August 26, 2025
Played by our dear late Mary Klock, RSM
Ah! My Philadelphia Mercy friends!
How good to see you!
My name is Anne Geraghty,
known to you as Sister Mary Francis de Sales.
I too came to America in 1860
with Patricia Waldron on the good ship Parana.
Do you remember the day we sailed out of Galway, Patricia,
never to live on our beautiful island again!
Were there not at least some soft tears that day!
Little could I have realized then
that our journey was but a first step for me
on a life of missionary adventures.
After twelve dynamic years in Philadelphia,
I became our first sister sent on mission.
I went to Omaha
and then for a few years to the wild Dakota territory.
I lived a long and glorious life in the service of our God,
Who has many faces and speaks many languages
and lives in every corner of the earth.
And I have watched you through the years,
my Philadelphia community.
You have ventured into many states and many lands.
You have immersed yourselves in many cultures.
You have shaped the word of Mercy
so that it can be heard by the rainbow of God’s People.
And it has returned to you,
twice blessed by their humble, loving welcome.
It thrills my heart to see your lively, open spirits
in our country’s West and South, and distant North,
in the heart of India, Peru, Guyana, Bolivia, Africa.
I have seen you accompany God’s people
in the campo and the reservation,
In the ghetto and the bayou,
In the cities, villages and pueblos.
My spirit was a golden clarion
that called hearts to courage.
From my own pioneer’s heart and will,
I have sent you the blessing of courage and adventure
as you have spoken the word of mercy
in the steadfast witness of your lives.
I have sent you the blessing of humility and love,
So that your hearts could be transformed
By the sacred touch of the poor whom you serve.
For Your Reflection:
- What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
- Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ?
- What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?
Lavish Mercy 