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As a feminist theologian, Mary Aquin O’Neill wrote Original Grace: The Mystery of Mary out of a committed devotion to Mary and a commitment to women.  She was very aware that the images of Mary developed over the years by male theologians simply deepened an…

Sisters of Mercy and their colleagues and friends around the world owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Sister Mary C. Sullivan, RSM. Our gratitude depends on much more than her commitment to scholarship and to theological inquiry. Most of all, we appreciate her dedication…

In this essay I wish to explore Catherine McAuley's concepts of comforting and animating, by which I believe she defined both her own unique contribution to the founding of the Sisters of Mercy, and two essential works of those who would personally quicken the re-founding…

Somehow we know, beyond all doubt, that the eager enkindler of our personal and corporate vocation as Sisters of Mercy is, even now, steadily at work among our dry bones and sinews. More than anything else in this world we wish to surrender to this…

The "visitation" of the sick poor was one of the three central elements in Catherine McAuley's vision of the merciful work to which she and, later, her companions in the Sisters of Mercy were called.i She conceived of this "visitation" as affording to the desperately…

The theme for our reflections is "Sowing Hope: Embracing Cultural Diversity," and I have been asked to focus on Catherine McAuley's legacy as it relates to this theme.

The word “prophetic” is often used in relation to religious life: as an exhortation, a complaint, a compliment, an assurance, a definition, a description. In fact, it is currently quite a fashionable word: if one can say that someone or something is "prophetic," one's theological…

If we wish to enter deeply into the prayer of Catherine McAuley, as a place where she and Christ may teach us, we may enter the ordinary scenes of her praying that have been recorded for us by those who lived with her. Whether we…

The history of the Sisters of Mercy is a history of radiant public symbols: living persons, objects, events, and actions that by their symbolic character and presence proclaim the enduring and gracious mercy of God. Some of these symbols have remained constant in their vitality…

Spiritual leadership involves at least three efforts on the part of a religious or ecclesial leader.

Mary C. Sullivan, RSM, was a prolific writer about the life and mission of Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Sisters of Mercy. These writings continue to shape and inspire all who are called to the Mercy charism. Her writings also include a number of…

Welcome to the first issue of The MAST Journal to be published online! After thirty years of publishing in the traditional format of a printed hard copy, we are reaching out to you, our readers, from this new platform. Yes, the articles can be downloaded and…

Gathering for communal prayer, especially morning and evening, in the spirit of the prayer of the church, assists us to grow in responsiveness to the conflicts and sufferings of the world. (Mercy Constitutions §17) The conflicts and sufferings of our world today call us to…

Consider this epistolary essay subtitled, “A Macaronic Letter,” as a somewhat sardonic reflection on my relationship with Merton—an attempt to grapple with its complexity and my own place in it. 

This issue, “Foundations of Spirituality,” comes in the midst of the flow of The MAST Journal toward online publication. The theme of this issue expresses our conviction that accommodation to the “signs of the times,” reveals that the foundations for our lives and ministries haven’t…