Story Type: Associate Story
Border Crossings
I am living proof that the journey and challenges immigrant parents face can well be worth it for them and their future families. It brings me great sadness to see what immigrants face when I remember and reflect that my parents were once also facing the same challenges: not knowing the language, not knowing the process of how to apply for a visa properly, not knowing how to enter the country properly, not knowing their rights or having anyone to help.
Hearing the Cry of Guyana’s Poor: Connecting with Earth and Social Challenges
By Elsa Cromarty, Coordinator of Mercy Associates in Guyana —
“The human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together….In fact, the deterioration of the environment and of society affects the most vulnerable people on the planet….The impact of present imbalances is also seen in the premature death of many of the poor.” This quote from Laudato Si’ reminds us that we and Earth are one. We are indispensably connected, and human actions, good or bad, decisively affect our relationship with the environment.
Walking with Saints at the Border
By Joanne Castner, Mercy Associate — On May 8, 2022, 13 of us from across the United States gathered in the living room of the Columban Mission House in El Paso, Texas, the beginning of an immersion trip to meet with people who find ways to organize their communities and improve living conditions for those in need, and to discover why so many people from other countries are seeking to cross our nation’s borders.
Hope Has a Woman’s Face
By Mercy Associate Maritza Isabel Paredes Gomez — For the first time in the history of Honduras, the citizens voted for a woman to assume the presidency of the Republic. But not only that: Xiomara Castro is the candidate who has obtained the most votes in the country’s political history, which gives her a high degree of legitimacy.
Reflections on the Color of My Skin
By Abigail McDonald, Mercy Associate — Growing up in Guyana I thought of myself as Guyanese and Catholic. To be Black and woman was fraught with too many stereotypes that I did not know how to deal with. Yet still, I could not escape how my black skin affected every aspect of my life.
From Iran to Vermont: A Mercy Christmas Story
By Rowshan Nemazee, Mercy Associate — I didn’t think I was leaving my native country for good. Little could I have imagined that I would one day live in Vermont and become a Mercy Associate with the Sisters of Mercy.
Mary, in Joy-Filled Anticipation
By Rowshan Nemazee, Mercy Associate — In times of need, as a mother, Mary has been my refuge. Thus, I come to this moment more clearly through Fra Lippi’s “Annunciation,” where a youthful Mary sets her face, in awe and in assent, not toward Gabriel, but rather, toward the dove. It is a moment of awakening, of softness and maturity
filled with the gentle ardor of maternal hope.
Catherine and Abebech: Women Who Served our Broken World
By Adelaida Eduvala — Catherine’s story reminds me of another woman who used her God-given gifts to serve the least among us and whose life inspires me as a teacher of children.
St. Kateri Tekakwitha, and Setting Things Right with Creation
May we take to heart what Kateri’s Native name, Tekakwitha, means: “To set things right.”
What Freedoms do You Celebrate this Juneteenth?
As we take stock today of the state of the nation, our freedom does not seem as assured as it may have on that first Juneteenth Day.
Celebrating Pride with Dignity
June is recognized as LGBTQ+ Pride Month. It was begun as a tribute to those involved in the “Stonewall Riots” in June 1969, in Greenwich Village, New York.