Saint Patrick

Happy Saturday! Many will be celebrating St Patrick’s Day this Sunday. Do you know who Saint Patrick was, what he stood for? Let me give you a little insight: Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, He really existed. He was born in around 387 AD in Kilpatrick, Scotland. He died on March 17, 461. St Patrick is traditionally associated with the Shamrock plant, which he used to explain the concept of the Trinity. St Patrick’s value comes from the inspiration of a man who returned to the country where he had been a child slave, in order to bring the message of Christ.

Yes, Saint Patrick had been abducted as a teen taken to Ireland to be a slave. He was put to work herding sheep and pigs on Slemish mountain in County Antrim by a gang of Irish pirates. He escaped by stowing away on a boat bound for Britain, and it landed not far from where his parents lived.

Patrick decided to follow his dream to become a priest and was inspired to return to Ireland as he seemed to hear the voice of those who were beside the forest of Foclut and they were crying as if one voice “We beg you, holy youth, that you shall come and shall walk again among us”. He spent many years studying before he felt ready to take on the life of a missionary.

Patrick eventually returned to Ireland, as the country’s second bishop, and brought the message of Christ to many people who had never heard it. He baptized many thousands of people. It was not an easy task as he tells of how his life was at risk and he was sometimes imprisoned by local pagan chiefs. He longed of going home. But he knew his mission and remained in Ireland.

Patrick was an educated man. He knew the language of his British parents, studied and understood Latin and learned Irish to communicate God’s message to the people of Ireland. Patrick believed that when “every nation” had heard the gospel, Christ would then return, and it seems he believed that he was the person to bring this message of Christianity to the land that represented this “final hurdle” of God’s plan. He felt God’s call to return to preach The Good News of Christ to the people of Ireland, playing a major part in converting the Irish to Christianity.

God working within… the reality of St. Patrick as revealed in the “Confession” shows us someone in whom the grace of God was powerfully active. The Lord often uses weak and fragile people to accomplish his will, to build up his kingdom: “My grace is enough for you, my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians, 12:9).

Patrick himself recognized this; he was conscious of being “rustic, exiled, unlearned,” of lacking the sophistication of other bishops. But more than this, he was conscious of the power of God working within him. Anyone familiar with the stone-walled fields that partition the Irish countryside will appreciate the image that he uses to describe this: “I was like a stone lying in deep mud; and he that is mighty came and in his mercy lifted me up, and raised me aloft and put me on top of the wall. And therefore I ought to shout out aloud and return something to the Lord for the great mercy he has shown me now and for all ages.” Weak though he was, Patrick’s success lay in his recognition of the Gospel’s power to transform, transfigure and uplift, and this is as true for us in the 21st century as it was for him in the fifth.