This is the first edition for 2012. There will be 48 editions published this year (25 January - 19 December) with items from Member Congregations numbering in the hundreds for Vision In Action, as well as the weekly Feature article, Mercy fact, resource, website reference and technical tip.

Thank you very much to all who contributed news items. We ask that you continue and so help build the global Mercy community online.

Thank you to all our readers for your ongoing interest, support and encouragement.

A reminder that Mercy E-News is available at no charge to anyone affiliated with the Sisters of Mercy who has an email account, simply by filling in the online registration form.

Messages to Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

Suggestions for 2012, feedback and comments are welcome. Messages to The Editor

Sisters of Mercy in the U.S. are educating hotels about human trafficking in several ways, including reaching out to hotels near the sites of the 2012 Super Bowl and the 2012 Democratic Convention. CCASA Sisters, meanwhile, are attending workshops in preparation for joining efforts to form a Central America and Caribbean network to support victims and address the demand for human trafficking.

‘Thinking globally’ isn’t just a catchphrase at Mercy High School. It’s a way of life. That has never been truer, as the school has established a Centre for Global Education.

Religious Sister of Mercy Carol Wheeler, president of Mercy, introduced the programme to the 380 students gathered on December 12 to celebrate the Sisters of Mercy Foundation Day, marking the 180th anniversary of the order’s founding by Mother Catherine McCauley. ‘For over 10 years Mercy Baltimore has made significant efforts to educate students to become citizens of the world’, Sister Carol told students. ‘This morning we are taking the next step.’

Our first edition of Mercy e-news for 2012 is published as we approach the end of the week of prayer for Christian Unity. Unity of heart and mind was a theme dear to Catherine McAuley – her legacy to the Congregation being that of Union and Charity. Her own life was influenced by people of various faiths – Catholicism, Protestantism and Quakerism.

This year’s theme would have been especially appealing to her – We will all be changed. It resembles her own belief that God can bend and change and form and reform any of his creatures to fit them for the purpose he designs. Change is at the heart of our Christian faith – anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. Change is at the heart of human life – we have been changed and transformed by the many events of our own lives, by the influence of those whose lives we touch and by many of the happenings in the world and church of which we are a part. Change is also at the heart of the ecumenical movement.

This week we are praying that the churches we know will change as they conform more closely to Christ. We are particularly conscious in this week when we pray for unity, not just among Christian but among all peoples of the growing sectarian tensions in Nigeria between Muslims and Christians. We are particularly conscious of the Mercy Sisters who minister in Nigeria and especially those in Yola, a city in north eastern Nigeria, where curfews are the order of the day.

The community of the Mercy Sisters in Charleville, Co. Cork are celebrating 175 years in Charleville this year. There was a capacity congregation at the Holy Cross Church for the special Mass on the last Friday in October to celebrate the coming of the Mercy Order to Charleville on the 29th October 1836. Since their arrival the Mercy Sisters have had a profound effect on generations on young girls of the town and parish in their education and welfare ministries. They have also played a vital role in the health of the community through providing various services for young and old.

Sr. Kilisitina Vaeatangitau has had a big year; 2011 marked her Silver Jubilee and saw the Rugby World Cup return to New Zealand. The latter was the big event in St Anne’s School in Manurewa where she teaches. St Anne’s came third in a competition to create welcome signs for the different national teams competing. This is one of the ways they engage their pupils who are generally from areas of high socio-economic need. ‘We have to work hard to left their performance. It’s quite challenging’, Sr. Tina notes. ‘I believe in young people. That’s why I am still teaching’.

Read more on this story and other news from the Sisters of Mercy Aotearoa New Zealand in the December edition of Te Kete Atawhai

In the aftermath of severe flash flooding resulting from Tropical Storm Washi on Friday, December 16, 2011, the Sisters of Mercy living and ministering in southern Mindaneo are safe and working on relief efforts.  Sr. Nancy Hoff, New York, Pennsylvania, Pacific West President, spoke with Sr. Virgencita Alegado, local leader in the Philippines and confirmed that all the Sisters and their families were safe.
 

