The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 32, 26 August 1925, Page 61

The Family Circle

WOMAN’S RIGHTS. ■ 4 '■ • 1. x ' i J Pi I j :: V ■ A*; right* to; tread so ; softly - Beside the couch of pain, * To smooth with gentle fingers , , y/ , 5 The tangled looks again, To watch beside the dying ■ In the' wee small hours’of night, ...And. breathe; a consecrating prayer A? 'When the spirit takes its flight. ■ , ■' .. ■ A right to cheer the weary On the battle fields of life; To give the word of sympathy Amid the toil and strife. To lift the burdens gently : From sore and tired hearts, • And never weary of the task ' Till gloomy care departs . The right to be a woman, r '* In truest woman’s worn, If life should be a hard one, 7 . No duties ever shirk, v A right to show to others How strong a woman grows, When skies are.dark and lowering, And life bears not a rose. A right to love one truly, And to be loved again, / A right to share his fortunes, Through sunlight and through rain. A right to be protected- ’ . From life’s most cruel blights By manly love and courage ■ Sure, these are Women’s Rights. v ■ — The Lamf. ' i-] x aI DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD. ' Ip Since the spiritual is superior to the mathere is no other office so exalted as Kis that of the Catholic priest. There are t many callings to which a boy or a young man may honorably aspire but none other that can compare, in nobility, with the priestx hood. To the majesty of the humblest priest (■ must bow the ablest lawyer, the most successful physician, the most prosperous man of business, the most renowned statesman. By its very nature the priestly office is higher than is that of even a president, a king, or an emperor. However exalted be their position, . all* these men are concerned with the things of earth, but the priest is taken - from among men and is ordained for men in < the things that appertain to God. By him men are led to God. He renders to God the most precious gifts of the human race and to the human race the precious gifts of God. " His priesthood is one with that of Christ. His office is one with that of the Saviour. !•* He represents Christ to the world. He per- ,; petuates the mission of Christ upon earth. In holy ordination he receives divine power, is absorbed into and identified with the Sa- ,! viour, henceforth his official words and acts ; are not his own but Our . Blessed Lord speaks .1. and acts through him. By him Christ baptises, absolves, anoints, consecrates. He is H the tongue and hand of Christ who uses nim , as ah instrument to work the wonders of J His grace in ‘the souls of men. The salvation * of souls is the mission of Christ and the /bole v -object vof the - Catholic priesthood. Truly, then, is the priest made one with Christ in

sacramental ordination.. His sacerdotal char- , acter is the seal of redeemer ' He to whom is given all power in Heaven and on earth, confers that character in the communication of the right and faculty of spiritual fatherhood and the ability to perform works which are divine. ' ■ The accredited teacher of mankind ; is the Catholic priest. Go teach all nations. Preach the Gospel to every creature, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. He that hearetn you heareth Me and he that despiseth you despiseth Me. The priest must teach the saving truths to the little children, to youth, and to old age. NAZARETH. “I am poor and in labors from my youth.” (Psalms, 87, 16. Up to His thirtieth year Jesus remains in silent retirement at Nazareth, and is subject to Jesus arid Mary, helping His Foster-. Father, by His labor, to acquire the necessary sustenance. • The Infant Jesus grows into a boy, the boy becomes a man’, the young man reaches manhood the world knows nothing of Him; it surmises not that He already lives upon the earth, for Whom the earth has waited four thousand years. Thus the Saviour of mankind fulfils what He shall later teach: “Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” ’ He does not teach to create worlds nor to work miracles, to raise the dead nor to walk upon the waves of the sea, to astonish people by hitherto unheard-of, unseen things. He teaches to obey, to want, to suffer, to be humble, to live retired, industrious, unknown for days, months, years. “I am poor and in labors from my youth.” A life of poverty Jesus lives in Nazareth. Foster-son of a carpenter, He knows nothing of affluence or luxury, nothing of'the pomp and pride of earth. , Labor of Christ, Painful is the life that Jesus leads in Nazareth. He works hard, the sweat drips from the brow of the Man-God, and, fatigued after His day’s work, the Divine Youth lies down to take His nightly rest upon : a hard bed. Labor, goes hand in hand with privation, and each renders the other mutually more wearisome. | • A lowly life Jesus leads in Nazareth. He obeys not . only Mary, but also Joseph, They are but creatures and He is the Creator and Conqueror of the world, the great Wonderworker Who has power to make even the dead return to life. Jesus lives in the most unassuming manner, in retirement. There is nothing singular or extraordinary in His carriage, speech, or gesture, no miracles, no prophecies. V We long for publicity. Manifest thyself to the world resounds in our ears, and is re-echoed in our hearts. It is never too early, . so it seems, for us to appear in the arena of life. To exhibit ourselves upon the world’s stage is our highest ambition. \And this thought exercises a ; particular' influence on our choice of a vocation", the desire -of • worldly honor alone, often determines for* us our future. :

