From April 27 to May 3 we celebrate National Volunteer Week. This year’s theme is Volunteers Make Waves: Together We Create Ripples of Change.
Using the image of water, this year’s observance compares the contributions of volunteers to the power of water to affect the world’s’ ecosystems. This week gives Canadians an opportunity to recognize and celebrate all the ways volunteers create ripples of change in our society.
We express gratitude to the many people who volunteer on behalf of our Congregation – on Boards, committees, participants in our ongoing life and ministries. Their involvement, support, encouragement and partnership play a vital role in helping us carry out our mission of Mercy in Canada and Peru.
Del 27 de abril al 3 de mayo celebramos la Semana Nacional del Voluntariado. El tema de este año es Los voluntarios hacen olas: Juntos creamos ondas de cambio.
Utilizando la imagen del agua, la celebración de este año compara las contribuciones de los voluntarios con el poder del agua para afectar a los ecosistemas del mundo. Esta semana brinda a los canadienses la oportunidad de reconocer y celebrar todas las formas en que los voluntarios crean ondas de cambio en nuestra sociedad.
Expresamos nuestra gratitud a las numerosas personas que trabajan como voluntarias en nombre de nuestra Congregación – en Juntas, comités, participantes en nuestra vida y ministerios en curso. Su participación, apoyo, aliento y colaboración desempeñan un papel vital para ayudarnos a llevar a cabo nuestra misión de Misericordia en Canadá y Perú.
Prayers for the Sick, Resources from the Wisdom Circles, Items of Interest, Important Dates, Welcoming May, An Archival Moment and a delicious Ham Pot Pie recipe are among the many topics covered in our latest issue.
Easter is the feast of hope. This is the feast that says God will have the last word and that God’s final judgment is resurrection. God will turn all that we maim and destroy and hurt and punish into life and beauty. What the resurrection reveals more than anything else is that love is stronger than death. Jesus walks the way of death with love and what it becomes is not death but life! It doesn’t fit any logical explanation. Yet this is the mystery: that nothing dies forever, and all that has died will be reborn in love. So, to be a Christian is to be inevitably and forever a person of hope.
Sister M. Cecilia spent twenty -five years of her life at Sacred Heart Convent in St. Lawrence. A capable and dynamic woman, she served as superior of the community for many of those years. She was a competent and enterprising administrator and an accomplished musician, and much of her time was spent preparing the children to participate in plays, operettas and concerts. These events often served as fundraisers for the purchase of new equipment for the school or the church. Sister M. Cecilia was one of the many Sisters of Mercy who instilled and developed the strong musical tradition that still exists in St. Lawrence.

Present to celebrate with Eileen were a number of Sisters, representatives of Administration and Pastoral Care, as well as several volunteers. Joyce Penney, Director of Volunteer Services welcomed the group and lauded Sister Eileen’s ministry to third-floor residents of St. Patrick’s, noting her quiet, steady, compassionate presence to each one.
According to current statistics, nearly 300,000 women worldwide lose their life through pregnancy or childbirth each year, and over two million babies die in the first month of life. The health of mothers and babies is the foundation of healthy families and communities, helping to ensure a hopeful future for all. This 2025 WHO campaign urges health systems to manage the many health issues impacting maternal and newborn health.