Friday, March 15 2019; St. Patrick
ST. PATRICK
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life… (Philippians 2:14-16a NIV)
As he writes the letter to the Philippians, Paul is of the opinion that they live in a world in which people grumble and argue all the time because of greed and selfishness. Therefore, he tells the Philippians that they should not grumble or argue so that they become “blameless and pure”. He also tells them that if they do this, they will “shine like stars” in a “warped and crooked generation”.
On Sunday March 17, it will be St. Patrick’s Day. Very often it is presented as a time for fun and frivolity. However, if we did some research about the original St. Patrick, we will find that his life was neither funny or frivolous. The original Patrick was not Irish. This is what Philip Freeman, a scholar of Celtic studies says about Patrick:
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The historical Patrick was not Irish at all, but a spoiled and rebellious young Roman citizen living a life of luxury in fifth-century Britain when he was suddenly kidnapped from his family’s estate as a teenager and sold into slavery across the sea in Ireland. For six years he endured brutal conditions as he watched over his master’s sheep on a lonely mountain in a strange land. He went to Ireland an atheist, but there heard what he believed was the voice of God. One day he escaped and risked his life to make a perilous journey across Ireland, finding passage back to Britain on a ship of reluctant pirates. His family welcomed back their long-lost son and assumed he would take up his life of privilege, but Patrick heard a different call. He returned to Ireland to bring a new way of life to a people who had once enslaved him. He constantly faced opposition, threats of violence, kidnapping, and even criticism from jealous church officials, while his Irish followers faced abuse, murder, and enslavement themselves by mercenary raiders. But through all the difficulties Patrick maintained his faith and persevered in his Irish mission.
Patrick wasn’t the first Christian to reach Ireland; he wasn’t even the first bishop. What made Patrick successful was his dogged determination and the courage to face whatever dangers lay ahead, as well as the compassion and forgiveness to work among a people who had brought nothing but pain to his life. None of this came naturally to him, however. He was a man of great insecurities who constantly wondered if he was really cut out for the task he had been given. He had missed years of education while he was enslaved in Ireland and carried a tremendous chip on his shoulder when anyone sneered, as they frequently did, at his simple, schoolboy Latin. He was also given to fits of depression, self-pity, and violent anger. Patrick was not a storybook saint, meek and mild, who wandered Ireland with a beatific smile and a life free from petty faults. He was very much a human being who constantly made mistakes and frequently failed to live up to his own Christian ideals, but he was honest enough to recognize his shortcomings and never allow defeat to rule his life.
[https://blog.oup.com/2014/09/real-story-saint-patrick/]
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Through this humble witness of his faith in Christ, the original Patrick shone like a star in the island of Ireland. That is why he was later declared a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and is held in high regard in Ireland.
There is a prayer attributed to St. Patrick:
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
Pastor Pye