St. Patrick’s Day
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One
Today is St. Patrick’s Day.
Not to burst your bubble but St. Patrick wasn’t Irish. He was British. Britain was occupied by the Roman Empire from 43 AD and Catholicism was introduced there in the 1st century. It was well established by the early 300s. However, by the time Patrick was born, around 385, Britain had grown comfortable and began to fall away from Christ.
Even though St. Patrick’s father was a deacon and his grandfather a married priest, he says, “I did not then believe in the living God, not even when I was a child.” Nor was he alone in this. He and thousands of other Britons were captured by pirates and sent to Ireland as slaves. Later Patrick wrote, “We deserved this, because we had gone away from God, and did not keep his commandments. We would not listen to our priests, who advised us about how we could be saved.”
Two
Prior to his capture and enslavement, Patrick, like many others lived a comfortable life that was spiritually dead.
The problem with living a comfortable life is that when we think we have all we need, then we think we don’t need Jesus, so we don’t pray. And if we don’t pray, then God cannot fill our souls and eventually everything feels empty. But we don’t know what we’re missing so we double down in our effort to find happiness through more success, more entertainment, more travel, more experiences…but it doesn’t work. We’re just chasing the dragon. It’s a race where more satisfies less and the prize is loss. It’s the paradox of addiction, where increasing consumption leads to diminishing returns and escalating consequences. In the end, spiritual slavery really does lead to physical slavery. These are things we should remember but we always tend to forget.
Three
In his autobiography, Patrick wrote, “I remained in death and unbelief until I was reproved strongly, and actually brought low by hunger and nakedness daily… It was there that the Lord opened up my awareness of my lack of faith. Even though it came about late, I recognized my failings. So, I turned with all my heart to the Lord my God, and he looked down on my lowliness and had mercy on my youthful ignorance.”
Pride is the self-reliance that makes us think we have everything under control. We may believe in God, but we live as though we don’t really need him. That is why we spend so little time in prayer and too much time at work and entertainment. If we continue this way, we will never be happy.
That is when God in his mercy allows us to experience some trial, some dark night that strips us of all we relied upon. Patrick was stripped of everything when he was enslaved in Ireland for six years. That is when he turned to God.
A Dark Night can be almost any suffering that demonstrates the futility of self-reliance and opens the way to a greater faith and our purification.
Again Patrick writes, “After I arrived in Ireland, I tended sheep every day, and I prayed frequently during the day. More and more the love of God increased, and my sense of awe before God. Faith grew, and my spirit was moved, so that in one day I would pray up to one hundred times, and at night perhaps the same. I even remained in the woods and on the mountain, and I would rise to pray before dawn in snow and ice and rain.”
Four
Once he was set free from his spiritual slavery, God delivered Patrick from his physical slavery, he escaped from Ireland, making it safely back home to Britain.
You might imagine that the story would end there. I mean, Patrick has learned his lesson. He has faith, he has a prayer life. He can just settle down and live a good life. But that is not what Patrick does.
He goes back to pagan Ireland, where he would either be captured and enslaved or martyred. He risks everything for the love of Christ and souls. However, in a very short time, by the power of God, Patrick converts all of Ireland to Christ.
Patrick took a risk and won many souls for Christ.
Why are we so attached to our comfort zone, so afraid of what people might say or do, that we are paralyzed to help others to Christ? Courage is the willingness to risk lesser things for the sake of greater.
I know you love Christ. Prove it to him and yourself. What will you risk for the love of God?
Five
St. Patrick’s Day is a day to take a risk for the love of God.
Think about the inner circle of people God placed in your life: spouse, kids and grandkids, a son or daughter-in-law, parents, friends…
What can we do to help them grow closer to Jesus?
The first step is to commit yourself to daily friendship with Jesus in prayer like you are doing now in this Rosary.
The second step is to take the initiative to spend time with your inner circle regularly – habitually - so you can tell them they are going to hell for their unbelief. No! So that you can delight in them and show them their infinite self-worth by your genuine delight. And put your effort into getting to know them better and better.
The third step is to…well, that depends on what you learn from step two. Getting to know them better will give you better insight into the next right step. That might be to continue to delight in them through friendship, ask them if there is something for which you can pray, or invite someone to pray with you or share this podcast with them.
Prayer moves us from a dead faith to a living faith. The key for Patrick and for everyone is prayer. So don’t hide your prayer. Invite someone to pray the Rosary with you or share this Rosary with someone.
Let’s risk something for God and for souls.