It seems to me to be a special treat that this year Saint Patrick’s Day coincides with Holy Week. After all, the focus of St. Patrick’s Day is the Gospel of our salvation, the very Gospel that is so powerfully held before us during this week of progression from our Lord’s entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the day of suffering and death to redeem us from the powers of sin, death and the devil, and finally having reestablished the eternal Sabbath or Rest, rising to everlasting life.Truly this is a fitting time for observing the ardent zeal of St. Patrick for the Gospel. Truly St. Patrick’s Day represents for us what these final days of Lent really mean. For even as dear St. Patrick was taken captive and then became free from his captivity so that he learned to know the joyous freedom of the Gospel, so also this week draws us ever more to the preaching of Christ crucified where our freedom has been won for us. Moreover, as St. Patrick grew in his understanding of the freedom that Christ won for him, his great desire was that he could carry this liberating Gospel to those who previously were his captors and abusers. Such is the power of God’s forgiveness. As we observe the ensuing ministry of Patrick, we behold the necessity of purity in the preaching and practice by which we are made to be communicants of Christ’s body and blood. For the Gospel is emptied of its power
when it is conjoined to anything other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified.For more on the history of St. Patrick, Aardvark Alley has a nicely written piece.
Technorati Tags: +St. Patrick, Holy Week, Gospel, freedom
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