St Patricks Day Reflection

Lenten Greetings to you all beautiful members of KCMC as we retire from St. Patrick’s Day on Monday, March 17th. This is an important day for the Irish community as they celebrate both their religious and cultural heritage. St. Patrick is the patron Saint of the people of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. St. Patrick is celebrated as a Christian missionary and Bishop of the Church who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the 5^th century, in the Christian era. According to historians, St. Patrick was sold into slavery in Ireland as a child. Once he was free, he became a priest and returned to the country as a missionary.

Legend has it that St Patrick died on March 17. To commemorate his memory, people in Ireland started observing a feast day on March 17 around the ninth or 10th century. Green is the dominant colour of St Patrick’s Day and people wear green clothes, decorate their houses in green and prepare food with green leafy vegetables like cabbage. Traditionally people pin clover-shaped leaves and violet flowers of the Irish shamrock plant on the lapel. Meat, cabbage dishes and beer dominate the food tables while some prepare the classic Irish Stew, soda bread and apple pie. In Ireland and Northern Ireland, thousands gather in towns and cities to revel in the festivities. Parades and cultural events are held. The annual parade in Dublin draws more than one million people.

What interests me about this Irish day is the interface between Faith and Culture. The manner in which the people of Ireland have taken the Christian missionary work of St. Patrick as an awakening moment for their nation-state is quite remarkable. Here is the work of Faith that has appropriated as the work of igniting the life of a nation. We do know of course that in some instances (like ours in South Africa), the interface between ‘a faith’ and a nation has been used negatively. In South Africa, we know that apartheid ‘theology’ preceded apartheid state ideology. We know that in fact, apartheid ‘theology’ was created to then be introduced to the state, and not vice-versa. But in the Irish context, we see a positive story of the Faith and the nation. The two living side-by-side has not only been a positive action, but a life giving action.

Hear the Prayer of St. Patrick as you begin your week: