Dear Friends of Carmel Mission,
I wish you a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
On this day, we give thanks to God for all those who left their home and family in order to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. St. Patrick was forced to go to Ireland as a slave. He had to endure many hardships as he kept watch over sheep on the Irish hillsides. He eventually escaped and studied for the priesthood. But the call of the Irish was always ringing in his ears.
He returned and embarked upon a campaign to turn the hearts of the pagan Irish to the one true God. It is said that he used the three leafed shamrock to help explain the mystery of the Trinity, – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons in one God.
St. Patrick became more Irish than the Irish themselves, and thus, on this day each year, millions of people all over the world, endeavor to discover their Irish-ness!
May we all be blessed by a strengthening of our Catholic faith, by an infusion of hope in our lives, and by a willingness to embrace those who differ from us, as St. Patrick did, in the name of our Triune God.
I leave you with an adapted Irish limerick:
A Shepherd who lived in Carmel
Was fearful of ending in hell
He sold off some ewes
To renew some pews
And God said: My son, you did well!
Irish Blessings to you,
Fr. Paul
Pastor at Carmel Mission