Prayers with the intercession of Venerable Catherine McAuley are asked for all whose names are in our hearts and on our prayer list, especially Mary Ellen Cortwright whose name is newly added.

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

Let us remember in our prayers all who have recently perished at sea, in particular those who drowned in Lampedusa in their efforts to reach a new country and make a fresh start for themselves and their families. The death toll from last Thursday's tragedy currently stands at 287, with many more bodies still to be recovered from inside the ship's hull.

Let us hope that we will not succumb to the culture of 'globalized indifference' (Francis).

Let us pray that the relevant authorities will have the courage, compassion and generosity of heart  to seek out and implement together the appropriate solutions to prevent these tragedies reoccurring.

Messages to: Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA

Keen to visit Baggot Street but not able to do so?  Why not take the interactive tour, newly added to the website, a gift to the Mercy family from Mercy Health Systems.

Highlights and special features of each of the floors of the original House of Mercy, now Mercy International Centre, can be accessed with the click of a mouse.

Simply roll over the dots on the floor you visit then click to select which features you would like to learn more about.

Messages to: 
Mary Reynolds rsm - Executive Director MIA
Nancy Corbett - Director, Media Relations, Mercy Marketing and Communications

'Catherine McAuley did not travel outside of Europe. Yet, it is known that she had given serious consideration to taking the long and difficult voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to North America, specifically to Nova Scotia and to Newfoundland. Before exploring Catherine’s plan to cross the ocean, we need to look at historical and church-related events that had occurred or were taking place on the North American side of the world...'

In a fascinating article, Diane Smyth rsm traces the early history of Newfoundland, the backgrounds of the Irish clergy who arrived in Newfoundland to minister to the Catholic Irish population and who knew Catherine well, and the founding Mercy presence in this place. Information is also given about the Fallona family of Canada who trace their Mercy roots to Catherine's brother, James.

Download the article here (PDF)

Messages to: Diane Smyth rsm - Congregation Leadership Team

The students and staff at Mercy High School knew they wanted to make a promotional video for their 50th anniversary, but they never knew it would turn into a local hit.

Since producing the video, it’s received thousands of views on YouTube and has become part of a national competition that could win the school a visit and concert from one of today’s most popular entertainers....

Source: The Middletown Press News Online

Editor:  It's a fantastic school community effort!  Let's help take it global by viewing the clip on YouTube or Vimeo from wherever in the Mercy world we are and let them know we did so.

Messages to: Mercy High School

Editor: Mercy High School is this week's featured Mercy site

More than 10 years ago, Lynn Britton, president and CEO of Mercy, took an unprecedented move to transform the way health care managed its supply chain – and today ROi, Mercy’s supply chain organization, is one of the world’s Top 10 health care supply chains.

It’s also the reason why Britton is one of nine national honorees inducted 1 October into the Bellwether League’s Hall of Fame, essentially the Oscars of health care supply chain, for his innovative role in developing Mercy’s supply chain. Former Bellwether honorees include the former CEO of Owens & Minor, a Fortune 500 health care distribution company...

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

In the current issue of New Theology Review (vol 26, no 1, September 2013), a publication of Catholic Theological Union (CTU), Chicago, Sheila Curran rsm writes on Pope Francis' impact on the Latin American Church:

'... The Latin American Church in particular is buzzing with hope at the moment. It would be simplistic to state that this is so simply because a Latino is Pope for the first time in history. We have to look more closely at the recent history of the church in Latin America to understand why hope is buoyant just now in the Christian communities there. People there feel so delighted simply because the new man understands what they are all about. After all, Cardinal Bergoglio was the head of the redaction committee that produced the final document from the fifth general assembly of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops Conference (CELAM) in Aparecida in 2007...'

Download the complete article here (PDF)

Messages to: Sheila Curran rsm

It is often said that in life, pain is the best teacher with its capacity to cultivate wisdom and hope. In the case of Rebecca McCabe rsm, the truism may be literal. Her hard-earned lessons are contained in the “The Pain Book” which she co-authored with two other experts in the field of pain management.

Sr Rebecca met co-authors, pain specialist Philip Siddal and psychologist Robin Murray, at the Royal North Shore Pain Institute in Sydney. The idea of writing a book together stemmed from their desire to disseminate information on managing persisting or chronic pain. 'We realised that people who can’t get to pain centres in the major cities need to access the information and treatments that we were doing,' said Sr Rebecca...

Editor: The Pain Book is this week's featured Mercy resource

Roslyn Bacchus rsm professed her first vows in Guyana on Sunday, 8 September at St. Pius X, her home parish. Approximately 300 sisters, family members, friends and fellow parishioners with whom she had worshipped and who had nurtured her faith, joined in the joyous celebration...

Messages to: Roslyn Bacchus rsm c/- Pat Kenny rsm - Institute Communications Office

'We, Carmel Bracken, Kathleen Glennon and Marcella O’Connell are part of a worldwide group of Mercy Sisters and Associates (Mercy Global Action Network-MGAN ) which offers support to Aine O’Connor, MIA’s (Mercy International Association) representative at the UN, in the area of Cosmology/Eco-justice.

Conscious that we cannot fix our failed institutions – economic, political, and religious – with the same consciousness that created these institutions in the first place, we are struggling to move into a new awareness, a new paradigm. We are inspired by our Congregational Ecology Policy...'

Messages to: Carmel Bracken rsm

On Saturday 19 October Sisters of Mercy in Australia and their Associates will gather from 9.30am-12.30pm in the Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens in Brisbane, Qld, Australia, to reflect on Spring as an encounter with the Breath of God, and to align ourselves with Global Frackdown Day.
Please join with us physically and in spirit using the resource that Earth Link has prepared.
More information is available from earthlink@mercy.org.au

Messages to: Mary Tinney rsm

Camille D'Arienzo reflects on 'How a death row inmate changed my outlook on life' in her article in the 'Faith in Focus' section of America marking 20 years of the The Cherish Life Circle which 'oppos[es] the death penalty that would deprive a person of the chance to reform.'  Significantly, she concludes, 'We have been changed by what we have learned along the way...'

Messages to: Camille D'Arienzo rsm

1884: Death of M Catherine Ryan, the first sister to be buried in Golden Bridge
1893: Death of M Xavier Wood, Birmingham
1961: Death of M Imelda Collins, four times Superior at Baggot St

'The comfort soon comes after a well-received trial.'  M C. McAuley

The Pain Book helps people face pain by using plain language to explain the source and types of pain, how the body and mind respond and the kinds of treatments available. It also helps people find hope by giving practical steps to reduce pain and address the physical, psychological and spiritual impact of pain – complete with illustrations, techniques and exercises.

Media interviews can be read/heard here

Available in soft cover or electronically. Purchase from:
Publishers, Hammond Care
Amazon
Itunes
 

Mercy High School is a Christ-centered Catholic diocesan college preparatory high school for young women. In the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy and their Foundress, Catherine McAuley, each student is challenged to grow academically, emotionally, socially, aesthetically and spiritually...

From (1) a media streaming gadget and player through to (6) a Wi-Fi phone. here are six suggestions for making use of your old smartphone if you have recently upgraded.

Source: USA Today