Update on Availability of 'The Blessing of Mercy'

The following arrangements are now in place for ordering 'The Blessing of Mercy' by Veronica Lawson rsm

Within Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand:
Order from Morning Star Publishing
Order online here
Order by email or post using the order form that can be downloaded here (PDF)

Within Europe, USA and the rest of the world
Order from Wipf and Stock

* Individual orders
Order online here (pre-orders are being encouraged before 1 November as printing is on demand)

* Bulk orders
Phone/mail/fax orders of five or more copies receive a 40% discount on the list price. Order from Will (william@wipfandstock.com). Larger quantity discounts are available for orders of 150 or more copies ordered on a nonreturnable basis

Note: The ebook version will be available from Wipf and Stock on 1 November and will soon be available through other eBook distribution channels, including Amazon

About 'The Blessing of Mercy'

The first chapter of The Blessing of Mercy focuses on the five main word groups used to express mercy in the Hebrew Scriptures: mercy as liberation and compassion; mercy as looking with the eye of pity and sparing the guilty; mercy as steadfast love or loving kindness; mercy as womb-compassion; mercy as grace or graciousness. The chapter closes with a brief account of how the Hebrew terms were translated into Greek.

The second chapter considers the mercy word groups in the Greek text of the Christian Scriptures and then examines selected mercy-related texts in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew as informed by the language of mercy in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Chapter three explores the mercy language in the Gospel of Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles, taking account of Earth elements that function as agents of mercy in the text. The Afterword invites us to reenact or retell these stories of mercy in contemporary and ecological key so that they might find expression in our lives.

Throughout, we are invited to reread the biblical texts in light of the Pope's invitation to listen to the cry of the Earth and the Earth's poor. Above all, we are compelled by mercy to embrace the Earth as God's creation and our common home.

About the Author

Veronica Lawson is an Australian Sister of Mercy. She studied Scripture at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem and at Trinity College, Dublin. For many years, she lectured in Biblical Studies at the Australian Catholic University and its predecessor institutions before spending seven years as leader of her congregation. Her weekly reflections on the Sunday Gospel Readings have a global circulation and she regularly presents biblical workshops and lectures within Australia and throughout the world.