We had the honour of hosting the Edmund Rice Network Conference on the weekend of the 10th to 11th of September which was organised by Edmund Rice Justice Trust. The theme “Tihei Wā Mauri Ora” acknowledges the breath of life as an inspiration for our community to live in the charism of Edmund Rice, caring for “the last, the least and the lost.”
Our Prefects, Justice Leaders and Northland Māori Pilgrimage groups demonstrated excellent school spirit and aroha (love) as we welcomed the manuhiri (visitors) with a powerful haka led by Josh Harris, and waiata (songs). It was a weekend of strengthening ties and reconnecting bonds with four other Edmund Rice schools in Aotearoa: St Peter’s College, St Kevin’s College, St Thomas of Canterbury College and Kavanagh College, and all other participants from all over the country, Australia and the Philippines.
To commemorate the significance of the event and in honour of Edmund Rice’s birth 260 years ago, we planted a kōwhai tree in our school’s prayer garden. This part of the Sunday ritual was headed by Paul Houghton and Brother Frank Perkins, as it is also a tribute to Paul's 45 years of service to the Catholic school system. It signifies a tree of life that will be seen and appreciated by the next generation of students coming through the gates of Liston College.
