Today is St. Patrick’s Day, when many of us celebrate being Irish, but not so long ago, in this country, there were signs “No Irish Need Apply.” As a result of the potato famine in 1847-1849, Ireland lost one-quarter of its population. More than a million died and about another million emigrated, many to the United States. The primarily Protestant population responded with anti-Catholic bigotry and, in some cases, riots.
The fear of the different is not so new. The Irish who immigrated here had come out of squalid conditions in Ireland where British landowners held tenant farmers in what amounted to serfdom. The new immigrants lived in tenement houses, worked long hours and were treated with disdain.
One may wonder why there was such enmity between the Irish and the British, but history offers some answers. Ireland is still a divided country with distrust between the northern six counties and the Republic. It is fitting that St. Patrick’s Day always comes during Lent for it was only in 1998 that the parties signed a power sharing agreement on Good Friday that brought a cessation to hostilities.
Prayer for the Day
Awakened by the news of the day, we ask for respite, O God,
For we struggle to understand aggression and war;
Startled by the violence that we see, we come to you, O Lord,
For we often want to withdraw from the world around us.
But you, O Holy One, call us to engage the world
Returning hatred with love and anger with reconciliation.
In the name of the One who did not withdraw,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Generosity is the source of all richness. We should work to banish greed and offer what we have and what we are to those hundreds of thousands of people who are displaced.
- Sister Stanislaus Kennedy on the refugee crisis in 2016
I was in the mud and the mire, then I looked up to God.
- Attributed to St. Patrick, 400s.
Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time and forevermore
From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations, and God’s glory is above the heavens
Who is like the Lord our God, seated on high, looking down on heaven and earth?
Psalm 111: 1-6