The Treaty of Waitangi – A sacred covenant
The Treaty of Waitangi is a ‘living document’, the basis for an ‘agreed understanding’ between Aotearoa New Zealand’s chiefs of hapū and iwi, and the Crown. It was intended to provide direction for future growth and development. An official day of holiday and celebration is observed annually on 6 February.
Waitangi Day: The Treaty Is a Partnership
Each year on 6 February in Aotearoa New Zealand, we celebrate Waitangi Day commemorating the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840 between Māori rangatira (chiefs) and the Crown. Admittedly, New Zealand has a history of ignoring Te Tiriti, but in the last 50 years particularly our governments and many institutions have worked with […]
Julian’s Charism Continues Today
Julian Tenison Woods seldom looked away from nature’s realities. He appreciated and pursued unexplored fields which were opened to him during his short life span. No wonder so many Josephites have spread far and wide deeply connecting with the Whenua – ‘the womb which gives us life’. Sr Makareta and I travelled to the far […]
ANZAC Day Reflection
ANZAC Day (25 April) is a day of remembrance in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. In these times when church attendance is waning, the public liturgies of remembrance are becoming popular. Crowds gather for the dawn service, services at cenotaphs, the parade of returned service men and women and the laying of wreaths. Many more […]
Recycling Soft Plastics in ANZ
Mt St Joseph Sisters in Whanganui Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ) and staff have a long history of working to minimise waste – from large compost bins for all garden waste, to the well-established worm farm which recycles paper that comes from the office and house staff. Both have been in use since being set up […]
Toitu Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Behold the Treaty of Waitangi
On 6 February 1840, over 500 Māori Rangatira (chiefs) put their names to an important document called Te Tiriti of Waitangi or the Treaty of Waitangi in Aotearoa New Zealand. This document was written in two languages, one in English and one in Māori. It was written by James Busby and Captain William Hobson. They […]
130th Anniversary of Mary MacKillop’s first visit to Aotearoa New Zealand
Mary MacKillop’s first visit in Aotearoa New Zealand began from her arrival on 25 January 1894 and concluded on 8 March 1895. The itinerary of Mary’s visit, ascertained from correspondence compiled by Sister Anne Marie Power, shows that some places were visited more than once. Twenty-eight years on from the founding of the Congregation in […]
140th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Josephites in Temuka, ANZ
I felt like the poor man who was made Lord Mayor of Dublin. I could only wonder was it myself who was there. Sr Calasanctius to Mary MacKillop on her arrival in Temuka, 1883 On 1 November we will be remembering 140 years since Mary MacKillop sent three Sisters to Temuka to set up the […]
Mary MacKillop’s Virtues, Values and Time in Arrowtown, Aotearoa New Zealand
How do Mary MacKillop’s virtues and values inspire the happenings of everyday life? Sr Margaret Mary Sexton wrote: When the time came for Mother Mary MacKillop to begin her visitation of the other houses, she feared her little Arrow community would be very lonely so far away from all the other convents.Sr Margaret Mary Sexton, […]
Tenth Anniversary of Te Kiritahitanga/Fusion
A document was received by the Sisters of St Joseph in Whanganui, New Zealand, and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Sydney, Australia on 22 February 2013. Coming from the Vatican, the words brought into reality a journey which had started many years before for the Whanganui Sisters. When the first […]
Waitangi Day 2023
Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Treaty of Waitangi signed in Aotearoa New Zealand Seen as New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, in Te Ika a Maui, (the North Island) of Aotearoa (New Zealand). The document outlines the principles to which […]
Your Water, Your Life, No Water, No Future
Sisters of Saint Joseph based in Whanganui, Aotearoa New Zealand, recently joined the community to express their concerns for how the water may be used in their community. In the small city of Whanganui, Aotearoa New Zealand, a bottling company’s plans to extract aquifer water from an existing capped bore beside the old unused Milk […]