Mercy is found in a loving heart, crossing over all boundaries and part of every faith tradition. It gifts us with the capacity to listen with a deep reverence and respect to the suffering of wounded Earth and its vulnerable inhabitants.  Tapping into the wisdom of Mercy offers a way in which anger and trauma can be dismantled, moving their power to a different space, a space where one comes to an appreciation of the goodness inherent in others and in Earth, thereby helping to heal divisions and restore peace and equanimity.  

Today the acute cries for mercy and compassion from our Earth Home resound more loudly than ever before.  Through human activity, the planet is being subjected to relentless devastation inhibiting Earth’s sustainability and the flourishing of all life. Indigenous people  tell us that we are losing the sense of the sacredness of all life and that from the magnitude of the desecration, damage and destruction of our planet we have moved beyond climate change to  fears for survival.¹  To hear these cries of  Earth and its inhabitants more clearly, humanity is called to develop a sensibility that will fashion within us  compassionate and loving hearts to find alternatives to violence...

1. Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples Council Statement, United Nations Convention on Climate Change, COP21 Paris, France, 2015. 

Spanish translation using DeepL Translator. Traducción al español con DeepL Translator

Mary is a member of the Sisters of Mercy Newfoundland. She is Director of the Mercy Centre for Ecology and Justice which she founded in 2003 and an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors of the Centre. In the Atlantic area of Canada, Mary is the representatives of the Sisters of Mercy on Canadian Religious Conference-Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation  (CRC-JPIC). She is a participant in the online reflection group of Mercy Global Presence and an active member of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.    

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