Saint Patricks Day Homily
St. Patrick spent six years of his life as a slave in Ireland working as a shepherd. I figure the following quote from St. Augustine, who lived about a century after Patrick, may have had St. Patrick in mind when he wrote the following “a good man, though a slave, is free; but a wicked man, though a king, is a slave. For he serves, not one man alone, but what is worse, serves as many masters as he has vices.” It was in his socioeconomic condition as a slave that St. Patrick experienced a profound deepening of his faith. The freedom that he found in the spirit preceded that temporal freedom which he acquired when he was able to escape servitude.
The proof of the genuineness of St. Patrick’s freedom was that he was able to share this freedom with the people of Ireland through his evangelization efforts. As a result he holds a higher status in Ireland than any king has ever had in that land.
This season of Lent invites us to look past those external constraints, temporal, financial, relationships, that we falsely believe limit our freedom. Rather heeding the words of Daniel we are called to recognize that our own vices are the masters who shackle us. Following the example of St. Patrick may we seek true freedom in Christ so that come the Easter season we may be able to share it with others.