News & Events

We are all invited to join with Pope Francis and his worldwide prayer network in praying this month's intention: Dialogue and Reconciliation in the Middle East

Let us pray that a spirit of dialogue, encounter, and reconciliation emerge in the Middle East, where diverse religious communities share their lives together.



In the Middle East, concord and dialogue among the three monotheistic religions is based on spiritual and historic bonds.
The Good News of Jesus, risen out of love, came to us from these lands. Today, many Christian communities, together with Jewish and Muslim communities, work here for peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness.
Let us pray that a spirit of dialogue, encounter, and reconciliation emerge in the Middle East.

- Pope Francis, November 2019

We invite you to post a prayer or reflection in our prayer space

'Mindful that we are called by the world and the church at this particular time in history to hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, we will continue to respond mercifully to both.' (Chapter Statement)


The Catholic Church in Australia is dedicating the month of November 2019 as a time to pray for those affected by crippling drought conditions and to pray for the gift of rain.

Parishes, schools, families and other Catholic communities across the country are being encouraged to participate in the National Prayer Campaign for Drought, which also invites people to provide assistance to those most in need.

Join  us this month in prayer for all farming families and affected communities  facing hardship due to drought:

We are all invited to join with Pope Francis and his worldwide prayer network in praying this month's intention: Missionary Spring in the Church

In this extraordinary mission month, let us pray that the Holy Spirit engenders a new missionary spring in the Church.



Today, a new impulse to the Church’s missionary activity is needed to face the challenge of proclaiming Jesus and his death and resurrection.
Reaching the peripheries—the human, cultural, and religious settings still foreign to the Gospel: this is what we call the missio ad gentes.
We must also remember that the soul of the Church’s mission is prayer.
In this extraordinary missionary month, let us pray that the Holy Spirit may engender a new missionary spring for all those baptized and sent by Christ’s Church.

Message of Pope Francis for World Mission Day 2019

Read - Baptized and sent: the Church of Christ on mission in the world

For the first time in the history of the OLMC Parramatta Mercy Tree, the decision has been made to support the same beneficiary for two years in a row. Women’s Community Shelters (WCS), the 2018/2019 Mercy Tree beneficiary, will be opening a women’s shelter in Parramatta in the coming months and funds raised from Mercy Tree donations from this year’s annual appeal will go to this shelter.

Principal Stephen Walsh says this cause has really struck a chord with our community and our hearts are committed to seeing this important initiative become a success: “We know our community will get behind the 2019/2020 campaign to ensure the shelter launches and operates at its full potential to help as many families as possible.”

“By supporting this cause, we are carrying on the legacy of the Sisters of Mercy and Catherine McAuley, following in the footsteps of the ‘walking nuns’ who went out to the disadvantaged in Parramatta to bring practical support and hope. We have the chance help change the lives of the Parramatta’s most vulnerable women and children,” says College Principal Stephen Walsh.

Annabelle Daniels, CEO Women’s Community Shelters (WCS), says her team is incredibly excited to be on the countdown to the opening our new Parramatta Shelter, with recruitment of shelter staff underway:” Very soon we’ll open our doors to more women and children who need crisis accommodation.”

WCS works with local communities to provide more safe havens for women and their children. WCS offers vulnerable women at risk of homelessness or domestic violence shelter, active case management, support, dignity, self-esteem and a chance to start anew, through the establishment, operation and/or supervision and support of Women’s Community Shelters and transitional housing.

The Mercy Tree is a social justice initiative of the College which symbolises the growth of commitment to Mercy Values in the students at OLMC and our broader community. Standing as a burst of green in the College’s Brigid Shelly courtyard, at approximately 4 metres tall, the Chinese Elm tree has blossomed since it was first blessed and planted in 2012. Part of the donations to the Mercy Tree Gift Fund are given to charitable causes nominated by the fund’s Trustee. The remainder is invested to provide a secure and ongoing revenue stream to support social justice programs.