Happy St. Patrick's Day!
For those of you who don't know, I am, ashamedly, mostly not-Irish. I know, how dare I not be. Instead I ended up as a mix of mostly German and Italian. But there is some Irish blood in me. That means that I am very precise and efficient (German), tomorrow (Italian), and how dare you call me lazy (Irish)!
I don't really have anything specific to say today, I guess. Except that the story of St. Patrick is much more interesting than green colored beer.
Patrick was born in England around AD 385. Just so there is no doubt, here's why that's is significant. The Council of Nicaea, where the church sat down and composed the creed, was only 60 years earlier. The church had only recently found favor with the Roman Empire. Our faith community was still young and "untested." We were going through growing pains. Christianity was new. Radical.
Patrick was born in what was the Roman equivalent of the "wild west." To the east was Scandinavia with its pagans, who would soon become the Vikings. To the southeast was Germany, with the original "barbarians." To the north, a cold sea of ice. And to the west, a land of green hills and tenacious people. The locals called it Eire.
Ireland.
As far as we know, Patrick was the son of a deacon and grandson of a priest. (Yep, at this time there was still not an "official" stance on priestly marriage. Or at least not a well enforced one. I'm still looking into it. Early Church history is fascinating!) Anyway, Patrick, like any pastor's kid, was not a "devout" Christian growing up. Then, when he was sixteen, pirates kidnapped him. (Robert Lewis Stevenson, where are you?) They sold him as a slave in Ireland, where he served for six years.
While as a slave, Patrick fell back on his faith, especially prayer. After six years, he felt lead by God to leave Ireland. Somehow he convinced a ship to take him home. Once back in England, he joined the church and began studying the Word. He felt called to be a missionary to Ireland.
Now, remember. Ireland is where he was a slave. And the Irish are not known for being the most friendly to people who invade their nation (though, no one is). This little island is one of the extreme points of the known world at the time. As far a Patrick knows, you cannot go any farther west.
Patrick had his work cut out for him. It wasn't like Ireland today. Their religion was a form of paganism, led by druids. Since none of them wrote anything down, we're not entirely sure what their religion was about. Not that it matters too much. What we do know are the stories that have survived. Patrick chose to preach in a place with a mythology as rich and diverse as Greece or Egypt. But he had an advantage.
Remember I mentioned the Council of Nicaea? Yeah, Patrick heard about it. Especially the parts where they talked about the Trinity. Bet you know where this is going. Its a well known story Patrick using the shamrock to explain the Trinity. But, like I said, he had an advantage. You see, Irish mythology had something that most religions did not have: a tipple deity. Three goddesses, Brigid, Eriu, and the Morrigan, were not simply one person, but three. Not simultaneously, but still, three distinct persons. So teaching the Irish that God is really three persons in one was not so much of a shock for them.
Isn't it funny how God works sometimes? Sets the foundation for a lesson generations in advance, and only in hindsight do we see it clearly.
Oh, well, I've had my ramble. If you want to know more about St. Patrick, there's a lot available, but much of it is a bit of conjecture and assumption, since we don't have official date and documents and such. And if you want something kind of silly and great for the kids, Veggie Tales made a version of his story. Its a short on one of their videos: "The Sumo of the Opera." Its also on "Tales From the Sock Drawer." It is both fun and accurate.
I'll leave you with this final thought:
May God be with you and bless you. May you see your children's children. May you be poor in misfortunes and rich in blessings. May you know nothing but happiness from this day forward.
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