MIA invites Sisters, associates, co-workers, partners in ministry and friends of the Mercy family to pause at some time between noon and 2 p.m. today, December 12, to pray that through Catherine’s intercession, one of the persons who has asked for our prayers will be cured, thus opening the way for Catherine's beatification.

As we pause, wherever we are in the 44 countries where Sisters of Mercy minister, we will once again join in "wrapping the world in prayer".

Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director

Editor: The Prayer for Beatification of Catherine McAuley can be found here.

The web based 'Connect' meeting held by Mercy Global Action at the end of November was a wonderful success.

The content was a theological reflection on the issue of the trafficking of women and girls and was led by Dr Elizabeth Dowling rsm, from Melbourne Australia, Lecturer in Theology at Australian Catholic University,

'Liz worked in a most inspiring way with the Parable of the Good Samaritan as the basis of the dialogue with the tradition of scripture in relation to this issue...

The potential for effective outcomes in our efforts to address global social justice issues was evident at this meeting where the Mercy charism, the commitment to justice and the communications technology were brought together seamlessly...

Messages to: 
Mary Purcell  -Assistant Director Mercy Global Action
Elizabeth Dowling rsm - Presenter

Prayers with the intercession of Venerable Catherine McAuley are asked for:Bill Keenan, Sister Pat, Marlon Godoy, Jacinta Perez, Johnny Ruddick, Joan Wheeler, Art Hemann and all those whose names are on the MIA prayer list.

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

An invitation is extended to all members of the Mercy network - Sisters, Associates, Colleagues, Partners in Ministry, Family and Friends - to post Christmas Greetings on the mercyworld.org website, a practice now in its eleventh year.

Each year the greetings not only impart good wishes and hopes for us all, but they also hold out to us something of the stories of mercy lived, loved and experienced in ministries across the Mercy world.

As we bring this year of sharing our global Mercy story to its conclusion, we invite you to tell us all how it has been for you in your ministry - through an anecdote, a greeting, a prayer, a wish, a dream you have or a plan for 2013...

Messages that reach the Editor by Christmas Eve will appear on the website for reflection on Christmas Day.

Messages to:
Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA
The Editor

We have recently farewelled our last volunteer for 2012. We have been blessed with overseas volunteers this year and thank them for their generosity and contribution to the life of MIC: Joan Breen rsm (UK), Maureen & Tom Smyth (Australia), Jennifer Kreft (USA), Teresa McConnell rsm (UK) and Tess Svehla rsm (USA).

We have had an excellent response for requests in Mercy E-news for volunteers in 2013 and have eight volunteers in place commencing with Marilyn Gottemoeller rsm (USA) arriving in January. All other volunteers for 2013 are from Australia and New Zealand.

There is one volunteer position available for the month of June 2013 and there are also some vacancies in 2014.

Messages to: Sylvia Williams rsm - Assistant Director Finance & Administration

December 6, 2012 – Please pray for the victims and survivors of the typhoon that struck the Philippines this week taking the lives of more than 500 people with an additional 400 still missing.

Our sisters there are safe. They are trying to help those in need and they are assessing the damage to Mercy ministries.

Messages to: Pat Kenny rsm - Institute Communications Office

Please continue to pray for all affected by serious flooding in Colon, Panama, which claimed five lives and left more than 5,000 homeless. Sisters of Mercy facilities there were damaged. Financial donations can be sent to Sisters of Mercy-CCASA Community, 8380 Colesville Rd. #300, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Please indicate “Panama Flood” in the memo field.
 

Our Provincial Chapters have commenced with Kenya (11th-22nd December) and South Africa (11th–17th) now underway.

The remaining Provincial Chapter dates are:
Western Province : 2nd–11th January
Northern Province: 14th–24th January
South Central Province: 21st February–1st March
Southern Province: 3rd–11th March
United States Province: 1st–6th April

We invite you to join us in accompanying our Sisters in prayer in these important days.

Messages to: Ailish O'Brien rsm - Communications Co-ordinator

Misericordia University will honor  Therese Marie Marques rsm executive director of the Catherine McAuley Center, by presenting her with the esteemed Mother Catherine McAuley Medal at the University’s second annual winter commencement ceremony on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 2 p.m. in the Anderson Sports and Health Center on campus. The McAuley Medal is the university’s highest honor. It recognizes significant service to the institution and to the values to which it aspires.

“Sister Therese embodies the spirit and ideals of Misericordia University and its founders and sponsors, the Religious Sisters of Mercy, through her life of service and commitment, particularly to the women and children of our community,” said Misericordia University President Michael A. MacDowell. “As a Sister of Mercy, she lives Catherine McAuley’s spirit.”

Messages to: Therese Marie Marques rsm c/- Pat Kenny rsm - Institute Communications Office

Editor: The Catherine McAuley Center is this week's featured Mercy website

'Surrounded by her family and former students, Sister Madeleine, who is believed to be the world's oldest religious sister, celebrated her 110th birthday in Young, in southern NSW, on Saturday.

Sister Madeleine devoted 52 years of her life to teaching in the Southern Highlands and she left a mark on her students, some of whom paid her a special visit to mark the occasion...'

Source: The Esperance Express

Messages to: Shirley Garland rsm - Community Co-ordinator

Foundation Day also happens to be Jamhuri (Independence) Day in Kenya, cause for a double celebration at  the Mater Hospital Kenya which has throughout 2012 celebrated its coming of age at 50! The story of the year's events is linked to this item.

The jubilee year will end in style with the unveiling of the Jubilee Monument.  At this point we can only express gratitude to all who have made the year special and trust that the celebrations have brought us all closer and will stimulate us to move toward the next fifty with confidence and hope in the God Who cares for and loves us so much.

