Saint Patricks Day
With the Irish all over the world we celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick who was credited with bringing the faith to the Irish nation. I often wonder what St. Patrick who drove the snakes out of Ireland would do about the modern snakes that we have in Ireland today. I imagine he would look at what was going on around him and roll up his sleeves and get on with the job of proclaiming the Gospel. Jesus tells his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations in today’s reading from Matthew, that would sound absurd if taken literally in ancient Israel.
He was a small town prophet with a rag-tag group of disciples laying claim as the son of God. His own hometown rejected him. Why would the next town pay any attention, let alone the rest of the world? And yet, 2025 years later, that great commission to preach and teach the word of God continues. Christianity has spread all across the globe to every nation. Patrick’s first trip to Ireland was when he was taken there as a slave. At age 16. For six years, he was held as a prisoner who cared for his master’s sheep. He prayed one hundred times every morning and one hundred times every evening for God’s protection. By that time he was 22 years old. He was able to escape by ship, which he rode for three days before getting off and walking for the next month. Before he was taken as a slave, again. He was able to escape once more and then finally make his way home. He then went back to Ireland. He took what could have been the worst things to ever happen to him and turned them into inspiration for his life’s work. Here we are so many years after Saint Patrick thinking about his message and how we can put it into action in our own lives and there is much to value in that message.
The spirit of St Patrick affirms the worth of each human being. His Confession invites us all to personal conversion. His message was to draw people to follow Christ in the sharing spirit of the Gospel. This mission is still an urgent one especially in today’s world were there are so many people who are experiencing a crisis of faith and many other crises as well. Saint Patrick proclaimed the message of salvation and many years later we and all the generations in between are the inheritors of faith that is the rich inheritance born of him. Today we give thanks to God for our faith and for sending St Patrick to us. It is also a day to reflect on and give thanks for the example of so many men and women who inspire us by their example. There are many things that are wrong in the world and there are many snakes out there looking to destroy what we hold as being good and honourable it is up to us to us to choose the right course; to be brave under trials; and make the Good News the hope for our salvation our message as we honour Saint Patrick on his feast day.
Fullerton T 