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Mercy Global Action Aotearoa New Zealand report for September 2017

September 23, 2017

Sustainable Development Goals, Season of Creation, Atawhai mo te Ao: Mercy for Creation


Sustainable Development Goals
Ongoing reflection continues on the eight SDGs identified by Mercy Global Action as ‘most relevant to the mission of the Sisters of Mercy’. Five of these have featured already this year in attachments to a monthly reflection, Imaging Mercy Today, designed as a resource for directors of Mercy boards in New Zealand and for executives and staff involved in healthcare, education and community development ministries. Each feature in the series has included a link to the leaflets developed by Mercy Global Action but also highlights local issues related to the same theme. Consideration is being given to producing a single pdf of all the SDG pieces, to be reissued as a feature in a future issue of MercyeNews.

Season of Creation
The September issue of Imaging Mercy Today offers a focus on this 34-day event, with support for the Laudato Si’ pledge, and endorsement of the three steps of praying for and with creation, living more simply, and advocating for our common home. The feature recommends a daily visit to the mercyworld website, to share in the meditation displayed on its homepage throughout the Season of Creation.

The reverse side of this month’s issue of Imaging Mercy Today provides resources for a Mercy Day ritual to be presented on or about September 24, with quotations from Catherine McAuley relating to adverse climate events in her time, and her appreciation for nature’s bounty of fruits and flowers.

Atawhai mo te Ao: Mercy for Creation
This is the proposed name for a small group formed by the Congregation Leader in New Zealand in June, to serve as a think-tank to focus on the work of Mercy Global Action, and to ensure that its priorities are explored within the local context, reflecting issues particular to Aotearoa New Zealand and the South Pacific.

The group has a current focus on ‘engaging in sustainable choices’; present members and portfolios are Bridget Crisp rsm (coordinator and SDGs), Dennis Horton (environment and cosmology) and Monika Mo’ale rsm (climate change, sustainable practices and the Pacific). It is hoped that the group will be extended by at least two, with ‘trafficking’ and ‘migrants and refugees’ likely to be among their portfolios or areas of interest.

Dennis Horton has made his apologies for the September MGA conference call, when he will be on leave, travelling abroad. But Bridget Crisp may be able to participate, and speak to issues relating to this report.

Messages to: Dennis Horton