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This 12 months of 2024, the Fifth Sunday of Lent coincides with St. Patrick’s Day, the feast of the patron saint of Ireland.
And whereas many individuals are taking the chance to experience all issues Irish, a priest instructed Fox News Digital that the story of St. Patrick is a well timed reminder of the facility of God’s forgiveness.
St. Patrick is topic to “a good deal of folklore” and misconceptions that aren’t fully factual, Fr. Timothy Harris, T.O.R., instructed Fox News Digital. Harris is pastor at St. John Vianney Parish in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and is a chaplain for the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish Catholic males’s fraternal group.
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St. Patrick himself was not Irish — he was probably born in Wales or Scotland, however his birthplace is unsure.
“Either way, it is clear that it was not Ireland,” mentioned Harris.
Fr. Timothy Harris, T.O.R., at proper, is a Catholic priest primarily based in Pennsylvania. He can be a chaplain with the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish-Catholic fraternal group. (iStock/Courtesy of Fr. Timothy Harris, T.O.R.)
St. Patrick got here to Ireland after he was kidnapped on the age of 16 and offered into slavery.
He was a slave, working as a shepherd, till he was age 22, mentioned Harris, “when God led him to return to his home and family.”
There’s additionally no proof that St. Patrick used the shamrock to elucidate the Trinity, mentioned Harris, however it’s a “wonderful tradition.”
St. Patrick is “an excellent example of God’s mercy and love that is constantly offered to us.”
While these tales are good, they aren’t why St. Patrick is widely known annually, a millennia after his loss of life.
“The most important elements of his story that history does confirm are what make him such a brilliant saint for us to celebrate today,” mentioned Harris.
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After his return to his household, St. Patrick was ordained a bishop and “returned to the island that enslaved him, to become a servant of Christ to share [God’s] love with the Irish,” mentioned Harris.
In explicit for younger individuals, St. Patrick is “an excellent example of God’s mercy and love that is constantly offered to us, even when, in one’s youthful pride, one might not recognize the need for forgiveness.”
St. Patrick is widely known world wide yearly on his feast day, March 17. (Angelo Merendino/Corbis through Getty Images)
As a toddler, St. Patrick was not non secular himself, although his father was a deacon, mentioned Harris. St. Patrick was truly “rebellious and easily influenced by the world around him.”
Harris added, “The night he was kidnapped, he ‘snuck out’ from his home in the middle of the night to engage in some ‘shenanigans’ with friends when they came upon the coastal raiders.”
This “youthful indiscretion” would alter the course of his life dramatically in addition to that of the Irish individuals.
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“The choice Patrick made that night was to reject his faith and open himself to true evil through the occult,” mentioned Harris.
“His fascination with the arcane elements of the surrounding pagan religions of his time enticed him to rebel against his parents’ direction and the truth of Christ’s care and protection.”
St. Patrick’s Cathedral is situated in New York City and is the seat of the archbishop of New York City. The present St. Patrick’s Cathedral changed the unique St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1879. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
It was whereas he was tending sheep, removed from residence in a overseas land, when St. Patrick actually grasped the gravity of what he had performed — and the way he might repair his state of affairs.
“He turned back to the God who never left him and awaited his return,” mentioned Harris.
Equipped with “a humbled heart and a contrite spirit,” St. Patrick discovered energy and luxury in God.
“Patrick entered into a new covenant with God that brought him peace in his distress and hope, a most powerful gift for someone found lost in the dark. Through the next six years, Patrick spent many hours in prayer, re-embracing his Catholic faith, which, as a boy, he barely acknowledged.”
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Equipped with “a humbled heart and a contrite spirit,” St. Patrick discovered energy and luxury in God, he mentioned.
The story of St. Patrick dovetails effectively with the readings preached in Catholic church buildings during the Fifth Sunday of Lent, Harris instructed Fox News Digital.
“Our Lord will never abandon us. Unseen, He walks with us, invites us into His mercy and stands ready to bring us salvation.” (iStock)
“Our readings for the Fifth Sunday of Lent begin with a passage from the prophet Jeremiah, who calls the people of God to repent of their past sinful choices, their indiscretions, and to turn back to the Lord to receive the gift of hope that never ends,” mentioned Harris.
In explicit, the road, “I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” is consultant of the transformation that St. Patrick skilled whereas he was a slave in Ireland.
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“So many youth today, and many of us who still act more ‘childish’ than ‘childlike,’ need to hear the story of St. Patrick. Our choices have consequences,” he mentioned,
Choosing to reject God in favor of “the evils of this world” is placing oneself in danger of “unimaginable dangers.”
“So many youth today, and many of us who still act more ‘childish’ than ‘childlike,’ need to hear the story of St. Patrick. Our choices have consequences.”
“However, our Lord won’t ever abandon us. Unseen, He walks with us, invitations us into His mercy and stands able to deliver us salvation,” mentioned Harris.
“But He is a lover, not a thug. He will never force Himself upon us. When we open ourselves to Him, He will bring us what we need, in our time of need.”
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After all, “the only unforgivable sin is the one that we do not ask God to forgive,” he mentioned.
“This Lent, let us all, following the example of St. Patrick, humbly turn to our God and Father for the forgiveness of our sins, so we might find true peace,” he mentioned.
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