Saint Patrick's Day

Unfortunately, you can't see Lucia's bib that says "Irish at Heart"

I have always loved Saint Patrick's Day.  As a child, I grew to love it since I associated it with my birthday (my birthday is March 16) and also because I loved corned beef and cabbage (this is the one day a year that I truly miss eating meat!).  But most of all I loved it because it was a holiday celebrated by the general population that had strongly Catholic roots.  Even as a young child, I was so proud of my Catholic faith.  Saint Patrick's Day is no longer celebrated as a Catholic holiday, and often you can't find any religious reference to it, but even so, it is a reminder of just how influential Catholicism has been in the development of American culture.

This Saint Patrick's Day, I'm thinking about Ireland with sadness.  Once such a strong Catholic country, only a small percentage of the country's population attends church regularly.  This had only been exacerbated by recent sexual abuse scandals in the Church.  Won't you join me in praying for the return of faith in Ireland and the healing of those affected sexual abuse in the Irish Church?  May the great people of Ireland who first found their way to Christ through Saint Patrick find themselves returning to the Lord through his intercession.

 

Do you do anything to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day?  

Are your celebrations religious or secular? 

Why do you love this holiday? 

Did you remember to wear something green?