500 Issues of Mercy E-News to Date and May There be Many More to Come! (MIA)

The MIA Board of Directors is excited to join in the celebration of 500 remarkable issues of Mercy E-news! Mercy E-news enhances our communications about the work of MIA, connects Mercy persons across the globe, and informs us of extraordinary efforts that bring the face of Mercy to peoples and places most in need. We are grateful for all the contributions from across our globe that help us become one Mercy family!

-Pat McDermott, RSM
Chairperson, MIA Board

We send our heartfelt congratulations to all involved in the publication of the MIA Mercy E-News. We congratulate the editorial team and all those involved in the publication of the 500th edition on 6th February 2013. We appreciated the many contributions during the past twelve years. These have provided us with wisdom and inspiration on how the Mission of Mercy is lived in the daily circumstances of life around the world.

If Catherine McAuley were alive today she might say ‘Hurrah for Publications, they make the old young and the young merry!' As we continue to share our stories and these stories find ‘flesh’ in print, may you be blessed abundantly in this noble ministry.

From
Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy

Through the years Mercy E. News has reached me on the mountains of Peru and now on the subtropical swamp-land of Argentina/Paraguay. It has kept me connected to and inspired by global Mercy.
Gracias.

-Deborah Watson, RSM
Americas:CCASA:Argentina

I take this opportunity to thank all involved in Mercy e-news. I love reading it and getting the sense of global Mercy in all its richness. As Catherine would say hooray for Mercy e-news!!

- Maria McGuiness rsm, Ireland

As Mercy ENews marks its 500th issue, I am drawn back to a conviction I have harbored for many years. There is a wisdom saying that goes something like "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." In our case, the saying might be "When the sisters are ready, the technology will appear."

It is so evident an act of providence that, at the time in our history when the Sisters of Mercy around the world were creating new bonds through the birth of MIA, the technology capable of supporting and expanding those bonds became available. And that technology became a bridge that spanned the distances between us. Because of the imagination of Adele Howard RSM and Anne Walsh, who created and have sustained Mercy Enews through the years- we have come to know one another in ways we might never have accomplished otherwise.

With each passing issue our knowing of one another and our comprehension of one another's realities has grown. We need be so grateful for this contemporary version of Catherine's Foundation Circulars through which our sense of ourselves as worldwide Mercy is deepened and enhanced.

-Sheila Carney RSM,
Pennsylvania

I congratulate Mercy E-News as it marks its 500th edition!
During this past year as the Chair of ACRATH (Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans) I have come to deeply appreciate our world-wide networks. Mercy International’s focus on human trafficking and dissemination of information about this global abuse of human rights through e-news helps those working in the field to be informed and connected. Heartfelt thanks!

During this past year ACRATH has requested assistance from networks of religious communities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. On each occasion the response was spontaneous, generous and and thorough. May we never take the gift of this connection for granted! Recently I met with a lawyer from the United Nations who, with some admiration, remarked that the network of religious was better than the UN!
Congratulations to all involved in Mercy E-News for spreading important news stories around the globe!

-Maree Marsh csb
Chair
ACRATH

Congratulations to everyone who is or has been involved in the creation and ongoing production of E-News on the occasion of its 500 hundredth edition!

What a wonderful gift it is and has been to the whole Mercy Family. I am sure Catherine and her early companions are clapping their hands in delight or engaging in whatever means of celebration is used in heaven!
Catherine supported, encouraged and kept the early foundations connected and informed about each other’s merciful works through her circular letters. Could she have envisioned that in the 21st century this important aspect of her work continues today through E-News and MIA?! Our sense of being part of a unified informed Circle of Mercy is a great gift. Thank you to all involved.

-Camilla Hunt rsm IOLM
Derby UK

I cannot let the days pass without visiting the site… It’s so amazing coming up with an international website. The extensive programming and graphic designs of the web are very creative which capture my interest in visiting the site and reading the E-news. I feel very close to my Sisters who are also doing Mercy Works at the other side of the globe. When an event is posted, I am deeply touched with how the Mercy Sisters with different cultures respond to the Mission that God had given them. The E-news gives us information and a means of celebrating our Christian faith.

As one of the contributors, I feel good when my news article is published. There is a great sense of belongingness and ownership. I am also delighted with the contributions of the others for it inspires me and deepen my understanding of Mercy charism. My community is likewise updated and challenged on how the other groups live their mercy vocation….Congratulations to the web administrator and developer for doing a remarkable contribution to the history of the Mercy World…In God’s mercy and love, we continue serving His people with joy!

