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New Zealand Tablet, 1 April 1920, Page 26

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»■ Holy Week : The Feast of Love God manifested His love for man by creating him, like unto Himself, and only a little less than the angels. A further proof of Divine Love was the infusion of sanctifying grace into the human soul, effecting a wonderful spiritual union between creature and Creator, and making the soul a thing of beauty far surpassing even the work of creation which covered the earth with waving woods above broad rivers, and elevated the high mountains that teach men to look up to Heaven, and hung the sun and the stars in the skies to reveal the glory of Him Whose handiwork they are. A still further proof was .given when God sent His Only &on to redeem sinners by dying on the Cross. Christ became man, taking our nature upon Him and becoming our brother, pouring Himself out and humbling Himself in order to be one with us in our humanity. One more intimate union remained possible. It was achieved in the institution of the Blessed Eucharist in which the Son of God gave Himself to us as the food of our souls, to nourish us and to preserve us to life everlasting. “What more could I have done for My vineyard that I have not done?” The First Ordination When -He said to His apostles, “Do this for a commemoration of Me,” He instituted the Christian priesthood, and gave to them and to their successors the power of consecrating and changing bread and wine into His Body and Blood. On His wbrd and in His name, until the end of time, the priest at the altar, all over the world, would henceforth say “This is My Body,” and “This is My Blood”; and by Christ’s command that Body that was broken and that Blood that was shed would be given to the faithful for the hie of the world, thus consummating the last close union, thus incorporating us all with Him, and through Him with one another; making us children of. God, not only by faith and by redemption, but even by brotherhood with Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of the Father. How well was the Blessed Eucharist named by the Christians of old the Sacrament of Love.

It is the greatest proof of God’s; love for us, and it is the greatest .bond of love between us and Him . and with one another. • The Last Testament ot\.i When He ' Who had taught the apostles to love Him and to despise the world came to take leave of them a great sadness came upon Him. His Public Life was drawing to an end, and only the last great scene of the divine - tragedy remained now. He had one final word for them : He did not speak it until Judas had gone out. - He had washed their feet; He had warned the traitor in vain ; He had given them the Blessed Eucharist! It was the solemnest moment in His Life. When He spoke now, emotion and tenderness made His words vibrant. All that had gone before prepared the apostles to receive His message. It was this : “I give you a new commandment : that you should love one another as I have loved you; “By this sign shall it be known that you are My disciples, that you have love, one for another.’’ The Sacrament of- Love was in their souls when He spoke. They knew the love He spoke of—the love that is inspired by the Holy Spirit, that has its origin in grace, that knows no distinction of race or age or sex, but regards all mankind as one great family for the salvation of which He came to die upon the Cross. Where is that love found to-day? Where it is, there He is ; where it is not, He is not. For it alone is the sign by which He will recognise His own. The Cross The death of the cross was unknown in the Jewish law, except that in the case of great criminals their dead bodies were exposed on a gibbet. The Jews did not crucify. Amongst the Egyptians,, the Persians, the Phenicians, and the Romans crucifixion was practised, but the latter crucified only slaves, rebels, and great criminals. The Roman Governors in the provinces practised crucifixion, and in Syria and Judea they had put to death in this way many Jews. The Jews hated the cross, and death by crucifixion had become for them a symbol of shame and ignominy. It was a cruel death. The sufferer hung in agony a long timeeven a day or more—-with his body torn and strained, and the blood flowing from the holes in the hands and feet, devoured by thirst and consumed by. fever. No crueller torture could be imagined. Yet, it was this death the Jews demanded for Christ, at the instigation of the High Priests and Pharisees. Inspired by diabolical hatred, they cried out: Crucify Him! Crucify Him! The Women of Jerusalem When making the Stations of the Cross, we have often thought of the significance of the representation of that meeting with the women of Jerusalem who wept with pity at seeing the Saviour pass through the streets under the heavy cross. “Daughters of .Jerusalem, weep not for Me. Weep for yourselves and for your children ! Behold, the days will come when it will be said; Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne and the breasts that have not suckled. Then they will cry out to the mountains ; Pall upon us'! and to the hills: Hide us.” It is a terrible word. Bruised and bleeding. He forgets His own suffering in the foreknowledge He has of the calamities to come upon this people now persecuting Him. If He, the innocent, accused by false witnesses, suffers thus, what will be the fate of the guilty, criminal people who have turned their backs on God and put His Son to death He looks' into the future and He sees what the vengeance of God has in store for them ; and, in His pity for the weeping women, He forgets for the moment His own sorrow and pain. That word of His, spoken on the street, had its complement a few hours later when He said again: “Father, forgive them, .for they know not what they do.” • -

Sin and Ignorance -- - j V Sin and ignorance keep - men - away from God. There are those that sin against the Holy Ghost, knowing what they do, but the majority ' sin because they are ignorant. Woe to them that keep them ignorant! It was for the blind guides and deceivers of the people that the only harsh word He ever spoke was meant. Merciful to Magdalene, He was stern and hard towards the hypocrites and the political leaders' who kept the people in darkness and blinded them against" the Truth. The hypocrites and the politicians are the same to-day as they were in His day. It is a terrible thought' that He never prayed for them ; for they know what' they do. But for the weak and the ignorant and the tempted He was merciful always. To-day, as on that day when the politicians had their hour and the powers of darkness seemed to triumph, the weak and the ignorant will find His arms open to receive them— as wide as they were on the Cross. It was for them He prayed and for them He died ; and in the Cross they have His pledge of mercy and pardon. Father, forgive them! That prayer covers us with a mantle of mercy and gives us hope, no matter how low we have fallen. We have only to get rid of our ignorance and to come to know linn and love Him, and He will save us as He saved the thief, who died by His side after hearing the premise; “This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.