Thoughts at Easter

In a recent copy of Spirituality (No 41) Catherine of Siena is described as a 'broker of relationships'. In this season of Easter when the 11,200 Sisters of Mercy of the world, their colleagues and partners in ministry celebrate the possibilities of being sisters and brothers in Christ 'brokers of relationships' seems to me a wonderful description of Catherine McAuley's insight into the gospel as well. For the first 150 years of the life of the Congregation we lived in many isolated pockets in the English-speaking countries of the globe. Today we are called to broker new relationships as the possibilities of new technology enable us to bridge the physical distances which separate us. We are called to new expressions of the unity of mind and heart which are Catherine's legacy to us.

Mercy Story, Mercy Cross, Easter Story

With its layer upon layer of crosses, our Mercy cross symbolises in a simple way the relationship stories of Jesus, Catherine, and the Women of Mercy, mysteriously and deeply intertwined. Joy and sorrow, death and resurrection, light and shadow, outreach and contemplative centring, are made present in our Mercy symbol.

Mercies Tell the Easter Story

The unbounded creativity amongst us and our rich spiritual traditions remind us that music, dance, colour, song, symbol, poetry and compassionate action all give voice to our Mercy story. As we live and tell our international mercy stories, possibilities for new life are revealed and experienced. As we hear global voices of the hungry, the thirsty, the sorrowing, the injured, the doubtful, the wronged, the homeless, the work of mercy, creatively expressed in the works of mercy, takes on a new urgency and vitality.

Ethel Bignell rsm