St Patrick

St Patrick’s Day is next Wednesday, celebrating the life of this beloved man. It is his Feast Day and thought to be the date of his death. I have a cousin whose birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day. Although it helps me remember her birthday, the celebration doesn’t quite overshadow it the way Christmas smothers December 25 birthdays. However, there’s nothing like a holiday for a birthday reminder. But I digress.

St. Patrick is thought to have been the first bishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland. Thus he’s considered the founder of Christianity in Ireland. Early on he found the Irish practicing a form of Celtic polytheism. His life in Ireland may have been the first Christian presence in the land. It should not be unsettling that more precise dates and reports aren’t found. Nowadays, sometimes we can’t even agree simply on Math facts. So, be at peace about soft facts about St. Patrick.

Patrick was never Canonized by the Pope, likely because the practice was begun later. Nevertheless he is widely venerated. I don’t get too exercised about the “saint” matter. In his Epistles, the Apostle Paul referred to the Christians as Saints. In my Faith tradition, United Methodist, we don’t say much about saints. We tend to let Paul’s words speak for themselves.

Without good focus, traditions can wander widely, much like a lazy river on a coastal plain. Even Halloween and Christmas, both with deep Christian roots, are virtually hijacked by commercialization. Is it any wonder that a peripheral Christian holiday such as St. Patrick’s Day, is engulfed in a similar fate? Ask almost anyone to make two sentences about St. Patrick’s Day and at least one sentence will allude to alcohol.

My purpose is not lobbying to reform St. Patrick’s Day; I only call attention to the holiday. You can ponder your own St. Patrick’s day preparation and participation. There are fun and meaningful ways the Day is celebrated. Among them; Rivers in cities such as Chicago, Charlotte, NC, Savannah, GA, San Antonio TX, and others, are dyed green for the day. The White House lawn, beginning under Michelle Obama’s guidance, is sprayed green. It is common to find numbers of green-toting, garb-wearing, paraphernalia-sporting folks out and about on the day. School kids have been known to “pinch” anyone not wearing something green. McDonalds sometimes offers “green shakes.”

Encyclopedia Britannica said of St. Patrick, “he was a most humble-minded man, pouring forth a continuous paean of thanks to his Maker for having chosen him as the instrument whereby multitudes who had worshipped ‘idols and unclean things’ had become ‘the people of God’.”

However sketchy his writings, and uneven his ecclesiastical path, St. Patrick’s influence on Ireland is profound. There is no evidence that he drove any mythical or any other snakes out of Ireland, or that he imbibed in spirits. But there is clear evidence of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in St. Patrick. By March 17 we are quite ready for the greening of earth! St. Patrick’s Day is a time to celebrate!