Messages to: Dr Marian Dolan rsm

'Hospital beds from a Mt Lawley facility will help improve conditions for people undergoing medical treatment in Africa.

Mercy Hospital will send 25 beds to one of the poorest nations in the world, Tanzania.

MercyCare supply manager Terry Anderson said old beds would be donated to mission hospitals and medical centres through Rafiki Surgical Missions as part of the hospital’s bed replacement program...

Mr Anderson said those at Mercy Hospital liked to help where they could because there were other medical facilities around the world without access to the basic supplies and equipment that could make a big difference.'

Source: inmycommunity

Messages to: Kay Joyce - Marketing Manager

CENTRAL U.S. – A dollar will buy a whole pound of food for a needy family in Independence, Kan., through the Community Food Program. Gifts from Mercy co-workers will help put those groceries on the table in the coming year.

A recent fund drive among co-workers across Mercy will bolster hometown service programs in Independence and other communities in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.

In total, the “Mercy Way Campaign” raised more than $2 million through cash gifts and co-worker paycheck deductions. In most Mercy locations, funds raised will support the United Way organization and its mission to fund various social service agencies. In some Mercy communities, contributions also were designated for internal needs, such as co-worker crisis funds...

Messages to: Nancy Corbett - Director, Media Relations

There’s a tree that grows in Brooklyn. Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls, it makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky. It grows in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps. It grows up out of cellar gratings. It is the only tree that grows out of cement. It grows lushly … survives without sun, water, and seemingly without earth. ²

The tree to which the author refers is the iolanthus. When I was a child one grew outside my bedroom window, and I marveled at its phenomenal yearly growth. Today I marvel even more that each spring these trees begin to grow in the most improbable places, right up through the concrete battlements erected on New York City parkways. The life force is truly amazing!

Access the complete article here

Messages to: Julia Upton rsm

¹Originally published in The MAST Journal 5 (Fall 1994) 17-21. (The issue includes several papers that were presented at the celebration of the Pittsburgh Community’s 150 anniversary in June 1994.
²Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (New York: Harper and Row, 1943) 3

 

Editor: As we reflect today on the countless acts of service of the last 181 years, often hidden, usually unrecorded, the letter below gives us another lens through which to look at the work of the years:

Dear Sister Mary Reynolds,
My parents and my two oldest sisters emigrated from Ireland in 1953. I was born in Erie Pennsylvania in 1957. Growing up in the U.S.A. in a family of 10, I attended Catholic grade school, high school and college. Today at 55 years of age, I have grown in deep appreciation for the Religious communities of the Sisters of Mercy in the U. S.A. and across the world. The positive impact the nuns have made in contributing to a better quality of life in creating hospitals, schools, non-profit programs, etc. is phenomenal! It is with great admiration the Religious order here and across the world need to be forever recognized. Some examples to permanently and physically show how the power of the Mercy women contributed to the growth of towns, cities and communities big and small is to create signage externally at all institutions to read, “ Founded by the Sisters of Mercy”. People all over the world need to see what the Power of Women, the Sisters of Mercy and their vision established for everyone to enjoy for generations to come!

Visiting Dublin recently, I picked up a map, to assist me in navigating my way across this beautiful and historic city in Ireland. On this map, there is nothing to indicate where the Mercy International Headquarters is located. The Sisters of Mercy, one of the largest Catholic religious orders in the world, is not included in any city map for visitors to this great city. New maps, streets signs, etc., should be produced to show where the Mercy Center is located. The Sisters of Mercy helped shape the city of Dublin and all of Ireland! Here in Erie, Pennsylvania, another example that needs to be up-dated is the creation of signage placed outside the main entrance to Mercyhurst University, to honor the Mercy Women who founded this Erie landmark. Sisters of Mercy worldwide need to be truly recognized for their huge contributions in helping create a better world.
Sincerely,
Theresa

Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director

The Institute Justice Team (IJT) organized a religious human rights/solidarity delegation to Honduras on December 6-12, to learn about the social, economic, religious and political realities in Honduras and lend moral support to faith partners, human rights defenders and civil society organizations. Their mission includes an advocacy meeting at the United States Embassy.

Messages to: Institute Justice Team
 

1831: Foundation Day; Profession of Catherine McAuley, Mary Ann Doyle and Elizabeth Harley
1867: Foundation to Trim from Tullamore - M Alphonsus Kavanagh
1890: Foundation to Kingston, West Indies from Bermondsey, England - M Winifred Furlong
1900: Aotearoa New Zealand's first Mater Misericordiae Hospital is opened in Epsom, Auckland - M Ignatius Prendergast.
1980: Opening of Novitiate in Americas from Brooklyn, New York
2005: The four Congregations of Aotearoa New Zealand unite to become a single Congregation – Nga Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand.
2011: Establishment and first day of the Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea (ISMAPNG)

On this day when we remember and celebrate the founding of the Institute and our call to embrace the spirit of hospitality and service, you are invited to play this reflection which features moments of Mercy Ministry in the day to day lives of people  in many of the 44 countries where Sisters of Mercy and our co-workers live and minister.

The video clip (4'.39") is linked to this item.

M.Madeleine Lawrence appears in this clip at 4'19"

NB. Click the square icon on the bottom bar to play the DVD full screen size

The Mission of the Catherine McAuley Center is:

• To directly minister to women and to the economically poor
• To provide temporary shelter for women and children in crisis
• To assist women to attain safe, affordable, permanent housing
• To provide women support services leading to self-reliance
• To assist women to attain medical and community resources.

'The world’s most valuable technology company has plans to revamp its sprawling office campus in Cupertino, Calif. Here are the renderings that the firm submitted to the city as it seeks approval to build.'

Source: The Washington Post