As we approach the last week of our Lenten journey, our thoughts center on the Passion of Christ.

Central to Catherine McAuley’s personal spirituality was her devotion to Jesus, especially in His passion. In her rule of life for the Mercy community she wrote that the congregation was "founded on Calvary, there to serve a crucified Redeemer."

A devotion, dear to many and particularly suited to this liturgical season, is the Stations of the Cross. Gisele Ferretto, a Mercy Associate of the Americas, has woven Catherine’s words into this sacred journey, making it very special and unique for us.

Her reflection on the Stations of the Cross is linked to this item.

Messages to: Gisele Ferretto - Mercy Associate (Americas)

Editor: Prayer Services prepared for Holy Week in previous years by Kathleen Murphy rsm can still be accessed on the mercyworld.org website. The 2011 Easter Prayer Service can be found here.

Mercy International Association held its fifth gathering of the Soup and Substance Lenten programme on 22nd March 2012.

In this session, Eamon Ryan, Leader of the Green Party, addressed the group on the “Challenge of Sustainable Living”. He spoke about the importance of interconnectedness in addressing the threats faced by our planet. Using the example of climate change he pointed to the dangers of global emissions and the need to reduce them through changing personal behaviour. Eamon advised that there are four main contributory factors to emissions:  industry, travel, food and land use and energy.

How Eamon suggests these problems can be tackled,  the video of the session and the handout can be found in the report linked to this item.

Messages to: Mary Purcell - Assistant Director Mercy Global Action

The right to water and sanitation was explicitly recognised by resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and the Human Rights Council in 2010. Last week on  World Water Day (22 March) Catarina de Albuquerque (UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation) called on countries not to go back on their decisions to recognize the right to water and sanitation for all, and act consistently with them.

Mercy Global Action Coordinator at the UN, Aine O Connor rsm, is working with other faith based organizations and NGOs to ensure the rights based approach, especially the right to water and sanitation, will not be omitted in the final outcome document for Rio+20.

Messages to: 
Betty Lacey - MGA Intern
Aine O'Connor rsm - MGA Coordinator at the UN

Editor: Water scarcity already affects every continent and more than 40 percent of the people on our planet. The UN estimates that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world’s population could be living under water stressed conditions. For World Water Day The Atlantic magazine collected 36 recent images showing water in our lives -- how we use it, abuse it, and depend on it. To view these images, click here.

Earth Hour, now in its sixth year, is a global movement uniting people to protect the planet. On the last Saturday of March every year, Earth Hour brings together communities from across the world celebrating a commitment to the planet by switching off lights for one designated hour.

Earth Hour aims to encourage an interconnected global community to share the opportunities and challenges of creating a sustainable world.

Earth Hour 2012 will be held this coming Saturday, 31st March between 8.30PM and 9.30PM in your local time zone.

Resources for Earth Hour can be found on the Earth Hour website

Messages to:  Aine O'Connor rsm - Mercy Global Action Coordinator at the UN
 

Prayers through the intercession of Venerable Catherine are requested for the intentions of  all those on the MIA Prayer list: and in particular, those whose names are newly added: Jim Elliott, Becky Flaherty, HIlario Robledo, Sue Moriarty, Stuart Solofa.

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

The Sisters of Mercy received a standing ovation Thursday, 15th March on the Kansas Senate floor following the passage of a resolution honoring their health care ministry to the state of Kansas for the past 125 years.

The resolution acknowledged the Sisters’ service in Fort Scott for the past 125 years, in Independence for 85 years, and now in Columbus, where the Maude-Norton hospital has been in operation for 90 years and became part of the Mercy family in 2009.

Messages to: Nancy Corbett - Mercy Media Relations Director, Marketing and Communications

On a global scale sex trafficking is arguably the third most lucrative illicit business in the world after guns and drugs, writes Helena Daly rsm. Trafficking is a $32 billion annual industry. So it is the exploitation and theft of vulnerable lives and work that often feeds into the global economy and the things we buy.

