Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 17 November 1921, Page 14

Current Topics

Trie Curse of Pride Pride was the sin whereby angels fell, and by pride men have fallen in every age since Adam lost his humility and wanted to make a god of himself. There hava been great falls of individuals—falls that shook thrones and plunged nations in blood. But the worst fall of all is that of the modern States which have in their'blind intellectual arrogance dethroned God and made idols of themselves. Man and nations abandon God. through corruption which blinds them to the eternal truths of faith but no less frequently and fatally is the perversion due to a foolish pretence to maintain their intellectual dignity. A religious minded man who knows the depth and the breadth and the width of even what truth we may attain is humbled at his own ignorance, as was Newton who confessed that all his lifetime he was but gathering a few shells on the shore of the infinite ocean of truth. But men who are not religious and who put self between them and the infinite vistas- revealed by faith imitate Lucifer and proclaim their rebellion against God. And as it is the way of our time that the most unscrupulous and the most unprincipled men strive after public positions it follows too often that our States are in the hands of those who are so puffed up by their pride that they look on themselves as the State and expect the people to fall down and adore them as if they were gods. In this manner it has come to pass that the modern State regards itself as the supreme end and supreme source of all right and property: it intrudes in the most, sacred and private affairs of domestic and individual life; it hates .the restraint of religion and asserts its own infallibility. The modern State is a State without God ; and without God there is no religion, and consequently no morals. In the name of liberty it persecutes those who differ from it in holding that the eternal truths are important, and it penalises and punishes those who hold that it is important that children be taught that there is a higher sanction than poetic platitudes for human conduct. Preference is always .given to atheists or Ereemasons when public positions are open; and a premium is set upon schools that are in opposition to the Christian view of sound education : in fact the control of the schools is too often left in the hands of people who are not even professing Christians, and it is by no means unusual to hear a Jew laying down the law on education for the youth of Christian parents. The modern State builds on the ruins of the unchangeable truths without which there can never be stability or soundness in society; and as surely as the True and the Good are inseparable so surely does the State that rejects the Truth plunge into moral evil all the more terrible because of its blinding power. Hence it is that we have advocates of suicide, advocates of free-love, as well as the innumerable other proofs of the sad degeneration of mankind to-day. We need not marvel at all: the enormities and the vices that now and then show their ugly heads above the thin veil of social veneer are the logical outcome of principles such as those that inspire our legislators and our educationists. The men who talk so glibly of intellectual dignity are they that have torn up from the roots the ancient principles which taught the people to love God and to serve the neighbor, mindful of the high sanction, and of the immortal destiny for which each one was created. The way of modern States is to teach children that it does not matter what you believe, or indeed what you do, if you are not found out. Our statesmen have robbed the people of true freedom and made laws which restrict liberty of speech whenever they do not-approve of what is said. In a word, in the name of Progress and intellectual dignity, we have been made slaves and we have been given schools which systematically teach children to ignore the only right principles, of freedom and manly-dignity. Religion is removed, and in its place

