The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 1 April 1920, Page 45

The Family Circle

THE . MASTER’S QUESTIONS. Have ye looked for My sheep in the desert, For those who have missed their way? ' - Have you been in the wild, waste places, “ -Where the lost and wandering stay ? ~ , Have you trodden the lonely highway, The foul and the darksome street? It may be ye’d see . in the gloaming The print of My wounded Feet. Have ye folded home to your bosom The trembling, neglected lamb, And taught to the little lost one The sound of the Shepherd’s Name? Have ye searched for the poor and needy With no clothing, no home, no bread? The Son of Man was among them He had nowhere to lay His Head. Have ye carried the living water To the parched and thirsty soul? Have ye said to the sick and wounded, “Christ Jesus, make thee whole?” Have ye told My fainting children Of the strength of the Father’s hand? Have ye guided the tottering footsteps To the shore of -the golden land? Have ye stood by the sad and weary To' soothe the pillow of death, To comfort the . sorrow-stricken And strengthen the feeble faith ? And have ye felt when the glory Hath streamed through the open door, And flitted across the shadows That there I had been before? . N Have ye wept with the -broken-hearted In their agony of woe? * Ye might hear Me whispering beside you “’Tis the pathway I often go!” My brethren, My friends. My disciples, Can”ye dare to follow Me? Then, wherever the Master dwelleth There shall the servant be ! THE EASTER FESTIVAL. The name Easter is Anglo-Saxon, and is probably derived from the old-German of ostarura, now ostern, being the name of a festival celebrated among the pagan Teutons in honor of the goddess of light. This feast was celebrated in spring in the old lands, and as the Christian feast commemorative of the resurrection of the Lord falls in this season, the name of Osternor, AngloSaxon, Easterwas transferred to this feast. In the language of the Church, however, the feast is called Pascha —derived from the Hebrew Passach, meaning the Passover. On this day the Hebrews celebrate the commemoration of the miraculous passage of the people of Israel through the Red Sea into the promised land, and their liberation from the slavery of Pharaoh and then also commemorate the passage of the angel of the Lord who slew the first-born of the Egyptians, whilst he passed over the houses of the Israelites, whose door-posts were sprinkled with the blood of the paschal lamb. Now, for us too, a passover has taken place, of which that of the ancient law was but a figure, Christ, our Lord and Saviour, by the shedding of His precious blood, has redeemed us from our sins, and, as it were, led us forth through His blood from the captivity and slavery of Satan. And if, during the paschal time, we have sanctified ourselves by the grace of the holy sacraments, and have become reconciled with God, then our souls have been in a spiritual manner sprinkled with the blood of the Divine Lamb, so that the prince of darkness has no more power over us.

The festival of Easter is regulated by. the course of the moon. Easter day is always the first Sunday after the full moon which . happens on or next after the 21st of March, or the vernal equinox. If the full moon happens on a Sunday, Easter day is the Sunday after. By this arrangement Easter may come as early as the 22nd of March or as late as the 25th of April. It is always celebrated on Sunday, because on this day of the week the Saviour actually arose from the dead. As God. completed His work of creation on the sixth day with the creation of man, so He likewise' completed the second creation—the redemption of man—by His death on the sixth day of

