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Spending Time With Catherine On The Sabbatical Retreat
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This month Mercy International Association hosted its annual four-week Sabbatical retreat with pilgrims coming from America, Ireland and the UK. Retreatants enjoyed a variety of talks and workshops on Mercy tradition and heritage along with reflective time in Catherine’s House and The Sacred Garden. Highlights from this gentle retreat included: a fascinating Mercy history workshop with Sr. Mary Reynolds, a lively biographical walking tour of Catherine’s Dublin with Mercy Associate Anne Reid, an insightful presentation on the Cause for The Canonisation of Catherine McAuley with Sr. Brenda Dolphin and a moving exploration of Catherine’s Letters with Sr. Aine Barrins. Retreatants also enjoyed day trips to the Mercy Hermitage Centre in Glendalough, a visit to Coolock House, a tour of The Royal Hospital Kilmainham & Kilmainham Gaol, a visit to St Teresa's Church and a pilgrimage to Knock Shrine.
Mercy In Action
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Human Trafficking
Mercy Walks With Trafficked Women
Human Trafficking
Mercy Walks With Trafficked Women
A Reflection By Sr. Jeanne Christensen
Where do I walk? With whom do I walk? My answers may vary from yours, but we, Sisters of Mercy, walk with those who are most vulnerable and wounded in some way by contemporary society. I walk with others who care, many of whom are my colleagues. We are walking with persons who have been exploited by commercial sex trafficking and/or labor trafficking. They are of any age, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, economic status – most are at risk in one or more of these designations. They have suffered violence, abuse, discrimination and disrespect. When we reach out to them, who do we see? Can we identify with their suffering? No, but we can reach out to them with truly felt compassion.
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Mercy Global Action
Launch Of Mercy Advocacy Guide
Mercy Global Action
Launch Of Mercy Advocacy Guide
On Mercy Day, Mercy Global Action launched 'From Sparks to Fire: A Guide to Justice Advocacy for the Global Mercy Community’. This is a practical guide to advocacy and includes many case studies, tools, frameworks and evaluation resources. It’s aimed at anyone interested in advocacy, whether at the local or institutional level. We purposefully kept the language inclusive and accessible. We hope you will enjoy reading through it and sharing it with your colleagues and friends. May it spark a new sense of hope and action in our community for justice in our world! The Mercy Advocacy Guide will be available in Spanish in the coming months. Read the October MGA Newsletter for all the news from Mercy Global Action.
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Climate Change Mitigation
Helping To Slow The Flow In Eugowra
Climate Change Mitigation
Helping To Slow The Flow In Eugowra
The Institute of Sisters of Mercy of Australia and Papua New Guinea’s new Integral Ecology Strategic Plan calls for involvement in at least one the-ground project per year. A devastating flood in the New South Wales town of Eugowra and their quest to ‘sink, slow and spread’ the water from a nearby Creek has become this year’s focus. In November 2022, what has been described as a one-in-5,000 year flood, or an “inland tsunami”, occurred in the Central Western New South Wales town of Eugowra, causing the tragic deaths of two people and destruction to eighty percent of the homes and businesses of the town’s 500 residents.
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First Nations Advocacy Project
From Little Things Big Things Grow
First Nations Advocacy Project
From Little Things Big Things Grow
The Nunga Babies Watch Project (NBW) in Adelaide continues to advocate and work together with Aboriginal people to ensure their voice is heard and their Rights are respected when interacting with the Department for Child Protection in South Australia. There have been small progresses forward, including the February delivery of Auntie Pat’s speech in South Australian Parliament House by local member Connie Banaros, the NBW team working with the University of SA to bring Social Work students to Tauondi Aboriginal College in Port Adelaide to do a more intensive cultural awareness program and the Aboriginal Voice to SA Parliament Bill being passed at a special sitting on March 26th.
