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Liturgy on the Margins – Australian Diaconal Ministry, Present and Future

    Today, October 1, the Feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux, the Patron of missionaries, Elizabeth Young RSM is launching an online community for Catholics in Australia who are drawn to diaconal ministry or who may already be leading liturgy on the margins as an ordained or consecrated person, chaplain, pastoral worker or catechist.

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Season of Creation 2021

    The Season of Creation is  the annual  celebration of prayer and action for our common home. Together, the ecumenical family around the world unites to protect and advocate for God’s creation.   The season starts 1 September, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and ends 4 October, the Feast

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McAuley expands its capacity to support women and children

  McAuley Community Services for Women (McAuley) has recently purchased a new site, with the support of the Sisters of Mercy. This former aged care site will accommodate McAuley’s seven crisis units (with 24×7 support) for shorter term stays and eight new  medium term units. Providing a total of 37 beds for women and children,

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Being The Bird – A New Book by Mary Wickham RSM

The newly published poetry collection titled Being The Bird, by Mary Wickham RSM is now available.   The book can be ordered online from Booktopia, Amazon and the Book Depository, and the recommended retail price is AU$ 24.75. There may some delay with delivery due to Covid realities.   The book contains a large number of previously

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‘Their Life’s Work and Prayer’ – Cairns Oral History

  In 1988 Cairns Congregation celebrated the centenary of their foundation from Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland. As part of the celebrations, the congregation completed an oral history project, gathering the stories of sisters and residents about the early days in Cooktown, Herberton, Cairns and other locations. The interviews are now held in the ISMAPNG Archives

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Replacing ‘Me’ with ‘We’

  In the present situation with the number of virus cases spiralling each day it is almost unbelievable that there have been illegal, unlawful and unjustifiable demonstrations both in Sydney, up north, and in Melbourne protesting against the lockdowns that have been decreed as a precaution to help prevent further infection.   Yes, we do

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Responding to the Holy Spirit

  Recently, for the Australian Catholic Women’s Consultation, I was privileged to be asked to share my experience of ministry as a woman and what has made that possible. To start with a broad statement, I would like to say that I feel the Holy Spirit has been urging me forward and supporting me from

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‘That They May Have Life’ – A Profile of Carolyn Nolan RSM

  There are not too many people who get to say that they joined a novitiate and then soon after they arrived it closed, but this is exactly what happened to Carolyn Nolan RSM, nearly six months after she entered the novitiate for the Sisters of Mercy of Wilcannia – Forbes in 1965.   Carolyn,

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Mercy Immersion Day at Seville

  On Thursday 15th July, Seville Mercy Conference Centre, Earlville (a suburb of Cairns) welcomed the staff of Our Lady Help of Christians School Earlville to a Mercy Immersion Day.  The aim was to introduce the Catherine McAuley story including watching the movie ‘In God Alone’ then connect it to the local Mercy story and

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Wendy Flannery RSM – Working for Justice and Peace

  Sister Wendy Flannery’s recent election as the Australian Vice-President of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), is just another milestone in her long history of advocating for justice and peace both locally and internationally.   Wendy, who lives in Brisbane, has been a member of WILPF, the first International Women’s peace

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