Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 25 August 1921, Page 3

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR. August 28, Sunday.—Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost. ~ 29, Monday. Beheading of.St. John the Baptist. ~ 30, St. Rose of Lima, Virgin. ~ 31, Wednesday.—St. Raymond Nonnatus, Confessor. September 1, Thursday.—St. Giles, Abbot. ~ 2, Friday.—St. Stephen, King and Confessor. ~ 3, Saturday.—Of the B.V.M. ■ 0-^» RELIGION FIRST. Our motto ought certainly to be “Religion First.” -We cannot afford to look on our religion as so many do to-day, as at best a mere department of lifeat worst, as a mere side issue. We are living in a curious age. It is the age of opinion whose name is legion. Men are only certain of a few things. And one thing they are certain of, that religionthat is, dogmatic religionis a thing of the past. That being so, it follows that the less thought or said about religious principles in the old Middle Ages sense the better. All is influx and reflux. Natural goodness is the only light left to go by. And it is by no means a steady light; rather, when one comes to think of a flickering, feeble flame, like the flame in an old lantern when the oil is running low.

GRAINS OF GOLD

DANTE.

(From the Italian of Michelangelo.)

Living, from earth he plunged in the frim Pit; But when the one and the other Hell he had trod, Guided by the great thought, he rose to God; , Then bore to us the flame that Truth had lit. Sole-shining star, whose vivid -rays disclose Eternal mysteries to our blinded eyes!

You won from the vile world the waiting prize Its hate on the heroic soul bestows. What Dante writ unread aside is thrust With his God-given aim; his folk ingrate From sanctuary only bar the Just. Would I were such a man! born to his fate, For his harsh exile and unwavering trust I would surrender the world's happiest state.

—George Noble Plunkett.

TO THOSE WHO SUFFER

0 suffering ones whose ways are ever clouded!

Whose yearning eyes Uplooking, ever seek to pierce the shadow

That darkly lies Above you, closing out the vision

Of kindlier skies!

Be faithful; yet the darkness of the night-time Shall pass away. "A little while," and through the sombre shadows

The dawning grey Shall come, then clearer light, cloudless, unfading, ; Eternal Day.

REFLECTIONS.

I awoke in Thee, and beheld Thee infinite.—St. Augustine. to

Patience not only preserves what is good, but also repels what is evil.—St. Cyprian. ... . The Gospel of Christ is the one thing you need.— I Clement of Alexandria, I Serve, love, and honor the Lord God with a- pure heart m arid a sincere purpose, which is what He asks above all ■■ things.— Francis of Assisi. jg . Be thou anxious to lead a. good life on earth, and all further anxieties leave to, the mercy of God.— Hugh '■'■■' x, ■ lt is wrong to look to one's own good rather than seek , the welfare of others. Whosoever overcomes himself, treads the world under foot.—St. Columban. . '