“The stresses of our times, the pressures on our planet, the pain of the people we serve – all this demands that we do better in 2013,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his address to the General Assembly on 23 January.

MIA joins Mr Ban in calling for "innovative action to tackle the numerous challenges facing the world and to meet shared goals such as sustainable development, disarmament and conflict resolution". We support that intention with our prayers.

Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - Director MIA

May He grant you every grace and blessing and make you one of His dearest and best beloved.
Catherine McAuley, Letter to Mary Joseph Joyce, October, 1841

As a Mercy Community, we pray for those in need of prayer, including those who make special requests to us. These requests are listed on the website and linked to this item.

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

Editor: "I doubt that many of us would deny that our world is in economic and ecological crisis", writes Lyndsay Spendelow rsm in an article published on the GB Institute's website.

" Has anybody noticed that the dominant economic model, currently espoused by the leaders of all first world nations, demands that we all support unlimited growth on what we already know to be a planet with finite and severely depleted natural resources?..."

In this article exploring the dominant economic model and its results, Lyndsay introduces the reader to the emerging paradigm of 'voluntary simplicity' and offers us questions for personal/communal reflection.

Messages to: the GB Institute Justice Desk

Editor: Mercy Sisters belonging to different member countries of Mercy International Association  live work and minister in Peru. Last week's Mercy e-News featured an article by a member of The Congregation about their work in Mache.

In this week's Sunday paper in Sydney, readers learned of the imminent departure of Joan Doyle rsm and Patricia McDermott rsm from Cerro Candela.

The story of the arrival in Peru in 1996 of Joan, Patricia and Jackie Ford rsm has been told on the Mercyworld.org website. Over the years since, we've published stories they've been able to share of the outreach of their ministry.

 Journalist Guy Rundle writes in the Sydney Morning Herald:

' Watching them chatting animatedly with staff and clients, in Spanish with a Kyliesque rising inflection - a relic of suburban Sydney origins - you wonder not merely why they are going, but how it will be possible even for them to leave.

''Well, things are changing,'' McDermott says. ''When I came from Chile to here, it was for the same reason: by the time we left, the poverty level had dropped to around 25 per cent, while in Peru more than half the population was beneath the poverty line. Now things are improving [in Peru], although slowly for the poor. For that, and some family and health reasons, it's time to move on.''

Will that be tough? McDermott's smile disappears for a second. ''Oh yes, very hard.'' ...'

The good they did will remain after them - along with the women's centres, two childcare centres and a medical clinic they established.

Messages to:
Patricia McDermott rsm 
Joan Doyle rsm

Editor: ' A Mercy Story in Peru'  can be viewed here (Youtube)

Editor: On 27 January each year, the United Nations sets aside a day in special remembrance of Holocaust victims. The International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust also commemorates when the Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland on 27 January 27, 1945. Today Mary O’Sullivan rsm (The Congregation) ministers at the Centre for Dialogue and Prayer in Auschwitz.

How timely then that last week, Carol Rittner rsm was interviewed in Camille Darienzo rsm's fortnightly 'Conversations with...' column in National Catholic Reporter (NCR). Carol, a member of the Sisters of Mercy Mid-Atlantic community, is a distinguished professor of Holocaust and genocide studies and the Dr. Marsha Raticoff Grossman Professor of Holocaust Studies at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

The interview is linked to this item.

Messages to: Carol Rittner rsm

Editor: Five key statements articulate the philosophy of Our lady of Mercy Academy (OLMA), Syosset, New York. These include "We believe every person has value and deserves respect" and "We believe compassion and service are necessary to promote moral integrity."

In a story screened at Christmas, students and staff of OLMA talk about their year round commitment to supporting The INN, a non-profit organization serving the homeless on Long Island, in a partnership that has lasted more than three decades. The INN (Interfaith Nutritional Network) is run by another OLMA alum: Jean Kelly

The video story is linked to this item.

Messages to: Margaret Myhan- President OLMA

Editor:  Over the course of the year we will visit many such centres of Mercy inspiration and activity. Let your place be one of them. Share your news with us. Submit your article online or email it to the Editor.
OLMA is this week's featured Mercy website.

Pat Zerega, director of shareholder advocacy for Mercy Investment Services, and a member of the MIA working group on Trafficking, recently participated in a delegation of four Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) members who traveled to Cajamarca, Peru, to meet with Newmont Mining and with local stakeholders affected by the company's practices.

Pat's report on her trip is linked to this item.

Messages to: Pat Zerega

1923: Opening of Mercy Hospital, Young, New South Wales
1923: Convent opened in Parkes, New South Wales
1957: Foundation to Kunjingini, Papua New Guinea from Brisbane

Purchase (paperback) online from the publisher, Wipf and Stock or from Amazon

Writing of this work Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, Professor of Theology, Fordham University, has said:  "Facts buried in archives come alive in the living voices of these women who now share the 'dangerous memory' of their presence at Vatican II. Carmel McEnroy tells this story with keen insight into women's oppression in the Church, an eye for the humorous detail, and great narrative flair. Thank goodness she rescued this piece of history before it disappeared over the horizon like so much else."

Our Lady of Mercy Academy is dedicated to providing a comprehensive education grounded in the charism of Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy. Guided by the principles of Fides, Mores and Cultura, the faculty and staff educate young women within a compassionate environment to empower them to be authentic witnesses of Catholic values in the global community.

 Search tricks that will save you lots of time searching with Google:

1. Location Specific Information
2. Measurement and Currency Conversion
3. Calculate Almost Anything
4. Define Words
5. Narrow Search to Specific Words
6. Search Only Specific Sites
7. Search for Files Online
8. Find Instant Answers to Common Information

  Source: Gilsmethod: Tech How-To guides for the Rest of Us

Editor:  In the captivating article "Google and the future of search: Amit Singhal and the Knowledge Graph" published in The Guardian (19/1/2013), Amit Singhal, head of Google Search, is interviewed about the Knowledge Graph which will radically transform the way we search the internet… again. "We are a search people," Singhal says. "The thing that motivates me is to build a search engine that will outdo all my previous creations. Simple as that."