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Caroline Thompson is Head of Heritage and Spirituality with Mercy International Association. She shares a Spiritual Reflection for the Mercy World for January 2026:
It’s almost twelve months since Bishop Mariann Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, delivered a sermon, in which she challenged US President Donald Trump to show mercy towards vulnerable communities. Have mercy, Mr President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land…
In her book Learn to be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith which has become an international bestseller, Budde reflects on courage and the importance of standing up for justice, fairness and compassion. There are moments when we have a choice to speak up or remain silent. If we remain silent, we become complicit in actions which demean human dignity and freedom. The bishop’s courage to speak out encouraged others to do the same.
Catherine McAuley knew this. She wasn’t prepared to sit back in silence in the face of the poverty of Dublin, the desperation of families and the treatment of children. She would, I’m sure, have agreed with Bishop Budde’s summation of the core elements of unity in a community or nation: respect for the dignity of all people, honesty and humility. These were tenets that Catherine lived everyday and they underpinned her work for mercy.
When I read Bishop Budde’s book I was powerfully reminded of the courage of Catherine McAuley and generations of Mercy women who have spoken out against injustice, exclusion and violence, not just with words but with action – Mercy ministries around the world have stood with the powerless, the weak, the victims of human cruelty and social structures which harm.
When Budde speaks of decisive moments in our lives when we are called to push past our fears and act with courage. When she says*: the courage to be brave when it matters most requires a lifetime of small decisions that set us on a path of self-awareness, attentiveness, and a willingness to risk failure for what we believe is right.* I think of Catherine McAuley’s decision to open the House of Mercy against strident public opposition, to welcome the homeless, the prostitute, the desperate into her house with kindness, to continue working for those made poor in the face of opposition from the clerics.
I’m sure Catherine would have listened to Bishop Budde’s homily with quiet joy and the recognition of a fellow mercy warrior. She would also have understood the fear and personal cost of speaking truth to power.
If you haven’t read Bishop Budde’s sermon, I recommend it as a powerful contemporary statement on the essence of mercy.
ENDS