KIHIKIHI. Confirmation Service in the Catholic Church. RAGLAN AND THE COUNTIES ACT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2077, 29 October 1885, Page 2

KIHIKIHI. Confirmation Service in the Catholic Church.

RAGLAN AND THE COUNTIES ACT.

His Lordship Bishop Luck held a confirmation ser\ ico m the Roman Catholic Cliurct' on Sunday last, when eight young per.snn« of both sexes received the sacred nte. Thi Bishop also blessed and consecrated a st.ituo of "Our Blessud Lady," which had loouitly been added to tho church. Thn interior of tho chuich was tastefully deco rated with festoons of eveigreens and bouquets of choice flowors ; the flor.il decorations of the altar woia exceedingly pleasing. His Lordship said he had come to p,vy his paatoral \ isit to the disti ict. He would, previous to administering tho sacra ment, bless and eonseciate tho statue of " Our Blessed Lady." He congratulated tin congregation on tho pi ogress they h,uJ mado. They had procured a beautiful statue of the Blessed Virgin, they had built a house for their clergyman to live in, and they had » good church in which to worship God. This was temporal ad vancement, and he ferrently hoped they had made spiritual progress also ; progre«p m that spiritual lifo of devotion to the service of God which ensured their partaking of that glorious life hereafter, when they would worship God in His glonouH presence. It was a great blessing to hare » priest residing among them, for they could attend divine (service regularly. Ther pistor was among them constantly to point out tho way to Heaven and instriu t them in leading a life of godlinei" Incredibla as it seemed, some actually believed that Catholics made iniut of, and revered tho Blessed Virgin more than Her Divine Son. It was » falsa belief and utterly without founda. tion. They loved and rerered her simpiv because ahe was tho mother of Jesus. Ai' tho honour sho received was reflecte through him. He himself loved airi revered her, and set us a good example by so doing When He blessed and prepared His apostles for their mission nl the gospel, it was in the presence of, and company with, the Virgin Mary, When tho angel addressed her he did so as bom.! "full of grace." S. Elizabeth addre>->od her as "the mother of my Lord." Both honoured her lor that reason, as did Catholics in all ages. It was a false and calumniouscharge that Catholics worshipped the statue of the Virgin ;thoy would not Ik guilty of the gross sin of idolatry. Ju«<t awe in oui homes like to have the pictuus o those whom we love above us, so do we in our Catholic churches like to have the statue of Mary. It puts v«, m mind of hci who was the mother of Jesus, just as the [ pictures in our homes remind us of our loved ones. It would bs well for us if we lived a life of piety and devotion as she did , it would bring us nearer to our God Him Lordfehip then blcsdcd and consecrated the statue. Tho Rosary of tho Blessed Virgin was then recited, after which tho candidates were confirmed, and their duties fully explained to them. In order to be folio werg of our Divmo Master they must practice the virtue of self-sacrifice. This ap plied equally to all Christians. When our Saviour came to tins earth he could, had he desired, have boon rich and powerful in a worldly sense, but he chose a life of poverty, trial, and .suffering, and died a painful death. This was a worthy lesson in self-sacrifice. Wo live in a world where everything tends to make us indulge ourselves regardless of all law ; thus it 1--that laws have to be maintained. There i» the lav/ of God, and can wo flatter ourselves and think we can escape tho eye of God, or hi* avenging arm ? We must submit ourselves to him, and practice tho virtue of self sacrifice by giving up those earthly pujoymonts which are inconsistent with Hi> divino laws. We are too prone to forg»i the things of the next world, inlrnfc as we are on the things of this. Some are like children in pursuit of a bubble ; they run after a bubble of placo, power, or riches, and forgot God, living in the world as if thero were no other world than this. This is a vain delusion. It is thereforo nrcos sary that fiom our earliest years we Rhould piactice the virtue of self-s iciifice, and not follow the bent of our own inclinations. It rests with us whether wo shall save or lose our souls. God has given us tho awful privilege of free will. Ho has placed m our hands the power of choosing a life of bliss or an eternity of punishment. It is a solemn thing to consider that it rests with us whether we shall follow the Saviour up the narrow and lugged path to Calvary, or whether we shall follow the tempter down tho broad and level road that leads to pordition. We should therefore lend Christian lives here, and attond the worship of God, striving to please him in everything. The days of persecution aro gone by, and Cvtholicscan now practice tlioir religion. Men may believe in God or they may not. Religion is banished from our legislature, and the sacred name of God is banished from our school* ; thoro is, therefore, need that tho fear of God should be inculcated in our children, and parents should bring their children tip in His faith, fear and love They should be taught lelißionat homo, and then parents should set them a go >d example by leading lives of Chiistian piety. Prayei both night and morning should never bt omitted. Childien should be sent regularly to Sunday School, and parents should not only send their children, but they should see that they attend. How cm they ex pect them to know the duties tequned of thorn by the chuich unless they attend Sunday School, where theso duties aie taught. There they will learn those Christian virtues winch the Holy Mother Church teaches, and which ht them for the world of the hereafter. Wo should all be loady for death, ready to answer the summons when it is sent. Many a man says, "Oh, I will not die just yet, there is plenty of time to prepare," but he in suddenly struck dovv n by an accident or dangerous illness, and he sends in hot hasto for the priest, who goes and administers the sacrament, but he often goes away with .mi aching heart, for he knows that God sees into the inmost thoughts of that man's heart, nnd knows that ho is not i oady to die. Ho lian during life given full play to his indulgences. He has never given a thought to hi.s Maker until he finds himself about to stand before tho awful bar of God, whom ho only mocks by going through the fmin of the sacrament at the last. We should alway.s bo ready, for we do not know when tho summons shall come for us. It i* wrong and criminal m us to leave prcpar.i tion for etormty to the last. His Lordship then called upon the eongregition to stand up and repeat with him the Lnrd'n Prayer, the Hail Mary, and the Apostles' Cread, after which tho service concluded with the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrameut.— (Own Coi respondent )

Fradlkin Yon Nkinkork is the righthand woman of the Emproba of Germany. She makes all purchases and paya every bill of the Empress.

