At Merion Mercy's Community Reset on October 3, our reading was from the documentary study for the canonization process of Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy. What followed was a personal reflection from junior Isabelle Duley.
Mother Catherine McAuley strongly believed in providing a good education for girls, which was a bold move during her time. She created programs that were groundbreaking, showing care and compassion for people who were often ignored.
She combined her sense of justice with mercy, believing that how we treat people is just as important as the reasons behind our actions. This is why she focused on the "how" instead of just the "why."
Her group, the Sisters of Mercy, represented her vision of promoting social justice. She wanted to ensure that poor people had access to the services they deserved, and she aimed to do this in a broad and flexible way.
Her approach to Mercy and Justice was kind and non-judgmental. She once wrote, “It’s better to help a hundred people who might not really need it than to turn away even one person who truly does.” She believed that help should be immediate, saying, “The poor need help today, not next week.”
A Reflection from Isabelle Duley '26
This past summer, I had the opportunity to go to camp in Spain. Here, I met people from all over the world, places like France, Australia, Italy, and more. While at the camp I wanted to gain more than just a good grade in Spanish. I wanted to use this once in a lifetime opportunity to learn more about the people from places that I had only ever dreamed of visiting. I took the time to get to know the other 16 year old girls and their own lives back home. After spending an entire week with them I learned that all of our lives were vastly different, and we all had different perspectives. As much as these differences could have divided us, we were united over our shared experiences as young women in this world.
In today’s reading we learn how Catherine McAuley’s “approach to Mercy and Justice was kind and non-judgmental” and that is how I want to approach everyone I meet—kindly and without judgment. In my experience it would have been easy to judge my peers and treat them coldly because I was confused by our differences. Instead, I listened closely to our similarities and appreciated the ways in which they diverged. We’d all been plagued by boy troubles, we’d all faced academic pressures from our teachers and parents, we’d all experienced a feud between friends, but most of all we understood the struggle of navigating life at our age and the stress that comes with trying to live perfectly. And as we heard in our reading this morning, it’s not about being perfect but instead focusing on how we live. Ensuring that we put effort into living a good, meaningful life. That it is not why we live, but how. I learned that my best way to live is an open-minded approach, offering all people the kindness and mercy that has been instilled in me.
It is because of Catherine McAuley’s example of kindness that I was able to create such a unique connection and learn so much about so many different people. I cherish this human connection because it teaches me a compassion and love that I can’t learn anywhere else.
Catherine McAuley says Jesus’ words to “‘Love one another as I have loved you,’ should be engraved on our innermost souls, and shown forth in our whole conduct.” These are powerful words that we should keep in mind when greeting all people. The love Jesus talks about includes an open-mind and kindness that we should grant every person regardless of who they are or who we believe them to be. Approaching life with a lack of judgment is how I was able to form such an incredible connection and learn that people aren’t so different. So, before we continue on with our day, look around the room and remember that all of us share something. All of us have so many things in common, and for that we should love one another as Jesus has loved us.
- Mercy
- Merion Mercy Academy