The Mercy Charism in You
Throughout 2023 we’ve been exploring the concept of Mercy charism through many lenses. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit. We can sense it in a loving, welcoming, joyful environment. We can encourage it by nurturing communities of belonging.
We also have named the tools that the Sisters of Mercy and Mercy Education have put in place to help us express and share our Mercy charism: the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy, and Mercy Education’s Core Values and Profile of the Graduate. I hope this intentional look at charism has added something new to your understanding of charism and the mission of your school.
The Sisters of Mercy embrace charism as the wellspring of our life and ministry. We recognize that charism continues to thrive in our lay colleagues who minister with us in our Mercy Catholic schools. It was for the sake of the mission that Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy. It is for the sake of the mission that the Sisters of Mercy continue to sponsor our schools. In these schools, we witness countless dedicated women and men embracing the mission and, in so doing, receiving the Mercy charism.
Preserving the mission requires vigilance. We must tend to that which we have received. Please refer to the Mercy Education website for many resources to help you nurture the Mercy charism within your school.
Catherine wrote, “Mercy, the principal path pointed out by Jesus Christ to those who are desirous of following Him, has in all ages of the Church excited the faithful in a particular manner to instruct and comfort the sick and dying poor, as in them they regarded the person of our divine Master …” (quoted in Sister Mary C. Sullivan’s Catherine McAuley and the Tradition of Mercy, page 297). In living our Mercy mission, we witness God’s presence in our world; as educators we accept the call to share it with the young women and men in our care—future leaders, the rising generation of Mercy!
Special thanks to Sister Regina Ward, RSM, Associate Director for Mission for Mercy Education, for sharing the Charism Corner series over the past several months. All her columns can be found here.
