St. Patrick's Day

Today is the feast day of St Patrick, the man who brought Christianity to the Irish some 1400 years ago.  He has become something of secular icon in modern times, the patron saint of Guinness stout.  What a sad development.

I'm all for having a good time.  I enjoy a fun party.  But to conflate one of the great apostles of the faith with drunken revelry suggests we've lost the plot.  Mind you, the Church hasn't done a very good job of talking about what Patrick did, nor in emulating the life he led.  That doesn't mean we can't try to do better.

During this Lent, let us remember the man who though he was abducted and subjected to slavery in a foreign land so felt the love of Christ, that when freed, he wanted nothing more than to go among the people with whom he'd known captivity to share with them his Lord's faith.  Talk about a generous, faithful spirit.  Talk about a man of God.

If only he were with us today.

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