17 March: St Patrick, Patron of Ireland

Is there any helpful guidance from St Patrick  for our own times? What must we do, to foster faith in Christ, in today’s Ireland and beyond?

1st Reading: Amos 7:12-15

Amos is sent by God to proclaim religious truth

Amaziah said to Amos, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, earn your bread there, and prophesy there; but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.” Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am no prophet, nor a prophet’s son; but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees, and the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

Responsorial: Psalm 115:12–19

Response: To you, Lord, I will offer a sacrifice of praise

How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord’s name. (R./)

O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.
Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosed my bonds. (R./)

My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful. (R./)

My vows to the Lord I will fulfil
before all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem. (R./)

1st Reading: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Paul’s pastoral care of the Thessalonians

You know, my brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.

Gospel: Luke 5:1-11

After the haul of fish, Jesus calls the fishermen to follow him

As Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus” knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.

(Alternative Readings for today
1st Reading: Sirach 39:6-10

Filled with the spirit of understanding

If the great Lord is willing, he will be filled with the spirit of understanding; he will pour forth words of wisdom of his own and give thanks to the Lord in prayer. The Lord will direct his counsel and knowledge, as he meditates on his mysteries.

He will show the wisdom of what he has learned, and will glory in the law of the Lord’s covenant. Many will praise his understanding; it will never be blotted out.His memory will not disappear, and his name will live through all generations.

Nations will speak of his wisdom, and the congregation will proclaim his praise.

2nd Reading: 2 Timothy 4:1-8

I have fought the good fight

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favourable or unfavourable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths. As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.

As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Gospel: Matthew 13:24-32

Growing together until the harvest

Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

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Sowing the good seed

Here is a short sample from St Patrick’s autobiography:

“I, Patrick, a sinner, a most simple countryman, the least of all the faithful and most contemptible to many, had as my father the deacon Calpurnius, son of the late Potitus, a priest, of the town of Bannavem Taburniae. We had a small villa nearby where I was taken captive. I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not really know the true God when I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people. Indeed we deserved it, for we had drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor heeded our priests who reminded us of our salvation. And the Lord brought down wrath on us and scattered us among many nations, even to the ends of the earth, where I, in my smallness, am now living among foreigners.

Here the Lord opened my mind to repent my unbelief, so that, even at this late stage I might turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who … pitied my youth and ignorance. And he watched over me before I knew him, …and he protected me, and consoled me as a father would his son.”

The Roman teenager, Patricius (Patrick), surely found himself in dire straits. He was homesick and miserable, a wretched slave,  forced to herd animals on a cold Irish mountainside in Antrim. Now he had plenty of time to study the world of nature, and somehow it was there that he first encountered God personally. Granted, his father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest, but as a youth Patrick had not cared for religion or faith while enjoying his Roman priveleges in Britain. Only after his life was turned upside down by those Irish slave-raiders did he find a new spiritual feeling. Something about the land and scenery of Ireland produced a mystical spirit in this enslaved Roman youth. For him, nature became the sacrament of the presence of God. Maybe it was the barren mountains, or the awesome beauty of the coastline, or the turning of the seasons. For whatever reason, he learned to treasure the beauty of the land, and realize that God was very near.

One day Patrick felt the call of Jesus Christ (like Peter, Andrew and the others) to commit himself to sharing Christ’s vision of life with others. He too became a fisher of men, and women, among the people of Ireland. As he admits in his Confessions, he did it very successfully, to his own amazement. For despite calling himself a sinner, without learning, a stone lying in the mud. But the God of mercy “raised up that stone, and set it on the very top of the wall.” Patrick could easily apply to himself the words of Amos: The Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’

In Patrick’s case, it was a mission to return to the land where he had been taken as a slave,  to bring the men and women of Ireland to the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8:21). The Confessions have many echoes of St Paul’s writings, for Patrick clearly admired the great apostle from Tarsus. Not least, Patrick’s zealous pastoral care for the Irish people mirrors how Paul worked among the Christians of Thessalonica. His refusal to accept gifts of gold and silver from his converts imitated St. Paul’s reluctance to make financial profit from preaching the Gospel. Also, his love for his converts made Patrick vow to stay on in Ireland for the rest of his life. How well he followed the way of St Paul: “we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.”

Patrick’s Loricum or Breastplate has the famous Celtic prayer of union with Christ:
“Christ be with me,
Christ surround me,
Christ be in my speaking,
Christ be in my thinking,
Christ be in my sleeping,
Christ be in my waking,
. . . Christ be in my ever-living soul, Christ be my eternity.”

As Patrick prayed for the Irish people on the mountain in Mayo which bears his name (Cruach Padraig), let’s pray for each other on his feast-day:

“May you recognize in your life the presence, the power and the light of Christ. May you realize that you are never alone, for He is always with you; that your living soul connects you with the rhythm of the universe. And may the road rise up to meet you and the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and the rain fall soft upon your fields. And, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

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Patrick’s strengths

Has St Patrick any guidance for our own times? What must we do, to foster faith in today’s Ireland? Maybe we might weave some passages his Confession into the homily. (For the Confessions of St Patrick, click here). Among his qualities to develope in the homily are these:

Prayerful man of the Spirit : “Again I saw Him praying in me, and … I heard Him above me, that is, over my inward self, and there He prayed with great emotion. And all the time I was astonished, and wondered, and thought with myself who it could be that prayed in me. But at the end of the prayer He spoke, saying that He was the Spirit; and so I woke up, and remembered the Apostle saying: The Spirit helps the infirmities of our prayer.”

