Today, the Church remembers and prays with Saint Patrick, one of the primary patron Saints of Ireland. Sometime during the late fourth century or early fifth century A.D., Patrick served as a missionary and as a Bishop in Armagh (Northern Ireland). He is regarded as the founder of Christianity in Ireland and the primary force behind the conversion of a society that had until then been practicing a form of Celtic polytheism.
This would have been a major revolution at the time, but then again, so was the teaching of Jesus during his time. Matthew's gospel tells us that Peter approached Jesus one day and asked him, 'Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? ...' (Mt 18:21). In the midst of a society that had been founded on competition, Jesus came to teach another way that is based not on the quest for worldly achievement, but on the power of forgiveness and love.
Let us ask Saint Patrick to intercede for us today so that we too might learn to recognize and appreciate the gift of forgiveness in our own lives, and to come to know the power of His great love for all his disciples.
As Pope Francis asked at the beginning of his Mass yesterday morning, let us also pray for all those who are sick, and for families who are being increasingly isolated: their children are not going to school, more and more parents are being isolated as well. May the Lord help them to discover new ways, new expressions of love, new ways spending time creatively and of living together in this new situation. Let us pray for all our families, for relationships within our families at this time, that these relationships might flower and bring about much good.
Have a great day.
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