Prayers through the intercession of Venerable Catherine are asked for the intentions of the following persons:

Ann Gilroy, Catherine Sullivan, Rosemary Sodaberg, Dr Marcel Larcade, the Angelich family and all those whose names are on the prayer list.

Messages to:
Anne Hannon rsm - Vice postulator Europe and Africa
Sheila Carney rsm - Vice postulator Americas
Mary Duffy rsm - Vice postulator Australia, New Zealand, Philippines

Given that Mercy ministers in 47 countries around the world, the challenge of multiculturalism is a major part of our reality.

In her paper ‘Enkindling Mercy in a Multicultural Context’ Theresa Lowe Ching, rsm discusses the issue of cultural and religious pluralism specifically in relationship to the multicultural reality of the Caribbean region with a special focus on Jamica.

Theresa points out that multiculturalism is, indeed, a significant postmodern issue that speaks directly to the necessity of seeking truth as it is revealed, though always partially, in particular contexts. In conclusion to her paper, she identifies some specific challenges for Mercy as we endeavour to own and live our multicultural reality as a very significant aspect of our efforts to ‘enkindle the fire of Mercy in the twenty-first century’ and she leaves us with much to ponder and to respond to in these words: 

The challenge to Mercy itself is to preserve the identity and integrity of all its members in promoting genuine respect for particularity and difference even as it speaks that union and charity that is the hallmark of the Mercy way of life. From this standpoint it will be truly empowered to be and live Mercy in a broken, fragmented world, to be in solidarity with the truly ‘other’, the poor, the underprivileged and the excluded.

Messages to Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

Announcement no 1, May 2010 is a copy of the letter sent by the MDG Advocacy group of which Deirdre Mullan rsm is a member, to the Chair of the MDGs.

For further information, see also Briefing Notes 1 and 2 May, 2010, highlighted in Mercy E-News last week.

Messages to Deirdre Mullan rsm - Director MGC 

United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Kiyo Akasaka, and Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stephen Smith, have jointly announced that the sixty-third United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization (DPI/NGO) Conference will be held in Melbourne, Australia, from 30 August to 1 September 2010.

For additional information, please contact Deirdre Mullan rsm, Director Mercy Global Concern, representing the Sisters of Mercy at the UN.   

Please note: MGC cannot offer any financial assistance to attend this conference but we can help with passes.

May 10, 2010 - Early this morning, a fire destroyed the oldest wing of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Guyana. All staff and patients were safely evacuated.

The destruction was significant and the hospital governing board, administration, staff and Sisters of Mercy are dealing with the most immediate needs of patients, their families and employees.

Please keep the staff, sisters, patients and their families in your prayers.  

Messages to Pat Kenny rsm - Institute Communications

Sisters of Mercy have been present in Scotland since 1849 when Sister Elizabeth Moore established a foundation in Glasgow with some sisters from Limerick.

A second foundation was established from Limerick in 1858 when Sisters Mary Juliana Grant who originated from Scotland and Mary Clare McNamara arrived in Edinburgh in response to the bishop’s request for the Sisters of Mercy to tend to the education of Catholic children who were economically poor.

Messages to Mary Kay Dobrovolny rsm - Assistant Director Heritage & Spirituality

The Institute’s Extended Justice Team, composed of justice coordinators from the six Institute Communities, the Institute Justice Team and two members of the Institute leadership Team, meet annually to develop coordinated goals and strategies for justice initiatives throughout the Institute.

Fourteen members of the Extended Justice Team met in Washington D.C., April 23—30, to reflect and plan around the Institute’s Critical Concerns. The group created a multi-level action plan to provide members and associates with an experience of Awakening the Dreamer, an educational process that addresses environmental issues, connecting these issues to poverty, violence, racism and gender.

They visited the U.S. State Department to discuss the situation in Honduras. CCASA (Caribbean Central America South America) Sisters Edia Lopez and Ana Maria Siufi presented testimony based upon the actual experiences of the Sisters of Mercy in Honduras.

The Team also issued a statement opposing a new law in Arizona that criminalizes undocumented immigrants.

Messages to Susan Severin rsm  - Institute Justice Team

The Philippine National Election was held on May 10th.  Please join us in continued prayers for peace and safety for all Filipino people, especially those who are living under the threat and reality of violence. 

Please remain in prayer with us beyond election day

Messages to Sisters of Mercy Philippines c/- Mary Kay Dobrovolny rsm

Four years ago an optician by the name of Bernard Jennings from Carlow began Asante Eye Clinic in Nuu, two hundred and fifty kilometres from Nairobi. This clinic runs every year from Holy Thursday to Easter Monday. This years Asante Clinic had a total of four hundred and eighty patients. This whole venture was the dream of Sr. Goretti Ward, popularly known as ‘Mutanu’ by the Kamba people; which means the joyous one.

Messages to Bernadette Meuni rsm
 

1852 - Foundation to Hartford, Connecticut from Providence, Rhode Island - M Francis Warde
1885 - Opening of Opening of Meteor Park Orphanage, Rockhampton, Qld
1912 - Foundation to Tiffin (Toledo), Ohio from Cincinnati
1928 - Death of M Berchmans Deane, Foundress of West Perth, Western Australia

This work uses as its text, a resetting of the Suscipe of Catherine McAuley. Elizabeth Vidot, who transcribed the text, tried to stay closer to the original words of Catherine McAuley, whilst using more accessible language. Another important aspect of this work is an attempt to imbue a sense of ritual in the work, displayed with the repetition of verse 1 with slight variations in the music.

Mercy
is as simple as sharing bread
as wide as loving people into wholeness
and as challenging as working
for global justice

Next time you're using your arrow keys to go from one area of a sentence to another (left and right arrows), hold down your CTRL key. Instead of moving one space at a time, you'll go one word at a time.

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