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Sydney Aglicans. (2014). Jesus brings justice to the oppressed. Retrieved from
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Unknown. (2019). Justice and Solidarity [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.erea.edu.au/docs/de
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Edmund was extremely spiritual from an early age and always based his mission on his simple but deep trust in God. During Edmund's early adulthood, he went to mass everyday and was very dedicated to his relationship with God. Edmund owned his own bible which was very rare for a layman in late eighteenth century Ireland. He read the bible and used it for deep reflection which he did often. He made many notes in his bible and these all highlighted education for the poor. One scripture he noted was Proverbs 22:16 Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss. This text directly speaks to Edmund's mission and passion to help the poor. Edmund also had a deep commitment to Mother Mary and would often be seen praying the Rosary, a form of Catholic prayer that involves a beaded string that counts the components of the prayer.

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Edmund's legacy has been carried on through the order that he established and schools he had opened. Many Edmund Rice Schools exist today, many of these being located in Queensland. Schools such as St Joseph's Nudgee College, St Joseph's Gregory Terrace, St James College , St Edmund's College and many more all stride to uphold Edmund and follow in his footsteps. They have adopted his fundamental beliefs and live by his values of compassion, liberation, trust, justice and solidarity to name a few. As Edmund did, each of these schools prioritise providing a Catholic education to young boys. These schools are all part of the Edmund Rice Education Australia community.

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Biblical Criticism applied To The Parable of the Rich Fool

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Biblical Criticism applied To The Parable of the Rich Fool

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13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

World Behind The Text:
Luke’s Gospel was written around the middle of the eighth decade of the first century. With a mainly agrarian society, it was extremely common for people to live in rural locations and more specifically on farmland. People relied on their harvest for food and income and the lower class would work on the farm in compensation for living space and rations of the harvested product. The culture of the time indicates that owners of farmland would be wealthy and receive most of the profits and supply from the harvest. Owners would trade their resources for others harvest or even money.

World of the Text:
Although the parable is fairly short it still follows the common narrative structure with a sentence long orientation to introduce the setting, a farm and the character,  a wealthy farmer. The story has a problem and resolution at the end. Jesus told this story to a crowd after a stranger asked him to tell his brother to split their inheritance. Jesus told this story to teach them about the greed and possession. As the story ends witht the farmers life being taken from him so that he doesn't get the crops he had kept form himself. From this, Jesus relates the parable back to the audience through telling them that this is what will happen if you store up possessions without being rich to God.

World In Front of the Text:
This parable s relevant in today's society as it teaches us about the importance of not being greedy with our possessions and sharing what wee have with others especially those who are less fortunate than us. The parable is more aimed towards the rich and greedy. This parable is an important lesson as the wealthier part of today's society uses and wastes most of our irreplaceable resources leaving 75% of the remaining population in poverty. This was extremely relevant to Edmund Rice as he shared his earnings, home, resources, time etc. to help educate young boys in poverty. Edmund knew not to be greedy and keep his income for himself but shared with others and devoted most of his life to building catholic education.

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Extract from a letter written By Edmund in 1810 replying to a request for details of the Mount Sion school system.
The half-hour's explanation of the Catechism I hold to be the most salutary part of the system.  It's the most laborious to the teachers; however, if it was ten times what it is. I must own we are amply paid in seeing such a Reformation in the Children. Drs. Moylan & McCarthy have sent us two young men to serve a Noviceship for the purpose of establishing our Institute in Cork. I trust in the goodness of God that it will spread before long in most parts of the Kingdom - indeed it would give me particular satisfaction to see it prosper in Thurles. May God give your Grace life to see this effected. Anything in our power to serve this purpose Yr. Grace can freely command.

This letter shows the commitment and passion that Edmund Rice held for his pupils' education and his persistence in running the schools and providing Catholic education to the unfortunate. The letter also held a description of his school system and this showed Edmund's compassion for the students and the fact that he cared for each and everyone of them. This letter helped to describe the importance of Edmund's mission and how his school has positively impacted those who have received an education through Edmund's support.

Extract from a letter from Edmund Rice to Mother Mary Patrick Keeshan, Presentation Convent, Waterford, 1836.
What thanksgiving should we not give to God for calling us into religion. May he be blessed and praised forever.

Extract from a letter written in response to the withdrawal from National Board of Education.
The Institute being the work of God and for God, its existence does not depend on man, and those whose motto is “Providence is our inheritance” will never be forsaken.

This sentence shows Edmund's deep and intimate relationship with God and the depth of his spirituality. The letters show his deep trust in God and how he applied his message to his order.

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Rerum Novarum, title page (French version)- Internet Archive

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During the Industrial Revolution, many developments in work and technology lead to a major shift in the social pyramid. Many were left poor and isolated. Pope Leo Xlll at the time, released the first social encyclical known as the Rerum Novarum, a document that responded publicly to the injustices at the time. This document talked about the "Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor."  and focuses on the common good and how we should help others and encouraged the richer community to adopt the concept of equity. The document talked about how we should treat the poor with dignity and respect and the upper class's responsibility to do so at the time. Parts of this document influenced Edmund Rice's motivation to help others, in particular part four,  Responsibility of the Rich. This section highlights the use of resources and how people shouldn't think of their possessions as their own but instead share with those who are more in need. It talks about equity, the government should provide extra protection and resources for those who are in poverty as they are more in need than others and have nothing to fall back on. This inspired Edmund to use his wealth to support children who were in need and took them in, sharing his possessions with everyone. He sacrificed his home to sponsor children from the streets and dedicated his life to educating young boys from the streets who didn't have the same opportunities as the middle and upper class.

