Today we celebrate St Patrick’s day, a popular feast day in our Catholic Church and a popular holiday in our secular society, perhaps due to the many Irish immigrants who came to this country. As we know, in our Diocese, we have had many Irish priests serve here, with Father McGing, Father Rouan, and Father Pendergast having served here at Holy Savior. We give thanks for all the many years of service our Irish priests have brought to our Diocese and the love they have had for the people here.
For many of the saints in the Early Church, it is hard to distinguish between fact and legend, especially for someone so larger-than-life like St Patrick. He was born in the 4th century somewhere in Great Britain, so he was not even born in Ireland. A town in Scotland claims him, but it is hard to be sure of that. When he was a teen, tradition passes down that he was captured by Irish pirates. He was taken to Ireland as a slave to tend sheep. He learned the Irish language and culture. Tradition also passes down that during his captivity, his faith grew is a profound way. He escaped as a young adult when British sailors took him back to his homeland. He became a priest and then later a Bishop in Britain, but felt the call to return to Ireland as a missionary. He was successful in converting the Irish to Christianity. He died sometime in the 5th century, although the year is not certain. By the 8th century, he was seen as the patron saint of Ireland.
As Patrick taught the Irish many aspects of the Christian faith, in the Gospel today, rather than a confrontational interaction between Jesus and a scribe, there is a catechetical interaction between them. The scribe is genuinely interested in Jesus’ answer to a question that was often asked by those who interpreted God’s law. Jesus answers the question directly, rather than in a parable. Jesus gives a double answer to the question, linking our love of God to our love of neighbor in a way that the two cannot be separated. The scribe is impressed with Jesus’ answer, agreeing that love of God and love of neighbor transcend our religious rituals. Jesus affirms the scribe, stating that he is not far from the kingdom of God. We do not know, however, whether or not the scribe became one of Jesus’ disciples.
What Jesus asks of this scribe, what Jesus asks of all of us, is to follow him with a total commitment of mind, body and heart in the way we love God and love our neighbor. We see this commitment in the story of St Patrick, but this is not always an easy thing to do. It is hard to love people unconditionally when they are attacking us or causing problems. The path of discipleship is often a very difficult path.
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