we have the Servile State and the tyranny of Materialism. All things considered what greater curse could God put on mankind than to allow the people to be led like dumb animals, by the ignoble Governments which care so little about the welfare of any but themselves? Liberty and Licence The trend of modern times is to claim for man unrestricted freedom of thought and speech particularly in the domains of philosophy and religion. Not only freedom from unjust restraint but freedom from all restraint is claimed as the prerogative of the noble mind of man. It is declared unworthy of man's dignity and degrading to his genius to limit and bound his intelligence by any laws, traditional, religious, or philosophical. The Roman Index which puts a ban on books likely to weaken the faith of readers is denouncd; the prohibition of books that are as full of filth as an egg is full of meat is regarded as a proof of Rome's narrow-minded tyranny. On the other, hand, it is quite right that the British Government should suppress newspapers that ask politicians to do so decent a thing as to keep their pledges. Speakers who advocate the rights of small nations are with the full approbation of the defenders of freedom of thought sent to die in British gaols. Nay, the editors who denounce the Roman' Index and rant of the despotism of the Vatican will call angrily on the Government to suppress a paper and to imprison an editor for telling the truth. It comes to this: press and politicians advocate freedom for filth (and parsons help them) ; they advocate freedom for atheism and infidel blasphemy; but they will not stand being told the truth about themselves nor will they listen to a man who points out their national hypocrisy. In a word, licence not freedom, hypocrisy not truth, are the ideals of the heirs of Luther to-day in the British Empire. - How far those people have fallen away from the Christian ideal! Long ago, before Luther and his English —Henry and —reformed the world and made it safe for despotism, men commonly believed that they were sent into this life to love and serve God; they knew that they were God's creatures; they did not think they were individually infallible and that they had a right to pronounce ex cathedra on the Bible, religion, right and wrong, morality and immorality. They knew that all these things were decided before they came on the scene and that the natural and divine laws were made, not for their criticism, but for their guidance. They knew that man is a poor, transient creature, subject to many miseries and prone to evil from the cradle. In the light of religion they were able to look into their hearts and see there what potential wickedness and evil they were capable of but for the grace of God. They recognised that ' God was their Lord ?nd Master, and that the Church was His mouthpiece on earth; and consequently they sought for enlightenment, not in the little 'gleam of their own reason batin the light of the infinite and infallible Truth of God which came down to them through the Church. They did not imagine like later-day maniacs that each man was to be a law unto himself; they did not dream that the world was made for kings and princes and plutocrats and that human law could abrogate God's law. They respected the rights of wife and children; they looked on the family as a sacred foundation they knew they had duties not only to Church and State but to their neighbors around them, and- that their rights " were limited by the rights of wife and children; they\ looked on the family as a sacred foundation they knew they had duties not only to Church and State but to their neighbors around them, and that their Tights were limited by the rights of other people. Christian people understood that men are free. But they did not think that freedom meant that there must be no restraint on thought, word, or deed: they recognised that it meant a rational freedom within the order established by God for the welfare of religion, society, and individuals. The difference between the old and new views is that Christians adored one true God' and - Him alone, while modern Protestants and atheists adore •'. many Gods, or a conglomerate God, composed of self,

State, Mammon, and anti-Popery. The modern ideal of freedom is based on the rebellion of man against God: Diis extinctis successit humanita^ —humanity is set on the altar from which our atheists have removed God. Man is taught to look no longer up to Heaven ; he is trained to look down towards earth, or at any rate, no higher than his fellow-men; and his views and aims are therefore gross and earthly. Retreats for the Laity ■'■ For some years past we have had in New Zealand retreats for ladies, conducted at the Sacred Heart Convents and at Teschemakers. This year a retreat for men was offered by the Marist Fathers at St. Bede's College, Christchurch, with success as encouraging as that experienced by the ladies' retreats in the past and present. The fact that a large number of men and women welcome such opportunities is extremely consoling from a Catholic point of view. Retreats conducted under circumstances such as are possible at the places we have named are laden with special graces, and tliey are held under conditions even more favorable than those attending upon any mission. Not only are there regular 'sermons and devotions, but these are surrounded by a truly spiritual atmosphere which is not obtainable at ordinary missions in town or country. The retreatis true to its name—a retreat from the world and its cares, from the engrossing business occupations and distractions of every day life, into an enclosed garden in which one walks with God for a few days in perfect peace and with no discordant note to disturb the perfect harmony of relationship between the soul and its Creator. The aim of retreats for the laity is to provide busy people with a favorable opportunity of entering into themselves and examining calmly and honestly how f they stand with God and what progress they are making in the business of saving their souls. This is done in an environment well portrayed by the following lines: Who'er thou art That entereth here Forget the struggling world And every trembling fear. Take from thy heart "Each evil thought And all that selfishness Within thy life hath brought. For once inside this Place, thou wilt find No barter, servant's fear No master's voice unkind. Here all are kin Of God above, Thou too dear friend, and, here The Ride of Life is Love. When the summer comes the beautiful grounds of Teschemakers, of Timaru, and Remuera will once more . be at the disposal of ladies who desire to withdrawfrom the world for a short time and give themselves wholly up to the adjustment of their spiritual interests. Retreats in Teschemakers are of newer institution than in the other centres, but they that have been privileged to spend a few days within the boundaries of St. Patrick's College, near Oamaru, will be eager to go back again and to bring with them their friends in order to benefitjby the spiritual lessons to be learned in the beautiful Convent chapel or among the shaded walks in this place of peace and restfulness. The Christian Home Nowadays when at the instigation of an association of _ bigots the Massey Government attacks the foundations of the Christian home one cannot too often insist on the. truth that, as the home is the nucleus of • the State, the State will be as its homes are: good homes make for a sound commonwealth, and bad homes make for* a place like New Zealand has become under the rule of the tools of the bigots.. * From St. John