In 2007, 2.45 million trafficking victims were in exploitative conditions - probably much greater numbers now.

In Northern Ireland last year there were twenty seven victims recovered but as yet there has only been one conviction of the criminals involved in these cases. Why?

This is a difficult question to answer due to the complexity of the problem.

Messages to: Helena Daly rsm c/- Ailish O'Brien rsm - Communications Co-ordinator

"As a Congregation", writes Susan De Guide rsm, member of The Congregation Leadership Team, "we have made a commitment to integrate our own justice/interconnectedness work with the focus areas of Human Trafficking and Eco-Justice/Interconnectedness as chosen by the Mercy Global Action Network (MGAN).

The main purposes of MGAN are to build collaboration with the nine Mercy Congregations around the world and to bring the fruits of our labours on the ground and the stories we have to Aine O’Connor rsm. Aine, Mercy Global Action Coordinator at the UN, will use these to help strengthen our presence and voice at the UN and give expression there to our Mercy mission."

Video and written responses from  the participants in the workshops on Human Trafficking given by Mary Ryan rsm and Sheila O’Gorman rsm are included in Susan's report, linked to this item. Further details on the workshop on eco-justice/Interconnectedness by Carmel Bracken rsm  and Kathleen Glennon rsm and the workshop on Fracking which have been reported previously in Mercy E-News, are also provided in this account.

Messages to: Susan DeGuide rsm - The Congregation Leadership Team

“When our Founder Catherine McAuley opened the first House of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland, in 1827, the needs were great,” said Lynn Britton, president and CEO of Mercy across seven states. “The needs today in the communities we serve across the Midwest continue to grow, and we continue to find ways to serve those needs. It’s in our DNA to serve those who are economically poor and to work for change on their behalf.”

Since 1988, Mercy has gifted a total of $9 million to communities across the Midwest, and this year awards $600,000 to almost two dozen community programs across five states.

Messages to: Nancy Corbett - Mercy Media Relations Director, Marketing and Communications

Editor:  Mercy is the eighth largest Catholic health care system in the U.S. and serves more than 3 million people annually. Mercy includes 31 hospitals, more than 200 outpatient facilities, 38,000 co-workers and 1,500 integrated physicians in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has outreach ministries in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. For more about Mercy, visit www.mercy.net

The Sisters of Mercy Justice Team is urging all Mercy Advocates to contact their Representative today (March 28), asking him/her to oppose the Ryan Budget and instead use the Faithful Budget as a model for a federal budget. 

The Ryan Budget proposes cuts to domestic programs that serve people who are vulnerable, while increasing funding for military programs. It also proposes repealing the Affordable Care Act, which is already helping millions of seniors, children, and young adults. And it maintains tax cuts that primarily benefit people who are the wealthiest. This budget is expected to be voted on by the House this Thursday, March 29.

A better alternative was released on Thursday March 22 by the interfaith Faithful Budget Campaign: "Priorities for a Faithful Budget: Acting with Mercy and Justice as One Nation Under God." We believe the Faithful Budget is a much better model for Congress to use than the House/Ryan budget.

Messages to: Sisters of Mercy Justice Team

1869: Foundation to St Alphonsus, New Orleans from St Louis

This Flowing Toward Me by Marilyn Lacey rsm brings the problems and the humanity of world migration into sharp, specific focus.

Marilyn describes a journey of discovery through her work with the poorest and often the most frightened people in the world—international immigrants and refugees.

Order online from the publisher Ave Maria Press
 

Mercy Beyond Borders, founded in 2008, partners with displaced women and girls in ways that alleviate their extreme poverty. We began in South Sudan, which has one-quarter of the world's displaced peoples, and later expanded to Haiti, where tens of thousands remain displaced since the 2010 earthquake.

"To be successful in the new world of work," writes David Allen, productivity consultant, "we need to create a structure for capturing, clarifying and organizing all the forces that assail us; and to ensure time and space for thinking, reflecting and decision making."

Attached to this item is his advice on how to improve focus and results.
Source: New York Times