A Mercy Associate Retreat Day was held in St Mary’s Blackbrook on Saturday 15th April, 2019. It was well attended with over 40 persons present. Associate groups came from Oldham, Golborne, Blackbrook and Finch Lea Drive. The day was organised by Sister Jo Gleeson and the presentation was led by Sister Geraldine and Sr Mary. Sr Bridie, Sr Betty and Maria Overend from the Mercy Associate National Commission also attended The “Theme” was based on ‘Laudato Si' an encyclical from Pope Francis which is a profound invitation to everyone on the planet to care for our common home. The Sisters posed a question at the start of the day: “What is our new call to Mercy in the face of the urgency of climate change / global warming and the widespread destruction of habitats and species essential for life on earth? What action can I / we take?” We began with morning prayer “The Cry of the Poor, The Cry of the Earth, The Cry of God.” Pope Francis and the 8th work of Mercy. After a power point reflection we processed in silence to the Church for the Stations of the Cross, The Cafod Stations. Returning to the hall various ideas were discussed and it was noted that there is apparently only 25 years of water left in the UK. Those present queried the necessity of carrying around bottles of water all day – we managed without this years ago. The proposed action was that we all write to the big supermarkets and ask them to stop selling water in plastic bottles. The discussion then moved on to alternative ways of managing beverages and there was a brief discussion about one of the large coffee chains who were happy to use refillable cups ; bring your own cup and not only not use the plastic which is so hard to recycle but save money as well! Another contributor to the ongoing discussion referred to Veronica wiping the face of Jesus - she said, “don’t just think about it, do it!” And another was to ‘switch off power for an hour’ once a month, once a week, or every day and spend some or all of that time in prayer. Sr Mary suggested we ask the earth to write us a letter and remember all the good times in our past, then ask ourselves what went wrong, what has changed – we have largely moved from rural/semi rural areas to concrete jungles – what is missing? Technology has taken over our lives – how can we put this right? What kind of good actions can we take? Sr Geraldine asked if we consider where our produce comes from. Air travel comes with a huge carbon footprint. Is there anything we can do to reduce our carbon footprint? A suggestion was made that we could write to organisations requesting labelling on produce and other goods that would enable us to identify its country of origin, noting that some of the products we buy are produced in sweatshops. However, it was suggested that we continue to purchase Fairtrade goods. There was reference made to the number of huge buildings that are hastily built and almost as quickly demolished. Could we avoid this kind of waste of time and resources by better forward planning? Sr Mary then posed the question, “how would I like the world to be in 50 years? What kind of earth will we leave behind us? After lunch 3 Associates made their commitment as Mercy Associates Maria from Finch Lea Drive and Christine and Patricia from Gobourne.

Two new Associates recently made their commitment at Coolock and here are a few images of the joyful day.

The Sisters of Mercy at St. Mary's Convent in Handsworth, Birmingham are having a Mercy Associates Retreat Day on Saturday 8th June from 10.00 until 15.30. All are welcome to attend and the event is free, although a small donation would be greatly appreciated. The convent is located at 98 Hunters Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, B19 1EB Further information can be found by contacting the Sisters... by phone - 0121 554 3271 by e-mail: sisters@mercyhandsworth.org.uk or their website: www.mercyhandsworth.co.uk

Associates and parishioners braved the weather on Saturday 16th March to attend Mass in Corpus Christi Church followed by refreshments and the annual fundraising draw. The draw was made by Fr Gaspar. The Convent in Oldham closed in December 2018 and the Associates have met since in the presbytery. Sr. Cathy who lives nearby was able to join them for the Mass and the draw. The Money raised from the Draw will be distributed to various Mercy Charities.

Mercy Associates in Filey meet once a month at the Convent. January’s meeting took place at the Convent on the 29th. It was a grey, overcast day but inside was warm and welcoming. Sr. Zita led us through a meditation on the New Year and introduced the “Presentation” of Our Lord in the Temple. We reflected on how Our Lady must have felt holding her beautiful little boy but being told there would be sorrows for Him later on. We said a Hail Mary for those whom we knew who were going through a difficult time and needed our prayers. Each of us were given a tea-light to hold. This was lit and after a few minutes they were all placed on a plate in front of the bright daffodils at the front of the room. Exposition followed in the Chapel with a time of silence. Then Evening Prayer of Our Lady was said with Sr. Helen playing for us. A raffle was held with the proceeds going towards Aid to the Church in Need. In true Mercy style “a good cup of Tea” was enjoyed with homemade Coconut cake, scones, jam and some fruit loaf. Sr. Anne joined us for tea. A lovely afternoon of friendship, fellowship and joy.

Mercy Associates in Coolock had a wonderful celebration for the start of Lent. The reflection was the key to your heart and a basket of keys was passed around for each Associate to pick one as a symbol of the reflection itself. Two of the associates arranged the setting which was a large cross draped with a purple and gold piece of material. A life size crown of thorns was placed on a red cushion near the cross. It was a truly thought provoking and poignant day and an excellent way to start off Lent. In time honoured fashion the Associates then celebrated with a 'good cup of tea' (or coffee) as well as a biscuit and piece of cake (or two! !)

