LOVE, COURTSHIP, MARRIAGE

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 312, 29 September 1926, Page 13

LOVE, COURTSHIP, MARRIAGE

♦ ADVICE BY A PRIEST “ Dint tni ox ” Special. Auckland, September 28. "Love. Courtship, and Marriage” was the subject of a sermon at a mission service at St- Patrick's Cathedral. "I cannot understand why so many young men to-dnv spend their money thriftlessly instead cf saving it to experience, the joy of having a home of their own, remarked Father McCarthy. " 'Be saving is my advice to young men. Do not waste your money as so many are doing; lock forward to the day wiien you may possess a home that is a credit to yourself and a happiness to your family. The preacher made some humorous comment on the attitude of many modern <drls with faults which, he said, were as fatal to them ns thriftlessness was to’man. "Some young women," lie said, "instead of preparing to settle down, must dream of marrying a millionaire. He does not. come, and they find themselves advanced in years and sorry in 'Barents had their responsibilities and faults also, said Father McCarthy. Neither the laws of God nor the laws of the land give them the freehold of (heir children. For less than a 999 years’ lease, he said, it is only a 21 years lease, at the best. Therefore they should not presume on a child’s duty of obedience from merely selfish motives. "Mixed marriages” were vigorously condemned bv the preacher. , "[t ’s sitnplv a matter of logic, said lathoi McCarthy. "If you cannot join in the same pravers. kneel at the same altar, or worship in the same church as your life partner, there must lie a void in your life. In a mixed marriage there is always a silent hut perpetual growth of religious indifference. There is no misery on this earth comparable with the misery of religious indifference. If I were speaking to an assembly of Anglicans or of Presbyterians I would say the same thing.” lie continued. "I would say to them, ‘Don’t marry a Catholic; marry one of your own.’ ” Courtship was described by lather McCarthy as a dangerous occasion, if the proper intentions were absent. He agreed with the little girl who, in reply to the question, What was the best preparation for marriage, said, "Please, my lord, a little courting.” "But,” added lather McCarthy, "there is often too much of it. '■ The church does not want you to comport yourself as if you were going to a funeral. Brightness of courtship will not: suffer by modesty in. the girl and chivalry in the man, which entails respect. Courtship should be above board and parents should encourage their children to bring their friends under the parental roof anil provide suitable amnsoiDPnts tbore for them. This win safeguard them from the great dangers on all sides to-day.” ’ Tho preacher outlined the laws oj the church on marriage, based, ho said, on Christ’s message, "What things you bind ■•i earth shall bo bound in heaven. ’ Ha condemned divorce as a negation of the sorintural injunct ion, "What things God has bound together let no man put asunder/’ TTe added that the church did not legislate for those outside her communkn_. but claimed the riuht. a right extended even to clubs, to bind its own members. ____