Sr. Jane Gerety has been named as one of the Top Educators in North America by the Irish Voice newspaper. As president of Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island, Jane continues to hold positions of prestige professionally. She also gives her time to serve on several non-profit boards including St. John’s Mercy Hospital in St Louis, Missouri and Mercy Housing Southeast. Jane’s previous achievements include serving as a professor and academic dean at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and as the corporate compliance officer at St Joseph Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia and was able to help St. Joseph’s become one of the first hospitals to establish a Centre for Ethics in Health Care.

Almost 166 years ago to the day of the first profession of a Sisters of Mercy in Australia (Sr M Ignatia de la Hoyde on January 25, 1846), Michelle Goh was the first person to be received into the novitiate for the newly formed Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea.

It was with deep regret that we learned that Anne Walsh will no longer be employed at Fraynework and consequently that she will not edit our weekly edition of e-news. Anne’s relationship with MIA goes back as far as 1998 when a proposal for a Communications Policy was considered by the Leaders of MIA. In 1999 work began on the setting up of the Mercy International website and Anne’s expertise, together with that of Adele Howard,rsm was invaluable.

Two years later the groundbreaking CD-Rom, Mercy and Justice Shall Meet began production. When it was completed in 2004, it was acclaimed by all as a wonderful resource and it received several international awards. A testimony to its excellence is that it continues to be used widely today, eight years later – something quite extraordinary in an area of such rapid change and obsolescence. The Circle of Mercy DVD , to which Anne made an immense contribution received an award in 2007. Her dedication to the production of the new web platform www.mercyworld.org, launched in 2009 was outstanding and its outreach and influence is experienced across the world and in circles way beyond the Mercy family. It was particularly as editor of e-news that Anne made a major contribution.

She had her finger on the pulse of the Mercy world and she faithfully each week produced an eagerly awaited e-news that reflected all that was best in Mercy to its own members and portrayed the Mercy story and mission to the world. One has only to trawl the archives, going back to 2001 to see the extent of that contribution and to be amazed at its growth in content and presentation over these years. What made Anne unique was not just her technical skills but her deep understanding of and passion for the Mercy culture.

We wish her the very best as she continues her journey and will be ever indebted to her for the ways in which she enriched the global Mercy family.

The last working Sister of Mercy at Mercy Hospital in Dunedin has retired from her pastoral care role there. Sr. Chanel Hardiman, who is in her late 70’s was honoured at a farewell function at Marinoto House in Dunedin. At the event, Sr. Chanel spoke about her career, the changes she experienced and the progress made. Attending the farewell was the Executive Director of the Mercy International Association, Mary Reynolds rsm. By working in private health, the Sisters of Mercy aimed to bring the rich and poor together, she said.

Read more on this story and other news from the Sisters of Mercy Aotearoa New Zealand in the December edition of Te Kete Atawhai

1837: Profession of Sr M Ursula Frayne
1846: First Mercy profession in Australia (Sr M Ignatia de la Hoyde)

This book acts as a 'flip book' featuring Sr. Clare Agnew's sketches of the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. It provides an explanation of the biblical and theological foundations of the Works of Mercy; displays the 1830's sketches with their original captions, and the wonderful 'Descriptive Anecdotes'; and includes some related commentary from the writings of the Catherine McAuley. Additionally, there is a section for reflection.

Cost: $25 (ex GST) + postage where necessary
Contact: (07) 3831 2252 or info@mercyneritage.com
 

This website chronicals the history of the Sisters of Mercy in Australia and Papus New Guinea from its foundations in Dublin to the present day.  The story is told through six slides: Beginning with Catherine McAuley; Coming to Australia; Moving Towards Unity; Unity and Growth; The Institute; and a New Beginning. The text is accompanied by graphics, photographs, and video adding to its richness.

This article outlines five steps you can take to keep your computer running quickly and last for longer: IT Support; Cleansing; Defragmentation; Replace Old Parts; and Back Up.

Source: GilsMethod