Messages Received from the Mercy World #3

Thank you to all who have sent messages for Mercy Day and for the 20th Anniversary Celebrations (23-29 September, 2014). We are hoping to hear from many of our Mercy family and friends over the coming weeks. Send your messages to: mercyenews@mercyinternational.ie

Dear Mary and all our dear Sisters.
My most loving wishes and prayer go out to all our Sisters on Mercy Day. May our dear Catherine obtain for all very special blessings from our Lady of Mercy and her dear Son to fill our hearts with love for each other and for all the many people we serve.

Love and prayers.
Sr Noel Menezes
(Guyana)

'I say that we are wound
With mercy round and round
As if with air: the same
Is Mary, more by name.
She, wild web, wondrous robe,
Mantles the guilty globe,
Since God has let dispense
Her prayers his providence:
Nay, more than almoner,
The sweet alms’ self is her
And men are meant to share
Her life as life does air.'
G.M.Hopkins

Congratulations and abundant blessings on the 20th Anniversary.
During our week of celebrations may we grow in awareness of
ourselves as a worldwide Mercy family. May the spirit of
Catherine continue to inspire and challenge us in our daily living.

Much gratitude and prayers.

Rosaline O’Connor rsm & Sisters.
U.S. Province (Congregation)

Greetings and joyful celebrations go to our Sisters, Associates and Friends in Mercy.
We rejoice with deep gratitude for all that has been.
The vision of Mercy International Association has been an inspiration and we pray
that we continue to be an effective voice for justice and peace in our troubled world.

We hold you all in thought and prayer.
The Sisters of the Institute, Great Britain

Greetings from the Nuba Mountains in (north) Sudan

Greetings to my Mercy Sisters in so many places of our world. May we celebrate Mercy Day with the mindfulness of Catherine's desire to share God's mercy with the poorest and especially amongst ourselves.

I am writing from my (quite big) room in the compound of our teachers' training institute named in honour of St Daniel Comboni. Ironically there is a Ugandan Comboni sister (Angelina) who is matron at our Diocese's "Mother of Mercy Mission Hospital" in Gidel and I am the education co-ordinator here at the Comboni Teachers' Institute in Kauda, also working with two sisters of the Precious Blood one who is helping in this college and another teaching in the primary school next door.

I am confident that this reality of sharing in the works of each others' religious orders is repeated in many other places according to the 'needs in the field'. Nicole, the other Mercy Sister who has been working in education here is currently on home leave and it will be great when she returns in late January to help with the teachers' training of the two groups we have enrolled.

We have been blessed these past weeks with a respite from the usual sporadic bombings by Antonov planes and missiles fired by MigG and Sukhoi-25 jets hailing from Khartoum to terrorize the Nuba tribes-people. Please pray that this relative peace continues, at least until the school year finishes in late November, so our almost 2,000 primary and secondary students can study without fear.

When Mercy day arrives I hope to be able to go to Gidel and share a meal with the Comboni Sisters. Ladislaus Boros writes: 'The purpose of mercy is always the total removal of human suffering. Someone who loves will not tolerate under any circumstances the suffering of those s/he loves.'

I will be praying that we, all, Sisters of Mercy, continue to work for this goal wherever we are.
Blessings

Cathy Solano rsm
ISMAPNG
 

Nga mihi Atawhai - Mercy Greetings!

Congratulations and blessings as, throughout the world, we celebrate Mercy day and Mercy International Centre’s 20 years of touching hearts with God’s compassionate, tender Mercy and sparking imaginations through reflection on Catherine’s living of the Gospel. May Atawhai mai Atawhai atu - Mercy given and Mercy received - continue to bless and heal our troubled world.

We pray and celebrate in gratitude,
Nga Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa Sisters of Mercy New Zealand
Leadership Team – Anne Campbell, Tui Cadigan, Mary Catherwood, Katrina Fabish, Natalie Murphy
 

Mercy Day Greetings from South Africa 2014

Seeds of Mercy,
sown in the singing sands of Africa,
bringing learning,
hope,…life.
Seeds of Mercy calling,
“Dance your hope on the heart of Africa.
Sing the colours of your love for her,”

Seeds of Mercy,
sown in the singing sands of Africa,
bringing care, support and prayer.
Seeds of Mercy calling,
“Dance your hope on the heart of Africa.
Sing the colours of your love for her.”

-Marilyn Brown rsm

With blessings and love
from the Mercy Sisters in South Africa

Image: The bust of Catherine is by Marie Henderson, RSM (from Detroit, Michigan) and the photo was taken in the Heritage Room of the RSMs in Farmington Hill, Michigan.
 

Greetings from Christchurch New Zealand to you all as you gather for this wonderful celebration!

My thoughts and prayers are very much with you all as you gather in Dublin, in Catherine’s house and at her special places for these days of thanksgiving. I have so many wonderful memories of my days at Mercy International, and all the wonderful and unforgettable Sisters I met there from all over the world. They were very enriching years for me……thank you!

I regret that I am not able to be with you for these days of celebration. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand we will be at Chapter over that time and I ask that you remember us all in prayer.

With much love and wonderful memories!
Mary Hanrahan rsm

Thumbnail Image: courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee at FreeDigitalPhotos.net