Toasting St. Patrick
Today we celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. An opportunity to celebrate a great man of our faith by toasting him with a Guiness sounds good to me, but how many of us actually know who St. Patrick was or what he contributed?
Wikipedia never disappoints. Check out this article with lots of great info. Here's a few excerpts that point out the importance of who he was:
spread the Christian faith, Saint Patrick is important because he
serves as a testament to the overall missionary legacy of the Church.
His example afforded later Christian missionaries the opportunity to
assess the best methods to employ when confronting pagan
groups abroad. Perhaps the most significant aspect of Saint Patrick’s
missionary efforts in Ireland was that he transcended the boundary
between Church hierarchy and prominent Church Fathers in terms of the
viability of missionary pursuits."
"One way for Saint Patrick to ensure success for evangelizing
opportunities while among the Irish was to live in solidarity with
those whom he was trying to convert. Approaching the Irish as an equal
while showing no pretense of superiority allowed the Irish to become
more receptive of Christian teachings. In fact, Patrick himself avowed
in his Confession that he “sold this nobility of [his],â€[40] to enhance the commonality between himself and his Irish audience.
In other words, Patrick contextualized the Gospel to the people he was with. He lived misionally. Now that's something worth toasting!
Also found this article with 10 facts/legends about St. Patrick.
And for those of you with a much shorter attention span or who don't wanna read anymore, check out this entertaining look at the life of St. Patrick.
Happy St. Patricks Day!!
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