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Dear Partners in MercyONE OF THE questions I frequently get asked is ‘What is Mercy Partners?’ The usual answer is something along the lines of

‘It’s a Church body set up to take responsibility for various ministries previously owned by the Sisters of Mercy.’ That seems to satisfy most people, but recently I have been asking myself whether it is an adequate answer. On reflection, it sounds like Mercy Partners is a watchdog entity, however benevolent. Certainly, there are times and situations when the Council of Mercy Partners needs to take courageous decisions to ensure it is fulfilling its responsibilities in both Church and civil law. However, to think of Mercy Partners solely as a Council of seven members supported by a secretariat is to fall far short of the vision of the Congregations which founded Mercy Partners.

I was prompted into this reflection by reading the inspirational article which Garry Everett recently wrote on Partnership and which is on our website for all to see. He puts forward the idea that partnership is based, not on hierarchical structures, but on mutuality, trust and respect among the participants. Each group has a role to fill and the emphasis should be on

working towards building up the whole, rather than on competing or adopting a ‘silo mentality’. There are echoes here of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians where he talks about how the various parts of the body contribute to the full functioning of the whole person (1 Cor:12).

Both Garry and St Paul challenge us to see that we are ALL Mercy Partners, not just the Council or the secretariat which serves it. This calls for a radical change in how we think about our particular ministry. It challenges us to see it as an integral part of a something much bigger than itself. It challenges us to see Mercy Partners as WE and US, rather than as THEM and US. It challenges us to view Mercy Partners not as a hierarchy but as a circle of members which are equal but different. Ultimately, we (ministries, Council and secretariat) all have a role to play in fulfilling the Mercy Partners vision of contributing to the emergence of a world where the healing, liberating and life-giving love of God is experienced.

Yours in the partnership of Mercy,

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17-19 October 2012 Leadership and Governance in a Catholic Ministry Robertson Gardens Comfort Inn, 281 Kessels Road, Nathan (Brisbane) Information and an application form will be circulated in August

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Winter – a time of hope

are blessed with generally mild winters, and not the harsh cold, frosts and snow that we as-sociate with other parts of Australia and most of Europe. But even here, winter is a season where we slow down, stay indoors more and seek out warmth. For many it is a time to ‘take stock’, to rest up, or plan for spring. Our gardens are resting, and we prepare the soil and plantings for the spring that we know will come. Winter is a time of resilience – a time of dying off, pruning back, dig-ging in, making plans. The earth teaches us to be patient, cast off what is not needed and trust in what lies ahead. We look forward to the spring, to renewal, regrowth and replenishment. That is the hope that winter offers us.

This year’s Annual Gathering takes up this theme of hope and resilience, and this Newsletter provides some resources

for prayer and refl ection. This edition also welcomes some new people to the Mercy Partners family, here in Brisbane and in the ministries. We hope that working in these ministries will bring great joy to you!

Many people from Mercy ministries in Australia and New Zealand participated in the Mercy Pilgrimage sponsored by the Brisbane Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy. It was a great success, and our special thanks go to Sr Mary Pescott and Sr Anne Hetherington for the effort they put into this special time for us.

In the cold ground of winter are the seeds of spring waiting to burst into life … so it is with us. I was recently privi-leged to attend the Catholic Religious Australia National Assembly in Adelaide. This is an annual assembly of Leaders of Religious Institutes who gather for sup-

port, networking and spiritual renewal. At that assembly there was much discus-sion about the future of the Religious Congregations. It was so clear that these Leaders believed that ‘the seeds of resurrection are in the dying’. I was inspired by the resilience of these men and women – their joyful continuance of the call to ministry, and the great sense of hope and trust they hold for the future of their ministries and the Church. They were also so ready, in hope and faith, to accept the challenges of their calling. In many ways, Mercy Partners, a partner-ship of ministries, is called to embody this resurrection theology – to carry forward with hope and trust ministries of the Church.

WELCOME TO THE WINTER EDITION OF THE MERCY PARTNERS NEWSLETTER! THE FIRST HALF OF 2012 IS BEHIND US AS WE HEAD TOWARD THE MERCY PARTNERS AN-NUAL GATHERING IN TOWNSVILLE AS THIS EDITION GOES TO PRINT!

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During April I was privileged to participate in the Mercy Pilgrimage organised by the Sisters of Mercy of Brisbane. With about 34 other pilgrims, I had the opportunity to explore Dublin and immerse my-self in the Mercy tradition, in the house that Catherine McAuley her-self lived and worked, where she cared for the poor from the streets of Dublin as well as those young women who came to join her. It was indeed a privilege, and has been such a blessing.

by Judith Gardiner the house at Baggot St, and in the house at Coolock where Catherine spent her time as a young woman, both challenged and inspired us. We were led in our explora-tions by a great team of committed women – including our own Sr Mary Pescott and Sr Anne Hetherington. To roam the countryside of Kildare and the hills of Glendalough with people of deep spirituality who helped us understand the ancient Christian tradi-tion in Ireland, bought us to a new spiritual understanding. To celebrate Eucharist with people who work in Mercy ministries in Australia and New Zealand in Catherine’s own chapel, was truly uplifting. This was an experience of a lifetime on so many levels!

