Mobile mercy app a milestone in the support of action and contemplation in daily life

24 Aug 2016

By The Record

Accessible: Users of the Sisters of Mercy “Mercy-ing app” take advantage of daily reflection and prayer on embodying Mercy through mobile technology. Photo: Supplied

The Institute of the Sisters of Mercy recently offered people working in Mercy ministry another tool to develop a daily practice for contemplation and action in their lives.

The “Mercy-ing app” was launched earlier this year and is supporting action and contemplation in daily life. The app has had over 2000 downloads.

An institute spokesman said the path of Mercy invites people to attain balance of their lives through prayer and the app was assisting people towards this goal in Australia, New Zealand, America and Ireland.

Stephen Tiley, a user of the app said he had always known reflection was positive, but struggled to generate it naturally.

“The Mercy-ing app has been of great assistance in this regard, by using the archive I am able to focus on a specific inspiration or reflection that best connects with my day,” Mr Tiley said.

The app was developed by Fraynework Multimedia is aimed to give users the flexibility to utilise it at home, work or with family.

A working group of lay women consisting of Carmel Crawford, Anne Ferguson, Janice McDrury and Natalie Acton were tasked with developing the content and concept of the app.

The group released a statement explaining that the idea of the app “came about through our experience of working with people who were seeking to integrate a reflective practice centred on Mercy in their everyday, busy work and family lives”.

Each month the app adopts a new theme based of the Works of Mercy.

Another user of the app, Caitlin Pfafflin, said she found the app extremely relaxing at the end of a long day.

“Many doorways of Mercy have been presented to me since I downloaded the app,” Mrs Pfafflin said.

The app can be downloaded from the App Store

It can also be obtained via Google Play