Mercy International Association is happy to announce that Mary Purcell has been appointed to the recently advertised position of Assistant Director Global Action.

Messages to Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

Lent is traditionally a time of fasting. The Scriptures remind us that the kind of fasting God wants for us is ‘to lose the bonds of injustice, to undo the bonds of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke. (Isaiah 58:6). In this context fasting is equated with practices of justice and the notion of release.

This year the MIA Luncheon series will focus on various aspects of displacement of peoples and the themes will be presented in a Theological Reflection context.

In order to facilitate those who wish to join the programme ‘virtually’, a copy of the presentation and process presented each week will be available on e-news over the six weeks of Lent.

Messages to Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

It has been exactly 100 years since International Women’s Day was celebrated for the first time around the world in 1911 with activities, commemorations and events demanding women’s empowerment and gender equality. This special day is still deserved and, unfortunately, still needed – women and girls all over the world continue to face significant obstacles to equal political, social and economic participation based on entrenched gender and cultural norms.

Messages to Deirdre Mullan rsm - Director MGC

Mercy Global Concern, the Mercy office at the United Nations in New York City, echo Catherine McAuley's words in saying - Women and Girls around the world who suffer gender-based violence "need help today, not next week."

Messages to Deirdre Mullan rsm - Director MGC

Editor:  Imaging Mercy Today produced by Pou Atawhai Centre for Mission, Auckland features a write up to the new publication which concludes 'Mercy has learnt from Catherine McAuley that the general advancement
of women holds the key to a society transformed in the image of God’s own plan'.
 

In 2000, as a millennium project, the Mercy Sisters handed over the Convent and complex in Cork street Dublin to a new Social Housing Group – Sophia – to provide ‘accommodation with comfort’ for homeless and vulnerable people. Today, there are 52 beautiful units there, catering for single women, single men, single mothers, families – all of whom are homeless and have ‘special needs’. Six Sisters are scattered throughout the complex, finding themselves being friends and neighbours with people who get a hard deal in life.

Messages to Helena O'Donoghue - Chair, MLRC Board of Directors

"The Compassionate face of Christ in the Valley" - these were the words of Bishop Michael Coleman of Port Elizabeth Diocese to describe the Mercy Sisters in Addo when we met with him writes Kathleen Gooch rsm of her recent visit to Addo, South Africa.

Messages to: Kathleen Gooch rsm

Editor: The missioning ceremony to Addo in 2006 can be accessed from the News Centre archive on mercyworld.org

On Wednesday 26 January 2011 former President Nelson Mandela was admitted to Milpark Hospital, Johannesburg for “routine tests.” McAuley House School is situated in Guild Road, the road leading to the entrance of the hospital, and so, on hearing the news of Mr Mandela’s hospitalisation, we anticipated some congestion in the road on Thursday morning. By 6.30 am both sides of the road were lined with satellite vans and cars belonging to local and international media organisations.

Messages to Colleen Wilkinson rsm

In the Secret of My Heart honours the Sacred Heart of Jesus, not only as a traditional icon, but as a timeless inspiration for all who seek God. Through the lens of scripture, Sr Anna Burke remembers how Jesus revealed knowledge of God as ultimately a heart experience.

Cuan Mhuire is Ireland’s largest voluntary provider of Rehabilitation Treatment for individuals suffering from addiction and other related issues. Since its formation in 1966 by Sr. Consilio, Cuan Mhuire has treated over 75,000 people. Its main objective is the rehabilitation of persons suffering from alcohol, drug and gambling addictions.

Cuan Mhuire has just launched this, its new website

Twitter – A microblogging application. Accessible on the internet or on a smartphone.
Tweeter – A Twitter user, or one who tweets.
Tweet – An observation, question, update or other utterance, and the point of the whole thing. A tweet is restricted to 140 characters or less, including spaces. Tweets can include links to other websites.
 

Source: The Big Issue no 375 1-14 March 2011