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Extractivism
New Mexico Extractives Pilgrimage Exposes The Harm Amid The Beauty
Extractivism
New Mexico Extractives Pilgrimage Exposes The Harm Amid The Beauty
Beneath the glorious vistas and majestic beauty of New Mexico lies an ugly reality of the damage done by extractivism, in many cases in troubling combination with colonialism. The Institute Justice Team led a group through an inaugural extractivism immersion experience in September, traveling from Los Alamos in the north of the state to Carlsbad Caverns in the south, to witness how the nuclear and oil and gas industries have turned much of the state into a sacrifice zone, treating Earth and the native peoples as disposable. Sisters Marlene Perrotte, RSM, and Joan Brown, OSF, led the group, which included a Mercy sister and two Associates. They were privileged to meet with elders from the Navajo Nation and Pueblo peoples, praying with them for healing and receiving their blessings, even as they heard stories about the ongoing environmental damage.
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Volunteering
A Honeymoon Volunteering In South Africa
Volunteering
A Honeymoon Volunteering In South Africa
Kate, an Assistant Headteacher in a UK primary school and her husband, Emerson, share a unique chapter from their recent honeymoon in South Africa. They had the incredible opportunity to volunteer with Sr. Martha in Addo, a mission of the Sisters of Mercy Union of Great Britain.
Mercy Matters
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Fact
On This Day
October 26, 1990
Foundation to Secunda, South Africa.
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Middle East
A Prayer For Peace
Mercy International Association extends its heartfelt condolences to the people of Israel and Gaza at this very difficult time. We stand in full solidarity with everyone in Israel and Palestine who wants the violence to stop! Mercy International Association calls on the international community to increase its efforts to reduce humanitarian suffering in the Middle East and find a pathway to a just and sustainable peace. We pray for all innocent people caught up in this conflict.
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Final Profession
Sr. Anna Regina Gakuhi Professes Perpetual Vows
Sr. Anna Regina Gakuhi chose Isaiah 43 for the first reading at her profession of perpetual vows, illustrating her enthusiastic response to God’s call to religious life. The vow ceremony took place in St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Georgetown, Guyana, on Saturday, September 16 2023, in a celebration filled with resplendent singing and dancing.
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Synod On Synodality
Dispatches From The Synod From Sr. Angela Perez
It is certainly a listening to the Holy Spirit. We listen to each other in our small circles. At the General Congregation, we listen to the reports of the working groups - circoli minori, as well as to free speeches and testimonies. This is a LOT of listening. From time to time, we are invited to a moment of silence to encourage interiorizing what we have heard. We listen to reflections from theologians. We pray and do all this as we try to discern the lead of the Holy Spirit.
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Final Profession
Sr. Kelly Williams Final Vows
Sr. Kelly Williams will be professing her perpetual vows with the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas on November 25th! She is currently living in Biloxi, Mississippi and will be professing her vows in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia. Please join in celebrating. A livestream will be available on the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas’ Facebook page!
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Temporary Vows
Sr. Maria Đặng Thị Dịu Dàng Profession Of Temporary Vows
Sr. Maria Đặng Thị Dịu Dàng made her profession of temporary vows at the Mercy Regional House in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte, Philippines, on Friday, September 22, at 9 a.m. local time (PHT). Maria Đặng Thị entered the Sisters of Mercy on June 13, 2020, and was received as a novice one year later.
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Mercy Ethos & Values
Mercy Health USA Ireland Pilgrimage
In October 2023, Mercy International Association welcomed Mercy Health for their annual pilgrimage to Dublin. Over 110 American pilgrims visited Catherine’s House in the second week of October and participated in a variety of workshops and reflection groups. Highlights from the week included: a meditative Chapel Experience with Sr. Margaret Daly, a lively walking tour of Catherine’s Dublin with Mercy Associate, Anne Reid and a fascinating Archival Stories presentation with Susan Cahill.
