The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1917. ABOVE OUR COUNTRY

New Zealand Tablet, 22 February 1917, Page 33

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1917. ABOVE OUR COUNTRY

EARER to the heart than love of our own vSljsSSlJl is the love of . country, which is the root of | patriotism. Every normal man is a patriot.' The higher and truer the civilisation of a nation the more ardently will its children love their land. This noble passion is begotten of race and nationality, cherished - by all the story of the past and exalted by our own memories and perceptions until it becomes a sentiment of profound .depth and exalted sublimity. In it are clasped the traditions of our own family, the dreams of our youth, the hopes of our manhood. No other human passion has so little of self in it; none can attain to such heights of sacrifice. The Spartan hymn, 'What you were we are, what you are we will be,', is its simplest expression. As -the tree Igdrasie of Scandinavian mythology has its roots buried in the earth and its branches hidden in the clouds, so patriotism reaches from the immemorial past to the unknown future. The national idea, says Renari,; is enthroned on a heroic past, on the great men who went before, and ;on imperishable glory. "; ' Our 'i country, wrote Lamennais, 'is our common mother, the unity, in which individuals are emerged and fused;, it is the

sacred name which expresses the voluntary union of all interests in one interest, of all lives- in one life no longer transitory.' . --*-- - • ■ r - *■' ■ •- . 'So long, as-this passion 1 was" kept pure the Roman armies were finvincible._' In the Mays of. their glory, the Roman people regarded their i country as a divinity which received offerings v only to render them ? tenfold; which demanded love rather than fear, which rewarded joyfully and punished sorrowfully. The White fire of Sii such love kept them whole, because it taught them ■■■:'■■ - lessons of duty and self-sacrifice'; and not until they forgot these and began to put their own interests and • their own gratifications first did the nation ; decay. i' :-'■■■-■ '■■ . • "■■•• '' . , . * -• - ' .'' '- -' .. -- -.. .' : ; •■■' : ■"•.'■'.'-.. .-'■-■■ .' ■•-.' ■:' ', '■'"-■ ■'--'-. -■-'■■--- : -.. ■'.".- ' ' One' must have ': been a soldier,'•: wrote Jules v Claretie, ' one must have crossed the frontier and walked on roads no longer those of France; gone forth from one's own country and from the sound of the ~ _ language [of infancy; have felt during J long days of ":■■•■'■■, weary marching and tiring labor that : the only thing - ■ left < of J our native - country 1 was ; the ' strip of silk waving in the : midst of the battalion; and when amid the smoke ' ■ of battle there was no other rallying point one began to .1;. realise all that was meant by the folds of that sacred thing called'the flag.. - But the flag is, in one word, in * \ a single object, all that there was and is of the life of each one, the home of our birth, the little corner of the earth where -; we grew up, the mother who nursed us, the father who scolded, our first years, our early tears, our hopes, our dreams, our fancies, our memo- ", ries: all our joys at once clasped in one word, the ;C loveliest of all: our Native Land.' - - " - * "' '*•* [■■: ,-.. Like love of country, because it. rests on similar :. foundations, but stronger and nobler, must be the love •: of a Catholic for the Church. "The, Church has all the * same human claims on our affection; the same pride of ■;■■' the past, the same right delight in its glory, the same - hopes for the future. Think of the heroic deeds which |?"/;" kept: the faith living in spite of the gates of Hell; of v. the brave lives given freely for its sake; of the un- >'.'-■ numbered triumphs, the unshaken constancy, the i unv speakable sufferings; and manly endurance which our ;-._ faith stands for! Whether we 1 look back at the sands of the ' amphitheatre ■ or the .valleys of Poland or the / :; green hills of Ireland the glory swims before our eyes. -; What memories, too, ;of our childhood, of our own mother, of our First Communion, of our youth, of our maturer years, of trials overcome, of great graces given, |pfof almost tangible supernatural aids will come back }'■:■. - to us all if we yield ourselves to them for a quiet halfr hour! Have we never felt the throb of rightful pride ■■■'■J quickening our pulses when, after Benediction, the defiant strains of 'Faith of Our Fathers' surged up to s --. the altar throne? V'> -•.--:....•■ •'--- ;-f . , The altar throne!: There is the force which can make a Catholic's love for the Church and passion over:v- reaching even love of country. For beyond and above :V all that we have in the Church in common with our country , we have also Christ and His standard, the h •'•■•• Cross. All individuals in a nation are clasped in one : ' 1 . nation by patriotism; but all nations are one around the Cross of Calvary. All our national hopes and aspirations for the future are bounded" by time; but in - the common fold of Christ's Church we look forward | to triumphs and glories that will not end in time and •- which we count on sharing for eternity. In front of -■ St. Peter's in Rome, on the spot marked by the horrors of the cruellest day that ever came since-Calvary, there stands an obelisk on which the pilgrim may read the - ... words:. ~ ••' ■.''•. - -;; •-■ . ;""-.*- -> r ; v - 'Christ reigns, , ;.--. ; ; .1 /■■' ' iij), Christ conquers, . Christ commands. \ - - May Christ defend His jieoplerfrom all harm.' ... As it stands there, pointing to heaven in witness of the victory of our Faith \ over the gates of Hell on the spot where Nero gorged himself with Christian blood so,

when all the : Neros are no more and all the strongholds i; of Hell have rushed down in" confusion at the last day, will'the Cross of Christ be raised in triumph above the glorious army of His followers, victors over pain and sin and death, and crowned for ever. The Church is our real country, and the Cross our flag. . • - ' i - "• " * * '• - " i • \- "-It ■'■ is v worth while v asking ourselves hqw ( we' rally about our flag. ; Do we keep < it; in the forefront, ?or do we turn our back on it ; What sacrifices do we make i for the cause of the Church? What sacrifices have we.' ever made in r our lives? Are we going to follow - our; flag, or are we prepared to sell our Church for our own interest, putting mere politics and : party spirit in the first place v lt is about time some of us asked ourselves these questions. We .can no longer blind our : eyes to the truth that the Church in New Zealand will not get common; justice and fair play until we win -it for her.