As we continue our praying, fasting and almsgiving this Lent, we are approaching the feasts of two great saints who are examples of service and fidelity to the Lord. One is widely celebrated even in secular culture, and the other tends to get overshadowed.
The first feast that the whole world knows about is St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. It comes on a Friday this year, so there will surely be a fair amount of revelry and celebration – probably more than there should be. I’m half Irish, and it’s unfortunate that the partying overshadows this great saint and his remarkable story.
Patrick’s place of birth is uncertain; it could have been England, Scotland or Wales. We do know that he was captured by Irish pirates as a teenager, sold as a slave and forced to work as a shepherd for six years before escaping and returning home.
In a vision, he saw all the children in Ireland stretching out their hands to him from their mothers’ wombs, which he perceived as a call to mission work in the very country where he had been enslaved. He returned to Ireland and brought thousands of people into the Church through his ministry, his care for those in need and his efforts to evangelize those who had yet to hear the Gospel.
There is skepticism around the legend that Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland, but many miracles have been attributed to him, including raising people from the dead. He is also well-known for using the shamrock to help explain the three-in-one mystery of the Trinity.
Two days after St. Patrick’s Day, we celebrate the often-overlooked feast of St. Joseph. March 19 falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent this year, so this feast moves to Monday, March 20. My German-Swiss father used to tease my fully Irish mother about St. Patrick getting all the attention while the very spouse of Mary and foster father of Jesus gets much less recognition in that same week.
None of Joseph’s words are recorded in scripture, but it would be hard to overstate his importance in God’s plan of salvation. Through his actions, Joseph said yes to an angel (which might have been Gabriel) as well as to his wife when told not to divorce Mary after learning she was with child. That was the custom at the time, and even then, Joseph showed love in his plan to do so quietly. The angel’s message and Joseph’s response changed all that, making it possible for Jesus to have a foster father and us to have a powerful example of love.
We don’t know a lot about Joseph, but he must have been a man of selfless service. We know of his care and protection for Mary and Jesus. He tended to Mary, who was about to give birth, as they journeyed from Nazareth to Bethlehem. He escaped with Jesus and Mary to Egypt after Herod ordered infant males in Bethlehem to be killed.
Joseph was Mary’s partner in bringing Jesus to adulthood. He taught Jesus how to be a carpenter. His commitment and love for the Lord is a model for us all.
For me, St. Patrick and St. Joseph speak of giving back, giving of self, helping others and making a difference for those around us. Pope Francis speaks of these same qualities as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of his pontificate. I love his challenge for us to get out in the streets, to take on the smell of the sheep as a devoted shepherd would, and to think of the Church as a field hospital tending to the wounded and suffering.
This Lent, may we be inspired by their examples. May we be more willing to evangelize like Patrick. May we be a better steward and servant to others like Joseph. And may we reach out to the poor and suffering like Francis.
May we come to love God and our neighbor more fully, knowing that Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, opened the gates of heaven to all who believe and walk the path of love.
(Msgr. John Enzler, the president and CEO of Catholic Charities of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, writes the Faith in Action column for the archdiocese’s Catholic Standard and Spanish-language El Pregonero newspapers and websites.)