-Marian Ladrera RSM
CLT
Philippines

Mercy ENews is such a wonderful feature for us at CEIST, in Ireland.
It is a certain means of creating community amongst all who work in Mercy education & each edition offers abundant food for reflection, celebration & prayer as we go about our work in service of the Kingdom of God.

- Anne Kelleher
CEO
CEIST

I have been receiving enews for many years now. I enjoy reading it as it keeps me in touch with Mercy life and ministry worldwide. I usually read it through and return to articles that are of particular interest to me and click into the more. It’s always interesting to find articles by Sisters I have known over ten years ago. It is particularly helpful when I am giving input on Catherine McAuley. Many sisters and others have such a creative way of talking about Catherine. Many thanks Anne. Long may it continue.

-Noreen Cullen rsm,
St. Mary’s, Handsworth, Birmingham

I enjoy reading the e-news each week as this is a great way of informing us about what Mercies are doing throughout the world. It is a great way of linking us together as our numbers are getting smaller. It gives us a sense of belonging to such a wonderful congregation of mercy women.

It is also very informative about the varied mimistries our Sisters are engaged in throughtout the world and it helps us believe in the difference we can make despite all the negative forces at work in our world.

Thank you to everyone involved in this valuable bulletin each week.

-Sister Breda
Mercy Mission Addo South Africa

Each week I am re-invigorated as I read the stories of Mercy women living and working in such diverse places and ministries around the world.Living in Australia can be isolating. Mercy News draws me into that web of life and love which celebrates our Church at its best.

-Cecilia Merrigan CSB
Australia

For the last 10 years, since my first day working in the Communications Office for ‘The Congregation’, Mercy E-News has been a weekly reminder of my belonging to a worldwide Mercy network. It has provided me with inspiration, education and a model of good communication and networking. It has also connected me to far flung places and people as readers responded to my contributions and allowed me to reciprocate when an item caught my interest. My sincere thank you to those who make it all happen week after week. Your vision and work are greatly appreciated.

Happy 500th birthday Mercy E-News.

-Ailish O’Brien RSM
Communications Coordinator
Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy

Mercy E-News unites us in Mercy around the world. May all involved in its production be blessed.
Thank you dearly

-Catherine Cuddihy rsm
  Australia

Mercy E-News is a Godsend to me in Silver Springs because it helps me resonate with works of Mercy locally and worldwide, and because I often find out neat information and tidbits that only reinforce why I choose Mercy!

- Brenda Padavil
  Media Relations and Messaging team member, Americas

Dear Mary, Mary Kay, Sylvia, Kathy, Mary Purcell and all the staff at Mercy International, Adele and most particularly, Anne Walsh,

Heartiest Congratulations on the 500th edition of Mercy e-news! It is hard to believe that we have already reached that mark. More than just reaching the big 500, I want to thank you for your commitment to Mercy e-news and to continuing to make it available to all of us Mercies around the world. It has helped us all to grow in our commitment to Mercy and to the vision of Mercy and to the growing reality of who we are and will be into the future.

Personally, while working more closely with you all while on CLT, all the above became more real for me. Thanks so much, Anne, for staying on board when times were tough, and to Mary and team for making that happen for you on behalf of all of us. We know what Mercy e-news looked like without you!

Know that I do remember you all fondly and of course miss you too!

Many blessings on the next 500 editions!

- Susan DeGuide, RSM
The Congregation: USA

“Mercy E News is invaluable because it helps wake me out of my little world here at Our Lady of Mercy High School and broadens my awareness of the charism at work around the globe.”

- Patty Beairsto RSM, NYPPAW
  Campus Minister, Our Lady of Mercy High School, Rochester, New York

Many Congratulations on the 500th issue. Personally I really look forward to reading our Congregational Enews. It is a great source of inspiration and hope to read of the Worldwide Mercy Family and all it does to continue and spread the work of Venerable Catherine. It is informative, reflective, challenging and it gives me a sense of belonging to an International Congregation.

- Kathleen Gooch rsm
CLT
Mercy Union GB

Mercy ENews is invaluable to me in Watchung, New Jersey because it keeps me connected with and up to date on all the Sisters of Mercy ... and that makes me very proud to be one of them.

- Judy Ward RSM
  New Jersey

I always look forward to the Mercy E-News posted in my email for it gives me so much information about the involvement of the Sisters of Mercy around the globe. Such information perks me up to realize that the spirit of Mercy is appreciated so much by those in real need of God’s mercy manifested wherever the call for mercy is heeded/responded to.

