Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy has said that the “migrant message” of St. Patrick is more pertinent than ever.
Bishop Leahy said that as Irish people gather the world over to celebrate, the message of peace and love that St. Patrick espoused will hopefully break through the awful noise of war and hostility that pervades today.
And he urged all to make a special effort to acknowledge our own migrants, not least of Islam faith as they conclude their Ramadan celebrations this week.
“This year’s celebration of St. Patrick’s Day is taking place against the background of war in the Middle East following the attacks on Iran and Lebanon by the United States and Israel since last Saturday, 28 February.
“The message of the Gospel of peace and reconciliation that the migrant St. Patrick wanted to promote in Ireland seems more relevant than ever.
“The will of God for humanity is peace. To pray for peace, however, requires we re-commit ourselves to doing the will of God in our own lives, in some way correcting within ourselves along with others, the terrible suffering that is being caused through people not doing the will of God, which is peace.
“To do the will of God is to live out the commandments especially the commandment to love your neighbour as yourself, commandments that lay the basis for peace. To love our neighbour as ourselves is to empathise with them, making their joys and sorrows our own, reaching out to take care of them in small and big ways,” he said.
Bishop Leahy said that in praying for peace on St. Patrick’s Day, we should stand in solidarity with Muslim communities here who also seek peace, especially this week with the end of Ramadam.
“We pray for them. They too pray for peace. They too believe that bowing down to do the will of God matters. Indeed, the word ’Muslims’ means ‘submitters to God’. Muslims often use the greeting As-salamu alaykum, which means ‘peace be upon you’.
“Both Christians and Muslims believe that there is an ultimate goal of our earthly pilgrimage—the attainment of our future homeland. We look forward to it as a place and time of peace, fulfilment, love for everyone. Let this year’s celebration of St. Patrick’s Day be a time to remember that Jesus asked us not to wait passively for that consoling future.
“We are to start now by living our lives already on earth ‘as in heaven’, doing the will of God which is to build peace with others and with nature.”