BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) There are three paths to knowledge that we frequently walk… thinking using concepts, thinking using pictures or images, and thinking using our experiences. They are all routes to truth even though experience seems to be the favored route these days. This is curious to me because learning through experience gives us some of life’s harshest lessons. We learn the hard way along that route. The other routes are not so harsh. From its earliest days, the Catholic Church has relied on images — pictures found in stained glass windows, statues of saints and holy people, and glorious mosaics found in so many of our churches. Television, movies, and computer images have surrounded us during the last century. As never before in human history our children are learning via images. Today I am going to share some thoughts with you about the Holy Trinity using mental images. It’s better that way.

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) There are three paths to knowledge that we frequently walk… thinking using concepts, thinking using pictures or images, and thinking using our experiences. They are all routes to truth even though experience seems to be the favored route these days. This is curious to me because learning through experience gives us some of life’s harshest lessons. We learn the hard way along that route. The other routes are not so harsh. From its earliest days, the Catholic Church has relied on images — pictures found in stained glass windows, statues of saints and holy people, and glorious mosaics found in so many of our churches. Television, movies, and computer images have surrounded us during the last century. As never before in human history our children are learning via images. Today I am going to share some thoughts with you about the Holy Trinity using mental images. It’s better that way.

March 17th, is the optional memorial of Saint Patrick, the 5th century missionary and bishop to whom various miracles are credited. Little is known about his early years. He was born in c. 387 AD, a Roman Britain, at an unknown location. He died in 461, having successfully converted Ireland from paganism to Christianity. His symbol is the shamrock which he often used to elucidate the Holy Trinity. He ministered devoutly as the bishop of Armagh, Primate of Ireland until his death. Patrick led a difficult life, but his faith in God, once realized, never wavered. As a young teenager, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates who forced him into slavery. He later wrote that his six years in captivity was vital to his spiritual development and drove him closer to God. He prayed often during his captivity; working as a shepherd. He remained a slave until his early twenties when he received a dream from God telling him his freedom awaited. In the dream, he was led to the coast and the sea. When

May it never befall me to be separated by my God from his people whom he has won in this most remote land. I pray God that he gives me perseverance, and that he will deign that I should be a faithful witness for his sake right up to the time of my passing. — St. Patrick ____________________________________________________ Prayer to St. Patrick, Patron of Ireland Holy Saint Patrick, in your humility you acknowledged your sinfulness, but you became a most successful missionary and prompted countless pagans to follow Christ the Savior. Many of their descendants helped to spread the Good News the world over. Through your powerful intercession with God, obtain the missionaries we need to continue the work you began, and win souls for Christ today. Amen.

On February 1st, the Church in Ireland celebrates the feast of Brigid of Ireland or Saint Brigid of Kildare (c. 450 – 525), also known as "the Mary of the Gael". Along with Saint Patrick and Saint Columba she is one of Ireland’s three patron saints. She was born a slave into a Druid family, the daughter of Dubhthach, court poet to King Loeghaire. St. Bridget is one of the few saints who stands on the boundary between pagan mythology, Druidism and Christian spirituality. Around her name there have been formed hundreds of legends, which could be fittingly described as "the Little Flowers of St. Brigid," the keynote being mercy and pity for the poor. At an early age, Brigid decided to become a Christian, and she eventually took vows as a nun. Brigid’s family expected her to marry, but she disfigured her face, marring her beauty in order to dissuade suitors and serve God in consecrated life. While consecrated religious life was not foreign to the Irish Church prior

Saint Patrick was a Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, along with saints Brigit of Kildare and Columba. Little definite is known about his life, but according to tradition, Patrick was active as a missionary in Ireland during the second half of the fifth century. Later, he served as the first bishop of Armagh, Primate of Ireland. St. Patrick is credited with saying "No one should ever say that it was my ignorance if I did or showed forth anything however small according to God's good pleasure; but let this be your conclusion and let it so be thought that – as is the perfect truth – it was the gift of God." Legends about Patrick are numerous, however, one thing is certain; he exuded humility and courage in abundance. The determination to accept suffering and success with equal indifference guided the life of this saint in winning most of Ireland for Christ.