Associates from St. Catherine of Siena & All Saints and St. Lewis parishes, Golborne recently visited Father Bernard in his new home with the De La Salle brothers. Whilst Fr. Bernard still celebrates Mass on a daily basis for the brothers, his frailty means that he's no longer able to help with Mass in the Parishes when a priest is away. The Associates were delighted to see him and plans maybe afoot to hold one of their meetings in his new home. Fr. Bernard visited Coolock with the Golborne Associates on St. Patrick's Day last year. Please pray for Father Bernard and the Golborne group of Mercy Associates

Coolock Associates met for their first meeting in 2019 recently. The theme of the meeting was light. The reflection was the story of Anna in the temple, where she waited for her prayer to be answered for 80 years. We often give up praying for light and an answer to our supplication. The Scripture Reading was taken from Luke:2:36-38 The Meditation where Anna tells her own story was taken from 'No Ordinary Man' by Nick Fawcett.

The Canvey Island Mercy Associates was founded by Sr Agnes Gleeson and myself (Valerie Ham) at Our Lady of Canvey and the English Martyrs, Canvey Island where I made my commitment on 12th December 2000 with two other ladies who left the group soon after. Other members followed Avril Bowden Oct 2004 Baggott St, Dublin David Ham May 2004 Frinton Phyllis Johnstone May 2004 Frinton Cathy Lockwood July 2010 St Johns Wood Anne Poole 2016 Baggott St, Dublin We meet monthly at Val and Dave's Home, after the meeting we always finished with "a nice cup of tea". Sadly, our January meeting will be the final one. Over the 18 years the group has financially supported the "Women of Peru" since 6th November 2006. So far we have sent £3899.31 (more to follow after our final meeting on 21st January 2019) - first via Sr. Sue Morrison and then via Sr. Agnes Prior and now Father Jonathan Hart, Leeds Diocese Peru Commission. We raised this money by having coffee mornings, charity Indian curry nights, we have sold Peru Crafts since 21st November 2010 sending our cheques for Peru Cupboard to Shelia Davy totalling £1,385. We have also financially helped: Woman at the Well, London. Project KAVU KAVU health centre Zambia. Aid to the Church in Need. St Columbus Missionary Society Father James Mackay Garden Project (Canvey Island) Father Eammon Power Grotto Project (Canvey Island) Our Lady of Canvey and the English Martyrs Church Our Mercy Associates group has also been active in our Parish as Eucharistic Ministers, Altar servers and running stalls for the parish bazaar, choir, volunteering in the Parish office and organising Annual Parish Pilgrimage to Aylesford . We have also given talks to the congregation after Mass about Mercy Associates and about the work of the Sister of Mercy in Peru and the "Women of Peru". We have been active giving talks about Catherine Macaulay and her life and work with the women in Dublin. As a group we have made Pilgrimages/Retreats to Mercy International Baggot Street, Rome, Knock, Lourdes, Fatima, Walsingham and yearly to Aylesford for our Parish Pilgrimage .We did a retreat with Sr Bridie and Sr Betty at Newcastle upon Tyne and visited Handsworth with Sr Agnes Gleeson. We have visited Bermondsey (the 1st Convent of Mercy in England ) twice and several times to St John's Wood for regional days. We also held our own Retreat for Mercy Associate groups at Our Lady of Canvey Church, where we honoured Sr Agnes Gleeson. Fr. James Mackay blessed a bench which we donated and now sits in the Grotto in front of church. We are all sad that we are now closing the group but we are all in our seventies and one member has family commitments, another member was recently widowed and all are slowing down now so we feel this is the right time to do it. Our last meeting will be on 21st January 2019, please pray for us. WE HAVE ALL BEEN VERY PROUD TO BE MERCY ASSOCIATES AND WILL ALWAYS BE MERCY ASSOCIATES BUT NOW RETIRED Mercy Blessings Valerie Ham Article kindly provided by Valerie Ham on behalf of CANVEY ISLAND MERCY ASSOCIATES

FOUNDATION DAY - DECEMBER 12th 2018 High Heaton associates, although small in number, never fail to celebrate Mercy feast days and 187 years of the order is certainly worthy of celebration. Our Foundation Day was celebrated with mass in the convent, with our chaplain Father Michael Stephens, where the associates also renewed their commitment. It was followed in traditional style with a festive lunch in the Vermont Hotel in the city centre. article kindly provided by Monica Mills High Heaton associate

Youth Mercy Associates North Shields Make Their Promise December 7th 2018 Many congratulations to our nine Year 5 children who were officially enrolled into the Mercy family as Youth Mercy Associates during a special assembly on Friday at St Joseph’s School. Throughout the year they have been working and praying for others and learning about Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy. They were ably supported by 6 others who are hoping to be enrolled at Easter. Please keep them in your prayers that they may live out the promise they made to support each other through friendship and prayer and to grow together in faith, hope and love. article kindly supplied by Catherine and Ray Kelly