Homily: Feast of St. Patrick
Feast of St. Patrick (Luke:19-31) “Difference Between Truth and Blarney”
St. Patrick was one of the great missionaries of the church. We often fail to think of him in those terms. Actually, Patrick was born in England. One day pirates kidnapped him, and he was taken to Ireland where he was enslaved. He managed to escape. He made his way into Northern Europe where he received his education and was ordained a priest. He was asked to return to Ireland to convert the Irish people. He had knowledge of Ireland that others did not have because he had lived there. The Ireland was considered a difficult place to spread the Gospel because the people had strong pagan beliefs.
Patrick would traverse the island with his walking staff in hand. When he began to preach in the open air, he would thrust his staff into the ground. Legend has it that he preached so long one day that his staff took root and began to grow branches. The truth of the legend is disputed, but the zeal of Patrick is not.
He was like all great missionaries in that he took what the population believed, especially about the supernatural, and he showed what these things had to do with Christ.
One example is the shamrock. This is a primary symbol for St. Patrick. Patrick did not use it to teach about Christianity simply because it had three leaves, but he used it because the Irish were impressed by the shamrocks ability to regenerate. The fact that it had three leaves led to the trinitarian allusion that Patrick used, but the hardiness of the plant was said something about the faith taking root anywhere.
Patrick respected what the Irish believed. We have a term in the church call Celtic spirituality. Aspects of that spirituality were in place before Patrick arrived to teach about Christ. He was able to point out similarities in religious beliefs and to dispel beliefs that had no relationship to Christian ethics. In a way we could say that he had an ecumenical spirit. Because of that he succeeded in his preaching.
Reflection Questions:
- Do we win more people to Christ by attacking people’s beliefs or by trying to find common ground? What has been my experience?
- Patrick served those who had enslaved him. Does this say something about the power of forgiveness?
Dear Parishioners,
We got a special message from our Bishop concerning Pope Francis’ plan to consecrate Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the Feast of the Assumption. Also, there are special prayers for peace that he would like offered. We will plan on doing this on the Feast of the Assumption. The Feast of the Assumption is March 25th.
We need to all make prayers for peace a regular part of our daily prayers. The best thing that could happen is a diplomatic solution that follows an immediate cease fire. Let’s hope that enough blood has been spilt that sanity will take hold.
May Our Lady of Peace pray for our World.
Fr. Mark