We learned a great deal about Catherine and the Mercy tradition. I also took the opportunity to explore the heritage of the Presentation Sisters and the Irish Sisters of Charity. The Presentation Sisters of course hold a place close to the heart of the Mercy tradition – it was this group of sisters in Dublin who helped Catherine in her training for religious life. She joined them in the novitiate in Georges Hill. The foundress, Nano Nagle had shared the commitment to the poor of Ireland, beginning her ministry fi rstly in Cork and then later by send-ing sisters to Dublin. She had died before Catherine began her work, but no doubt Catherine found some inspiration in her story. Catherine was however a contemporary of Mary Aiken-head, the founder of the Irish Sisters of Charity, who was also called to work with the poor of Cork and Dublin. All three women answered the call of the early Bishops of Australia to send committed Sisters to help those in dire need in the early colonies. I’m moved by all three women – women who shared a love of the poor in their most desperate situations and a complete, selfl ess faith and trust in God.

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Top: Judith Gardiner, Leesa Jeffcoat, Phillip Bauman, Trudy Clarke and Di-Anne Rowan. Above-left: Sr Catherine McAuley. Above-right: Mr John Reynolds and Sr Mary Pescott. Opposite: The Pilgrimage Group of 2012 in the Chapel built by Catherine McAuley at Mercy International.

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APPOINTMENT OF MS CHRISTINE CARRMS CHRISTINE CARR has been appointed the Business Manager of St Patrick’s College Townsville Ltd. St Patrick’s College Townsville welcomed their new Business Manager last term. Christine Carr joins the College after spending eight years as Business Manager at Ryan Catholic College in Townsville. Christine is a CPA and has a background primarily in taxation, accounting and management. She operated her own taxation and accounting business in Townsville for 12 years before joining Chartered Accountants, Moore Stephens as a Manager. Having attended Mercy schools and Colleges throughout her school years, Christine commented that coming to work at St Patrick’s seems like coming home.

APPOINTMENT OF MS ANNE GARVANANNE GARVAN HAS recently been appointed as Director of St Patrick’s College Townsville Ltd. She is an educator with many years’ experience as Principal of several Secondary Colleges in Sydney over several decades and with an early experience in Brisbane for ten years both at the Brigidine Secondary College at Indooroopilly and at the Primary school in Kenmore. Anne has a BA Hons degree from the University of Queensland, a Master of Sacred Theology from the University of Toronto in Canada and a Master of Educational Administration from the University of NSW. She is currently Board Chair of Brigidine College St Ives NSW and is a Council member for Edmund Rice Education Australia. She brings with her many years of experience and a deep love of learning. She is committed to the challenge of enabling all students to reach their potential within a vibrant community where there is genuine inclusion and transparency of process.

APPOINTMENT OF MS LESLEY SCHNEIDERLESLEY SCHNEIDER HAS been appointed Acting Executive Offi cer/Director of Nursing. Lesley is a qualifi ed Registered Nurse who was fi rst employed by Mercy Aged Care Services in 1996. Since that time, she has held a variety of positions, most recently as Director of Nursing from April 2011.

MERCY PARTNERS OFFICE WELCOMES CATHARINE BURKECATHARINE HAS RECENTLY joined the secretariat team as Minutes Secretary for the Mercy Partners Council. Previously domiciled in Canberra, ACT, she has extensive experience in supporting the participation of the Australian government in international forums and organizations. She is pleased to have the opportunity to apply her skills in a non-government environment with Catholic ideals.

Christine Carr

Anne Garvan

Lesley Schneider

Catharine Burke

RETIREMENT OF SR BENEDICT MARY DIXON RSMSINCE OUR LAST newsletter, Sr Benedict Mary Dixon (not pictured) has retired from the Mater Health Services North Queensland (MHSNQ) Ltd Board. She has held the position of Director on that Board for many years, and she is known for her dedication and hard work. She will be missed, but will continue to offer her expertise to Mercy Community Services North Queensland as a Director of that new company. We wish her all the best in her ‘retirement’.

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OUR FORTHCOMING ANNUAL GATHERING THIS MONTH HAS FOR ITS THEME THE MERCY PARTNERS VALUE OF HOPE.

Practical Hope, Ron Rolheiser omi begins with Karl Rahner’s defi nition. “A woman sees the tiny rivulet of her life and fears that it might not mean anything, that it might die out completely. Yet she some-how still believes it will fl ow signifi cantly into the great ocean, despite the immeasur-ably huge, dry sand-dunes it must cross to get to an ocean it cannot even see.” Rolheiser continues, “what an apt image for hope!”. Later in the article Rolheiser continues with his own thoughts on Hope.

