FEAST OF ST PATRICK

V/​ I will turn to you O God, 

R/​ to God who gives joy to my youth

V/​ Give me the Wisdom that sits by your throne; 

R/ that I may be counted among your children

Lord, in your all-providential plan, you have led me to this moment to rediscover me in your Word and Wisdom. Aid me to make this time of meditation and prayer enriching, transforming, and liberating for my well-being and others. Amen!

Feast of St Patrick

17th March 2025

Acts 13:46-49; Psalm 117(116); 1-2; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

The whole world celebrates St. Patrick’s Day, from China to Chicago and everywhere in between. Yet, I wonder how many people know the real Patrick and the inspiring story of his faith and resilience. Patrick was not born in Ireland, but in what we know today as Wales, and at the age of 16 he was taken into captivity to Ireland.

As he tells us in his confession, at the time of his captivity he did not know the true God. God used Patrick’s captivity for a good purpose. He made himself known to Patrick, perhaps through those long moments of minding sheep somewhere on Irish hills.

This is the image I have of that incident as it was happening. Patrick was on a ship with thousands of others being kidnapped at the same time. As they’re being taken to Ireland, the Trinity looks down from heaven. God’s gaze, like the lights on a stage, focuses on Patrick and God says, this is the lad I want. I choose him to do my work. This decision didn’t only change Ireland, it changed Patrick too.

However, it took years for God’s plan to slowly unfold in his life. At the railway stations in the UK and Ireland, we can hear Mind the Gap. There are also gaps between what our past says we are and who God says we are meant to be. In Patrick’s case, he was a captive in Ireland who was meant to become the patron saint. God’s story breaks the and Patrick’s story affirms that. There is resonance with the story of St. John of the Cross, who being captive by some members of his order, experienced God’s closeness in his prison cell to such a degree that now we have his teaching on the dark night of the soul as a result. Their time of captivity is a part of their story, but not their whole story. Patrick’s experience in Ireland became a door of hope that now leads us to Christ. Patrick was in Ireland for six years, and then with God’s help, he was able to escape.

And some accounts says that he was away from Ireland for as long as 15 years. When after that time, he finally reached Ireland again, it was not as a captive of men, but as a lover of God. God looks at you with the same gaze of love, and he tells you, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Can you notice how God has been active in your life, even through difficulties and struggles? Over the centuries, interaction between the UK and Ireland hasn’t always been graced. Saint Patrick is a bridge, the one who came from the island across the Irish Sea and revealed that in Christ, we become who we are meant to be. Perhaps God’s plan for the two islands was missed amidst the old amenities.

But in our time, we have a chance to allow God to write a bigger story, to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and renew this plan of God. God used a son from the British Isles and made him into the patron saint of Ireland. God’s plan was focused on our salvation and rootedness in Christ. And today we too can mind the gap and allow Christ to fill it with his transforming love.