Today Catholics, Americans, the Irish, and people around the world celebrate the feast of Saint Patrick.
On the surface, we may associate this day with pre-COVID parades, dancing, Guinness, soda bread, and even the Chicago river dyed green.
But behind the feast is the remarkable story of a man whose life and legacy still speaks to us today.
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When he was a boy, Patrick was kidnapped by Irish raiders and sold into slavery. He spent the next several years suffering terribly from hunger and the cold.
Eventually, he escaped and made his way back to Britain, where he entered the seminary and became a priest for 20 years.
One night Patrick had a dream. A voice with an Irish accent pleaded with him, “We appeal to you, to come and walk among us.”
He knew the call came from the Lord, so he returned to Ireland a free man.
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Imagine the courage it took Patrick to return to the land that once enslaved him. But off he went, spending the final 28 years of his life spreading the Catholic faith.
With the help of his friends and the grace of the Holy Spirit, Patrick converted an entire nation. Today 90% of Ireland identifies as Catholic.
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Imagine what this parish – and the Church at large – can do if we embrace Patrick’s courageous spirit, and share our faith with others, just one person, one day at a time.
Together, we will fill these pews; we will worship God; and we will build a strong community of faith.
There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Now that day was a sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’“ They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who had made him well. Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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(The pool of Siloam)
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I’m sure many of us remember the story last year about a Tennessee man who stockpiled 17,000 bottles of hand sanitizer at the outbreak of the pandemic.
He plotted to price gouge people on Amazon, but was quickly discovered, publicly shamed, and forced to donate every last bottle.
It’s easy to be angry with him; he was a greedy opportunist. But selfishness rears its ugly head within every human heart.
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In the Gospel, there’s a man who’s been ill for 38 years. He’s staked his hope on being healed by bathing in the pool of Siloam.
It was commonly believed that the waters were stirred occasionally by an angel. The first person to race into that bubbly bath could be healed.
Think of Siloam like the shrine at Our Lady of Lourdes. People from around the world migrate to that holy site, praying to be healed of some illness.
Unfortunately, this man never made it in. Whenever the waters were stirred, a stampede ensued, causing a desperate heap of humanity to crawl over each other, racing to be first.
The closest this man ever got was second place – until Jesus appeared.
“Why are you laying here?” he asks him. “Everybody gets down there before me.”
A bit like that man from Tennessee, people eyed an opportunity and thought about themselves first.
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Can’t we hear the cry of this crippled man still echoing in our world today?
Think of how many are in need of a hug, a handwritten letter, or a helping hand. Many are out of work or out of luck, hoping someone will notice.
May the Lord open our eyes to the needs of our neighbors in need, “for the greatest among you,” Jesus says, “must be your servant.”
How, then, might we eye an opportunity, not to serve ourselves, but someone else today?
At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast.
Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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It’s been said the deepest pain a human can experience is the death of a child.
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In today’s Gospel, a desperate father approaches Jesus, begging him to heal his son. Adding to the anguish of the story, this man has traveled from Capernaum to Cana in search of Jesus, a 20-mile journey.
Imagine walking 20-miles, knowing your child at home is deathly ill.
Upon finding him, the father begs Jesus for a miracle. Jesus, staying in place, simply says, “You may go; your son will live.”
This man believes what was spoken and starts his journey home.
That’s the key.
He makes no further demands of Jesus; he asks for no other sign. Jesus made a promise – the boy is healed – and this father believes him.
His peace comes through belief.
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That 20-mile journey home becomes a beautiful image of the Christian life.
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Our Christian journeys begin at baptism.
In that Sacrament, the Lord promises us eternal life. He himself says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”
The rest of our days are meant to be like that father’s 20-mile journey home – filled with belief, hope, and joy.
So, how’s my journey going? Do I find comfort in my faith? Or am I still searching for Jesus, looking for greater peace?
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Like the father in the Gospel, our peace comes through belief.
The more we believe the words Jesus has spoken, the easier – and more comforting – our journeys home become.