Sakah BhKMiARUT acknowledges that she is forty one years old. Arithmeticians can ascertain her exact ago by letting " x " equal the unknown quantity. Mus Elizabeth Thompson', the philanthropist, is so fond of old fashioned hymns that she proposes to organise bands of sacred minstrels to travel through the country. Wk have heard lamentable tales lately (gays The World) about the discomforts which " the nobility and gentry " art suffering in consequence of the "depression," and things must indeed be bad when, at Christie and Mansons, the late Lord Wilton's champagne realised only 2.>oa, 300 sand 410s per do^on ; while the claret waa given away at IGOs and 175s per dozen. Evidently we are living in veiy hard times.

William Kinross, atelier in the chief olfiu' of the National Bank of Scotland, has just been sentenced in Edinburgh to five years' penal servitude for embe77ling over £8000 from the bank, in who«e service lie had been thirty-two years. A Chicago woman, while seated on a wharf fishing, fell asleep. Waking suddenly she caught sight of a reflection of one of her feet on the water, and, thinking it was her husband's dory, jumped in and was drowned. — Boston Globe.

A Substitute for Armour Platks. — Under Admiralty directions, an e\traodinary experiment is to be niado at Portsmouth, and tho results are anticipated with remarkable iuteiest. Targets coated with india-rubber Bheets are to be fixed on sides of armour-clad resistances, and they will be subject to progressive gunnery tes>ts, commencing with a sixpounder quick-firing gun and iucreasmg, if possible, up to a 6 inch 9 ton breech loader. Should tho tmls be attended with success, as it is expected by some experts, the arming of men of- war will be almost revolutionized, india rubber Bheets, specially prepared, being hugely Biilttituded for armour-plates.

A PUBLIC mooting of the ratepayers of tho Kanoi Road District was held in the school house, Te Mata on Saturday, the 21th inst., a good number of latepayera issombled, coining fiom Wanui, Kariui, Aotea, Kauroa, Ruapuke, Ragl-ui. and ithcr parts. This meeting had been lor>k< d foi ward to with gieat inteiest and considerible exutemnnt was shown at to how the (iiestion would be decided. On the motion •f Mr Thompson seconded by Mi Johnston, Mr J. H. l'hihp-. took tho ch.iu. Alter •wplaining the object of the meeting, and hoping that all would bo given a fm hearing, the chairman requested thobe who were in favour of tho Counties Act to bung Forward a resolution to that effect. The tug of war began by Mr H. Bree, who is a very able and elf uctive speech dwelt upon tho advantage of woiking the act. He said the road board had not the name power as tho county would have m constituting good roads, in opening up the land for settlement. Settlers will not come to reside in districts without good roads and Kawhia and adjacent lands would boon be well settled. Ho wts in favour of merging the road board into the county and proponed the following re»olntion • — "That this mooting of the Kanoi ratepayers pledge themselves to return two councillors pledged to vote for the bringing n of the Counties Act, and that the -Carioi Road B'>ard merge m tho count y. ' I'hin was seconded by Mr Jeromo Sir Peglor supported the motion, andtrustod it would be carried, as he felt convinced it •vould tend to increase the vvclf^rn of the i-ounty and distuct, showing from Han--iard that the o\penses of woiking counties md highway districts to bo 10£ per cent, far the fortnor, whilst tho latter cost 13 per cent, the figures for one county (S Mth I'iid) being as low an 5 per c-'iit. Ho pointed out that the Harbour B >.ird cou d bn formod under the act recently passod Vnothor reason why they should bring in tho act wat. that R iglan County had not g< ' its share of tho public money in the past. Mr Wm. Johnson then made an able speoch tgainst the operation of thn act, ulating, an tho county did not avail itself of getting thnu-undb of pounds from the Government m the jeais gone by, by bringing in tho act, it was useless now to work the same, as nothing Luiild now ba g>>t. The> lad bettor not take a leap in the d.irlv Vftcr rending extracts touching on the illegal expenditure) of certain county coup cils, and dwelling upon tho great bonehts road boards had conferred and the popul.i> control they were subjectod to, which would be lacking in county coun cils, ho illustrated the road woiks repented in the district by the trusteeH in tho past. Mr Thompson, J.P., was anxious to know what would be tlio oxponneot working the council, and thought they had better wa.it a little longer before taking action, ns Government would bring out another measure of local g>»ernment Mr Burns described the various changes im local government for the last 30 y<'ai«. Ho looked upon it as a bait thiown out, and they should not sell their birthright An vmondment was proposed, but after a little converaatiMn, it was thought that the tho resolution should stand except thu latter portion, us to the road bonrd, and it was c.iiried without any dissent. It now rests with tin electors to vote for eithor those who wish to work the Act or otherwise. Now tiiat tho Raglan and Kawhia Highway Board and ratepayer* ha\c declared for the Act in thico or four meetings, it is to be hoped they will endeavoui to return the beat men as councillor* nt the coming election, and may their hopes be realised, and leal benefit bo received. — Vfter a vote of thanks to the chairman, the meeting separated.— (Own Correspondent, Oct. 2t>.)