Thoughts for the Day

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.’
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence;
he will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler....

Those who love me, I will deliver;
I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
I will be with them in trouble,
I will rescue them and honour them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
and show them my salvation.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Two years ago I was listening to some wonderful music as one of my sons prepared for a concert he was giving on St Patrick's Day. It was glorious music about pirates and lovers, and death and tragedy. Unfortunately Covid struck and we were all in lockdown, except for an hour a day's exercise, and I was digging up blackberry bushes in an overgrown garden. The concert was eventually held on-line the following year because lockdown occurred on the 16th March 2020 and non-essential travel and meetings were banned. It was finally going to be held live today, but unfortunately, the singer and musician has gone down with covid!

Today we remember St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, a man of mystery. Like many saints the stories about him have grown over the centuries and it's almost impossible to discern fact from fiction. He was born in Britain, not in Ireland and seems to have died on this day in 460 CE. His father was a Christian Deacon. Patrick was captured by Irish raiders around the age of 16 years of age, and spent six years in captivity as a shepherd. Eventually he escaped back to Britain. After a series of visions he began to train as a priest which took 15 years, and once ordained he was sent to Ireland as a missionary. He was extremely succesful at moulding traditional cultural rituals into Christian ritual, for example using the image of a sun together with the cross of Jesus, to produce what we know today as the Celtic Cross. Perhaps the best story though is that he banished all the snakes from Ireland!

Heavenly Father,
You called Patrick to your service,
and he embraced the training with fervour,
before returning to the place where
he had been held captive to work for You.
May we respond to Your call
with equal joy,
and accept the challenges it brings,
knowing that we do Your will.
Amen.