Mercy E-News also makes me find the roots of the spirit Christ has privileged me to be gifted with, and to joyfully share with the least of our brethren whatever the call asks from us. Reflecting on the life of Mother Catherine McAuley and her spirit of Mercy in response to the needs of her time is very inspiring. It moves me to continually review the responses I make to the needs of the people, place and time asked of me to give attention to. Many thanks to all those responsible for the publication of Mercy E-News

-M. Carmela N. Cabactulan, RSM
Sister Superior
Philippines

The significance of e news for me as the person responsible for Mercy Global Action at MIA,  is that it enables me to find out what is happening in all Mercy Congregations with regard to justice issues.

E News carries a number of stories from members of Mercy Global Action working group members on Opposing Trafficking and Cosmology/Eco Justice on the work they are doing locally, nationally and internationally. These stories are important for us in Mercy Global Action to develop research, policy and advocacy positions which we can take to the United Nations. E news also permits us to provide educational materials (through links) to Sisters and Associates working on Justice issues throughout the Congregations.

Its also good to hear what is happening in other areas of Mercy world.

-Mary Purcell
Assistant Director, Mercy Global Action

Anne,

Congratulations on the 500th issue of Mercy E-News this week. It's a truly wonderful achievement and I would like to express my appreciation to you and all your team and all involved over the years on the sterling service you provide. I'm continually inspired and enlightened and challenged by the articles that appear in my email through Mercy E-News every week.

Reading Mercy E-News has opened up the global dimension of Mercy for me and I feel honoured and privileged, and indeed, greatly enriched to be allowed share the stories of sisters and co-workers from Aoteraroe New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Americas or nearer home from the GB Institute and the Congregation. We all owe you a great debt of gratitude.

Keep up the good work! Go n-éirí go geal libh agus gura fada buan sibh!

-Ann Lenihan
Ireland

Mercy E -News is a valuable asset to me in North Carolina because it keeps before me three things: how pervasive the Mercy presence is; the overwhelming needs that cry out for God’s compassion; my own continuing conversion to being God’s face of Mercy.

  - Ray Maria McNamara, RSM
Director of Mission Advancement
Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
South Central Community

Congratulations Anne as issue 500 of Mercy E-news arrives here on Wednesday. That is a wonderful achievement and the impact it has on so many sisters, associates and co-workers in Mercy is great. I have encouraged many to subscribe over the years and most are still very excited about receiving it.

I look forward to the Featured sites and articles from the Global Mercy story and how our charism is lived out in different cultures round the world. It helps to foster unity of heart and mind and keeps us up to date on issues of mercy and justice.

Mercy International Association Intention for the coming week is of interest and included in our prayer.
It is a great help to hear of the Mercy Resources available worldwide and to purchase them with ease.
The Mercy links are a useful and interesting addition too.

Finally, I find it helpful too, for keeping in touch with news of Sisters of Mercy whom I met during my years associated with MIC and Mercy Archives. This week Carol Rittner rsm is featured and I am happy to congratulate her on her achievements.

Thank you, Anne, for stimulating and inspiring us with Mercy E-news. May you be blessed for all your efforts on behalf of Mercy Worldwide.

-Marion Mc Carthy rsm
Wanstead, London

Mercy News celebrates....

Being a Care coordinator at a London Our Lady of Mercy Convent, I was introduced and registered to the Mercy News letter by one of the Sisters. Since then I look forward in receiving the regular publications.

I find that in addition while looking at the articles on Mercy’s extensive mission worldwide, I tend to scroll with enthusiasm to the section on the wide use of the internet and modern technology. This article is under the section of Technical tips.

What fascinate me further are the hyperlinks to other sites. This pleasantly increases my computer knowledge base. This week’s article for example is on “8 Google Tricks for Faster and Better Searches.”(Mercy news ....)
I was also delighted to read the cover report in “Mercy news”. This was from the London “2012 Christian new media “conference which I attended. One key topic for the day was “Living in the Digital age.” The report was cited in the “Mercy news” October edition.

The Mercy newsletter is therefore meeting with the expectation of Catherine McAuley, Leader of the Mercy organisation. Catherine wanted her Sisters to be out where people were. Today one of the places people are is in the online world. Here we can be present to people where they are and make connections with people we could never have made connections with before. (Extract from Mercy news ......)

The Mercy News on line publications, have seemingly captured the Leader’s vision and is now, with the 500th publication achieving the aims.

I want to extend my thanks to Sister Marion from Wanstead Convent in East London who introduced me to this valuable spiritual uplifting on- line resource. May the work and circulation of the Mercy News continue to reach a wider audience.

