Juntos en el camino: Palabras semanales del Arzobispo Hebda
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. It’s too late in the day to say the traditional “Top of the morning” but I can assure you that it has been in my heart all day. My mom was very proud of being Irish and instilled that in her children as well. It’s no surprise that I have a brother and a nephew named Patrick. This was always a big day in our home. There was more than one occasion when I was pulled from bed in the wee hours to play “When Irish Eyes” on the piano for my mom and her friends when they wandered in from the Irish pub in Pittsburgh’s Market Square.
As a college student, I learned that Pittsburgh’s celebrations were tame in comparison with the celebrations in Boston. I don’t know if it is still the case but in the late 1970s, March 17 was a government holiday in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, designated as “Evacuation Day,” because it was on that date that the British evacuated Boston during the Revolutionary War. Now that’s Irish resourcefulness!
While the secular world has claimed St. Patrick as a wonderful excuse for a party, let us not forget the works of the great saint that led to the conversion of so many in Ireland people who then spread Catholicism far beyond the Emerald Isle. In the midst of the corned beef and cabbage and pints of green beer, I hope that many of you joined the Ancient Order of Hibernians at the Cathedral earlier today for the annual pre-parade St. Patrick’s Day Mass or made a visit to the St. Patrick Chapel in the Shrine of the Nations.
Growing up in Britain at the turn of the fifth century, Patrick could have related to many of our youth today: Though nominally Catholic, he spent his younger years rather distant from the faith. His life’s course took a sharp turn when, as a teenager, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and brought to their pagan country. During his six years of enslavement, rather than becoming hardened and bitter, he developed a deep, personal relationship with the Lord.
After escaping back to Roman Britain, one wouldn’t have blamed Patrick for wanting to put the Emerald Isle and those years of captivity behind him. But a new path had already been set for him: God had awakened in his heart a missionary zeal. After a vision of the Irish people asking him to return to them, he began his preparations for the priesthood.
Patrick then followed God’s path back to Ireland, where legend has it, he met the chieftain of the pirates who kidnapped him. From there, Patrick began preaching the Gospel, converting the Irish, and building churches.
In a culture known for its storytelling, it shouldn’t be surprising that the tales about St. Patrick are epic. We are told that he not only worked great miracles but also was a brilliant and effective preacher. His use of the common shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity is still used by homiletics professors the world over.
But it was Patrick’s selfless witness of forgiveness that most probably won the day. Who risks his life for those who had been his captors? How can such heroic charity be possible? Authentically loving those around us – willing their good, in spite of the ways in which they may have injured us – would be impossible were it not for the ability to draw from the wellspring of Christ’s love. It was Christ’s own love coursing through him that emboldened Patrick to become so great a witness.
Are we bold enough to ask our Lord for this same gift today when we face someone who may be otherwise difficult to love? Or if we find ourselves tempted to become bitter at our circumstances, can we instead use those circumstances as opportunities to rely more fully upon the Lord and draw closer to him?
As we celebrate his feast – which would have been so dear to John Ireland, our first archbishop – let us also emulate St. Patrick’s devotion to proclaiming the Gospel and serving selflessly with a heart rooted in Christ. With him, we can truly proclaim that Christ is indeed with us, before us, and behind us. Please join me in praying this day the Lorica of St. Patrick. May it be a source of evangelical zeal for all of us.
Please be sure to pray as well on this feast for Bishop Joseph Williams, a son of this Archdiocese and a proud son of St. Patrick, who begins his ministry today as Bishop of Camden. You may remember from his days as auxiliary bishop here that his crozier was modeled on that of St. Patrick from our Cathedral. May he always have St. Patrick’s heart and courage. “Sláinte” Bishop Williams!
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