Drunkeness and sin...Happy Saint Patrick's Day indeed.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I post today not to be a killjoy, but to keep our eyes on Christ. I know that our American culture has taught us that today is a day to to get drunk...but why must we do so?

This is a day to remember a great saint. Saint Patrick grew up in 5th century Britain. At age 16 he was captured and made a slave in Ireland. Six years later he escaped and returned to Britain. He became a priest and later a bishop. He felt God was calling him to return to Ireland, so he did just that and was a missionary there for over 30 years, where he built churches, monestaries and helped to spread the faith to tens of thousands of people.

Living as a slave helped him to return to prayer. It had helped his faith to grow. It helped him to appreciate and love Christ even more. Let us take his example during lent to help us reflect on our own lives. Let us not hate the people who have wronged and offended us, but let us show them the love and forgiveness that Christ has shown us. Let us show them how to be the better person. Let us take a situation that seems bleak and show the world what can be done out of love.

Let us remember what the bible teaches us. The Letter to the Galatianstells us: "Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God."

So today, as everyday, let us honor God and fulfill the plan he has made for us. Let this not be a day that we commit each of those sins in the name of a good time.

Saint Patrick...pray for us.

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