Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! People all over the world celebrate this day. Students do you know where the holiday has its roots? That’s right front row the Roman Catholic faith. Catholics believe in the communion of saints. That is that some people have lived holy lives and are canonized as saints. We believe these people are in heaven. So today is the feast day of Saint Patrick. He is the patron saint of Ireland although he wasn’t Irish. He was Scottish. He was captured and enslaved from ages 16 to 22. He escaped to France and became a Catholic. He vowed to return to Ireland convert it to Catholicism. He was successful. He established many monasteries, churches, and schools. There are many legends surrounding Saint Patrick. My favorite is that he used the shamrock to explain the trinity. He died on March 17, 461. Students this may be an extra credit question on our final exam!
Today our readings were about the covenant of Abraham and the promise of his people outnumbering the stars. This makes me remember using the book by Lois Lowery Number the Stars as an English teacher. The gospel reading was about the transfiguration of Jesus when he went to pray on the mountain. It makes me think of the old Ten Commandments movie. Moses (Charlton Heston) came down from Mt. Sinai looking like he stuck his finger in a light socket. Boy, he was transfigured! This makes chuckle.
First let’s look at the promise to Abraham. Do you realize that even though many of us are not descendents of Hebrew ethnicity, we are a part of God’s holy family through Jesus Christ. If you look at the covenant to Abraham like this it’s easy to see that yes we are also his posterity or future children. The price paid by Jesus was not only for the Jewish people but also the Gentiles and all humans. We are family! All 7.53 billion of us.
Think about transfiguration. When you are transfigured, you are changed. Students, this is exactly what we want to do with our 40 days before Easter. Remember? We wanted to rend our hearts. We wanted to clear the clutter. I think we are on our way to doing so. Every homework assignment we complete, we will transfigure our hearts. This is our second Sunday of Lent. We have four more weeks to go and a lot of transfiguration yet to accomplish. Thank you for walking with me as I roll through these forty days with you. Here are a few reflection questions as we move into our next week together:
Are you finding God?
Are you feeling like your heart is lighter?
Are you happier?
Have a great St. Patrick’s Day!
Sal the Transfiguring Gal
Sarah Anderson Alley
Dedicated to:
Brenda Darby Reed my cousin who was born on St. Patrick’s Day. She’s celebrating in heaven this year.
Quote of the day:
Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.
Saint Patrick
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