-Dorritt Okoye
Care Coordinator, St. Joseph Convent, Wanstead. 31/1/2013

I look forward to Mercy eNews each week because it is the best way for me to connect with our Global Community of Mercy. How else would I know what amazing things our sisters are doing in the world? How proud Catherine McAuley would be! This Fall I had the privilege of traveling around the world to meet many of our sisters in New Zealand, Australia, Tonga and Guam, inspired and encouraged first by the news items I read in eNews and now by the sisters whom I have come to know and love.

-Dr. Julia Upton, RSM
Professor
St. John's University
Jamaica, NY

Since I began subscribing to Mercy e-news not long after it was first published I have found my Mercy horizons, both as an individual and as Congregation Archivist, widening. The variety of items in it, from Mercy spirituality to social justice to Mercy information of various worldwide events is invaluable. I have contacted some people who have provided items and have a much better sense of being part of a worldwide Mercy venture. I am also more competent technologically now after putting into practice some of the tips at the end of each e-news!

-Stephanie Kitching rsm
Nga Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa
Sisters of Mercy New Zealand.

 Nga mihi atawhai – greetings to all in Mercy!

As we celebrate this milestone in the life of Mercy E-news I am grateful for its use of digital technology to connect those who are drawn by Catherine McAuley’s vision.

From a communications perspective E-news provides both a window into the vision and strategic direction of Mercy International Association and its global action initiatives and a way to share local experience on the wider stage. Contributions from sisters and companions in mission offer a glimpse of Mercy life in different countries and it is fun to recognise familiar faces, make new contacts and follow links to other sites - adding to the living web of Mercy relationships.

Thanks and congratulations to all who have been involved in producing and contributing to the rich resource of Mercy E-news over 500 issues.

Nga mihi aroha, nga mihi hari ki a tatou katoa
Warm and loving greetings to each of you.

-Patricia Rowe rsm
Nga Whaea Atawhai o Aotearoa
Sisters of Mercy New Zealand

I entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1991 as the Institute of the Americas was being founded. As such, I have always had an international perspective on Mercy, but initially limited to the eleven countries and one territory included in my congregation. Mercy World E-News has helped to broaden my perspective and make me feel connected to the various embodiments of Mercy around the world. Thanks E-News for being the lens to help me see our global Mercy reality.

-Mary Kay Dobrovolny RSM
Assistant Director Heritage and Spirituality, MIA

Heartiest congratulations on an amazing job of connecting Mercy around the world. You have managed to give us all a sense of being part of a much bigger picture and you have done it so well.

In the process you have also raised our awareness on issues of poverty and justice globally.

Getting a weekly publication out on time every week for a short period is demanding. Successfully doing it over 500 issues is amazing.

Well done to you Anne and to all who have and do co-operate in the task. You provide a wonderful service.

-Marie Stuart rsm
The Congregation

Congratulations on the 500th edition of Mercy enews! Thank you for the trojan work that is ongoing and for bringing us all into the larger mercy World
from

-Breege RSM -
Western Province. Ireland

Dear Anne
Congratulations – what a wonderful achievement 500 editions of Mercy Enews. Thank you in a special way for the way you continue to help bring about “one voice” of the Sisters of Mercy around the globe. The producing of 500 editions of the enews has not been without its challenges. We cannot thank you enough for what you have done to “keep the ball rolling” as the saying goes.

I have found that it is easy enough to become isolated in one’s little world especially when the communications technology is not always accessible. I really appreciate the weekly enews, even if sometimes I am late in receiving it due to communication difficulties, as it helps me be in touch with the wider picture.

-Barbara Broad rsm
Papua New Guinea

Dear Editor and staff,
Congratulations on reaching your 500th edition a fantastic effort and a lot of work. Well done, keep up the good work
Thankyou
Carmel McCormick rsm

As one of your readers, please congratulate your staff on this milestone.
Tis not an easy task to keep up with timelines & current issues.
Rest assured, I will read the next 500 Issues.
Congratulations

-Sr. Marietta Walsh,
USA

Congrats for the 500th E Mercy News. Always looking forward to reading it. Very inspiring and it helps me to look at the life I have freely embraced with new and grace-filled perspective.

-Sr. Esther Mburu in Mutomo, Kenya

Catherine McAuley believed in conversation and connections. Her medium was by letter-writing , saying things like -“I would like to tell you all the cheering things that God permits to fall in our way” (Letter to Frances Warde, 28/5/1841). Mercy eNews tells us about ‘cheering’ things that are happening worldwide. It is a joy to read each edition.

-Therese Power rsm ISMAPNG