Mercy:
“Mercy is a mode of relationship
and a power
that is wounded by the suffering of others
and propelled to action on their behalf
now.”
Wendy Farley rsm
“Mercy” and its twin “justice” are qualities of being human. They are a spirit of compassion in the face of human suffering, need and oppression. They are virtues promoted by the world’s religious traditions. They are values that have inspired lasting solutions to the world’s most difficult political and social problems. Justice administered without Mercy is harsh and unforgiving. Mercy without justice is a band-aid that allows root causes to fester.
In our time, the Earth cries out for mercy and justice. Mercy & justice for the earth is ultimately mercy & justice for its people.
The Sisters of Mercy and their associates espouse and promote the values of mercy and justice. Rahamim is sponsored by the Bathurst Sisters of Mercy, a member of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Australia. www.mercy.org.au The Institute is part of Mercy International Association www.mercyworld.org and Mercy Global Concern. www.mercyworld.org/projects/mgc
The Sisters of Mercy came to Bathurst from Charleville, Ireland in 1866 and established education, health, welfare and aged care services in towns in Central Western NSW.
The Sisters of Mercy is a Catholic Order of Nuns, founded in Dublin, Ireland in 1831 by Catherine McAuley.
Who was Catherine McAuley?
“She was a woman of cosmic psalmody and grubby saints of the road, and the undiscriminating heart of Christ; she was a simple, humble woman who walked the very streets for the poor, who took their messy selves into her clean and beautiful home; who provided for them what the world did not give; and who worked boldly and strongly and clearly until she converted both Church and world to their presence. She refused to ignore the universe around her in the name of religion – not one of them: not the embarrassing poor, not the dangerous dying. not the troublesome sick, not the cumbersome homeless, not the exploited ignorant, not the abused women, not the abandoned children, not the ugly, dirty castoffs of a gilded but gruesome new industrial society that did not want to deal with them.”
Joan Chittister osb
Currently there are about 10,000 Sisters of Mercy working in 47 countries around the world, assisted by thousands of lay colleagues and associates.