Becoming a Mercy Associate

Mercy Associates are called by God to make covenant with the Sisters of Mercy as partners in prayer, community and ministry. The Call to Mercy Association is articulated as follows:

Call to Mercy Association

The call to Mercy is a vocational call from God, a Mercy dimension of the universal call to holiness that enables one to embrace the lived mercy of the Gospel through sharing in the mission of Mercy. Responsive in faith to God’s mercy, Catherine McAuley heeded the call of Jesus to reach out with courage and love to the needy of her time. As partners in Mercy, we recognize that our primary mission is to live into the identity we have claimed for ourselves as Mercy associates. We, therefore, live our mission and grow into our identity as Mercy associates, in partnership with the Sisters of Mercy by:

  • Ministering to and advocating for the sick, poor and uneducated;
  • Helping people overcome the obstacles that keep them from living full and dignified lives;
  • Living a life of prayer, service and communion with other associates, sisters and our families.

As partners in mercy, Mercy associates identify with the vision and mission of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. “The Institute Direction Statement and Chapter Statements provide guidance for the Sisters of Mercy for the expression of the Mercy charism in our world today.”

Institute Direction Statement of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

2005 Out of Gods Deepest Mercy, a New Dawn.

Animated by the Gospel and Catherine McAuley’s passion for the poor, we the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, are impelled to commit our lives and resources to act in solidarity with: the economically poor of the world, especially women and children; women seeking fullness of life and equality in church and society; one another as we embrace our multicultural and international reality. This commitment will impel us to: develop and act from a multicultural international perspective; speak with a corporate voice; work for systemic change; practice nonviolence; act in harmony and interdependence with all creation; and call ourselves to continual conversion in our lifestyle and ministries.

—Statement adopted at inaugural Institute Chapter, 1991; amended 2005.

2011 Come, O Life Giving Spirit, Transform Us

The Fourth Institute Chapter—held in June 2005 in Laredo, Texas, and reaffirmed at the Fifth Institute Chapter in 2011— resulted in a renewed focus on our identity and an intensified response to five Critical Concerns of our time:

Nonviolence: to deepen and assimilate more consciously the practice of nonviolence as an integral aspect of the charism of Mercy.

Racism: to deepen our response to the unrecognized and unreconciled racism past and present within our community.

Immigration: to stand in solidarity with immigrants.

Earth: to reverence Earth and work more effectively toward the sustainability of life and toward universal recognition of the fundamental right to water.

Women: to continue to embrace our particular concern for women.

Are you called to an intentional way of being with Mercy Association? Contact the Office of Association for more information at association@sistersofmercy.org.