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Show THE INTERMOUNTAIN CATHOLIC 36 EDITORIALS Among Your Gifts By this time that Christmas list has been pretty well checked over. With a kind of glowing satisfaction you realize that nothing and nobody has been forgotten: Gloves, sox, cigars, a fan, a pair of silver buckles, a belt, a box of Irish, linen handkerchiefs, a bottle of French perfume, cards by the boxful, perhaps that coupe and radio. . . And down somewhere on the list a box of cigars for your friend, Father Casey. And just below it, five pounds of chocolates for Sister Loretto. And that is that, unless. You wouldnt mind checking up a new list of things that would make Christmas giving an blessing for many people. Lets check again. For the whole family, just as much cheerfulness, just as beautiful a disposition and gracious a charm as you give to your friends outside of home; pleasant conversation at the dinner table, and a little thoughtfulness to oil those domestic cogs that scraped a bit last year. For mother, a willingness to make her home a beautiful and happy place where the flowers are not all for the daughter and the leisure is not all for the son. For father, a respectful consideration when he expresses his views or his wishes, an attitude that indicates you think him generous, unselfish and really interested in you. For the pastor, a parish spirit, an eagerness in every spiritual and social toj event that he suggests, a spirit too generous and broad to allow of jealousy or pettiness. For your school, gratitude for its Catholic atmosphere and training and a determination to do your simple duty by studies, discipline, and the spiritual life expected of a Catholic student. For the world, the example of a fine Catholic life, the perfume of purity and virtue, an influence thrown always toward justice and right. ... all-the-- y ear-roun- d , co-opera- te For the Church, obedience to her wise commands, reverence for her leaders, devotion based on a knowledge of her divine origin and splendid achievements. For Christ, love for the Sacrament of the altar, gratitude for His tenderness and mercy, service that shows itself in a militant Catholic . life. Check your list again, and be sure that these gifts are there. Christmas will be a happier day if you have not forgotten them. The Queens Work . The Law of Giving The law of giving is the law of life. The stream generously pays its tribute to the river. Just as generously the river rolls its waves into the sea. The sea merges its all into the vast ocean. From the deep go the waters in vapors to the sky which sends them back, revivified and enriched, to the earth. Having blessed the hills and valleys with fertility, the stream, the river, and the sea again welcome the return of the waters. Nature is glad and rejoices in bounteous life. Then, is it not from the earth that the gift of growth goes to plants, flowers and trees which, dying give it back in another form that other plants may live and bloom after them? Even do human parents give themselves to their children, that life may be continued on earth. The law of giving is the law of civilization. It was the gifts of princes and peasants, which builded civilizations first monuments; the gifts of priests, monks, and nuns preserved its treasures; the gifts of missionaries carried its standards into the darkest lands of earth; the gifts of soldiers defended its outposts. The law of giving is the law of God and Religion. In Religion it is giving which makes growth. Giving is the very life of it. If nothing were given, stagnation would follow as quickly as it follows the cutting of fresh waters off from a lake. On the foundation of Gods own gifts is the whole religious struc- - |