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Irish Sister Hosts Art Exhibition Aged 86
In a recent article published in EchoLive.ie, journalist Colette Sheridan talks with Sr. Margaret Kiely, the inspirational founder of Tabor Lodge in County Cork. Margaret is one of twenty Irish women selected in the high profile EchoLive series ‘Women on Wednesday’. Margaret shares interesting experiences from her life as a Sister of Mercy and talks about the challenges of hosting an art exhibition at the age of 86!
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Mercy Partners
Well-Lit Path Pilgrimage
The Well-Lit Path Pilgrimage visited Catherine’s House in September 2023 as part of its twelve day tour of Ireland and Italy. The pilgrims were welcomed by Sr. Patricia O’Donovan rsm and Sr. Margaret Daly rsm. Professor Deirdre Raftery, Sr. Mary Reynolds rsm, Caroline Thompson and Libby Blom offered a range of inspirational talks and workshops. The Pilgrims toured Catherine’s House and sat in the spaces she once occupied. They prayed at Catherine’s grave and sang the Suspice.
Further Resources
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Worth Playing
Catherine's House Audio Stories
Catherine’s House Audio Stories is a new digital storytelling project developed by Mercy International Association celebrating Mercy’s rich and fascinating history. Here is an audio story presented by Sr. Mary Reynolds entitled ‘The Emu Egg Clock’.
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Worth Knowing
International Day For The Elimination of Violence Against Women
Catherine McAuley opened the first House of Mercy in Dublin in 1827 to provide shelter and support to women who were vulnerable to poverty and violence. This tradition lives on in the many Mercy justice projects across our world today. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is celebrated each year on the 25th of November – calling on global action to increase awareness and find solutions to eliminate violence against women and girls.
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Worth Reading
My Irish Pilgrimage By Louise O’ Day
With tremendous excitement and anticipation I arranged a three week visit to Ireland, from Melbourne, Australia. I planned a holiday that would include a silent retreat at Mercy International Centre. Time in silence, with a focus on centering prayer would, I believe, offer me an opportunity to enrich my faith and my pastoral care service. Immersing myself in Catherine McAuley’s life story and home, I considered a huge privilege.
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Worth Reading
Kathleen Rushton: What Is God?
Jesus’s journey to Jerusalem in Matthew’s Gospel climaxes when he enters the city riding a donkey and is welcomed enthusiastically by a large crowd (Mt 21:1-11). His presence and activities provoke conflict with those in power. They will have him arrested and executed before the end of that week — which is Passover Week. Matthew 22:15-22 is the first of four conflict stories in which representatives of leading parties in Jerusalem try to trap Jesus. In each case he turns the issues they raise into opportunities for significant teaching.
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Worth Watching
Mercy Walks With Migrants
In Episode 4 of the “Mercy Walks with Migrants” series, Sisters Judy Carle and Joan Marie O’Donnell talk about their collaborations with Rev. Deborah Lee of the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity and Rev. Penny Nixon of the Peninsula Solidarity Cohort.
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Worth Watching
Conversations On The Synod
The UISG (International Union Superiors General) and USG (Union of Superiors General) Delegates for the Synod Assembly were invited to form a panel to offer their reflections on their experiences and learnings in religious life as they relate to the third major area of synodal focus, Participation. Watch the third Conversation, a 3-part series of input, discussion and sharing on the three topics related to the October 2023 Synod Assembly. Sr. Elizabeth Davis is introduced at 1:15:12. She speaks from 1:16:35 – 1:21:43.
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Worth Reading
New Curriculum Guides On Extractives From Mercy Education
Two new curriculum guides focusing on the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy are now available for Mercy educators on the topics of extractivism and nonviolence. These guides are best suited for secondary school classrooms and include content that can be applied to a variety of subject areas. The curriculum guides were developed in Argentina by a team of Mercy educators from four member schools in Argentina, Belize and Jamaica.
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Mercy eNews
The online newsletter of Mercy International Association is published fortnightly, 24 weeks each year and distributed to subscribers via email.
For more information on the directors click here
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