Hope is about making peace with the unfinished symphony that constitutes our lives. We are fired into life over-charged with energy and desire, suffering from a perpetual disquiet. Life is never enough for us because what we want really is everything: to be everywhere, to know everything, to be known by everybody, to embrace and sleep with the uni-verse itself and everyone and everything in it. Such is our desire, though never our situation. Always we find ourselves somehow fenced-in, on the outside, suffocating in some way, limited in our choices, not quite where we want to be. In our daydreams we attain the adequate object of our de-sires, but in our actual lives we find ourselves grounded, in one place, married to just one person, and not able to find a place where we can adequately express ourselves. Search-ing for our name among the stars, we find instead that we are unknown, not heard, a light-years distance from that of which we secretly dream.

And there comes a moment, whether we are conscious of it or not, when we say to ourselves: “I have all these dreams, all this energy, all this desire, this one and only life – and it finally comes down to this: this imperfect body, this individual person I’m married to, this particu-lar family I’m part of, this small town, this less-than-ful-filling job, this house, this neighbourhood, these friends, this little place in history. That’s it. That’s my life. I’m to have nothing more.”

There’s an aphorism that speaks of seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Well, there comes a point in life – and what a criti-cal, defi ning point it is – when what stares at us from the other end of the tunnel is crushing limit. Coming to peace with God, ourselves, our loved ones, the world, and our mortality has a lot to do with how we appropriate this moment in our lives.

One of the tasks of hope is to help us in this precise task. But hope takes root in different ways: Christian hope, as we profess it in our churches, takes its root in our creeds, in what Christ revealed and did for us. Practically, though, hope takes much of its root in the congenital impulses of the private soul.

Ultimately why do we keep on – with our chins up? Because even as our insignifi cance and the brute facticity of our mortality try to stare us down, something deeper, under-neath keeps directing our lives. What? A deeper part of us has retained the dark memory of having once been given a loving promise by a power more real and more trustworthy than anything in this world.

The soul remembers that it was once caressed and kissed, individually, by God. Nothing erases that. Thus the soul knows that it means something, that it is known, that its private joys and heartaches are not insignifi cant, and that it is destined for an embrace, a glory, and a signifi cance beyond the most gran-diose of daydreams. Yes, the tiny rivulet of our lives will fl ow into that great ocean that we cannot yet see, but, deep down, we dimly sense that we came from there.”

Read the full article on (www.ronrolheiser.com/col (23/9/2010)

From the Formation Corner

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MERCY PARTNERS 07 3267 5840 info@mercypartners.org.au | PO Box 424 Banyo Q 4014 | Lvl 2 McAuley Bldg 131 Queens Road Nudgee Q 4014

READING John 12:24-25“In all truth I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest. Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Refl ect: What is it in me that I need to let go of in order that the Spirit may be freed more fully?

PRAYERSLet us remember our families, children, loved ones and our daily companions. May the seeds of new life receive nourishment from the soils of love and care. Pause.

Let us remember those who fi nd winter a time of loneliness and coldness through lack of resources and companionship. May we be willing to share the warmth of friendship and care with them. Pause.

We pray for those who live on the streets of our cities and towns especially children and the aged. May their immediate need for shelter and protection be met. Pause.

We pray for those who seek shelter on our shoes away from oppression and war. May we extend arms of openness and acceptance to them. Pause.

We pray for our world. As we experience the depths of winter,and remember half of the planet is living in the heat of summer may we be aware of the richness of the earth’s resources and our inter-connection with all things living. Pause.

God of all seasons, we place our prayers, spoken and unspoken into your loving care. We know that you are the source of faithful love. Amen.

SR AINÉ BARRINS Mercy Partners is happy to announce that Sister Ainé Barrins, an Irish Sister of Mercy will be in Brisbane during most of September and has accepted an invitation to give a workshop in Townsville and Rockhampton for our ministries there. Arrangements are still tentative, but visits will be between 19 and 26

September. As soon as details have been fi nalised, the ministries will be circulated with further information. In her native Ireland Ainé gives retreats and conferences on the life and letters of Catherine McAuley and does some sessions at the Mercy International Centre. Some of you may have met her there.

Winter provides us with the opportunity for refl ecting. As the days close in, the westerlies chill us, frost turns the ground brown, and the days are shorter we tend to seek warmth inside. This is a good reminder to us to seek warmth and hope in the shel-

ter of God’s love. As the seeds germinate in the soil preparing for Spring let us also take time to refl ect on the movement of the Spirit within our own hearts and souls – those parts of our life that may be seek-ing light, new life, and renewed hope this Spring.