Chrysostom we borrow a few ideas which will help to remind our readers of what the true home ought to be, of what it would be in a country in which religion was encouraged instead of being driven from the hearts of the young as' is done here by the Hanans and the Parrs and omne id genus. Chrysostom lays down first of all that the atmosphere of the home must be love—tender, constant, protecting, devoted, faithful love, inspired by the love of Christ, stronger than death, and a flame that many waters shall not quench. In the next place it must be recognised that for the welfare of the home a clear line must be drawn between the duties and activities of man and woman. "For the husband," he says, "the forum, the tribunals, the councils, the cultivation of the fields,, and war; for the wife, the spinning wheel, the needle, the supervision of the servants, the care of the kitchen, the early education of the children." The wife may have to go out now and then, but her place is within the home, where she must learn to live in a tranquil atmosphere proper for the encouragement of prayer and recollection which are necessary for all but especially for women. If the wife lives thus, whether the husband returns in the evening, bearing the fruits of his toil, gladdened by good fortune, with perhaps some item of good news, or, it may be, weary, disheartened) and downcast, he will find at home to welcome him a wife who will dissipate his care, calm his uneasiness, and console him in trouble ; for there is no power on earth like that of a good woman to guide her husband and lead him right. When he will hearken to the words of no other pencil in the world a good woman's voice will always be music in his ears, because it has a special force and bec£,ur;e it vibrates with love. It may be slow, it may be hidden, but great is the power of a woman over her husband, to convert him, to reform him, to make him better. On the other hand, equally great is woman's power for evil. God has given her seductive arts that may be used for good, but they may also be used for ruin. Sometimes God allows a bad wiles; to be a means of punishment for a man's sin's; more often the misfortune is due to the man himself. Did he look for moral loveliness, for purity, for fortitude, for meekness when he was selecting the mother of his children Was he led on by a mere passion, or perhaps by avarice? Was his marriage a marriage of selfinterest, rather than of true love? Too often the miseries of married life are the results of a choice with which God had nothing to do, and when passion burns out and exterior attractiveness - withers a life-long ' punishment remains. The good Christian will choose wisely, knowing that the choice is endless and that cnly death can dissolve the bond. And a wise choice is the best foundation for the home that the young people will enter when they leave father and mother ind brother and sister, to be henceforth one in body and soul, united in that mystic union which is the symbol of the union of Christ with the Church. The young husband ought to say to the young wife, in the words of Abraham to Sarah : We are going to lead a common life, let virtue he common to its also; I have chosen you for my helpmate, let us also be helpmates in the higher things. <*X» . The following words from the great Frederic Ozaiiam commend r themselves to those who are tempted to vield to discouragement. "Beware," he says, "for this is the peril of loyal souls and noble hearts—beware of despairing of your age; beware of that faint-hearted-ness which leads so many to give up all effort when witnessing as they say the decline of civilization, and who by dint of announcing the approach of their country's ruin, end by percipitating it."