AN OLD FRIEND

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 9, 5 March 1908, Page 37

AN OLD FRIEND

' I hear old John Smith has ?>^. taken ***£*£? a burly farmer to his wife, on his return from market one b coM water's day. ' i went in to have a glass at the Black Swan,' he continued and Fisher, wno was there at the time told me about him. 'Indeed l I'm sorry for. that,' said ms wue, WI1( -> knew some 'of : Se Smiths fairly well. 'Do you know Wha *i a fScy hl it ? iB that 'ere influenza; it's Just rife all the couSj through, and keeps the .doctors that busy H d rhe kn °go 4 h Tbad, "I «&3£ ?? Webster asked, as she stirred the fire into a comfortable- dLuc, and set on the kettle to boil. ' That I don't know, but he is at his best nox. li y strong and ! beSdes he nWi* getting on m yeais no*. I should say he is close ur on seventy. < Well, yes, he must be qfiite that ; and it s a sou ojs matter, is this complaint with the old foUs Ue is comfortably- off, and that's one blessing foi he can be well looked after. But when a moa's time is come ho is bound to RO, no matter what care he gets. g hG 'Ay^ and that's the truth,' said Webster with a sieh 'Man's days are but as grass, as the psalm sajs. wf're here to day-gone to-morrow, for life is wonderfUl ?? h They did use to say,' continued Mrs. Webster, after a pause, < as okl John was a Catholic in his young days I believe there would be some truth in it, for « is brother James, he was of that way of thinking ; he lies buried in the Catholic cemetery.' ' I've never seen John come to our church that i know of, but he may have gone w'-en I wasn't there. Anyway, he never goes to chapel. I know there used to be a Catholic priest who used to call on him at times, lmit the missis had no likin? for him, and didn t make him none too welcome, and, by Jove, she's the master there by long odds. I am not* the only one that says so. I'll step over and ask how the old man is tomorrow.' , . , John Smith, the man ft. question, was found to be d-ngierously ill. and not much hope was entertained of his recovery. It was true he was a Catholic, but, like too many others, he had, become so absorbed in business and money-making that religion had in time come to be quite a secondary consideration ; he seemed to quite forget that Almighty God had any claim, upon lum at all.

He prospered in his bush ness and made money. Not content with what he ha/d, he married the widow of a publican, and took on the public His wife was a Protestant, and no lover of Catholics, but John; * blinded by the glitter of the fortune he saw before him turned his back on his faith, married 1 her, and gave up church-goiner altogether. It was a very sad business ; no remonstrance of priest or friend had any effect. He was too busy and too prosperous to worry about His soul. So, when years had passed away, we find him 1 striclcen down, with Ms last sickness, with no Catholic near him, and' in the hands of a wife, who would sooner have welcomed her worst enemy than have willingly allowed a priest to cross the threshold of her 'door. To have asked for the priest would ha^-e been useless, and he ha/I' not the courage .to try and send.. He knpw he was in dancer, and had but little, change ; and his eonscirnce, silenced so long, seemed to wake and rouse him' to his s+atf. ♦ * - .

Almftghty God was gi'ins: hfm a, e;ood chance. "He had no peace by day or night. What would he- not have given to get a priest now, he who had refused for years to attend his religion. And someone had told the priest, of the parish about him, and he had call-

ed not cn.ee, but two or three times, but he had been sternly and rudely refused admittance, and told he was not wanted, and it was useless to go anymore* -mere was nothing for- it but to pray that God would give the wretched man time to make his peace. And poor John, miserable beyond words, and wea* ; and ■ suffering, turned to Alm.ig.hty -God in prayer. - : It was not too late. - ' In a parish some little distance away, there lived an "old pr.est who nad known John in his early days, and in some providential way he heard of his illness, and of the refusals Father B had met with in trying to see him. He' determined ,' with God's help, to get to him. There must be no delay, a nd he started at ojrcce. With him he took the holy oils and the Blessed Sacrament, and he got himself up in such a disguise that none could recognise him or guess his errand. He took a trap to the village, where he put up; and then made his way to the public house. He "had to wait some time, but at last his chance came. Mrs. Smith, by some good fortune, was out, and Father GG — ■ found- the daughter a far less severe womani. 1 ' I was' so griaved to hear of Mr. Smith's bad attack—l only knew to-day,' he said, ' and came straight away to inquire,' for I)'m a very old friend- of John's. Is there any hope that I might see him? If he is not too weak, maybe he would take no harm from seeing an old friend ?' - ' He's a lit easier this afternoon, thank_ you,' said the girl. 'If you will wait, I will just see~if he is awake, and if he will see you.' She went upstairs and soon came down ag-a'in and took the unsuspected ' old friend ' to see the sick man. Fortunately, it was a busy day in the house, and the gtil having plenty to do, was" glad to leave these two alone. 'Do you ln>w mo, John?' Father G asked-, as socn as "they were to themselves. ' I'-m Father "Q-: .' - A feverish .hand clasped his, and the poor man's eyes fil'ei with trars. He did ,1 now him. ' Thank God, th^uk God,' he said. "How &\& you 1 nDw ?' Thank God for Hs poodness.' • He co:ll say no more, for his voice failed him.' There was no time to be lost and there was much'to be done. God alone Inows all that was done for that soul in one short half-hour. Gvardi-in angels must hive kept watch at the door of the slick-room, and kont away intruders, for no one came near to disturb th.nn, and all the last Sacram jnts were given. What a mercy it was and what a wonderful thing th->t a priest should have bean able to get to him, si>rrovnded as he was by the enemies of his 1 faith ! But, thank- Go'l, he was safe now, and Father G- — left the house with his mission entirely unsuspected, "and overjoyed vlith his smcoss, and he Ifb the sou} \)e had found tortured with unrest and. remorse of conscience, now reconciled* to God and at peace. ' How good God is. ! . Not many days after, John Smith passed away, re c f jllv, th s n'kdji'? God from his heart for His wonde'rf 1 goodness, and His' mercy and patience with Nun.— ' Almanac of Apostles-hip of Prayer.'