Roots and Shoots tend garden

Mercy faculty and staff member prepare the garden. L-R: Jen Lambdin, Janet Morello, Peter Diaz, Justine Carion, Pam Matthews

Work on the garden in the meadow on the Burlingame campus by the Mercy High School Burlingame staff continues. The planting is part of the sustainable gardening efforts by the high school club, Roots and Shoots. “We had planted a cover crop of fava beans and vetch in the fall as nitrogen fixers for the soil. We chopped that down and worked it into the soil before we planted,” said Jennifer Lambdin, teacher.

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Earth Day Celebration

Several staff members and sisters marked the 40th anniversary of Earth Day by planting a Ginkgo Biloba tree in the orchard. Sister Margaret Ann invited all to extend a hand in blessing as she offered a prayer in gratitude for created life and the beauty of nature all around us.

Lindy Virgil and Joseph Oliveira planting the Ginko Biloba tree. Everyone contributed to the planting by taking a turn at shoveling the dirt.

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Earth Day: Nine days away

From USCatholic.org

“This afternoon, I was reading our interview with Jack Jezreel, founder of JustFaith Ministries, for our June issue. I was struck by how easily and fluidly he’s able to make the connection between prayerful reflection and just action.

Also comfortable with connecting spirituality and social justice are the Sisters of Mercy, who’ve created a Earth Day novena. Today is the first day. That’s right, Earth Day is nine days away.”

Read more here.

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Mercy in Cedar Rapids opens ‘green’ medical building

Check out the article here.

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Mercy Direction Statement calls us to live in harmony with creation

By Pat Ryan, RSM

Spending the week with Miriam Therese McGillis was a blessing. Her ability to articulate Thomas Berry’s teaching of the Universe Story deepened my understanding of how artificial the modern distinction between humans and the rest of creation is. I really appreciated spending time with Mercy Sisters and Associates across the Institute in probing the call of our Direction Statement to live in harmony with all of creation. It was sobering to learn that humans have passed the point where we can repair the damage that has been done and that our work now is to prepare for the consequences of our unconscious behavior. Miriam also stressed that we are not too old to become intensely involved in the Great Work, but we do not have create our own Mercy Plan of Action. There are numerous groups at work in all aspects of the crisis.

We need to join those who are already doing what needs to be done in our local bio-regions.

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Associate called to share learning from Mercy eco-retreat

Each morning, the Sisters of Mercy and Associates had a ritual of honoring the earth.

By Catherine Regan, Mercy Associate

Coming home from the Mercy Eco-retreat, these words of Thomas Berry are ringing in my ears and in my heart: 

“All human institutions, programs and activities must now be judged primarily by the extent to which they inhibit, ignore or foster a mutually-enhancing human-earth relationship.”

I attended the week with the intention and hope of being more deeply converted to the reality of our oneness with Earth and more committed to responding to Earth’s cry for Mercy.  This has happened.  Now the questions are:  what shape will my own response take and what will help us mobilize as the Mercy Community of sisters, associates, and companions to live into our mission statement?

These questions are multi-layered and call for reflection, dialogue, and action on many levels.  A small immediate one for me:  I was stunned to learn that 200 million tons of synthetic chemicals are finding their way into our water, soil, and air every year!  They are toxic and damage earth’s capacity to support life.  I am finally choosing to use only non-toxic products!

Study.  Speak.  Act.  This is how I’m feeling called.  Aware that I have so much to learn, study has once again become a priority in my life – this time in service of Earth.  My natural desire to pass on what I learn can be offered as well, whenever and wherever an opportunity to speak and share presents itself.  And finally, I will weigh my actions – as a citizen and as a consumer against Thomas Berry’s guidelines.

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To Act in Harmony with All Creation

by Carolyn Snegoski, RSM

Trying to capture the universe story and the past 14 billion years until the present was indeed an interesting and challenging task to attempt in one week.  To grasp how the original power flared forth into stars, galaxies, supernovas to the emergence of the Sun and the Earth would take a lifetime.  Homo sapiens emerged a relatively short time ago in the scheme of things (60,000 years ago).  In that period of time, we have plundered the earth and are now closing the Cenozoic period and entering the Ecozoic period.  While we cannot undue much of the damage we have caused, we can and must respond by transforming our mode of living.   We cannot continue to treat God’s creatures as objects but rather subjects of the Cosmos.  Although mass extinctions have occurred before in history, we are currently experiencing a rate of extinction that has not happened in the past sixty-five million years and scientists believe humans are causing it.  We must live in a way that enables us to live in harmony with all creation—not just humans.  This week provided me with the impetus to become better informed and to act now.

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To Act in Harmony With All Creation

Four Sisters of Mercy and an Associate from the West Midwest Community were among the 81 Sisters and Associates who attended a week-long session designed to engage them in an emerging ecological dimension of the charism of Mercy. The session, which was held from June 21-27, 2009, at St. Joseph’s College of Maine, was a week packed with input, reflection, ritual and experiences.  The five West Midwest participants were:   Sisters Pat Ryan, Catherine Kuper, Carolyn Snegoski and Kathleen Erickson and Associate Catherine Regan. They returned home deeply committed to sharing, dialogue and action about the implications of the profound and on-going call of the Mercy Direction Statement and Critical Concerns.  They will share their reflections in this blog and invite others to join them in the discussion.

 

by Catherine Kuper, RSM

It was a privilege to spend a week with, Miriam Terese McGillis, OP,  as she shared her passion and energy for the “Great Work” of helping people learn about this amazing universe and urging us to change our attitudes and behaviors about caring for creation. I am always impressed by the learnings of recent science about the development of the Universe, especially its massive and unimaginable size, the 13.7 billion years it has taken to evolve, and the impact both positive and negative of the most recent species, humans.  I’m grateful to the 81 others Sisters of Mercy who shared their enthusiasm and commitment as well.

Attending the retreat from the West Midwest

Community were, from left: Sister Pat Ryan, Sister

Carolyn Snegoski, Associate Catherine Regan, Sister

Kathleen Erickson and Sister Catherine Kuper.

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