Social Justice Tag: Earth

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May 22, 2023

By Sister Sarita Vasquez The Sisters of Mercy work to sustain all life by caring for Earth. In our dedication to discovering God in all things, we recognize the ecological spirituality that ties us to the beauty of creation. As we celebrate the eighth anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, I am reminded of a book I read at the height of the pandemic, An Astonishing Secret by Daniel O’Learly.

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October 4, 2022

By Sister Eileen Dooling – When considering the offer to write this blog, it dawned on me how little I knew about Saint Francis: a wild youth, disowning his father and his inheritance, conversing with a wolf and surrounded by birds. There had to be more than sentimental stories to have such a Franciscan legacy and a popularity among the people. And so began my homework!

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September 21, 2022

On September 24, we will celebrate the 195th anniversary of the day Catherine McAuley opened the doors of the House of Mercy on Baggot Street. This began her ministry of serving the poor, the sick, and those in need of education. Today we Celebrate Mercy in Justice with two reflections from two Sisters of Mercy!

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April 21, 2023

By Sister Edia Lopez After two powerful hurricanes, ETA and IOTA, struck Central America in 2020, Sisters of Mercy in Panama moved to support the disaster victims and help with their immediate needs. However, after experiencing the disaster and the flooding caused by the storms, we wondered what hope there was for Mother Earth.

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July 29, 2022

By Jocelyn Welch, Mercy Montessori Erdkinder/Farmessori Directress — Mercy Montessori’s Farmessori and Erdkinder Program in Cincinnati, Ohio, is rooted in Montessori philosophy and strives to give all students opportunities to work with the land and grow into stewards of our Earth.

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June 14, 2022

By Sarah Smith, director of Mercy Partnership Fund — Rebecca Chituyi, a 27-year-old farmer in Kenya’s Bungoma District, and her husband Richard worked hard to support their family on just a half-acre of land, but didn’t see much success. “The harvest used to depress me,” says Rebecca. “I would only get two bags of maize (corn), and this only lasted us for a few months.” In 2018, One Acre Fund came to Rebecca’s village. The nonprofit organization, which the Sisters of Mercy have invested in through the Mercy Partnership Fund, the global community investing program of Mercy Investment Services, provides seeds, fertilizer, education and post-harvest support to more than 1.4 million smallholder farmers across Africa.

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June 7, 2023

By Sister Andrea Catubig Whenever I visit a family belonging to the Subanen indigenous people in the Philippines, I hear Palad-palad or “thank you” time and again. More than 10 months have passed since I received a Sisters of Mercy grant for my ministry with the Subanen people, who live on Mindanao Island and suffer countless indignities, from ongoing colonization to exploitation by companies that extract minerals from their lands. But still I hear “palad-palad.”

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January 9, 2023

By Catherine Walsh, Features Writer – Flooding and landslides caused by torrential Christmas rains in the southern Philippines moved Sisters of Mercy there to spring into action to offer help to those affected. Amid the relentless rain, Sister Helen Libo-on, a local leader of the sisters, called Sister Virgencita “JenJen” Alegado, a fellow leader. “I told her, ‘JenJen, we are in trouble here!’”

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December 20, 2022

By Sister Ana María Siufi – The Conference of the Parties, COP27, was held in November in Egypt to review and move ahead with agreements on climate change. I was part of the Mercy Global Action (MGA) delegation, along with Sister Angela Reed (MGA director), Cecilie Kern (from the MGA office), and Sister Magdalene Musau from Kenya. The experience was challenging and educational.