Converted sinner, man of God : “I am Patrick, a sinner, most unlearned, the least of all the faithful, and utterly despised by many … But the Lord opened my unbelieving heart that I might at last remember my sins and be converted with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my abjection, and mercy on my youth and ignorance, and watched over me before I knew Him… comforted me as would a father his son. So I cannot be silent, nor should I be, about the great benefits and the great grace which the Lord has deigned to bestow upon me in the land of my captivity.” He was deeply grateful for the work of grace within him.

His obvious love of the Bible . He shows great familiarity with the most recently available translation of the Bible (St Jerome’s Vulgate) and often quotes or alludes to the text of Scripture. This reverence for the Bible marked the Irish church in the following centuries, and resulted in important early Irish commentaries, as well as lovely manuscript copies of the Gospel, like the Book of Kells.

Dedicated pastor . “For I am much God’s debtor, who gave me such grace that many people were reborn in God through me and afterwards confirmed, and that clerics were ordained for them everywhere, for a people just coming to the faith, whom the Lord took from the utmost parts of the earth.” His resolve to remain with the Irish, until his death. “Even if I wished to leave them and go to Britain, and how I would have loved to go to my country and my parents, and also to Gaul in order to visit the brethren and to see the face of the saints of my Lord! God knows that I much desired it! But I am bound by the Spirit, who witnesses against me that if I do this, I shall be guilty. And I am afraid of losing the labour which I have begun, no, not I, but Christ the Lord who bade me come here and stay with them for the rest of my life, if the Lord will, and will guard me from every evil way that I may not sin before Him.”

At considerable cost, Patrick left behind the comforts of Roman Britain to fulfil his mission as a wandering preacher in Ireland. He learned the Irish language and the local customs, respected their religious ideals and gave new meaning to their traditional high-places (like Croagh Patrick) and holy wells. In modern mission practice, radical inculturation is seen as essential to gaining a people’s heart for Christ.

Patrick’s distinctive spirituality grew out of his personal experience of Christ, of his mission to Ireland of the needs of the newly evangelized. (One can link his Christ-centred “Loricum” with the spirituality of his great apostolic mentor, St. Paul, as expressed in today’s noble passage from Philippians. Like Paul, Patrick regarded faith as not just knowledge but as a life filled with Christ. Faith is not simply a matter of ‘knowing’ the teachings of Christ and of the Church. It is a ‘sensing of the presence of Christ and a response to that presence. This is an aspect of Patrick which we could do with retrieving in our hectic, electronic-dominated age. Patrick grew to realize that the faith into which he was baptized as a child was more than a belief system which filled the head. It was a relationship with God, an awareness of the presence of the person of Christ sharing his life at every moment.

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Patrick, a pastor for today

We should not take Saint Patrick’s claim about his ignorance at face value. To call himself a mere illiterate sinner was meant to highlight the glorious workings of God’s grace in him. The style of the Confessio is not that of an ignorant man. He was aware of the Scriptures and of the Church Fathers and of late Roman literature. Patrick’s work evokes the style of the much longer Confession of his near-contemporary, St Augustine. Both were pastoral theologians of great insight, deeply aware of the presence of Christ in their lives.

Patrick’s theology came from his personal experience of Christ and his sense of mission to Ireland. Faith is not a knowledge about Christ but a life with Christ. It was not simply book learning about Christianity; it was an awareness of the presence of Christ and a lived response to that presence. For Patrick, faith was an awareness of the presence of God sharing his life at every moment. Starved of reliance on family and friends, the boy Patrick on Slemish discovered he was not alone. This sense of the presence and love of God shaped him and became the foundation of all that he did. It gave him a true sense of his own worth as loved by God, which he shared with others.

Patrick appreciated the worth of each human being. His Confession invites us all to personal conversion, on this his feast day. His message was to draw people to follow Christ in the sharing spirit of the Gospel. This mission is still an urgent one. Even in our prosperous society, the mantra of limited resources is used to hide the unequal provision of health care, education and employment. Our society is coarsened by injustice as much as by violence and murder. It is time to revive Patrick’s vision of the value of the individual, and let each one have their fair share in our land.

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Naoimh Pádraig, ár n’Aspail náisiúnta

Inniú, ar féile ár n’Aspail náisiúnta, Naomh Pádraig, ba chóir machtnamh a dhéanamh ar a shaol agus ar na súáilce a mhúin sé d’ár mhuintir in Éirinn fadó. Féachaimís cúpla smaointe, tógtha díreach ó’na scríbhínn álainn féin, as an bFhaoistín. Ní léifidh mé an téacs go léir, ach tá sé ar fáil go hiomlán ar an idirlín. Seo dhaoibh chuid de na haltanna is súntasaí liomsa. Tosnaíonn Pádraig go húmhal, ag léiriú a chuid laige morálta, mar óganach:

“Mise Pádraig, peacach ró-thuatach, an té is lú de na fíréin go léir agus an té is lú a bhfuil meas ag a lán air.’ Is cosuil gur fhás sé suas i dteaghlach Críostaí, ach níor chuir sé mór-chuid suim ar an dteagasg a fuair sé ó’na thuismetheoirí: “B’é Calpornius, deochan, m’athair. Mac do Photitus, sagart, ab ea é, ó bhaile Bannavem Taburniae (san Bhreatain Beag). Bhí mé tuairim sé bliana déag d’aois agus níorbh aithnid dom an fíor-Dhia agus tugadh i mbraighdeanas go hÉirinn mé in éineacht leis na mílte daoine eile, rud a bhí tuillte againn de bhrí gur thugamar cúl do Dhia agus nár choinníomar a aitheanta. Agus scaoil an Tiarna anuas orainn cuthach a fheirge agus scaip Sé sinn trína lán ciníocha.’

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