Half Gaelic Half Garlic

          A long time ago I saw a t-shirt that said “Half Gaelic Half Garlic.”  I regret never purchasing that shirt since I am half Italian and half Irish but I make up for it by telling people that phrase every time I’m asked about my families heritage.  Needless to say, for all of us graced with both Irish and Italian parents this week is the one of the best in our whole year!  Both major patrons celebrated just days apart!  All the ham, corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, and soda bread you can eat on one day, fish, desserts, coffee, and pasta on the other day and of course more wine, whiskey, and beer than you know what to do with!  It’s a great week!  But how should one really celebrate these two major feast days?  In the United States only one of them is a Solemnity but both should be given solemn respect.  I offer this reflection to those of us who want to celebrate but also remember what we are celebrating.

St. Patrick, who wasn't even Irish, came to Ireland as a humble Bishop being sent by Pope Celestine (patron Saint of my home parish).  St. Patrick had one goal: to spread the faith and convert hearts to Jesus Christ.  He did this by ordaining many priests and sending them out to baptize the country in Christ’s name!  This was both a great idea and a bad idea…these priests were baptizing everyone…even if they didn’t want to be baptized and it didn't matter if the people had any knowledge (a good number didn’t) of the faith they were being baptized into.  But St. Patrick knew the power of baptism and he wanted to save the whole country!  St. Patrick was a major evangelist!  He taught the faith as often as he could.  His most famous teaching is on the Trinity where he used a shamrock as a visual aid.  St. Patrick loved Jesus Christ, he loved the Church, and he loved the people of Ireland so much that he did what he could to save their souls. 

So, how should we celebrate such an evangelical saint? 

1.   Go to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! St. Patrick loved Jesus Christ and he was a Bishop who celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass daily.  Everyone who is Irish (which apparently is everyone on St. Patrick’s Day) should go to mass as the perfect means of celebrating this great saint!

2.   Evangelize!  Share your faith!  St. Patrick was an evangelist!  Instead of posting pictures on your Facebook’s with you drunk as a skunk in a green shirt…post a picture of you praying the rosary or of your parish when you go to mass!  Tell people that you’re Catholic and love Jesus rather than “kiss me I’m Irish.”

3.   Baptize!  I think the ultimate way to celebrate St. Patrick is to baptize someone.  Of course, this can only be done by an ordained minister, unless there is an emergency of death with no ordained minister around, but one great idea is to renew your baptismal promises with your family as your prayer before you eat dinner!

 

St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, is a great saint, a humble man, a model of chastity (especially for men), and a model of fatherhood!  I’m not sure how St. Joseph became the patron of Italy or where such popular Italian devotion to St. Joseph came from but none the less many great Italian traditions come from celebrating this great saint!  Across the world this day is celebrated in the Church as a solemnity (as important as a Sunday) although it is not a holy day of obligation.  We don’t know much about Joseph, which shows his great humility, but we do know that he remained chaste through his marriage with the Blessed Mother, that he took care of the Holy Family by migrating them to Egypt for protection, he was tradesmen (carpenter), and he was fully obedient to the will of God. 

Italians celebrate this great feast in beautiful ways that we should all do:

1.   Go to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!  It’s rightfully a solemnity and what better way to celebrate the foster father of Jesus Christ than to receive Christ in the Eucharist?!  Go to Mass!

2.   Abstain from meat.  This is a great Italian tradition that reminds us to be as humble as St. Joseph.  An easy way to deny ourselves is to abstain from meat. 

3.   Give to the poor!  St. Joseph was a man of charity.  He gave up his whole life to take care of Mary and Jesus.  What will you give up to take care of others?  What self gift will you make?  You can throw in a couple extra bucks in the poor box, donate to a local food pantry, volunteer at a homeless shelter, etc.  Charity is a great way to honor St. Joseph. 

          These are just some simple suggestions to celebrate the feasts of these two holy, humble, and amazing men who followed God’s will and fell in love with Jesus Christ.  Don’t feel the need to get drunk as a skunk or over eat on the pasta.  Use these two beautiful feast days to grow closer to God, build up the Body of Christ (the Church), and convert your heart to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (a popular Irish and Italian devotion).