercy eNews at a later date.
Messages to: MGP Guiding Group
Members' News
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Americas
Mercy Health, St Louis Readies for Return of Volunteers
MIDWEST, U.S. - In any given year, Mercy’s more than 3,000 volunteers log hundreds of thousands of hours in service to communities across Mercy’s footprint. But for more than a year, almost all of those efforts came to a halt because of the pandemic. While some volunteers continued to knit baby caps for newborns from home and assist in some vaccination clinics, most were unable to do the jobs they love. Now, as COVID-19 cases hit new lows, volunteers are eager to get back to work and serve…
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Australia & Papua New Guinea
164th Anniversary of Melbourne Mercy Foundation Sees Convent Entrusted to the College
On 20 April 2021, the first Convent of Mercy on Australia’s East coast- the Nicholson Street Fitzroy, (Victoria) Convent - was entrusted by the Leadership Team of the Institute (ISMAPNG) into the care of Mary Moloney rsm, Principal, and Staff of Academy of Mary Immaculate, ‘for the furtherance of the Ministry of Education’.
The date chosen for the event marked the 164th anniversary of the opening of the Academy - the first Catholic fee-paying secondary school for girls in Melbourne- by M Ursula Frayne, leader of the first community of Sisters to settle in Melbourne (1857) and the first Sister of Mercy to set foot on the shores of Australia (Perth, 1846)…
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Americas
Institute Leadership Team Statement on Chauvin Verdict
The Institute Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas has consistently written statements that call for accountability of police and that decry the lack of individual and collective responsibility for these extrajudicial killings. A change in these systems must come and must come swiftly. We recognize that while justice may have been served in this trial, no justice will bring George Floyd back to his family nor bring a sense of safety for our brothers and sisters in the Black community. We ask ourselves: What does justice even look like when a man loses his life in this way?…
Mercy Matters
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Technical Tip
How to Choose the Right Laptop: A Step-by-Step Guide
‘Here’s how to sift through the acronyms, storage options, and extra features to find the best one for you.’
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Resource
Creativity and Prayer
‘Praying with our creativity, our own process of creating art, can show us how we really feel. We meet the quiet depths of ourselves. It can reveal the gaps in our story, the ‘untoldness’ of it and what we have been unable to express…’
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Resource
Online Book launch on 30 April
Panel: Stephen Bevans svd - Committed to Christ’s Mission, Judette Gallares rc -Forming Intercultural Missionaries, Patricia Murray ibvm - Interculturality, Leadership and Vows: Liability or Richness
Time: 3-5pm Rome time. Click here to see the time and date in your local area
Zoom link: http://bit.ly/30wMgT1
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Fact
On This Day
1878: Foundation to Kinvara Co Clare
1973: Union of Sisters of Mercy, Kerry - M Philomena Harrington
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
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Gospel
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year B
Again and again, life's experiences teach us that, as members of the Earth community, we cannot make it on our own. We need one another, other living beings, the sun, the soil, the water and everything else that formed from exploding stars in the distant past. The gospel reading reminds us that as baptised Christians we are not just intimately interlinked but that the source of our unity is the Risen Christ. As limbs and leaves and sap of the same vine, we simply cannot survive in isolation…’
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Resource
UISG: Sisters Empowering Women
Economy and Health: Religious Sisters, Leaders of a New Model
Date & time: 27 April, 2-4pm Rome time.
Click here to see the time & date in your local area
Helen Alford op (introduction), Talks by Alessandra Smarelli fma, Carol Keehan dc
Zoom link: http://bit.ly/3epaQNT
Meeting ID: 828 4575 8322
Further Resources
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Worth Watching
Pope on global crises: We are running out of time
In a message for Earth Day April 22, Pope Francis said the world is running out of time to solve the crises caused by climate change and the pandemic.
Watch the video here (1:30))
Worth Reading
LCWR 'Update'
The May issue of ‘Update’, the monthly newsletter from LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious) is now online.
Read the issue here)
Worth Watching
Song: 'Buried in Ivy'
Honey and the Bear perform Buried in Ivy. ‘The animation draws a focus to our precious seas and oceans and the part we must play in their protection.’
Watch/listen here)
Worth Knowing
Earth Day treaty seeks to protect environmental defenders in Latin America
‘The Escazú Agreement, which took effect on April 22, is the first treaty among countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that specifically addresses environmental issues. It is also a model for the rest of the world, as it is the first international pact that explicitly protects people who defend the environment.‘
Photo by Hector Ramon Perez on Unsplash
Read the article here)
Worth Knowing
The Healing Power of Poetry
A three-part series led by Úna Agnew SSL via Zoom Taking place over three Thursday mornings from 10:30 am – 12:00 noon on 20 & 27 May and 3 June 2021. Click here for the time and date of the first session in your local area.
Suggested donation £30 for the series
Further details are hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2021 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘Catherine McAuley brought her heart to misery. By courageous contagious concern for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the poor, the sick and the ignorant, she broke through the impossibilities of her time. She animated many to walk with her. She animated others at centres of wealth, power and influence to share in her heroic efforts. She connected the rich to the poor, the healthy to the sick, the educated and skilled to the uninstructed, the influential to those of no consequence, the powerful to the weak, to do the work of God on earth.’
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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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