The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIX, Issue 21, 25 May 1922, Page 45

The Family Circle

“CHILDREN.’ Ah, what would the world be to us • If the children were no more? We should dread the desert behind us Worse than the dark before. ✓ What the leaves are to the forest, With light and air for food, Ere their sweet and tender juices Have been hardened into wood. That to the world are children; Through, them it feels the glow Of a brighter and sunnier climate That reaches the trunks below. Come to me, Oh children ! And whisper in my ear What the birds and winds are singing In your sunny atmosphere. Ye are better than all the ballads That ever were sung or said; For ye arc living poems And all the rest are dead. ' —Longfellow.

<x*x^x*x> THE WORK OF OUR BISHOPS: HOW CHURCH AND - FAITH HAVE BEEN FORTIFIED THROUGH THE AGES. \ It is to the Catholic bishop, conscious of his duty and authority, his mission and his guidance, that we owe in every age the identity of our faith in Jesus Christ with that of the Apostles (says Bishop Shahan). This faith is not based on “persuasive words of human wisdom,” nor on the nebulous and feeble workings of reason nor on the mere reading of the Gospel, but on the testimony of the Catholic Church made known through her bishops as successors of the Apostles, and bearing certain witness in their name and with their authority. The history of the Catholic Church is one unbroken profession of the Divinity of Jesus Christ on the part of the bishops. In the primitive churches, while the apostolic memories were still fresh, they consigned their testimony to the baptismal creed; they 'proclaimed it in the holy Mass; they died for it at the stake; they preached it to the Jews, pagans, and barbarians; they recast in its favor the fine arts once idolatrous and hostile; they breathed it in glorious hymns and noble music; they made the Roman State its defender and its missionary and then for long centuries they saved it by their learning and their devotion from a thousand attacks of Greek, Syrian, and Arab adversaries. If St. Thomas Aquinas was able to raise by his genius the glorious structure of our Catholic theology, it was because for a thousand years the bishops of the Catholic Church had been laying deeply the foundations of Catholic faith, in the apostolic« spirit, and with perfect loyalty T to their apostolic authority. SOME SENTIMENTS OF.JOHN D. ROCKFELLER. “I am sure it is a mistake to assume that the possession of money in great abundance necessarily brings happiness. The very rich are just like all the rest of us; and if they get pleasure from, the possession of money, it pomes from, their ability to do things which give satisfaction to someone besides-themselves.” Limitations of the Rich.— “ The mere expenditure of money for things, so I am told by those who profess to know, soon palls upon one. The novelty of being able to purchase anything one wants soon passes because what people most seek cannot be bought with' money. These rich men we read about in the papers cannot get personal returns beyond a well-defined limit for their expenditure. They cannot gratify the pleasures of the palate’ beyond

very moderate bounds, since they cannot purchase a good digestion; they cannot lavish very much money on fine raiment for themselves or their families without suffering from public ridicule; and in their homes they cannot go much beyond the comforts of the less wealthy without involving them in more pain than pleasure. As I study wealthy men, 1. can see hut one way in which they can secure a real equivalent for money spent, and that is to' cultivate a. taste for giving where the money may produce an effect which will be a lasting gratification. . . It would be the narrowest sort of view to take, and I think the meanest, to consider that good works consist chiefly in the outright giving of money. Probably tin most generous people in the world are the very poor, who assume each other’s burdens in the crises which come so often to the hard pressed. (Quotes instances). This sort of genuine service makes the most princely gifts from superabundance look insignificant indeed.” ■ Value of Co-Operative Principle of Giving.— “ The walls of sectarian exclusiveness are fast disappearing, as they should, and*the best people are standing shoulder to shoulder as they attack the great problems of general uplift.’ Catholic Charities. — “Just here it occurs to me to testify to the fact that the Roman Catholic Church, as I have observed in my experience, has advanced a long way in this direction. 1 have been surprised to learn how far a given sum of money has gone in the hands of priests and nuns, and how really effective is their use of it. I 'fully appreciate the splendid service done by other workers in tho field, but f have seen the organisation of the Catholic Church secure better results with a given sum of money than other Church organisations are accustomed to secure from the same expenditure. I speak of this merely to point the value of the principle of organisation, in which I believe so heartily. It is unnecessary to dwell upon the centuries of experience which the Church of Rome has gone through to perfect a great power of organisation.” GO TO BENEDICTION OFTEN. Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament is the blessing of Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist (says Rev. G. Heinz). The Sacred Host is exposed for a short time on the altar, during which the faithful present engage in acts of adoration, praise, and thanksgiving, and towards the end receive the blessing with the Blessed Sacrament. As Jesus _ Christ is really present in the Sacred Host, it is He Who blesses. Attend this devotion as often as possible. The spiritual benefits are very great, as may easily he understood from the fact that you are in the presence of the Eucharistic Christ. Ho there awaits the homage of His children, hears their devout prayers, and gives them His blessing. To the good, practical Catholic, there is nothing so touching and consoling, so full of encouragement and strength, as this rite. There is something in it which softens the hardest sinner, which warms the coldest heart, which makes the indifferent fervent, and the weak strong; something so ..heavenly that we always come away from this beautiful ceremony richer in love and goodness, richer in everything that makes for Heaven, than when we entered. To be present at Benediction is like spending some time in the company with Jesus and conversing with Him,* It is a moment of divine companionship, and it brings into our lives a spiritual wealth, which never could come' by any other meana. THE KIND OF BOYS NEEDED.

