Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Have you ever been unlucky?
I would like for you to think about the most unfortunate, the most difficult, the most grueling event of your life.
For some of you it might be a big thing, like the loss of a parent or a relative or a friend. For some of you it might be what seems a little thing, but what was, at the time, a huge deal for you, like perhaps, being cut from a sports team or having a friend betray a confidence.
Whatever the event, try for just a moment, to get into that experience. Feel it again. Let all those old feelings, let all those old emotions, let all that bitterness, hatred, anger, shame, whatever, bubble up inside your heart for a moment.
Now realize an important truth of our faith as Catholics, as Christians. The key to life is not denying that these things have happened. The key to life is not to numb ourselves from the agony or the hurt with alcohol, or drugs or frantic activity. The key to life is not simply to move on and forget that those things have ever happened. The key to life is to face that unpleasantness, face that the misfortune, face that trial, and transform it. More accurately, allow God to transform it. And when that happens we are better, we are more compassionate, we are more empathetic and, best of all, we are readier to face whatever life has in store for us.
This is the history of the people of Ireland. This is the history of St. Patrick,
Patrick was born in Britain, under the rule of Rome in the fifth century (the 400’s for you math people.) Like so many young people throughout all of history, he was rather rebellious and he rejected the Christian faith of his family. In his early teens, Patrick had his unfortunate, unlucky experience, he was kidnapped. He was kidnapped by Irish pirates and was force into slavery under a Celtic warlord. After six years, Patrick finally escaped. He returned to Britain, but his cruel captivity, the nightmare of slavery, the horror of losing his freedom, transformed Patrick, and indeed, as we will see, transformed the world. He decided to become a priest and, amazingly, decided to go back to the people who had chained him in order to bring them the good news of Jesus Christ.
Boy did he! Patrick’s influence is now far and wide. Some writers suggest that because of the monasteries
that Patrick founded, Western civilization remained alive. If that wasn’t enough, Patrick is the first person in all of recorded history to unequivocally condemn and renounce the practice of slavery. It would be fourteen hundred years later before the United States of America and
the Vatican would catch up with him!!
Patrick took the unlucky, unfortunate, ill-fated occurrence of his slavery and transformed it with the grace of God into a gift of life and hope, a gift for the people of Ireland, a gift for the Church, a gift for the world, and today a gift for all of us. It a gift that was given to my ancestors, making me a direct recipient of the gift of Patrick.
As far as I am concerned there are two types of people in this world. The lucky and the unlucky. What is interesting about these two groups is that the same things happen to both of them. Diseases, cruelty, accidents, happen across the board. It is the lucky ones who allow God to transform these things into goodness and life. It is the unlucky ones who wallow in their bitterness, their anger, their resentments, their bile. In other words, it isn’t about luck at all, it is about grace, it is about blessing, it is about allowing God into your heart and into your life.
The green of St. Patrick’s Day reminds us that in the midst of the cold, in the midst of the chill, in the iciness of our lives, springtime is nearly ready to burst forth, new life is about to commence. The unfortunate events of our lives only serve to make us less hateful, less bitter, more compassionate, more loving, more considerate.
Dare I say it, more Irish?
And luck, had nothing to do with it.