40 Crosses for 40 Days: 26th Cross - The Celtic Shamrock Cross

In anticipation of the feast day of St. Patrick of Ireland, on March 17th, we'll reflect on the Celtic Shamrock cross today. St. Patrick is remembered and venerated for his tremendous missionary spirit. His witness to and explanation of the Christian faith to the Irish tribes has become the stuff of legends. But the fruitful effect his preaching had on the people was not just a lucky coincidence. It was only able to take place because of the suffering that he had undergone as a young man.

Because he was taken away from both hearth and home, i.e. family and nation, St. Patrick had to make a quick and serious study of the people he was living with, in order to survive. He came to deeply understand the culture and beliefs of the Irish people. He knew all about their leaders, their customs, their religious beliefs and practices and more importantly, what it all meant to them. It was this understanding, gained through suffering and hardship, that enabled St. Patrick to speak to the culture in a way that would resonate with them, so that they could come to believe.

“We beg you, holy boy, to come and walk again among us." said the voice of the Irish -St. Patrick, Confessions

Legend has it, for example, that St. Patrick used the shamrock to illustrate the core tenant of Christianity, the Holy Trinity: Three Persons. One God. Whether he actually did or not is lost in the sands of time, but this is one example of how St. Patrick met the Irish people where they were, coming alongside them, explaining to them that what they sought in all their religious traditions could be fulfilled in Jesus the Christ. The Irish, like many peoples at this time, worshipped certain elements of nature. Understanding this, St. Patrick used nature itself to proclaim the Creator behind it. He didn't just tell them to turn away from their pagan practices. Instead, he used them as a ladder, a scaffold to build onto the True Faith.

This process of using elements already existing in a culture as a springboard to Christianity is referred to as 'pre-evangelization' - God prepares people for the Good News by setting up elements of it within their own culture. Then, when the time of more formal evangelization comes, the people are ready to hear it. This is the pattern of true evangelization; it's the pattern Jesus Himself used on the road to Emmaus, after His death and resurrection. (We see it again later in Mexico, with the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe.)

We know that St. Patrick was successful in his missionary attempts, and he came to love the place of his enslavement and the people who lived there. In fact, after a miraculous escape from Ireland, even being reunited with his family, we know that St. Patrick was called back to his mission field by the Irish themselves. He writes that his family, "Welcomed me as a son, and they pleaded with me that, after all the many tribulations I had undergone, I should never leave them again."

He continues, "It was while I was there that I saw, in a vision in the night, a man whose name was Victoricus coming as it were from Ireland with so many letters they could not be counted. He gave me one of these, and I read at the beginning of the letter, 'The voice of the Irish people.' While I was reading out the beginning of the letter, I thought I heard at that moment the voice of those who were beside the wood of Voclut, near the western sea. They called out as it were with one voice: “We beg you, holy boy, to come and walk again among us.” This touched my heart deeply, and I could not read any further; I woke up then. Thanks be to God, after many years the Lord granted them what they were calling for."

St. Patrick freely and willingly returned to Ireland, leaving his family and a comfortable life behind. He had already learned to trust God in every situation. He knew God could and would protect him, even when it didn't look like God was acting in his life. The second lesson to learn from St. Patrick is to act as if God is with us. We can look around, learn, and study our circumstances so that we are properly prepared to respond when the time comes. We may not be able to change the difficulties in our lives, but we can always learn and grow from them so that we are ready for the open door, or, in St. Patrick's case, the ship two hundred miles away, when it comes, at the time when God acts.

Let us pray: Holy Trinity, we thank You for the tireless witness of St. Patrick, and for his willingness to return to the place and people who had enslaved him in order to spread Your Good News. Help us to respond to the circumstances in our lives that are difficult in the same way, by studying and learning so that we are ready to do Your will. And in all things let us praise You. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.