As the ‘roll out’ of the new web platform begins, Mercy E-news will, over the next few weeks, facilitate a ‘tour’ of the new web, introducing the user to the various sections.

The following outlines the sections that will be highlighted:

02/08/10     About MIA
09/08/10     The Centre
16/08/10     Foundress
23/08/10     Heritage
30/08/10     Spirituality
06/09/10     Mercy Network
13/09/10     Mercy Global Action
20/09/10     Resources
27/09/10     News Centre

There will be two parts to this highlight. There will be an article focusing on the topic and the Technical Tip will direct the user about how that section functions.

The section being toured and highlighted this week is ABOUT MIA.

An overview of The Founding, The New Vision, The Structure and The Strategic plan is linked to this item.

Messages to Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

'Your Ever Affectionate' was Catherine’s favourite end greeting in her letters but more particularly, it was the distinguishing characteristic of her relationships. Her everyday dealings with others, proclaimed, even without verbally expressing it, that they were important to her, that she was concerned about their problems and that she would be there for them when they needed her.

We get a deeper insight into the disposition that conditioned Catherine’s affection for others in her reference to cordiality when she says: ‘Our love for others ought to be so cordial, that we should never refuse to do or to suffer anything for the good of our Sisters” and she expands on the word ‘cordial’: “now ‘cordial’ signifies something that revives, invigorates, and warms; such should be the effects of our love on each other”.

Catherine’s relationships, her concept of authority, her understanding of community, her outreach to others were all influenced and enriched by this very fundamental value and belief.

This week’s reflection, (the final in the series), reflects on how Catherine lived out ‘affectionately yours’ in her relationships with those with whom she shared the Mercy journey.

Messages to Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

Editor: Links to the six presentations are available on the new website and can be accessed through the links in the 'Mercy Links' column far right.

The new Mercyworld.org web site for Mercy International Association is an invitation into a world wide network of people.

It offers all those who visit the site an invitation to become engaged with Sisters of Mercy and their colleagues and friends throughout the world.

This engagement has a particular focus around the challenges and opportunities to respond to ‘issues of global poverty demonstrated in the massive displacement of persons worldwide’. (MIA Vision Statement)

The web platform also offers resources and programs for the development of a Mercy spirituality which is inspired by the Gospel vision of Catherine McAuley.

Messages to Adele Howard rsm - Communications

July 29, 2010 - On the eve of the amended Immigration law SB 1070 going into effect in Arizona, hundreds of children of immigrant parents demonstrated outside the White House yesterday to send a clear message to President Obama, “Stop deporting our parents!”

Sisters of Mercy stand in solidarity with these children. We are committed to a merciful way of life. We reverence the dignity of each person. We believe in creating a spirit of hospitality where those who seek hope, home and labor in this country are welcomed. For years we have been working to fix our broken immigration system by calling for comprehensive immigration reform. We believe an important cornerstone of reform must be family unity.

In support of the children, please send a letter today to President Obama asking him to stop deporting parents. Click here to send a letter.

Through our ministries a number of our sisters know firsthand the suffering these children and parents endure when they are separated due to a broken immigration system. Click here to read some of these horrendous experiences.

Messages to Pat Kenny rsm - Institute Communications

Stage one of the redeveloped and expanded Mercy Heritage Centre in Brisbane was recently opened on the ground floor of All Hallows’ Convent. The main aim of the Centre, reports Peter Connell, the Director, is to continue the legacy of the Sisters of Mercy through educational programmes and exhibitions.

Messages to Peter Connell - Director

Jenny (Sinead) Browne rsm is a Sister of Mercy belonging to the Congregation (Ireland) Southern province. Since 2001 Jenny has ministered in India as the Irish co-ordinator of HOPE Foundation. This organization works with street and slum children and their families in Calcutta, India.

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

At the moment there are approximately 9,000 Sisters of Mercy worldwide and they are present in 47 countries of the world.

In the history of the Sisters of Mercy about 53,000 women have joined the various congregations around the world.

One of her biographers says: "The character of Catherine McAuley.. is the most precious legacy that her children can inherit from her. Its chief strength seems to lie in its simplicity. It was this that probably preserved her through the trials to which her faith was exposed during her younger years, and kept her from being chilled and hardened while for so long a period of her life she was unable to practise her religion except in mere necessaries, and was hardly allowed to make any open profession of it. Yet we find her, after she had passed forty, able to begin the work of mercy with which her name will now be connected for ever. What is still more remarkable is the pliancy and gentleness with which she allowed herself and her work to be moulded and directed by authority, without claiming any rights or dictating any conditions on the ground of the large fortune which she brought with her to the undertaking."

From A Compendium of Irish Biography, 1878

Website of the Mercy International Association

To access the new MIA website, apart from a computer and internet access, only two browser plugins are required:

• Adobe Flash Player v9 or better. Get Adobe Flash player here
• Adobe Acrobat Reader v6 or better. Get Adobe reader here

These plugins are freely available and utilised by about 99% of mature markets. By limiting the software requirements, the site is made accessible to a broader audience of website users.

The About MIA section of the new mercyworld.org website contains two pdf files:

History of Mercy International Association, a 21 page colour report and

MIA Strategic Plan, a 16 page document, also in colour.

These pdfs are highlighted in blue graphic strips to draw attention to their presence on the site.

Pdfs can be opened and read online or downloaded and printed if preferred.