“What kind of hoys does a business man want?” repeated a practical man of many concerns the other day. “Well, I will tell you. In the first place, he wants a boy who doesn’t know too much; business men generally like to run their own” business, and prefer one who will listen to their way rather than try to teach them new kinds; secondly, they want a. prompt boyone who understands 7 o’clock as exactly 7, not 10 minutes past; third, an industrious boy who is not afraid to put in a little extra work in case of need; fourth, an honest boy—honest in his services as well as in shillings and pence; fifth, a good-natured boy, who will keep his temper oven if his employer loses Ids now' and then.” /

“But you haven’t said a word about his-being smart,” was suggested. ' ‘ “Well, to tell the truth,” was the rather hesitating answer, “that’s about the last thing we worry over. The fact is, if a boy is modest, prompt, pleasant, industrious, and honest, he’s quite as smart as we care about and that’s a fact.”

LITTLE THINGS. A deed undone seems a little thing, But the burden I might have shared Has left a heart with a bitter sting, Of the thought that “nobody cared.” ’Tis the little things that the burdened heart In the time of trial heeds; Then let us lighten life’s ache and smart With the sunshine of little deeds. —E.V.B.

ENGLISH A WONDERFUL LANGUAGE. The man had just informed the railway agent that he wanted a sleeping berth. “Upper or lower?” asked the agent. “What’s the difference?” asked the man. “A difference of half-a-crown in this case,” replied the agent. “The lower is higher than the upper. The higher price is for the lower. If you want it lower you’ll have to go higher. We sell the upper lower than the lower. In other words, the higher the lower. Most people don’t like the upper, although it is lower on account of it being higher. When you occupy an upper you have to get up to go to bed and get doun when you get up. You can have the lower it you pay higher. The upper is lower than the lower because it is higher. If you are willing to go higher it will be lower.”

SMILE RAISERS. McNab (conductor of our village orchestra, preparing for concert) ■. “An’ you, Sandy, will take the double bass this time.” Sandy; “I canna play the double bass. I dinna ken the lingerin'/’ McNab : “Fingerin’ ! There’s no lingerin’ wi’ a double bass. Ye just play it in handfuls!” Lady Clerk (in small town hotel): “Will you have a pitcher of water sent to your room, sir?” Farmer Bluegrass: “Water? What for? Ain’t there any lire escape. Jack: “What’s the rush, Freddie? Something good at home?” Freddie; “No, my mother’s going to spank me.” Jack; “And are you hurrying homo for that?” Freddie; “Yes, because if father gets homo first he’ll it.” *F Brown: “I’m sorry to see you so unwell. Jlave you seen the doctor?” Smith; “Yes; I’m having three baths a day.” Brown: “What ever for?” Smith; “Don’t know; doctor’s orders. He gave mo some medicine and told me to follow the directions on , the bottle, which read, ( One tablespoonful to be taken three times a day in water.’ ” *? They were discussing the problem of getting down off an elephant. ' “Well, how do yon get down? You climb down?” “No.” “You grease his sides and slide down?” “No.” “You take a ladder, and get down?” “No.”“Well, you slide down his trunk?” “No, you ass. You don’t get down off an elephant. You got it off a goose.” • ■ n