With the commemoration on Sunday of Remembrance Day, the 'mid-feast of the Season of Mercy' (Mary Reynolds rsm), we commenced the second part of our journey towards Foundation Day, December 12, conscious that 'Catherine continues to care about us and to found us. That work is not over' (Mary Sullivan rsm).

Let us pray for ourselves and for each other that we may have hearts free from anxiety and fear and that our works will be animated by our own poverty of spirit.

Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

Editor: The reference to Catherine McAuley's ongoing founding of the Order comes from 'Founding the Sisters of Mercy' (08:15 - 11:25) in Part B of a wide-ranging conversation with Mary Sullivan rsm, recorded last year, where  Mary freely shares her insights and reflections from her own deep study and lived experience of Catherine McAuley in A Conversation with Mary Sullivan rsm

Stop Trafficking! is dedicated exclusively to fostering an exchange of information among religious congregations, their friends and collaborating organisations, working to eliminate all forms of trafficking of human beings. The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas is one of the congregational sponsors of this publication.

The November issue, now online and linked to this item, includes a report on the 'advocacy week' visit by members of ACRATH (Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans), including four Sisters of Mercy, to the nation's capital, Canberra, reported on in Issue 479 (29 August, 2012) of Mercy E-news.

Messages to:Mary Purcell - Assistant Director Mercy Global Action

Editor: Additional 'new' resources against trafficking that have been brought to our attention: Recent UN reports on HIV prevention efforts, the commercial sex industry and sex trafficking. The Hope for Justice video clip references the UK but its message is broader [and its style is as engaging as The Girl Effect- that video clip of four years ago that sparked a movement. Learn more at www.girleffect.org and join the movement at www.facebook.com/girleffect.] Against Human Trafficking One Must Try to Listen, See and…a story from Argentina on the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas blog.

Living God, in whose life we live and move and have our being, open my heart to the great mystery of passage from this life to the next life. Help me understand that in living well I die, and in dying well I live. Burns and Carney, 'Praying with Catherine McAuley' p 114.

Prayers with the intercession of Venerable Catherine are requested for the intentions of: Rev. Lawrence Conley, McKay boy, Pauline Saunderson, Peter O'Reilly, Grainne Duffy, Mary De Pinto, Sister Cecilia Casas rsm, Lorna Heydon and all those who have asked us for prayers.

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

'Sister Louis Mary Battle, a medical administrator who was called the vision behind the expansion of care for the elderly, dementia patients and the dying at Stella Maris in Timonium, died Friday of complications from autoimmune disease and osteoarthritis at the institution where she worked for many years. She was 79.

"Sister Louis Mary was an intelligent, good-humored, strong leader, and there was never a doubt about what she was thinking," said Sister M. Karen McNally, the chief administrative officer of Stella Maris...

"Her vision was to create a continuum of services for the aging that was accessible to all, rich and poor, without distinction," Sister Karen said...'

Source: The Baltimore Sun

Messages to: Karen McNally rsm - Chief Administrative Officer

Editor: Stella Maris,Timonium, Maryland is this week's featured website.

Resources on aging: In 2011 at the biannual conference on aging conducted by the Mercy Network on Aging (MNOA), Pat McDermott rsm, President of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, presented a marvellous paper Wisdom is our Home, previously published in Mercy E-news. Reminding Sant Egidio Community's 'Viva gli Anziani' rest home for the elderly in Rome on his visit there yesterday morning, in the context of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations 2012, Benedict XV1 affirmed the elderly and reminded those present that 'It is a grace to be supported and accompanied, to receive the affection of others! This is important in every phase of life...' Read more

The free online election guide produced by the Institute Justice Team was only one way in which Sisters and their co-workers around the country were involved in educating others on the issues and enabling them to participate in the election process. Now the election is over and the US Congress re-convened yesterday, November 13, to address important issues of taxes and budget cuts scheduled to take effect in January 2013.

We invite you to join us in prayer: 'for President Barack Obama and newly elected and returning members of Congress and state governments as they face the many challenges and critical policy decisions that lie ahead. We are grateful for the generosity of all candidates for office in their willingness to serve as public servants. We especially pray, after a divisive and financially costly election season, that our elected officials work together in a civil and respectful manner for the common good...'

Messages to: The Institute Justice Team

'Everything in God’s creation matters to God and reveals something of God – from the tiniest insect to the largest mountain. God’s creation is at risk at the present time – it is sick and dying – in some parts it is dead. Furthermore, what we do to the earth – God’s Creation – we do to ourselves. We cannot be healthy on a sick planet. And it is the poor who suffer most. Whole islands are disappearing in some parts of the world from the effects of climate change. Crops are being destroyed, either because of no rain, or too much rain. Future generations everywhere will suffer...'said Catherine Brennan SSL, chairperson of ECI,in presenting the Eco-Congregational Ireland Award to the Inchicore Parish which includes among its congregation Agnes Coll rsm, Luarena McCormick rsm and Jo Kennedy rsm.

Messages to: Agnes Coll rsm

Young Mercy Links (YML) is for young adults committed to mercy and justice. Val Mooney, the Young Mercy Links Coordinator, is based in Melbourne and works for the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Current and prospective Young Mercy Links (YML) members gathered together for our annual combined Year 12 Justice Evening in October in Melbourne. This year the evening was held at the Academy of Mary Immaculate, Fitzroy and was well attended by young people who were genuinely keen to learn about the ways in which they could join Mercy Links in 2013, continue their commitment to justice and make a positive contribution to the wider community. Read more here

Messages to: Sally Bradley rsm - Institute Councillor

1900: Mercy Medical Centre opened, Cedar Rapids, Ohio
2004: Te Korowai Atawhai St Joseph's Mercy Hospice, Auckland's first residential palliative care unit, celebrates 25 years of service.

A History of the Women's Ordination Movement in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church

By Mary Jeremy Daigler

Click to download the flyer
 

Our Mission is Compassion. Our Mission is Dignity. Our Mission is Mercy. We are Stella Maris.

Sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, Stella Maris provides a comprehensive range of health and housing services for the compassionate care of the elderly, the sick, and the dying.

Guardian art expert Jonathan Jones takes us on audio tours around the biggest shows of 2012 in London: a new exhibition of photography and painting (National Gallery, London), past and present; a selection of works from Pre-Raphaelites (Tate Britain) and Turner, Monet, Twombly (Tate, Liverpool).

Source: The Guardian