Captured at the age of sixteen, brought to a foreign country and forced into slavery;
escaped and returned home.
It would seem unlikely that the escapee would return to the place where imprisoned, but that is exactly the mission Saint Patrick undertook.
A mission to baptize and confirm the nation of Ireland in the name of Jesus Christ.
Saint Patrick’s own words, in his Breastplate Prayer, allow us a glimpse into what was necessary for such a mission, calling on the strength of the Trinity and “in the hope of resurrection to meet with reward.” The hope of Saint Patrick was achieved because he had help.
Hope is a flower that blooms from a seed planted by the Holy Spirit.
It grows with faith and love and dwells inside each of us.
It is our responsibility to find it.
Each one of us has suffered this pandemic in our own way, each one of us experiencing our own loss.
This pandemic has tested the very limits of our ability to hope, burying us in seemingly never-ending despair.
We just have to remember that underneath all of that, hope grows.
Hope grows in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, so that we may meet with our reward.