the week, or Friday; and as God, after; the creation, „rested upon the seventh day, so also the Saviour, after completing the ■-.work of? the . redemption, rested upon the Sabbath in the tomb. But on Sunday, the first " day of the week, after having - rested in the grave .from Friday ‘ evening till the morning of the third day. He went forth from the same with hew glory and splendor. Other feasts of the year, which are called .“movable feasts,” are regulated according .to Easter, so that for . instance, the 'Feast of the Ascension is always the fortieth, and Pentecost the fiftieth day after Easter. - - MESS AGE OF THE FEAST. There are many feasts in the annual cycle of the Church s calendar and each feast brings its own message of warning, of divine mercy, of heavenly grace, or of future blessing, but in richness of gift and. in largeness of promise the Resurrection Day' surpasses them all. Other feast-days bring light, but their light is followed by darkness; other feast-days bring a reality, but in reality there is a shadow; other feast-days bring enrapturing, anthelns, but the rich melody of the anthems is hushed by agonising sorrow over the tragedy of Calvary ; other feast-days bring life, but the life is vanquished by death. It is far otherwise with the Easter feast, for it speaks of life without darkness, of reality without shadow, of triumphal music that shall never be stilled by sorrow, of life that shall never know death. Even as Christ rose from the grave. in the majestic splendor of perfect manhood, so shall we if faithful one day rise to enjoy with Him the unveiled Vision of God. EASTER MORN. Easter lilies, fresh, newborn, Blossom for this holy morn. Christ is risen! Angels sing: “Glory bo to God, our King! Hail, ye mortals, —hail the day Angels rolled the stone away!” Bloom, arbutus, fragrant, sweet! Lay your blossoms at His feet; Bloom with rosy • sunrise hues! Born of forest damps and dews! Bloom, ye windflower ! Lift your, head: Christ is risen from the dead ! SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NUMBER FORTY. h orty is a number that has always, among Christians, been regarded as having a special significance, because of its use in the Scriptures. Thus Moses was 40 days on the Mount; Elijah was 40 days fed by the ravens; the rain of the flood fell 40 days, and another 40 days expired before Noah opened the windows of the ark; 40 days was the period of embalming; Jonah gave Nineveh 40 days to repent; our Lord fasted 40 days and was seen 40 days after His resurrection. ■ St. Swithen betokens 40 days’ rain or dry weather; a quarantine extends to 40 days ; 40 days in the old English law was the limit of the payment of the fine for manslaughter; the privilege of sanctuary was for 40 days the widow was allowed to remain in her husband’s house for 40 days after his decease; a knight enjoyed 40 days’ service of his tenant; a stranger at the expiration of 40 days was compelled to be enrolled in some tithing; members of Parliament were protected arrest for 40 days after the House was convened. The ancient physicians ascribed many strange changes to the period of 40 days; the alchemists looked on 40 days as the charmed period when the philosopher’s stone and the elixir of life were to appear, DO IT NOW. “John,” said Dr. Brown to his son, “that grass has needed cutting for some days.” “Yes, sir,” replied John. “I .am going to cut it tomorrow.” “It isn’t very important whether or not the grass is cut,” answered his father, “but it’s extremely important that you have the right state of mind about getting at what needs to be done. There is a legend that Satan once offered a prize to the demon who should suggest the surest method of damning men’s souls. One brought forward a most brilliant argument to demonstrate the futility of goodness. Another most luringly pictured the attractions of evil. Another proposed that the satanic legions should admit the wisdom and the glory of righteousness, but should concentrate, their powers on persuading men to put off the . day when they should begin to practice righteousness. Satan is said to have awarded the prize to that suggestion. V

. “There is no question,” : continued the doctor, “that the > greatest enemy- to - goodness in ; the world - is . procrastination. ■ Every man 5 that lives ~means t some day to * lead a good life. - You have seen that' little placard on office walls, ‘Do It Now!’ It ought to be before, our eyes wherever we go. It ought to be written in ' our minds, Just as soon as we discern the right thing to be done, ,we ought to set about doing it without delay. If we delay to-day, it’s twice as easy to delay again to-morrow. ’ Get the habit, John, in small things. -If. the grass ought to be cut now, then require of yourself that you cut it now. If your Latin ought to be prepared now, then don’t risk the chance of getting the procrastinating habit by putting it off to another time. I don’t urge you to plunge into things without thinking. Take all the time you need to come to your conclusions. But when your judgment tells you a thing surely ought to be done, get at it at the first possible moment. Do it now!” V John started for the door. “That grass ought to be cut, that’s sure,” he said, “and I’m going to do it now FIXING THINGS. -Things weren’t looking too bright for the Littlepool Cricket Club, and the captain was trying to buck them up. “Well, we’ve got the team,” he said to his right-hand man; “that’s the great thing. Now, as to bowling. If the wicket’s soft, there’s you and me; and if it’s hard, thereerwell, there’s me and you. And if they start knocking us about wo can try ” “A change of ends,” suggested the other man, cynically. SMILE RAISERS. ~ Nell; “What would you give to have such hair as mine ?” Belle: “I don’t know; -what did you give?” “Have you seen my pocket-book?” “No.” “Well, I’ve lost it. And I particularly wrote down on one of the pages in it where I’d put it in case I mislaid it!” - “I gave him a hard blow with .my left and missed him. Then I gave him another blow in the same place. After that, I gave him another one, and he feinted. And then he gave mo one, and I fainted.” A medical officer in one of the suburban councils the other day received the following note from one of the residents of his district:— “Dear Sir, —I beg to inform you that my child, aged eight months, is suffering from measles as required by Act of Parliament.” The teacher had explained to the class that all bodies through which avg can see are pellucid or transparent. “Now',” he said to Tommy Todd, “can you mention any transparent object?” Tommy, beaming with delight, replied: “Yes, sir. A keyhole and a drain-pipe.” Mother: “Did you call Edith up this morning?” Daughter: “Yes, but-she wasn’t down.” “But why didn’t you call her down?” “Because she w r asn’t up.” “Then call s her up now, and call her down for not being doAvn when you called, her up.” Aunt Jane was desirous of purchasing a gun for her nephew. The shopkeeper produced a couple. “This one shoots caps and this one slugs,” he said. “Oh, thank you,” exclaimed Tommy’s aunt. “I’ll have the second one, for we’re troubled terribly, by those slugs.”