Companion
Of
Mercy Conference and Retreat Center
Personal
And
Shared
Soul-Care
Mercy Conference and Retreat Center joins you as a companion on your spiritual journey through COMPASS. Each COMPASS kit is personalized for you, the recipient, and arrives with a promise of prayer. All content is created by Mercy Conference and Retreat Center staff members making our kits a very unique offering from us to you.
We believe COMPASS kits will be beneficial to the recipient on a personal level, but also to groups who wish to share in meaningful discussions either virtually or in-person.
About COMPASS Kits
Mercy Conference and Retreat Center created COMPASS kits in the spirit of Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, who understood well the importance of our connectedness to God. In these ever-changing times, our connectedness to God has never been so vital to our well-being as we seek to care for ourselves and our loved ones.
Since the outbreak of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the many adjustments required to maintain one's personal health and that of co-workers and loved ones, has created untold amounts of stress, isolation and loneliness. The collective and cumulative toll on mental and physical health is a story continuing to unfold. As a result, the care of our souls - the source of our connectedness to God, has never been so important.
Our souls are the very essence of who we are and meant to be in this life. And, without proper and continuous care, our souls may be at odds with our minds and hearts in terms of the directions we take, the courses we follow or the degrees of centeredness we feel in this sacred and often bewildering circle of life. Our souls, maybe more than ever, need a compass!
We generally think of compasses as purely logistical instruments or tools to help us determine direction, measure distances between points, or draw circles with complete accuracy. A compass for our souls is also an instrument or tool, but doesn't direct us outward, it directs us inward. It helps us connect with our center... that deep space within which speaks directly to the Divine, our Almighty God, and invites our hearts and minds to listen. When we find ourselves without the time or tools to quiet ourselves and listen, we may become frazzled, restless and worn-out. Yet, few tools exist to help us care for our souls as we must.
This reality opened the door for Mercy Conference and Retreat Center (MCRC) to create something unique to help fill this void... a tool, which can help those to whom we minister, to look inward and experience that deep connectedness to God so needed right now. As a ministry, MCRC has not only the ability, but the responsibility to answer the call to Mercy as did Catherine McAuley in her day.
Each component of our COMPASS kits has been chosen specifically with the Critical Concerns of the Sisters of Mercy in mind: Earth, Immigration, Nonviolence, Racism and Women.
Some of our COMPASS kits component providers are:
Zero-waste stickers are made with 100% recycled post-consumer waste, are recyclable, and come on their unique zero waste liner, which is not only 100% recycled paper, but curbside recyclable once the stickers are removed.
This St. Louis based printing company is committed to "sustainable printing for eco-friendly print services". Their pledge, which includes to "be a good citizen and a protector of our environment", may be viewed on their website.
Prosperity Candle is "a social enterprise that supports refugees and artisans through candle-making and beautifully crafted vessels" easily refilled, repurposed or recycled after use. Prosperity is also one of our gift shop vendors.
Shillington Box Company of St. Louis, Missouri
Shillington "participates as a partner with the Conservation Heritage Foundation and the Missouri Department of Conservation Forestry Division in a grant program established to purchase and reforest land, ensuring that its CycleGreen™ products have a 100% carbon neutral footprint".
To join our efforts in supporting sustainability, please reuse, repurpose or recycle COMPASS kit packaging. Thank you!