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Edmunds Memorial in Callan

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Edmunds Family home in Callan:

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Throughout his life, Edmund followed Jesus in his prophetic, priestly and Kingly missions. Edmund was an extremely spiritual man and from a young age, he shared his deep faith and trust in God through his extensive study on the bible and the daily masses he attended. His priestly mission can be seen through the order he  started that is now known as The Congregation of Christian Brothers. His priestly mission can be defined in his simple and deep faith in God. He would often say “Providence is our inheritance!” and through his letters would constantly encourage people to trust in God in times of adversity.

Edmund not only believed in freedom for the students he taught but the community he lived in. During the 19th century, catholics who lived in Ireland, Edmund being one, suffered extreme oppression. Edmund reflected on the hardships he had endured at the time and taught young men in hopes to change the fundamental values in society at the time. The belief during this time was that teaching the poor was a waste of time. In a writing from King Louis XV’s Attorney, Louis-Rene de Caradeuc he said “They teach reading and writing to people who should never have learned more than a little drawing or how to handle tools. The good of society requires that the lower classes’ knowledge should go no further than their occupations". Edmund defied his community's principles at the time and did what he believed God wanted him to do. Through doing this he sacrificed a lot but through his deep faith in God, he stood with the oppressed and spoke out  for them.

Edmund displayed his kingly role through using his influence to spread his spirituality and deep love for God. He provided religious education for each school he opened and taught the younger generations about God and the common good. He encouraged his students to help others and develop a deep spiritual compass. Enclosed in a letter written by Edmund himself was a description of his school system. "We have a clock in the school, the better to direct them in the regulating the time, and at every time it strikes, silence is observed all over the schools, and every boy blesses himself, says the Hail Mary, and makes some short pious aspirations which continues about a minute when they bless themselves again and resume their business." This shows that Edmund wanted his pupils to have a deep spiritual understanding and wanted them to live a religious lifestyle.

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Edmund Rice

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Edmund Rice was born on 1 June 1762 in Callan, a small market town located in south Ireland to Robert Rice and Margaret Rice. During this time his family lived in oppression enforced by the British authorities towards Catholics. However, he was fortunate that his family was wealthy and owned farming land with money to provide their son with an education. In his younger years, he attended a local hedge school in Callan. Later, he was educated by the Augustinian Friar Patrick Grace before moving to a local city, Kilkenny, to continue his education at age 15. This was significant in shaping his later years and his passion for education and providing it to those in need. When he was 17, he moved to Waterford to complete an apprenticeship with his uncle and when he was 23 he married Mary Elliot. In 1776, his father Robert died and in 1789, his wife died giving birth to his daughter Mary who was handicapped. Several years later in 1792, his brother John joined the Augustinian Friars in New Ross. Edmund encouraged and sponsored him. In 1793, many important events occurred in Edmund's life that initiated his want to help the poor. These included sharing a hotel room with a friar that encouraged him to consider his vocation. He continued to take care of his daughter and in 1795 his uncle died leaving him in charge of the family business. In the same year he consulted with Bishop Lanigan of Kilkenny who encouraged him saying that "the idea proceeded from God" and he then decided to dedicate his life to educate the poor of Waterford. In 1798, three of Nano Nagle’s sisters arrived in Waterford. Edmund helped them to establish a convent and raise funds for new buildings. Later that year he founded Trinitarian Orphan Society. In 1800, Edmund sold his family business and began teaching street children at night after work in his house with the help of unpaid volunteers. He used the money raised from selling his business to take care of his daughter. Edmund was joined by Thomas Grosvenor and Patrick Finn and over the next five years three non-profitable organisations were opened. In 1808, Edmund and five of his partners took vows as members of the Society of the Presentation and became known as the "Gentlemen of the Presentation". Edmund then was known to be "Brother Ignatius" in the community. In 1812, the first official "Rice School" was established in Hanover Street, Dublin, at Bishop Murray's request and in 1817 the brothers agreed to reorganise into a Pontifical Congregation meaning they were no longer under the authority of the local Bishop. In 1822, 19 professed Brothers took part in an assembly and retreat in Waterford and after the Brothers professed vows on the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. The reorganisation plan was accepted and the Congregation of Christian Brothers was formed. Edmund became the first Superior General of the new Pontifical Congregation. Their first school opened in 1825 in England and more schools then opened in Manchester, Liverpool, Sunderland and London. In 1828, Edmund moved his headquarters to a school in Dublin and during a cholera outbreak in 1832, many schools were used as temporary hospitals. In 1838, Edmund resigned from his position as Superior General and soon after his farewell tour to Irish Schools and Brothers Communities, fell extremely ill. Edmund passed away on 29 August 1844 at Mount Sion, Waterford, aged 82. Edmund's legacy lives on through his countless organisations and schools. He is considered one of the largest contributors in helping to develop Catholic education.