Spirit Quest …
From the Pen of The Reverend Hanns
The Roman Catholic Church has been primarily responsible for the institution and propagation of the feast of the patron saint of Ireland. Although not known for its flexibility in doctrinal matters it has in this instance made adjustments. Thus when the feast day happens on Palm Sunday or Good Friday it is moved to another time, in other words St. Patrick's Day need not necessarily be March 17. Inasmuch as St. Paddy's always comes during Lent, a time of repentance and fasting, the church has for that day lifted the restriction on the eating of meat, thus St. Patrick's is on occasion called Corned Beef Day. Of course it has to be liberally irrigated with Guiness.
Someone is bound to object or even boycott this publication when I dare to state that Paddy wasn’t Irish. He was born a Brit who later became a missionary to the Irish. Nor did the good saint drive the snakes out of the Emerald Isle. There never were any there but it is believed that “snake” might have referred to the serpent which was closely associated with the religion of the Druids, a pagan cult that was driven out of the land.
There are many tales associated with this teacher of the faith. One plausible story is that this missionary taught about the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, by referring the three leaves of the Shamrock.
March 17, 493 is conjectured to be the death day of the saint and celebrated widely. The Irish took their love and devotion to their patron and his church abroad to wherever they immigrated, to North America, Australia and New Zealand or wherever two or three Irish are gathered in his name.
But like so many other religious holidays it was secularized and nationalized. Today it is almost considered an insult not to wear something green on March 17. On that day we all become a little Irish and gladly so.
It would be wonderful if the people of this world endeavored to learn about the customs, religions and saints of all the various traditions. To some extent we have, thus we greet our jewish friends with Happy Hanukkah on their feast day which almost coincides with Christmas. We ought also to learn about Ramadan, a period when Moslems abstain from food during the daylight hours of the day. It would be healthful to many of us to practice this regimen of fasting. It would also be better that our schools taught the basics about world religions rather than ban all mention of faith or break up the public education system into faith based schools.
Apart from some gross cases to the contrary that always are given much publicity, eg Denmark’s Mohammed busting cartoons, there is a growth of tolerance and understanding among humankind. Basic to the many festivals of faith there is a spirit at work. That spirit is not just Christian but universal.
Paul Tillich, a German born protestant theologian who taught for most of his life in the United States, referred to the Divinity as The Ground of All Being. I like that term. This Spirit has touched humanity in many ways. Would that the early missionaries who came to these shores had shown some interest in the faiths of their new hosts. They might have found how much more broad and deep are the workings of God’s Spirit.
Remember: The Spirit is a’ movin’.
The Reverend Hanns F. Skoutajan
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