Mercy Week 2021 Generative Dialogue: You’re Invited!
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Mercy International Association is excited to announce Opening Doors to an Emerging Future, a new programming experience to be hosted virtually during Mercy week 2021. The staff of MIA will host a six-session generative conversation to connect with our global community and explore the possibilities of the future.
As we move into the third century of living mercy in the spirit of Catherine, MIA seeks to gather the inspirations and energies of the Mercy world. Are you curious about how Catherine’s energy is alive in the world today? What Mercy’s future might be? Are you open to engaging in generative conversations for exploring what is wanting to emerge?
Mercy International Association invites all passionate individuals who feel called to imagine future possibilities on a journey of emergence. This four-day process will be an opportunity to engage in intentional dialogue as we envision the third century of Mercy…
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Vision in Action
MGP
MGP Reflective Poster on 'Mercying'
MGP
MGP Reflective Poster on 'Mercying'
The third of the four 'Integrated' posters on the theme 'Mercying' and accompanying Reflection Guide is being released through Mercy eNews today.
There are now 15 MGP posters and guides available - four each from the ‘Global’, ‘Mercy’ and ‘Presence’ themes and three from the ‘Integrated’ theme. The 16th and final poster will be released in July.
A reminder that the fourth and final theme presentations from Segment Four ‘Integrated’ will be released through Mercy eNews next week, 30 June. The theme is ‘Creating Circles and Culture of Mercy’.
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Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: Bereaved by Suicide
Prayer
MIA Prayer Intention: Bereaved by Suicide
In the latest report from WHO (World Health Organisation), we learn that one in every hundred deaths is from suicide, that ‘Every year, more people die as a result of suicide than HIV, malaria or breast cancer ̶ or war and homicide.’
Let us pray for all those contemplating suicide, that they might find the support they need to face their anguish.
Let us pray also with those bereaved by suicide - for the family, friends and communities who have been left bereft and grieving.
Post your prayer in our online chapel
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MGA
On World Day Against Child Labour, MGA Focuses on Migrant Children at Risk of Trafficking
MGA
On World Day Against Child Labour, MGA Focuses on Migrant Children at Risk of Trafficking
On 14 June, 2021, in commemoration of the World Day against Child Labour, the NGO Committee on Migration and the NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons hosted an event, “Improving Outcomes for Migrant Children at Risk of Trafficking,” to call attention to the urgent need for prevention of trafficking and forced labour of migrant children. The event also took place during the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, which aims to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and accelerate progress towards the goal set by SDG 8.7, to end all forms of child labour by 2025.
The recording of the event is now available.
MGA Global Policy and Research Advocate, Cecilie Kern, who is the Vice Chair of the NGO Committee on Migration, and a member of the NGO Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons, gave the welcoming remarks during the event.
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MIA
Mercy Day 2021 Theme and Logo
MIA
Mercy Day 2021 Theme and Logo
MIA is proud to announce the theme for Mercy Day 2021: Opening Doors to an Emerging Future! Mercy International will use this theme and accompanying logo to celebrate Mercy Day 2021, to host a generative dialogue during Mercy Week, and to challenge our Mercy community to consider our emerging future.
As we emerge from a time of global crisis and pandemic, we are mindful of our call to continue Catherine’s legacy and vision into the future. World leaders have called us to Build Back Better and justice advocates have challenged us to find new solutions and systems which support both people and planet. These calls challenge our Mercy world to open our doors wide and explore what is possible for the future…
Members' News
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Parramatta
Ex-students Join Panel for OLMC Parramatta Women in Leadership Forum
Parramatta
Ex-students Join Panel for OLMC Parramatta Women in Leadership Forum
On Wednesday 26 May, Our Lady of Mercy College Parramatta held its fourth annual Women in Leadership Forum in the Ailsa Mackinnon Community Centre.
Students, staff and families were joined by alumnae and visitors from other schools at this inspirational evening. The event was a chance to hear from a panel of women which included OLMC ex-students Melanie Silva (VP, Managing Director for Google Australia and New Zealand, from the OLMC Class of 1994) and Dr Natalie Galea (Academic, Activist and Olympian, from the OLMC Class of 1991), along with Professor Deborah Richards (Department of Computing at Macquarie University) and Michelle Lee (Adventurer and Athlete).
The speakers imparted their perspectives on women and leadership, sharing their stories of successes, opportunities and challenges, with honestly and humility…
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Americas
Mercy Honoured by Catholic Health USA with Lifetime Achievement Award
Americas
Mercy Honoured by Catholic Health USA with Lifetime Achievement Award
Doris Gottemoeller rsm, current Chair, Bon Secours Mercy Ministries and Board Member, Bon Secours Mercy Health Cincinnati, has been named the 2021 recipient of Catholic Health Association USA’s Lifetime Achievement Award, for her lifetime of contributions to Catholic health care, an honor she accepts with humility.
‘"I sort of pinch myself and say, 'Why am I being honored by a health care organization?''' Sr. Gottemoeller said. "I never was a clinician. I never spent time in a sick room. I never worked in a hospital."
Her modesty comes as no surprise to longtime colleagues who describe her as a trailblazer, as humble as she is wise...’
