Forever Learning…

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the Australasian Mercy Schools Secondary (AMSSA) Conference in Brisbane.  Attendees from all around Australia, as well as New Zealand gathered, connecting and sharing ideas and stories from their Mercy roots.

Preparing to listen to one of the Keynote Speakers, Sr Berneice Loch, I felt I knew quite a bit about Catherine McAuley and her journey towards founding the Sisters of Mercy.  It turns out there is a lot more to her story than even I realised.  Her struggles to maintain her Catholic faith, experiences of stark poverty and fear, the Penal laws of the time, and the lengths she went to in establishing her school in Baggot Street, all contributed to her work in extending warmth and hospitality to the most vulnerable. 

Catherine’s story continues to be told and retold, her life and extraordinary story of mercy in action. 

“She connected the rich with the poor, the healthy to the sick, the educated and skilled to the uninstructed, the influential to those of not consequence, and the powerful to the weak to do the work of God on Earth.”  (Joanna Regan rsm. 1978. Tender Courage)

With God's blessings,