Sisters of Mercy South Central Community on Guam

Venerable
Catherine McAuley
Founder of Sisters of Mercy 1778-1841

PRAYER FOR THE BEATIFICATION OF MOTHER CATHERINE MCAULEY
Loving God, You chose Catherine McAuley for the service of your people who are poor, sick and uneducated. You inspired her to found the Sisters of Mercy so that these good works might endure. Give to each of us a portion of her compassionate spirit and an ardent desire to serve your suffering people.

Bless all our undertakings and grant that union and charity may always thrive among us.

Graciously, hear our prayer for Catherine and by granting the favors we ask through her intercession, hasten the day when her sanctity will be celebrated by all the Church. Amen.

Anti-Racism Workshop

The Sisters of Mercy South Central Community attended an Anti-Racism workshop via teleconference call from St. Louis, MO. The workshop, held at the Sister Roberta Center was facilitated by Sister Cora Billings, RSM (right) and Sister Karen Donohue, RSM (left).

Building the Spirituality of the Educator

Playing the “Faculty Treasure Hunt” game.

Animated group sharing.

Faculty and Staff members of Mercy Heights and Infant of Prague Nursery and Kindergarten participated in a workshop on “Building the Spirituality of the Educator” last Saturday, March 16, 2013 at Infant of Prague Nursery and Kindergarten in Mangilao. Facilitated by Sister Maria Rosario Gaite, the workshop gave the teachers and staff the time to pray together as one family and reflect on their vocation as educators and make concrete personal goals on how they can live out their school’s mission statement in their respective schools.

Sharing thoughts and reflections as well as listening attentively to one another.

Group photo-op after the workshop.

AOLG Lenten Prayer Service | An End to A Global Problem: Human Trafficking

Students from the Academy of Our Lady of Guam (AOLG) participate in a Lenten Prayer Service focusing on an end to a global problem: Human Trafficking. The prayer service was held last March 6, 2013 at the school’s auditorium.

Vocation Poster | Are you considering a life choice?

Academy Students Volunteer At Thailand English Camp

Academy of Our Lady of Guam students volunteered and participated at the American Women’s Club-Thailand English Camp for Thai students in Thailand from January 25 to 27, 2013. Seniors Stephanie Bordallo, Ria Nichol Camacho, and Korina Yoo joined and helped facilitate, with the American Women’s Club (AWC) and Peace Corps Volunteers, a weekend long camp to teach approximately 100 Thai girls how to speak the English language at Hansa Sujit Wittaya School in Suphan Buri. The Camp consisted of middle and high school participants. Volunteers enjoyed the English “classes” they conducted, such as teaching the “Hokey Pokey”, the parts of the body, and the Spelling and Conversation cube games, which helped expand the Thai students English language spelling and writing skills. A real treat for the Academy students as well as the AOLG advisors, Ms. Christy Alcantara and Mrs. Sherri Vensel, was to actively converse with the Thai girls. Academy students learned how to speak some Thai from their student counterparts. In addition to teaching the Thai female students the English language, the most rewarding experience of the camp was to be able to reach out to the young ladies at the camp to encourage them to be advocates in Thailand against the prostitution of young girls.

Academy students (pictured left Korina Yoo, Stephanie Bordallo, and end Ria Nichol Camacho) enjoy Thailand’s Saturday morning mist with some of the participants before classes begin.

The AOLG Senior Class raised funds to provide two Thai female students, Napa Nadee and Malee Tarakwuan, with a 4-year schooling through the AWC’s Sponsorship Program. Napa and Malee will also graduate this year from high school, the same academic year as their Academy Senior counterparts.

Academy students strike a pose at Cultural Performance Night. Not in traditional Thai attire pictured left to right: Korina Yoo, Stephanie Bordallo, Ria Nichol Camacho.

“Rainbows for All Children”

by Sister Maria Rosario Gaite, RSM

Mrs. Cecilia Padios, Rainbows Coordinator at Santa Barbara Catholic School uses puppets in one of her activities with the students.

They meet every Wednesday afternoon after school. When the dismissal bell rings, twelve students from kindergarten to 8^th grade proceed to their assigned classrooms, in different small groups with their teacher facilitators. They are our typical students, except that they are hurting inside because of the loss of a parent due to death, divorce and custody battles, or deployment overseas.

Rainbows for All Children is an international not-for-profit organization that fosters healing among children grieving a loss from a life-altering crisis, and it was introduced to our school, Santa Barbara Catholic School, in Dededo, Guam a few years ago. We have a growing number of students who are in need of healing and support and our trained teacher facilitators work with the children in a safe, caring environment to help them navigate the painful issues they face.

Continue reading “Rainbows for All Children”

National Vocation Awareness Week

January 13-19 is National Vocation Awareness Week. As we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord, we are asked by the Church to raise awareness about vocation. The Sisters of Mercy invite you first to be aware of your own vocation, to express gratitude for its opportunities to shine in your given place. And then we encourage you to turn to others and have vocational conversations, opening up the topic in unexpected but potentially life-changing ways.

Visit: http://www.sistersofmercy.org

Santa Barbara Catholic School’s Mercy Club Educational Field Trip | Dededo Flea Market

Santa Barbara Catholic School’s Mercy Club went on an educational field trip to Dededo’s Flea Market last November 12, 2012. They had fun interacting with local farmers who explained to them what organic farming is all about. They also bought from them fresh fruits and vegetables as their way of supporting Guam’s local farmers. Santa Barbara Catholic School has been educating its students on care for the earth which is part of the Sisters of Mercy’s social justice advocacy.

Photo shows one of the farmers explaining to the Mercy Club how one can grow sweet papayas without the use of fertilizers and pesticides.

National Religious Vocation Conference

Sisters of Mercy from across the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas gathered in Plano, TX last November 1-5, 2012 for the biennial National Religious Vocation Conference. They were part of the more than 300 vocation ministers and leaders in religious life who listened to keynote speakers, Archbishop Joseph Tobin, CSSR and Sister Kathryn Hermes, as well as attended workshops, networking, fellowship and prayer. Sister Maria Rosario Gaite (standing left on the 4th row) attended the conference on behalf of the Guam Mercy community.

In Memoriam | Pigo Cemetery

Sisters of Mercy, Associates, and families of our departed Sisters gathered at Pigo Cemetery last October 28, 2012 to offer prayers for our Sisters who have passed on to eternal life. Fr. Andre Eduvala, chaplain of the Sisters of Mercy Mercy Care Center offered prayers “responso” and blessings for the dead at the annual prayer gathering.