Inaugural Makarrata Assembly at Sacred Heart College
On a recent sunny autumn’s morning, our college, Sacred Heart Kyneton, Victoria, Australia, gathered to celebrate our inaugural Makarrata Assembly. This special event called us together as a Mercy community to confront the truths of our history with honesty, and to celebrate the remarkable work of contemporary First Nations Australians.
Makarrata is a Yolngu word that means “coming together after a struggle”. The call for a national Makarrata Commission is a central theme of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and as a Mercy community we join in this call for truth telling and healing…
Vision in Action
MGA
Mercy Global Action Hosts First Advocacy Workshop on Migration and Development
MGA
Mercy Global Action Hosts First Advocacy Workshop on Migration and Development
On Tuesday May 25th, the Mercy Global Action (MGA) team offered the first of three virtual advocacy workshops. Our first workshop was facilitated by Cecilie Kern, MGA’s Global Policy and Research Associate, and focused on the topic of Migration & Development, ahead of the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development…
The interactive workshop took place in two sessions. The first session began with Setting the Stage for Advocacy… In the second session, participants delved into the Tools, Tactics and Resources used in advocacy….
MGA will host two more advocacy workshops in 2021, on 3 August on the topic of Climate Justice & Water, ahead of UN COP26, and 23 November on the topic of Domestic and Family Violence.
Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: 12 June, World Day Against Child Labour
Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: 12 June, World Day Against Child Labour
While parts of the world are seeing COVID-19 cases decrease, people recover and demand for labour in some industries increase, the financial impact and strain on families globally from COVID-19 will likely go on for much longer with many affected workers on fewer hours or none at all. According to USCSAHT (US Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking), COVID-19 has led to increased child labour around the world as families struggle to survive.
Let us keep in our prayers the many children working because of family poverty, the parents of these children and the organisations addressing child labour and trafficking. Let us commit ourselves to ethical purchasing to prevent worker exploitation.
Post your prayer in our online chapel
Members' News
The Congregation
Summer Series of comhthionól ar líne (online gatherings)
The Sisters of Mercy of the Northern Province, Ireland are delighted to announce a Summer Series to mark 50 years since the publication of “A Theology of Liberation” by Gustavo Gutiérrez.
Speakers for these events are Barbara Reid O.P on 28 June, Ivone Gebara on 8 July and Miriam McGillis on 14 July.
Gatherings will be held at 2:00pm IST. Click here to see time and date in your local area for the first gathering.
Download the flyer: A4 size; US Letter size.
Book on Eventbrite. Cost: €10 each gathering
Americas
Forbes names Mercy one of America's best employers
‘Forbes has named Mercy [US Health System] to its list of America’s Best Employers for New Graduates 2021, ranking Mercy in the top 150 and above companies such as IKEA, Facebook and Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Forbes and Statista Inc., an international market data provider, surveyed more than 20,000 young U.S. professionals who work for companies with at least 1,000 employees. The independent survey focused on work-related issues and experiences in the workplace…’
The Congregation
The Life: Mentors and Moments that Moved Sisters Forward
Deirdre Mullan rsm, co-author of the recent successful publication ‘We cannot be silent!’, is a member of the Global Sisters Report Life Panelists. Read her response to the current question ‘How has a sister-mentor pushed you in the right direction at some important turning point in your life?’
A Trustee of ARISE anti-slavery NGO together with Lynda Dearlove rsm MBE, Sr Deirdre’s latest article in the Derry Journal recounts how she became aware of the plight of the girl child by listening to the experience of a (former) trafficking victim.
Mercy Matters
Resource
Moving Forward with the Laudato Si' Action Platform
Sr. Sheila Kinsey, FCJM and Fr. Alberto Parise MCCJ , Coordinators of Sowing Hope for the Planet (JPIC, UISG-USG) will facilitate this program.
Date & time: 9 June, 2:00-4:00pm Rome time. Click here to find the time and date in your local area.
Zoom link: http://bit.ly/LS9june2021
Meeting ID: 817 9805 8087 – 962021
Fact
On This Day
1857: Foundation to Rochester, New York from Rhode Island - M Frances Warde/M Baptiste Coleman
1868: Foundation to Strabane from Navan, Co Meath - M Xavier Brady
1885: Death of M Ursula Frayne, Foundress of Perth, Western Australia, and Melbourne, Victoria
1881: Foundation to Roma, Queensland from Brisbane - M Xavier Kenyon
1891: Opening of House of Mercy, Carrick-on-Suir - M of Sacred Heart Maddock
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
Americas
Save the Date: Mercy Focus on Haiti (MFOH) 10th Anniversary Celebration
On 15 September 2021, Mercy Focus on Haiti (MFOH) will celebrate in gratitude via zoom their 10-year partnership with the Haitian people, working with them to address their unmet needs.
This inspiring partnership has been described over the years in Mercy eNews, most recently in the Segment Two MGP theme ‘New Foundations in Mercy’
Register your interest to participate in the online celebration.
Image by Unknown author. Public domainInternational Days
8 July, Anniversary of Gerard Manley Hopkins
Jo O’Donovan rsm (The Congregation), author of Bright Wings, Dappled Things, a book about Hopkins and his poetry, explored his work in her MGP presentation for the current segment on the theme ‘Contemplative seeing’.
Enjoy this retreat; 10 audio reflections from the Jesuits on Hopkins’ poetry ‘connecting poetry, prayer and daily life’.
Gospel
11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Mark 4:26-34
'The first of the parables in today’s gospel reading has no parallel in the other gospels. It compares God’s kindom to a trusting sower who scatters the seed by day, sleeps by night, and simply observes the “earth produce of itself” until it is time to harvest the grain...'
Resource
Practising Prayer
‘A new series from the Jesuit Spirituality Team and Pray as you go introduces different ways of praying, with short exercises. You could try a different session each week or dip into one type of prayer - whatever works best for you. ‘
Further Resources
Worth Watching
VOCES8: 'Sanctus' from Fauré's Requiem
VOCES8 perform the Sanctus from Fauré's Requiem with the English Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Artistic Director, Barnaby Smith as part of the Live From London Spring festival.
Watch/listen here
Worth Watching
Seeker to Saint
The life and lessons of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821), the first native-born American saint, are coming to video as part of a monthly series exploring her spiritual legacy.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Watch the first video clips & subscribe for updates
Worth Knowing
Jubilee for the Earth
The podcast, Jubilee for the Earth, produced by the Columban Missionaries, previously listed in this ‘Further Resources’ section, now has a companion study guide.
Find the series & study guide here
Worth Reading
Each Stage of Life Brings Opportunities for Discernment
‘Our lives move in seasons. In broad strokes there are the seasons of childhood, young adulthood, midlife, and elderhood. They correspond to the natural seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. However, within each of these life phases or cycles, we may experience the rise and fall of any of the seasons depending on what is happening for us.’
From ‘Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life’ by Christine Valters Paintner. Published February 2021. Read a sample
Read the article hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2021 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘After a resurrection, things have a tendency to not go back to the way they used to be. The teaching of the resurrection is that everything gets inverted: to find yourself you have to lose yourself, to gain power you have to give yourself up, salvation comes through the weakness of repentance, success leads to the greatest failure which is pride, and failure leads to the greatest success which is humility. Inversion follows inversion. God chooses the poor over the rich, the foolish over the wise, the meek over the proud..’ 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
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