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Australia
Present in the Moment
Australia
Present in the Moment
‘The property team behind the Diocese's newest school – Catherine McAuley Catholic College in Medowie – asked Julie to submit a proposal to create a sculpture. It was an offer she did not hesitate to accept.
"It's been a great honour to create an interpretation of Catherine McAuley as she is such an inspiration," Julie says.
The bronze statue, situated within a bed of yellow roses at the college's entrance, took more than six months to create and involved various stages and an assortment of materials.
"Research is the first and most crucial step to the success of a sculpture, particularly when it is a life-like portrait," Julie says.
"I spent a lot of time researching with the help of the Heritage and Spirituality Department of the Mercy International Association in Dublin, as well as being guided to research books and films by Anne Ferguson from the Sisters of Mercy."…’
Source: Aurora magazine. Photographer: Peter Stoop. Used with permission.
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Americas
New Mercy School Gives Students a Way to Earn a Living Wage
Americas
New Mercy School Gives Students a Way to Earn a Living Wage
Responding to the needs of our times, the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas announced today (17 June) that they will sponsor a new Catholic career and technical junior/senior high school in Stuart, Florida, to better prepare low-income students for the health sciences workforce and/or college.
“We are opening the door to students in need by providing an excellent, affordable education that prepares them for contemporary job options,” said Sister Patricia McDermott, RSM, president, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas.
Mercy Education, the organization entrusted with overseeing the sponsored schools of the Sisters of Mercy, designed this new school model in response to the signs of the times, especially the COVID-19 pandemic. The school’s location in Stuart, Florida, part of the Diocese of Palm Beach, allows it to serve a growing population of students and families of Central and South American descent who, because of systemic oppression, often lack access to a meaningful pathway to a living wage…
Mercy Matters
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Fact
On This Day
1879: Foundation to Leeds from Bermondsey - Sr Benedict Joseph Meyer
Contribute a fact from the story of your Mercy congregation, institute or federation, to our online archive.
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Gospel
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Mark 5:21-43
'In Mark’s gospel, we often find a story within a story. Some scholars refer to this technique as the making of a Markan sandwich, others as a framing device. In Mark 5:21-43, the frame consists of the two-part story of the desperately ill twelve year old daughter of Jairus, a synagogue official. ..'
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Digital life
The Golden Rules of Task Management with Microsoft To Do
‘Learn these four golden rules to stay organized, grow your productivity, and make more time for yourself with Microsoft To Do.’
Resource
Sowing Hope for the Planet Webinar
Moving Forward with the Laudato Si' Action Platform, a webinar presented by Sowing Hope for the Planet, June 9, 2021
Resource
Realistic Hope: Theological Ethics and Conservation Practice
Celebration on 23 June hosted by the Laudato Si’ Research Institute UK. This is a hybrid event, with both live and remote speakers presenting to a small audience in Oxford, and the celebration as a whole livestreamed online.
Cost: Free. Time: 4:00-6:00pm BST. Click here to see the date and time for your local area
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Reource
The Four Anchor Points for Prayer
Audio, print and online versions of these four anchor points - Preparation, Entry into Prayer, Bringing Prayer to a Close, Review of Prayer - are provided
Further Resources
Worth Knowing
Resources for Season of Creation
(1 September-4 October 2021)
The 2021 Celebration Guide A Home for All? Renewing the Oikos of God is available now for download, along with a number of additional resources
Download the Guide & Additional Resources here)
Worth Watching
'If ye love me' - Thomas Tallis
London-based vocal ensemble the Tenebrae Choir, conducted by Nigel Short, perform ‘If ye love me’, the work of Thomas Tallis (1505-1585) . Recorded in St Augustine’s church, Kilburn.
Watch/listen here)
Worth Reading
UNICEF Annual Report 2020: Responding to COVID-19
UNICEF’s 2020 Annual Report underscores how 2020 was a year like no other…The pandemic has exposed deep inequalities that have existed for too long, with the worst consequences on children in the poorest countries and communities and those already disadvantaged.‘
Image: stock photo
Read the Report hereWorth Reading
LCWR Annual Report 2021
‘As you peruse this report, we invite you to reflect on the journey we have taken together this past year -- to the borders and well beyond, facing searing truths and challenging realities. God’s infinite vision beckons us yet further, calling us to a new horizon and new ways of being…’
Download the Annual Report here)
Worth Reading
Stop Trafficking Newsletter
Published by USCSAHT (U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human trafficking).
This month’s newsletter focuses on those often unrecognized victims of human trafficking: persons with disabilities.
Available in English and Spanish
Download the Latest Issue hereSend suggestions and contributions for the ‘Worth’ Section 2021 to: The Editor
The Bottom Line
‘Re-creation, holy leisure, is the mainstay of the contemplative soul, and the theology of Sabbath is its cornerstone. “On the seventh day,” Scripture says, “God rested.” With that single image, the one line of Holy Writ, reflection, re-creation of the creative spirit, transcendence, the right to be bigger than what we do, is sanctified. To refuse to rest, to play, to run loose for a while on the assumptions that work is holier, worthier of God, more useful to humankind than refreshment, strikes at the very root of contemplation.‘
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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