A" Butwhat is of consequence ,in the end? That we do the will of God. Only that is ; great which is done because God .wills it and .as He wills it. Little, insignificant, vain is , 1 everything that is destitute of higher reference, that is outside of. what is willed by God, that proceeds from low, earthly motives A that aims at self, stops at self, is consum- ; ' ed in self. ■ \ \ - Jesus is subject; He works, He lives a hidden life. Thus, His Heavenly Father willed it, this suffices, and over and above V this, Jesus seeks nothing. ■ I seek not my own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. By suffering and waiting Jesus fulfils His t Divine, office of Mediator, even in the retirement of Nazareth, and : makes these long r years, as it were, a time of preparation for ' His future public life. V’> Vi ’ . ; , God’s Ordinances. i \ t What God ordains for you alone is. good and. salutary for you. To force yourself ,into a prominent role is dangerous. If you . doaM; not succeed, the disgrace is so much the V; greater, the results more fraught with annoyance, the responsibilities so much (heavier, ; And how can success be • yours if God ■ do not deign it for you, if His blessing be wanting; if,, perhaps, your qualifications for ( your office be only an imaginary one? Even ■(, granting that you succeed and stand before men .in grandeur and honor,, greeted with ; shouts of deafening applause, is it that gives to actions true greatness, true V. nobility, value, fulness, merit, before God? : The interior, the spirit, the fulfilment of the will of God. 1 '[ . 0 humble, industrious and patient • Young -V Man of Nazareth I 0 Infinitely Wise GodMan ! Teach 'me to will what the Heavenly Father wills and in the choice of a vocation to listen only to the call from above. Teach me to love what Thou hast loved; teach me to renounce what Thou hast renounced and ’A.' condemned. And now, in the days of my youth, 0 that I might think, speak, and act like ( Thee, and thus prepare myself for the future! ' Every round of the ladder of life, as I ascend it, has been sanctified by Thy holy footsteps. ’ V There is no footprint that I may. not tread v in, no track which I may not pursue. Never can I excuse myself on the plea that the path is too steep, too giddy, too difficult for me. Can I not obey? Can I not work and improve the present? Can I not live 3 a retired, hidden life, .and content myself A with the Divine approval alone? ■ • 1 * HOME’S TREASURE. J 9 . Little pit-a-patter up and down the stair, Wm Little peals of laughter echoing on the air,®! Little hands outstretched in love when I-ifM come at eve, • - Banishing the cares of day—things that |^ pain and grieve. . ; Little eyes a-dancing with merriment and c fun ; " ; ;; In 1 the hour of romping when the day “• is v; done; * Home would be a cheerless place, if you - went away,' - -a'’.. v.-;; ; A.T For your smile. makes • Heaven every hour ; ) and day. “ ■ ■ ' ( ■(: - -' ' .• —Katherine Edelman. ■

• n THE CAPTAIN’S COMMENT. ' A The wireless operator on a'small vessel vas allowed to take ■ the wheel for a short spell. : ; His first attempt was a poor show and the :: course steered was very erratic., as shown by the wake of the vessel. :\ T Just as a rather bad zigzag was made, the I’j captain arrived on the bridge, scowled, and remarked : i . f-;'';'.'!; “Here, my lad, I don’t' mind you writing • your name on the face of the ocean, but, for Heaven’s sake, don’t trouble to go back to dot the r i’s.’ ” • v - : . ‘' . ' mmi GREATER THAN THEM ALL. «Th© class had been having a lesson on prominent men of the day. After the lesson ‘the teacher asked the children individually V:; to name the prominent person they would > most like to see. Some said the King, others Charlie Chaplin, and many of them mentioned famous athletes. . After a time one small . boy shouted: “Please, miss, I’d rather see my father’s boss.” '» “Well,” replied the teacher, “I should hardly think one would class him as a prominent man but let us hear why you would like to see him.” “Because,” was the answer, “I’ve heard father say that his boss has got two hundred /.hands.” Ilfo SMILE RAISERS. pfy "-‘‘lt seems to me, Mary, that you’re marrying very hastily. What’s the policeman’s •I name?” Wy; “I don’t know his name, but I’ve got his number,” ¥ Traveller (to taxi-driver, who keeps his h hand extended after receiving legal fare) : ;; “It’s no use showing it to me — I don’t know ■ a thing about palmistry 1” fill■■•... >• . 1 Kitty: “They t say, you know, that love I makes the world go round.” ‘■Jl Marie: “Maybe so; but it cannot make / the eligible young man go round.” ft ; >L v Little Elinora, aged nine, who has recently moved from a distant city, .corresponds frequently with Mary, who was her closest chum. A few days ago Elinora received a letter from Mary, in which she said: '• , “Tell me when your birthday comes, for AJ want to send you a present. My birthday is next Tuesday.” W ■ ■ •’ . V • » *. j * ■. • , ‘f'i v A woman who had given a dinner-party met her doctor in the street the following ■ day, and stopped to speak to him. y’k’4‘l am'so sorry, doctor,” she said, “that •_ . * you were unable to come to my dinner-party last night. It would have done you good to . be there.” . ./ “It has already done me good,” he replied, tersely; “I have ’ just prescribed for three of the guests.” , » ,