THE SAINTS IN A YEAR - ST PATRICK ON COMMUNION, PARTICIPATION AND MISSION

Fr Billy Swan

The three pillars of the Synodal pathway are communion, participation and mission. These are the three essential features of Christian witness in the Church today.

For his feast day this year, I would like to explain the ways that St Patrick’s life as a missionary bishop contained the elements of communion, participation and mission and how those elements were present in the Christian faith he brought us almost sixteen centuries ago.

First, communion. The themes of transcending borders, reconciling differences and building communion are everywhere in the story of St Patrick. The irony of Patrick being British is often lost on many as we celebrate a figure that is symbolic of everything Irish. Yet it is highly significant for it shows how national differences can be acknowledged and yet are transcended by the same faith that unites us. From the biblical framework prominent in Patrick’s writings, we recognise how Patrick understood his mission to the Irish as being like the mission of St Paul to the Gentiles so that the Irish would be included in the family of nations at the end of time. Finally, the Ireland that Patrick came to was tribal, stratified and fractured. Therefore, he stands out as the first to refer to the Irish as a single people or nation. Christianity is not just a private religion but a religious and spiritual movement that brings people together, creating ecclesial and social unity.

Second, participation. Part of Patrick’s religious awakening was that his life was not just about himself but concerned the welfare and salvation of others. God was calling him to participate in the great outreach of mission that began after Pentecost with the Apostles and that continued through him in Ireland. He writes: “Truly, I am in God’s debt. He has given me a great grace, that through me many peoples might be reborn” (Confessio, 38). Here is a life that has purpose and meaning because of his vocation and response to it. Yet, this participation in God’s saving work to reach people with the Gospel, was preceded by an internal and spiritual participation in the life of the Holy Trinity. God for Patrick was not some external or distant ideology but rather a transforming Spirit that filled his life and changed it: “I must not hide that gift of God which he gave us bountifully in the land of my captivity…I believe this to be so because of his Spirit dwelling in me who has worked in me until this very day” (Confess. 33).

Finally, and most obviously, Patrick’s Christian faith was missionary at its core. Patrick had a story to tell the Irish, of God’s love that was revealed through his Son who appeared in history and that was accessible through the gift of his Spirit. In response to God’s call, he returned to Ireland to the land of his captivity to bring the Gospel as a life changing power. He came as a witness to that saving love and, in his own words, to “spend himself” for the Irish people. As our Apostle and first evangelist, he reminds us as Church of our unique vocation to be concerned with those who are not members of our community. The faith is a gift given, not just for us but for others. The Church is not a club.

Celebrating the feast of St Patrick takes us back to the basics of the Christian faith he brought us. Those basics include the Gospel’s power to unite diversity into communion where all differences are subordinate to a common belonging to God. To thousands of people who are suffering from a lack of purpose and meaning in life, the faith engages them with the powerful message that they are known by God, chosen by God and assigned some vocation and mission in life that is unique to them.

Lastly, if our faith is to be reborn, it must pass through our hearts. Few are interested in a second-hand God. They wany to know how He has changed our lives in a language they can understand. For if God has really touched our lives then telling others about it is not something that we have to do, but want to do.